Marcus Buckingham says in his book, Now Discover Your Strengths, that a strength is not necessarily something you’re good at, instead he suggests a strength is something that makes you feel strong, powerful, and energized. Isn’t that a refreshing way to think about our strengths? Because aren’t there things in your life that you’re good at, but leave you feeling absolutely without power?
Strength vs Skill
A strength should make us feel powerful, energized, and centered. A skill on the other hand might not have that effect on us. We might be good at something, but when we do it, we feel drained, tired, or non-excited.
The Power of Morning Ritual
So I wasn’t thinking about this whole idea this morning and realized that my morning ritual is nothing more than a group of activities that make me feel awesome and infuse the rest of the day with a sense of purpose and power. When I don’t take the time to do them, the day is often off-kilter, draining, and seems to drag on forever.
What is your morning ritual? Does what you do first thing make you feel empowered for the ensuing 12 hours? I’ll share what my mornings usually look like, and I’d love to get some additional ideas from you on how to create empowering mornings?
My day usually starts between 6am and 6:30am (sometimes 7am if I’m lazy).
Wake up
Take a refreshing cold shower (10 minutes)
Yoga (15 minutes)
Walk or run outside (20 minutes)
Read & Journal (15 minutes)
Pray (5 minutes)
So there it is. These activities usually last about 60-75 minutes. Obviously if paddle boarding is involved, then I’ll eliminate several of the above activities. The point is these activities help me feel refreshed, energized, and invigorated for the day.
What gets you going? What type of activities (morning, afternoon, or night) make you feel strong, energized, and purposeful?
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