Morning Motivation

Here are some motivational videos I like. I highly recommend these — particularly watching them first thing in the morning (this is key!). I hope you find something here that speaks to you.

Have you ever taken a look at your morning routines and wondered if there’s anything you can do to make your mornings better? I’ve been thinking about this a lot and looking for ways to help my days start on a good note…

One thing I recently figured out (and wish I’d learned sooner!) is that feeding my mind early in the day is super important. Seems like any media I consume at the start of my day sets the tone for everything that follows.

Scrollin’, scrollin’, scrollin’

I used to mindlessly scroll social media first thing in the morning, and I’d let my brain nibble on whatever “tea” or drama popped up on my timeline, but you know how that can go… There’s a lot of bad news out there, and I have to monitor my consumption of it, frankly. Otherwise, I feel beaten down, disheveled, anxious and unfocused.

Right now, more than ever, I also have to manage my consumption of GOOD news, like by watching or listening to inspiring and motivating audio and video.

It’s been about two months since I’ve started regularly doing this, and truth be told, it felt super cheesy at first (like I was a caricature in a Saturday Night Live skit or something!), but now I’m fully on board with it.

THIS DUDE!

It took me a while to get into it…

Now, every day, I listen to at least 10 minutes of something “motivational” (“air quotes”).

It didn’t take long to notice a difference in myself. After just a couple weeks of managing my intake of “bad” news, I started feeling more focused, mentally stronger, less overwhelmed and anxious, and generally happier.

This all came about after watching several interviews with Spanx CEO Sarah Blakely, a self-made businesswoman who inspires me. She often talks about how when she was in high school her dad gave her a set of tapes by motivational speaker Dr. Wayne Dyer called No Limit Person, and whenever she’d drive around in her car, she’d have the tapes playing in the background. Eventually, she says, those words that were constantly playing taught her vital lessons that helped her succeed (like learning how to view failure as a good thing).

Whenever you have a free moment, press play

I started by listening to different speeches by Wayne Dyer, and that led to other motivational speeches/videos. It’s not like it takes extra time out of my morning either, because I play them in the background while I do other things, like while I’m brushing my teeth, washing my face, making the bed, getting dressed or making breakfast. And I usually listen to one video per sitting, which typically lasts about 10 minutes.

Here are a few on my current playlist…

To wit, it might feel corny at first. This I fully acknowledge. Because it certainly did for me, but if you keep at it, you just might find yourself feeling better in the morning and throughout your day. And maybe you’ll even start seeing more good things in places you never noticed before.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen