13 Morning Rituals for Daily Inspiration and Motivation By Greg Brooks Digital

Whether you smile or groan when your alarm sounds, your thoughts and actions on waking really do set the tone for the rest of the day. Start as you mean to go on with these morning rituals and daily inspirational quotes to get your day off to a good start.

13 Morning Rituals for Daily Inspiration and Motivation

1. Meditate

Meditation is a wonderful way to still the mind and really notice your thoughts, and it can be done anywhere at any time. In fact, it’s the perfect way to start the day and can be performed as soon as you wake, without even getting out of bed. You can meditate to soothing music or to silence, but whichever method you choose, just devote a few minutes to breathing deeply, observing your thoughts, and repeating a positive affirmation with regard to the day ahead.

2. Make Your Bed

This might sound like a strange ritual to add to your daily routine, but it is, in fact, a powerful part of being successful in your day to day life. Making your bed means that you have completed a task, which not only affords you a sense of satisfaction but also sets the tone for the rest of the day. This encourages you to tick off another task, and another, and so on.

Making the bed also encourages you to pay attention to detail, and important skill in every area of life.

3. Take a Shower

There’s taking a shower and there’s enjoying a shower, and while the first means you are running on autopilot, the second means that you are being mindful. Starting the day off with a shower which you enjoy can be hugely uplifting, and allows you to really notice different sensations – the heat from the water, and the scent of the soap, for example. It is also a wonderful opportunity to thank your body for carrying you, which is something we all neglect to do.

4. Set Some Intentions

This ritual can be combined with taking a shower, or meditating on waking, or as a standalone task, but it is a powerful precursor for the day ahead. What do you want out of the day? Spend a few moments thinking about that question, and then set the intention to achieve just that. It could be to smile more, or not get stressed, or to do something charitable, but whatever it is, make it positive and your entire day will follow that lead.

5. Play Some Music

Make music part of your morning ritual and you are guaranteed to start the day on a high. Choose a playlist of your most uplifting songs and play it as you get ready; sing-along, or even better dance around as you make breakfast or get ready.

6. Drink Hot Lemon Water

…make lemon water! Drinking hot lemon first thing in the morning is a brilliant way to detox the body and aid digestion, and can give your skin a healthy glow. Not only that, but with powerful antioxidant properties, it can help to ward off infections, and boost the immune system.

7. Picture Success

Whatever the day ahead holds, picture it in your mind as going brilliantly. The law of attraction states that thoughts become things, and no matter what is in store for you – from filing all that paperwork to making a big presentation at work – envisioning it as being a success ensures that it will.

8. Be Grateful

The law of attraction also states that you will attract that which you are thinking and/or feeling. By having a scarcity mindset, you are encouraging more scarcity. Conversely, coming from a place of gratitude will ensure that you keep receiving more of what you are grateful for. Spare a few moments every morning (and any given time during the day) to offer thanks to the universe for all the good things in your life, and you will find yourself rewarded with more good things!

9. Love Yourself

Love starts with ourselves. As you’re getting ready for work, or school, or whatever your day entails, spare a few minutes to look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself how great you are. Simple affirmations such as saying ‘I love you’ to your reflection will work wonders. Alternatively, something along the lines of ‘I am strong, I am happy, or I am beautiful’ will also raise your energy levels and make your day better.

10. Enjoy Your Coffee

Whatever your morning drink of choice is, turn it into an enjoyable ritual. Buy your favorite coffee blend, or those expensive tea bags you covet, and really make a ‘thing’ out of preparing it. Then when it is ready, sip it and savor it, enjoying the smell, the taste, and the warmth as you drink. This is a great way to be mindful and is also a useful exercise in practicing the art in other areas.

11. Treat Yourself

Have you ever heard the expression ‘a little of what you fancy does you good’? Apply it to life as an act of self-love and watch how important those little moments become. If chocolate is your thing, then splash out on a good quality bar and enjoy just one square with that morning coffee. If cookies are your sweet treat of choice, allow yourself one with your tea and really enjoy it. These little moments of luxury can elevate even the most average of days.

12. Appreciate Nature

When you step outside the door to start your day, leave a minute or two earlier and just stand and appreciate nature. Smell the air, listen to the birds, and feel the sun/wind/rain on your face. This is a powerful way to reconnect with the universe and is the perfect reminder that you are part of something much bigger, and something infinitely wonderful.

13. Spread the Love

Helping others is a sure-fire way to help ourselves. Make someone else’s day a little bit better and watch how yours comes alive! Pay for a random stranger’s coffee, compliment someone on their shoes, or smile at someone who looks like they could do with a friendly face…you never know what battle someone else is fighting, and your random act of kindness can literally change their day and possibly even their life.

30 Daily Inspirational Quotes to Start Your Day and Avoid the Morning Rut

Draw motivation from these daily inspirational quotes to start your day on a high, and keep that positive momentum going right through from morning until night. With 30 inspiring snippets from some of the wisest men and women of all time – writers, philosophers, and even Buddha himself – there are plenty to choose from to uplift and keep you motivated to really love the life you’re in.

1. Zig Ziglar Relates Motivation to Bathing

“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar

Motivation, in a way, is like bathing. We bathe everyday because the bath or shower we took yesterday has worn off. The motivation that we had yesterday has probably worn off as well. We need to re-fill our motivation everyday and wash off the old one.

2. Buddha Believes in the New Day

“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.” – Buddha

Each morning is a new day with new opportunities. Whatever happened yesterday is in the past and should stay in the past. There is a reason each day has a different number and a different name. It is because every day is different than the last and different than the next.

3. John Wooden Believes Each day Should be Amazing

“Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden

There should be 365 masterpieces in a year. One for each day. Every day is a new change to make your dreams come true. Never take a day for granted because nobody knows how many we have. Make the most of them and do something to better yourself every day.

4. Albert Einstein Values Imagination

“Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.” – Albert Einstein

The thoughts that you have and the dreams you have are a preview of what life can bring to you. These thoughts and dreams will never become reality unless you go after them with everything that you have. Seize the day and make your dreams come true.

5. Denise Brennan-Nelson Believes in Setting Goals

“Someday is not a day of the week.” – Denise Brennan-Nelson

Start today, start right now. Working toward your goals is not something you can procrastinate as if it were a college paper. Telling yourself you will start someday is not setting a goal. Goals need to be detailed and they need to be achievable with a time table.

6. Henry James has had Enough

“It’s time to start living the life you’ve imagined.” – Henry James

Enough is enough. There is no need to be living a life that you hate anymore. Nobody is going to get you the life that you want, it is up to you to work for it and achieve it. It is time to start living the life that you see every time you close your eyes.

7. Jimmy Johnson Knows it only Takes a Little Bit

“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson

The difference between being ordinary and being extraordinary is by doing a little more. It is by pushing through when most people would quit. It is about never giving up on your dreams no matter how far away they may feel.

8. George Elliot Believes it is Never Too Late

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Elliot

It is never too late to chase your dreams and it is never too late to achieve them. No matter what your age is, it is admirable to follow your dreams and not be comfortable living a life you never wanted. Too many people get comfortable and safe and forgo their dreams and goals for a satisfactory life instead of an amazing one.

9. Steve Jobs Advises you to be Yourself

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs

Time is limited on this earth, nobody knows how long we will live. Do not spend your time working to be someone that you are not. Work toward becoming who you want to be. Life it too short to be living someone else’s life.

10. Grandma Moses Believes Life is About Us

“Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.” – Grandma Moses

The life that you live is not determined by outside sources. The life that you live is determined by what you make of it. Everybody is faced with challenges they have to overcome. Some people complain about them, some people overcome them and use them to get stronger and better.

11. Lao Tzu Values Slow Progress

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” – Lao Tzu

Every journey and every endeavor has to start somewhere. Patience is one of the biggest virtues in the world. If you have patience you can accomplish anything in this life. Nothing worthwhile happens overnight. Everything in life is about small and consistent progress.

12. Dalai Lama Believes Happiness is from Within

“Happiness is not something readymade. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama

Happiness is not predicated on someone else and it is not here for the taking. Happiness is made through the steps that it takes to get to where you want to be in life. You have succeeded in life when you get to a point when you are truly happy.

13. Lao Tzu Believes in Letting Go of the Maybe’s

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” – Lao Tzu

When you let go of what you currently are, you can become what you want to become. We all envision the person that we want to become but sometimes it feels out of reach. We must work every day to become that person and start to believe we can. It starts with letting go of who you are today and working toward who you are supposed to be.

14. Jin Rohn Believes in Taking Charge

“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” – Jin Rohn

Either you take charge of the day and do what you want to do or you listen to other people and do work to further them. Stop living your life based on the ideas of other people. Start to take charge of the day and use every minute to better yourself.

15. Carl Bard Believes You Change Your Life’s Ending

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” – Carl Bard

We cannot change the past, we can only learn from it. However, anyone can change the ending of their life. If you do not like the past that you are heading down, then do something to change it and set yourself on the right path.