There is a direct correlation between the speed of your early morning hours and the speed of the rest of your day. I noticed this connection some 10 years ago when I started working with my first coach. She asked me how I spent my early mornings and if I had a morning ritual that I enjoyed. I confessed that I usually hit the ground running, grabbing a cup of coffee and heading into my home office to launch into whatever hit me first. The only ritual was seeing how fast I could get moving before my then very small son woke up and needed my attention.

When she advised that I create a morning ritual that sustained rather than drained me, I eagerly took on the challenge. From that point forward I completely reinvented my morning routine. While I still had the coffee, I spent the first 45 minutes or so relaxing, reading inspirational or instructional material. I meditated. I walked. And I didn't even move toward my office until 8:30 or so. The changes that began to unfold in my life were amazing. And to this day, I honor those early morning minutes as among the most precious of the day.

I share this story with you because often, when I am coaching someone, or meet someone at a presentation or speech, they tell me how crazy their life is. They, like I used to, hit the ground running, filling their early morning hours with caffeine, bad news reports, and racing like mad to get wherever it is they need to go, or racing their children wherever it is they need to go. Maybe you can relate.

If you want to transform your harried life, I recommend that you start by transforming the first hour of your day. Create a morning ritual that soothes rather than stimulates, sustains rather than drains. Spend some time waking up your body with a few gentle stretches. Allow your mind to rest on thoughts of peace, inspiration or timeless wisdom rather than a repeat of the daily doom and gloom reports. Plan your next day's wardrobe the night before so you're not rushing to do a load of laundry or ironing in the mornings. And teach your family to respect and honor your quiet time.

There's a saying in leadership that "the speed of the leader is the speed of the gang." The corollary in terms of lifestyle is: "the speed of the morning is the speed of the day." Experiment this week with altering your morning routine. Even if you can only spend 15 minutes in quiet before the day begins, watch how the seed of peace takes root in the rest of your day. Mentally return to those few peaceful moments when you feel rushed or hurried during the day and that peace will again permeate your mind and spirit.

Gandhi said it well when he commented: "There has to be more to life than increasing its speed."

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Quote of the Week

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"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." ~~Ecclesiastes 3:1

Betty Mahalik has been coaching small business owners, independent professionals and leaders who want to achieve more but stress less, since 1996. Her background includes several years in the broadcasting and public relations fields prior to starting her own firm in 1987. She is an accomplished public speaker and corporate trainer specializing in communications, goal-setting and leveraging your strengths. Since 2001, she has written a weekly motivational message, free to subscribers, titled Monday Morning Coach.