Posts tagged Mindset

How to End Your (Mon)Day Right

Good morning all, hope the weekend was great and you are feeling ready for this new Monday morning! Since last weeks post was about “How to Start your Monday Right“, it was suggested by one of my lovely subscribers to write a post on How to end the day right. Now as you know I am no expert, but I love to share with you little tips and trick I have learned and utilised over time.  You have by now, learn to start your day in a way that sets you up to win. By winning I mean making your day and hopefully the rest of your week as productive and as rewarding as it could possibly be.

Again, while there is no one exact way to complete a day, I believe it ending it well sets you up for the next day. So what ways will be great to end your day, basically this is a writable version of my night-time routine.

Alarm

How to End Your Day Right

I am not ashamed to admit but I like to be in my bed at 10 pm during the weekdays. I do not always go by this rule during the weekends but come Sunday night, my uniform for work and bag is packed and I endeavour to be in my bed by 2130/45 hrs.  This allows me 15 to 30 mins to reflect on my day. I can use this time to fill in my diary, tick off my to-do list and make sure my planner is up to date. The same way I have an alarm set for the morning, I have one set for night time. This way I do not lose track of time.

Take a break

When the day starts and you have all those things on your to-do list, it is easy to get lost in getting things completed. I am bad for this. For example, when I relocated yet again to my new place, I was very determined to have my room set up as soon as possible. (check out my earlier post on how to make a move easier) One, mainly because for me an untidy room equals a confuzzled mind. As my aunt will say, ‘I can’t think far’ when my room is in a messy state. I practically took a day to sort it all out and did not eat until I had finished after 10 pm. This is obviously not a good habit. So, when you start something,  learn to take a break. It is recommended to take a break every 40 to 45 mins, especially if what you do requires staring at a screen for longer periods of time. In all honesty, I think this is something I need to do more of.

Phone and Social Media

This is nothing new and I am sure all that I am about to say, you have already heard. The same way it is advised to not use your phone first thing in the morning is the same way you shouldn’t use your phone when you are winding down and getting ready for bed. You put your brain in a reactive state, taking in unnecessarily information which your brain has to take in, as well as to process and respond to. Use that time to read or spend time talking to a loved one. using the last bit of the day to reflect and meditate is really important.

Message

How to end your Day Right

In the same way, that morning messages are important so are the messages that you hear before you go to bed. It is said that you dream about the things that you were thinking off before you fell asleep. So whatever you receive you take into your subconsciousness. Therefore it is important that you reaffirm the messages you said and heard in the morning.

Now I am not perfect and although these are the practices I have put in place I do not always follow them. It is easy to give advice but not so easy to follow them yourselves. However, I find it much easier to follow these when I am on my own. This works for me, you do not have to follow it to the T. Hopefully if you find this post to be helpful you can adopt the practices that you believe will be helpful.

Comment below things that you like to do to complete your day.

 

How to Take Charge of Your Morning

I know it has been a while since I did a post dedicated to motivation and to really inspire us all to do more. This is mainly because I had fallen out of my habit of listening to motivational speeches in the morning.  I have started doing this again and honestly, I can’t believe that I actually eased out of it. It is not a habit I want to lose. For me, it helps me to take hold of my morning and therefore the rest of the day.

Sovereignty and Power in the Morning

My most productive days are usually determined by how I start my morning. Which is why what I feed into my mind is so Important. Jim kwik states “most people give away their sovereignty and power away first thing in the morning, the first thing that they will do is to check their phone for everything, by doing this dopamine is realised and the brain begins to rewire, training them to be distracted all the time”.  Imagine having your brain distracted for a min, then hours, then days, can you see how unproductive you are most likely to become? If the first you do in the morning is something that moves you, it will prepare you to do the same for the rest of the days.

Make Your Bed

How to take Charge of your morning

Like everything, it is easier said than done. Most of us know that the habit of checking our phones first thing in the morning is not healthy.  Nevertheless, we still find it difficult to stop. ‘Bad habits are easy to form but hard to live with’. If you do not want your days spent distracted, then it is best we create new habits for the morning. How do we do this?

Lets us start with the little things. In a  speech by Admiral William McRaven, he tells his audience if you want to change the world then start by making your bed in the morning. this may sound silly initially but as he goes on to explain it all falls into place. making your bed in the morning is simple. Meditating for 2-5 mins is simple (same amount of time if not more you will spend on your phone). The point is if you can allow yourself to do the simple things first, it will bring you satisfaction and push you onto bigger things.

MANAGE YOUR MORNINGS

Your phone is not your alarm

Here are a few things I have learned to use to help me manage the first hour of the mornings.

  1. Buy yourself an alarm. the excuse that your phone is your alarm is ancient now. First of all alarm clocks are not expensive but you can get fancy if you want. I have one which slowly lights up my room (mimicking sunrise) before the music starts. this way I am not jerked out of my sleep and waking up in the morning is a more pleasant experience.
  2. Read a morning devotional / Write down or speak affirmations for your day. What do you want your day to be like? You need to see it in your vision before it becomes a reality. How to take charge of your Morning
  3. Make your bed!
  4. Affirm this with a podcast / audible book/ meditate / as you get ready for the day.

These are four very simple steps that are not time-consuming at all.  As you get more comfortable you can include into it exercise as well.

Hope you find this post and tips useful, be sure to comment if you have other things that you do in the mornings.

“Good habits are hard to make but easy to live with, Bad habits are easy to make but hard to live with”

Christians Should Not Have Wealth (a.k.a Rich)

Question, why are Christians in the public eye, attacked for having materialistic wealth? Yes, I am aware that the love of money is the roots of all evil, but it is the Love of money and not the money itself. 1 Timothy 6:10. There have been many who have taken advantage of the faith and turned it into a business to make money. This has created the stigma that everyone or anyone who “makes it” in that line of work has lost their way. Are Christians meant to remain in a certain state of wealth throughout life to prove that they truly serve God?  This Post is not to advocate for the pursuit of money and richness but to question the mentality that is held when in it comes to Christians and Wealth. 

MO MONEY MO PROBLEMS

You cannot be rich if your a Christ
The photograph was taken from Google/Instagram

Christian rapper Lecrae posted this picture on Instagram and it wasn’t long before people were commenting about the car in the background. Whether or not the car belonged to him, his faith was now in question. Why is his ‘wealth’ a direct link to his faith in God? God did not create us to be a people always and constantly in need, Psalm 35:27.  There are many people in the Bible who God blessed with wealth both physically and spiritually as they walked with Him. Let us start from the beginning, Adam. When Adam was created he was given everything God had created. Not in want or need of anything. Abraham walked with God and he was blessed with richness.

Genesis 13:2 ” Now Abram was really rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold”

Alongside this are other verses such as Genesis 24:1, 24:35, 30:43. Job, Isaac, Esau, David, Solomon, Jacob all were men whose heart was truly for God even in their richness. They acknowledged the blessings they had but most importantly knew who they served. Let us not forget that these men were also hard workers.

MINDSET

The mindset that Christianity and poverty go hand in hand, often in reference to Matthew 19:23-24 is incorrect. In this story, the young man’s heart was in his possessions and not in God, hence why when Jesus told him to sell what he had and give it to the poor he was sorrowful. He was not willing to leave what he had to follow Jesus.  Those with this mindset also believes that those who spend to the extent of buying jets, islands and the likes are not ‘men of God”. Firstly, “why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye but does not notice the log that is in your own eye?” Matthew 7:3. Whilst one sits and hides behind a screen and criticise others on social media, they themselves do not realise the negativity they spread. In 2 Corinthians 8:9 it is said that Christ became poor so that through his poverty you may become rich. Why would Jesus go through all that he did for us so that we can stay on this earth and remain in poverty?

“people have misconstrued idea that because of humility and meekness you cannot be wealthy”

WEALTH WILL LEAD YOU ASTRAY

Another reason why some people tend to have this mindset is the belief that it will lead people astray. Of course, this can happen, has happened and unfortunately will continue to happen. But here is a surprise, the same happens to those in poverty.

“Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain”. (Prov. 30:8-9)

Either state of mind and physicality can turn a man away from God. It is more important for us to be concerned with where our treasure lays because that is where our heart is also.

GIVING

Giving is at the heart of the Christian faith. But how can we give if we do not have?  Seek ye first the kingdom of God and everything will be added on to you. Matthew 6;33. As descendants of Abraham, we are to be lenders and not borrowers [paraphrased] Deuteronomy 28;12-13. God gives us first according to his riches so that we can bless others. Can we consider that this may be the reason why this fellow men and women of God may have acquired the riches that they have? Do not short change your self because of the wrongs of false prophets.

CONTENTMENT

As said at the beginning of this post, this is not to encourage people to pursue money, gold and worldly riches. I aim to dispel the concept that those who have these are not true Christians. We can neither be happy in poverty or in riches if we do not have contentment. As Paul said in Philippians 4:11-13, being content in wherever you are is more important than where you actually find yourself (paraphrased).  Also, we do not really know these people personally. If we truly wish to correct those we feel have fallen off the ladder due to their wealth then let us do it right.

“Lastly, don’t criticise just because you can, especially without context or content. You just sound like a hater”.

Be sure to check out this post which gives a broader insight into this topic.

It has been a while since I left with a quote but I want to end on a positive note.

“Do the best you can until you know better. then when you know better, do better”.  – Maya Angelou