Kathleen Hassan is a nationally recognized speaker, author and confidence coach who inspires women and teen girls to find their inner power, build self-esteem & self-confidence and develop life skills for a joyful, healthy, balanced and successful life.

Visit her online at www.KathleenHassan.com

How do you begin your day? Most people roll out of bed and hit the ground running. Many of us can’t imagine starting off without an infusion of caffeine while drinking in the awfulness of the news and then can’t for the life of us figure out why we are exhausted and depressed by noon!

The average consumer is exposed to about 3000 advertising messages a day and nearly half of them hit you within the first hour of waking up. Crest, Braun, L’Oreal, Starbucks, CNN, CNBC, Blackberry, Panasonic, Coach, Louis Vuitton and the list goes on and on.

We’ve been assaulted, conditioned, brainwashed and barraged before we’ve even left the house! With all these products and services vying for space in your head, it is vital to carve out some time to set the direction and tone for your day rather than letting life decide for you.

As a life coach, my job is to help my clients move from conditioning to consciousness so they can choose and create a successful life from a source of inner strength and confidence. My job is not to give advice but to help a client go within and find their own truth. However, if I were to offer just one suggestion that I believe would help my clients achieve that it would be this –

Change the way you start your day . . . and change your life forever!

The great equalizer of humanity is the fact that each of us, whether we are rich or poor, male or female, skinny or fat, has been allotted 24 hours each day to live our lives to the fullest. Instead of allowing that 24 hours to run you, decide to begin each day setting an intention to create the life of your dreams. That doesn’t, however, mean being driven by your goals and to-do lists. Ironically when we make a conscious choice to begin each day with thoughtful attention to turning within, we become much more efficient and we will begin to see our dreams manifest before our very eyes.

Here are a few ways to begin your day that will help you to tap into a source of strength and inner power that will carry you through every challenge.

Develop a morning ritual. Every great athlete has a pre-game ritual. Is your day any less important and don’t you want to win today? Begin your day with a gratitude list. Find five things each morning for which you’re thankful. When you focus your attention on gratitude your attitude will reach new altitudes and you will attract more good back!

Quiet your mind by focusing on your breath. Don’t try to force or change your breathing, simply observe it and become aware of the inhalation and exhalation. Say to yourself “I know I’m breathing in… I know I’m breathing out.” Conscious breathing turns on the relaxation response and turns off the flight or fight response. Instead of going out the door prepared for battle, prepare yourself to step into the flow and let yourself be carried.

Develop a positive mindset by using powerful affirmations and visualizations. Learn how to harness the power of your thoughts by using positive self-talk and by picturing the ideal day in your mind.

Don’t let the title “The Perfect Start” scare you off or make you believe that you have to do any of this perfectly. It is the consistency and commitment to taking charge of your thoughts that will eventually bring to you your perfect day and life.

You may be thinking that you don’t have time to do all this and wondering why you should even bother? Here is the reason – like attracts like and thoughts become things. You will draw to yourself whatever it is that you are focusing upon. By turning your attention inward, you will connect to the peace, love, harmony and well-being of who you are – deep below the surface of your so-called “reality.”

It is this changeless, eternal part of you that remains unaffected by circumstances. When peace is the goal, rather than checking off the items on your to-do list, the stuff that needs to get done – gets done – without struggle, control, manipulation or burning up energy by trying too hard.

Just five minutes of quiet breathing, prayer, affirmations or simply setting an intention will have a dramatic effect on the way your day unfolds! When you consciously choose to be centered and focused, there is a much greater likelihood that the same kind of day will follow. Stop letting life shape you and decide today to create a life you love. As Ghandi once said “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

By beginning your day in peace, not only will you be assured a peace-filled day, you can actually change the world.

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