Every Minute is Determinant to Your Success

Dear loving people,

Do you wake up each morning thinking about people you don’t like, feeling stressed and anxious about the workday ahead of you? Jelly Wong says “Never Waste A Minute Of Your Precious Life By Squandering It Thinking About People You Don’t Like” Do you feel dread and fear when thinking about what you have to do to achieve your dreams? If you're like the vast majority of people, the answer is a resounding yes.

The American Psychological Association found out that the most commonly reported sources of stress include: Money, Work, The economy, Family responsibilities, and Personal health concerns and trust me, this is worse in Africa. So, what if you could alleviate some of that fear and stress each morning and every other minute you spend during the day? I would say that a greater part of the solution lies within your subconscious mind. Do you know that the way you handle every blessed minute of your day can largely determine how productive and effective you'll be throughout and consequently, how close you get towards your dreams? It’s the sum of your minute by minute state of mind and actions that either take you closer to your goals or further away from them.

It’s been proven that we have two distinct minds, the conscious and the subconscious. Brian Tracy explains that your conscious mind can be thought of as the gardener, planting seeds; your subconscious mind can be thought of as the garden, or fertile soil, in which the seeds germinate and grow. Your subconscious mind will act upon any request or instruction you give it. It cannot distinguish between what is real and what is imagined. It's been said that your subconscious mind is in control of at least 95 percent of your day. Simply put, if you wake up feeling stressed, anxious, and fearful about the day ahead, and picture all of the bad things that are going to happen, many of them will. If you flip that on its head and focus on all of the good things that are going to happen, many of them will. Dr. Joseph Murphy sums this up perfectly “As you sow in your subconscious mind, so shall you reap in your body and environment.”

This means that, "Getting off on the right foot isn't just important with relationships, it's important with the start of any workday, as well — particularly busy ones," says Michael Kerr. "The first 10 minutes can also set the tone and your attitude for the day — so it's imperative that you start it off right, with a clean slate."

Lynn Taylor agrees. "Those brief moments can predict your all-important mindset because they're the first impression of your day ahead," she says. "The first few minutes at the office can be the most stressful because there's a level of anxiety about what you may face: a sudden onslaught of urgent emails; last minute crises or meetings; a call to stop by the boss's office; a cranky coworker, and so on. It takes greater self-awareness, a positive mindset, and self-training each morning to counter what feels like negative gravity pulling you down as you face overwhelming demands."

She says you can, and should, choose to proactively resist the temptation to succumb to chaos by viewing morning developments as new challenges that you're equipped to handle. "You'll have a much more positive outcome by day's end, and in general," she says. "This is how the most successful people typically start their workdays."  Kerr says successful people tend to thrive on routine and habits. "Creating consistent habits is largely what makes them successful," he explains. "And a key time for habit-forming practices is at the start of the day." 

Taylor concurs. She says successful people most often follow a routine each morning to add some level of predictability to an otherwise unpredictable time of day. "They're about to face an array of new and unexpected issues, and they counter this with a strong positive mindset; a reliable, doable set of actions; discipline; and ability to focus." Once you've set a strong foundation for a productive day, you're in better stead to get meaningful results.

Just imagine what will happen if you integrate this as part of your minute by minute reflections and frame of mind? You will not have to do it consciously for long as it would have taken firm grip of your habits and thus you swing smoothly into the circle of high achievers.

In your place, I will give it a big try. After all, it will cost you nothing to try it.