How to Start Your Day With More Joy This Summer!

And again, I'm coming fresh off of a wonderful week at the beach.

where yes, I was able to have three mornings where I could go run, walk, and drink my coffee listening to an audiobook, but I also had pretty much every single morning waking up at the beach.

Both of our kids were snuggled right up between us in bed every single morning, and that to me personally is a moment I treasure and a moment I cherish because I know that they will not always want to be snuggled up and cuddled next to mom and dad.

And especially when you're not on vacation and you have to show up to work and you have a whole day of things that have to get done, right? That could also feel draining at the same time.

But I'm here to say we can focus on super small shifts, no matter what season of life you are in, where you can start your day with more joy.

And so the very first thing in order to start your day with more joy is to be let go of your phone, okay? Please, if you only listen to one thing and implement one thing from this list, try and challenge yourself to not start your day with your phone, okay? You can use an alarm or on your phone if you have to, right? But then move your phone somewhere else so you actually are physically getting yourself out of bed to turn off the alarm and then let that be the only interaction you have with your phone in that moment, all right? Or even better, you can use an actual alarm clock, an actual electronic device that keeps track of the time for you, right? We have our Hatch Restore, I believe is what it's called, and we use that for an alarm, which is very...

very nice.

It feels very luxury in a non-luxurious way.

And that is a good way to kind of break that habit with the phone if you're dependent on it for waking up.

And then especially if you're somebody who holds onto that phone and keeps it in your hand, telling yourself, oh, I'm waking myself up in the morning, when in reality, you're just feeding into yourself and not allowing the right truths to set your day up for success, right? And so don't start your day with your phone and instead really think about this.

What is the first voice that you want to hear in the morning, right? Just think and dwell on that for a moment.

What is the very first voice that you want to hear? Is the first voice that you want to hear, like your own voice affirming positive things and who you are, is the first voice that you want to hear you know, a spiritual presence? Do you want to hear from like God? Do you want to hear from what means the most to you, right? Think through what voice is the most important for you and how you want to start your day.

And don't let your phone get in the way, right? Because think about what you're doing when you're looking at your phone.

Are you scrolling social media? Are you reading an email? And all of a sudden you now are focused on you know, a demand that is needed of you in your inbox, right? Or a text message from somebody who also has a request that they are asking for.

And so really truly just think what is the first voice that you want to hear in the morning and then take time to fill your heart with truth as you start your day and not allowing that truth to be from your phone.

And what's really cool about this is that this is one super simple way to automatically start your day with more joy and just see, take you know, inventory of this, right? So much of everything in life is just trial and error and figuring out what works and what doesn't work and not putting pressure on yourself and just learning.

Be like, I'm curious.

Let's see.

Let's see what happens if tomorrow when I wake up, I decide I am not going to look at my phone or touch my phone.

for the first 15 minutes.

And instead, I'm going to do something else that speaks near and dear to my heart.

And then just see how your day is.

How do you feel about yourself? Because that is how you chose to start your day.