ARTICLE: 3 Questions, 5 Minutes a Day: Make leaps towards greater

ARTICLE: 3 Questions, 5 Minutes a Day: Make leaps towards greater
balance in one single week with the Shicka Boom 5 Minute Morning
Balance
Ritual - By Laura Lallone, Certified Life Coach **


This article is dedicated to a woman that I've never met and probably
never will. Tall with dark, dark hair, she was perfectly manicured in a
tailored suit with high-heeled pumps. We shared a subway car in
Manhattan
two years ago. She was standing, holding onto the subway car strap and
meticulously applying three coats of mascara as the train bumped and
shifted. With my jaw dropped in reverence of her talent, I imagined
this
to be her morning routine because she was REALLY good at it. (I can
barely
put on clear lip gloss in a movin 737g66h g vehicle.)

We all have morning routines and daily repetition makes us experts at
them. What's your morning routine? Does it help to balance and center
you
for the day - or leave you feeling scattered?

I invite you to try a powerful five minute morning ritual to set your
day
off with awareness and consciousness, moving daily towards the balance
and
fulfillment you desire. The ritual is very simple, consisting only of
three simple questions. The secret is to be honest, give yourself the 5
minutes. and to ask the questions.

Question 1: What am I grateful for?

This question holds astonishing power. If you only remember one thing
from
this ritual, please remember this question! Write it down and put it in
at
least three very visible places. Maybe you will choose your bedroom
dresser, your desk or the dashboard of your car. This question has the
capacity to change a mood and soften a heart in seconds.

What are you grateful for? WHO are you grateful for? What are the gifts
you've been given in your life that you sometimes take for granted?
What
are some gifts that are so obvious that you may never even notice them?

Question 2: What are my intentions for today?

Where are you now and where do you want to be at the end of the day?
Meaning, what do you want to accomplish today? Beyond the "doing," how
do
you want to feel? How do you want to be or conduct yourself during the
day

Close your eyes and imagine your day is set on a theatrical stage. How
do
you want the audience to feel about you as they watch you "play"? What
do
you want them to notice about how you are being? How do you want to be
if
things don't go as planned?

Asking yourself this one question may be the most powerful way to
achieve
what you want in life. After all you can't get to where you want to be
if
you don't know where that is.

Question 3: What's most important today?

Keeping in mind your gratitude and intentions for the day, consider
again
all the aspects of your life: personal development, your intimate
relationships, your family, friends, finances, career, health,
recreation
and spirituality.

Now, close your eyes and imagine yourself 10 years from now. What does
the
future you say is most important for you today? It's really easy to
come
up with what SHOULD BE most important (as defined by society) but
resist
the urge to give into that voice. Take a deep breath and listen deeper.
Trust that you have all the answers inside.

Some find that it helps to ask this follow-up question: What ONE THING
can
I do today to significantly improve the quality of my life? Don't
concern
yourself with the size or magnitude of your answer. It changes. Some
days
it might be "apply to graduate school" and other days it might be
"organize my office".

Helpful Tips to Make It Stick

To make this ritual "stick," create a fertile "habit-forming"
environment

1. Fly solo. Use the five minutes as valuable alone time to ground
yourself. Once this ritual is second nature, then I invite you to use
these three questions in conversation with your family, significant
other
and even work teams.

2. Be consistent. Select a specific time and location to perform your
morning ritual. For example, lying in bed from 7:30-7:35am or on your
morning commute from 8:30-8:35am.

3. Take it lightly. Have fun. Unpleasant tasks don't become habits. The
morning ritual isn't a task. It's a way of consciously looking out at
your
day. Set the intention to create a daily ritual; to create a habit. But
don't sweat it if you miss a day.

4. Start small. Stick to five minutes in the beginning. Perhaps you'll
expand to 10, 15 or 30 minutes. Maybe not. A new program quickly gets
abandoned when if feels like a burden, especially in the morning!

5. Keep no secrets. Tell someone about your morning ritual and ask the
friend, coach, significant other or whomever to support you in keeping
on
track. This might sound like, "Terry, I've started a morning practice
to
keep myself balanced and focused on what's important during the day. It
would be really helpful if you asked me how it's going every now and
then
It just really helps to have you know what I'm up to."

Experiment and have fun. I'd love to hear how you've experienced the
ritual and any other morning ritual ideas that work for you!