“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

– Marcus Aurelius

You’ve probably been told once or twice to “make each day count, ” but have you ever actually counted how many days you get?

The answer: about 26,000.

I didn’t pull that number of thin air either. Here’s the math: the World Health Organization estimates the average life expectancy for the world is around 71.4 years. A quick Google search (carry the 2) will tell you that 71.4 years equals 26,061 days.

So to save myself from having to write 26,061 over and over again in this post, I’m going to round down to 26,000. (Sorry, my laziness is costing you around 2 months.)

26,000.

26,000 days to make this one life of your’s count for something.

26,000 mornings where you get to open your eyes and enjoy the day.

Now, that may seem like a lot, but I assume you’ve already used up some of your’s. I’ve already used up 11,000 of my own! That means I have an estimated 15,000 mornings left. (Man, did you expect there to be so much math?)

Of course, this isn’t an exact science, but seeing these numbers does put things into perspective, doesn’t it? Every time I do it, it really gives me a sense of urgency to get my act together.

Now, how many mornings have you used up already? (Go ahead, do the math. Or Google it.)

Whatever that number is, write it down. (Or at least really think about it.)

Whatever your number of mornings is…ask yourself: “How many of those mornings did I waste?”

How many of your 26,000 mornings have slipped through your fingers?

Or better yet – how many MORE mornings can you afford to waste?

Time for better, happier mornings

But…mornings suck, right? I mean, just look at the graph below. It shows that, generally, most people are happiest around 6-7:00pm because they’re either home from work or school. BUT they’re least happy in the morning.

As a self-proclaimed “night owl,” I used to DESPISE mornings – we didn’t get along at all. And just to show my hatred of mornings, I’d hit my snooze button time after time to avoid it. (Take that morning!)

I truly believed that some people were born to be morning people and I never was, nor ever would be, a morning person. But then I started to really think about how many mornings I had left, and it dawned (pun intended) on me that the morning wasn’t the problem – I was.

And I wanted to have mornings that didn’t suck.

I wanted mornings that didn’t slip by.

I wanted mornings that allowed me to grow into the person I wanted to be every single day.

And ever since I decided to focus on my personal development, my morning routine has become a focal point of my journey of self-improvement.

I feel that waking up early sets the tone of “making a choice” for my day. If I leave it to fate as to when I roll out of bed, then I feel like that’s the outlook I’m taking in general. On the other hand, if I choose to get up early and do amazing things in those quiet hours, that’s when I feel like I’m grabbing hold of my life and controlling where I go.

That’s the choice I want to make.

Here are 3 strategies that I’ve found to be most effective for getting the most out of my 26,000 mornings.

Get an Energy Boost with Tea

Give yourself a morning boost while reaping health benefits by drinking green tea to rev up your morning engines.

This may be a hard strategy to carry out (especially if you’re a coffee lover like me). But after awhile of doing it, you’ll enjoy not relying on coffee or energy drinks to get you going in the morning.

I also felt that there’s something meditative and relaxing about making tea in the morning – from heating the water, to pouring the water, to drinking the tea.

I think of it as a tea meditation.

“I drink this tea like there’s no tomorrow. Nothing is more important in this world than drinking this tea right now.”

Try it out and you’ll start your morning with a caffeine boost, some health upgrades, and a relaxed mind.

Wanting to get into the tea game? I highly recommend this one.

Turn Off Distractions

Like most people, you probably immediately reach for your phone or iPad to check your email, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

If you do, then you need to stop. Seriously.

Think of it this way, there are plenty of other hours in the day to get distracted by email or social, so save your morning for something more precious. Why waste a beautiful morning with meeting requests or looking at your Facebook newsfeed?

Your morning is “me time” NOT “their time”.

And it’s almost impossible to focus on “me” when you’re constantly distracted. Here are some ways to get out of the bad habit:

Set your phone to Airplane mode

Check your email and social media apps only 2–3 times a day (around lunchtime, later in the afternoon, and evening).

(around lunchtime, later in the afternoon, and evening). Avoid browsing the Internet or reading the daily news

Habit Stacking