I love starting out the day on the right foot.

It doesn’t come naturally to me.  For a long time, I woke up grumpy and grouchy, and this naturally contributed to what I manifested in the day ahead.

Over the last year I’ve developed a few tricks to start my day in a great mood, and let me tell ya, the change in my life has been magnificent.

“What you think about, you bring about,” said Lisa Nichols in the Secret.  And your waking thoughts are especially potent, because you are still on the border between conscious and unconscious thinking.  Your unconscious mind needs to be tended carefully, because what you plant there grows, and grows rapidly.

I wanted to grow really positive thoughts so I could manifest really positive things.  So I started simple.

Happy Morning Trick #1:

Wake up with thoughts of gratitude.

Gratefulness is one of the most powerful emotions we can use for manifesting.  When Mike Dooley described this technique in the Secret, it really resonated with me.  Especially when he repeated his tagline, “Thoughts Become Things.”

When you wake up grateful, your unconscious mind picks up on that and begins to look around for more things to be grateful for through the rest of the day.

If you wake up groggy, thinking about how oyu don’t want to face the day, what is your unconscious mind going to be on the lookout for?  Things you probably don’t want.  And those things manifest, when your first thoughts of the day are grumpy.

Wake up and think of one thing you are grateful for.  And then use….

Happy Morning Trick #2:

Happy Snooze

For the duration of your snooze, repeat a predetermined affirmation.  Don’t actually go back to sleep; devote your snooze time to programming your subconscious mind with the thoughts you want to be carrying around throughout your day.

Brian Tracy gave me my current favorite affirmation:

“I believe something wonderful will happen to me today.”

I say this after I hit the snooze button, over, and over, and over.  And you know what?  My days have been pretty wonderful lately.

Happy Morning Trick #3:

Take Enough Time

If you wake up with just enough time to race through your morning routine and dash out the door, any unplanned occurence will throw you off and (quite possibly) derail your emotional state.

The unexpected happens.  Allow for it.  Wake up early.

I was initially resistant to this, because I was “not a morning person.”  Then I tried it for one month.  Waking up at five is tough on the body for a few days, but then you get used to it.  Especially if you use…

Happy Morning Trick #4:

Do something you love in the morning.

Have something to look forward to, something to be excited about, something that makes you look forward to rolling out of the bed in the morning.  What do you never seem to have enough time for?  Give yourself a half hour, first thing in the morning.

I love to read.  But I have kids, toddlers who haven’t developed the skills of parallel play yet.  For the last few years it’s been tough for me to find reading time.  Now, I know I have a half hour block every morning, when nobody else is awake, when I can drink a cup of green tea and read anything–anything I want.

It feels luxurious.

And starting your day in luxury helps you manifest anything–anything you want.