by Dr. Anthony McFarland
No matter where you are in life at this moment, there is at least one thing that you and I have in common: We want to improve our lives and ourselves. We want to live out loud for Christ in a big way. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with us, but as human beings we’re born with a desire to continuously grow and improve. I believe it’s within all of us based on God’s design. Yet most people wake up each day and life pretty much stays the same.
If success and fulfillment were measured on a scale of 1 to 10, it’s safe to say that everyone would want to live every aspect of their lives at a Level 10.
Here’s the catch: To create the Level 10 life that you ultimately want, you must first dedicate time each day to becoming a Level 10 person who is capable of creating and sustaining that level of success God intended them to experience.
But who has time for that, right? Luckily, there is a method to do it in as little as six minutes a day.
Enter the life SAVERS, a sequence that combines the six most effective personal development practices known to man. While someone could invest hours on these practices, it only takes one minute for each -- or six minutes total -- to see extraordinary results.
Just imagine if the first six minutes of every morning began like this:
Minute 1: S is for silence.
Instead of hitting the snooze button, and then rushing through your day feeling stressed and overwhelmed, invest your first minute in sitting in purposeful silence. Sit quietly, calm and peaceful and breathe deeply. Maybe you meditate. Center yourself and create an optimum state of mind that will lead you effectively through the rest of your day.
Maybe you say a prayer of gratitude and appreciate the moment. As you sit in silence, you quiet your mind, relax your body and allow your stress to melt away. You develop a deeper sense of clarity, purpose, and direction.
Minute 2: A is for Affirmations.
Pull out and read your page of affirmations -- written statements that remind you of why God created you, your purpose, your unlimited potential, your most important goals and the actions you must take today to achieve them. Reading over reminders of how capable you really are motivates you. Looking over which actions you must take, re-energizes you to focus on doing what’s necessary today to take your life to the next level.
Minute 3. V is for visualization.
In your prayer time use your imagination that God gave you! Close your eyes and visualize what it will look like and feel like when you reach your goals. Seeing your ideal vision increases your belief that it’s possible and your desire to make it a reality because God is with you!
Minute 4. E is for exercise.
Stand up and move your body for 60 seconds, long enough to increase the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain. You could easily do a minute of jumping jacks, push-ups, or sit-ups. The point is that you raise your heart rate, generate energy and increase your ability to be alert and focused.
Minute 5. R is for reading.
Read the word daily by purpose to read one chapter of proverbs. Grab the self-help book (that speaks to your area of expertise or growth) you’re currently reading and read one page, maybe two. Learn a new idea, something you can incorporate into your day, which will improve your results at work or in your relationships. Discover something new that you can use to think better, feel better and live better.
Minute 6. S is for scribing.
Pull out your journal and take one minute to write down something you’re grateful for, something you’re proud of and the top one to three results that you’re committed to creating that day. In doing so, you create the clarity and motivation that you need to take action.
Start today.
How would you feel if that’s how you used the first six minutes of each day? How would the quality of your day -- and your life -- improve? We can all agree that investing a minimum of six minutes into becoming the person that we need to be to create the lives we truly want is not only reasonable - It’s an absolute must. Pick up a great read entitled: Extreme Makeover of The Mind!