Twenty Day Challenge - Day 6, "Win the Morning"

Tim Ferriss, author of Tools of Titans, has a saying, "win the morning, win the day." 

In 'Titans' he explains that eighty percent of highly successful people (what does that mean?) have a meditation practice. 

Mindfulness is an ancient art with no religious or political underpinnings. That means you do it without stepping on anyone's beliefs. 

Nobody special used it, excepting Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, most professional teams, and Olympic athletes. 

What does mindfulness do, objectively? Here is a shortened list:

• Improves focus, even in elementary school children
• Improved focus leads to better grades and standardized test scores
• Increases brain density in learning and memory areas on MRI 
• Decreases brain density in the amygdala, the brains stressed area
• Lowers blood pressure
• Reduces anxiety and depression
  
• Lowers circulating stress hormones

And it takes limited time (as little as ten minutes daily) and is free. I favor the UCLA Mindfulness site. 

There's no magic formula or 'musts' to include in your morning routine. A few might include:

- Twenty to thirty minutes of pleasure reading

- Listening to a TED Talk or MasterClass (I do this) 

- Walking or other exercise

- Online brain activation (Wordle from the New York Times is free)

- Keeping a journal (e.g. blogging) 

Lagniappe (something extra).

In basketball, the saying is, "great offense is multiple actions and great defense is multiple efforts." There's a lot here with a great dig by Ava McSorley and Manon Marchais follows that up with a block.