It is super easy to get caught up in the craziness of life. I am currently a student at Utah Valley University and I am constantly taking on new projects (everything from this blog to the Bacon Bits podcast haha). So this week I thought about the simple things to help myself to stay grounded. The three things that I thought about all impact my daily attitude. I believe that attitude is self-determined but that there are things that we can do to make it easier. Those things that I thought about are my posture, my mornings, and sleep. (Of course, there are tons of other things that play into your attitude as well. Maybe I will talk about those some other time!)

Posture

I have never had the best posture. #chronicsloucher

I’m not sure why but when I am talking to someone, I will slowly start to shrink. Over the summer I had a friend point this out to me and I am super grateful for that. I asked that friend to help me out by pointing out when my posture is off so that I can correct it and basically from then on every time I saw her I remembered to “deslouch?” and now that I don’t see her, I have developed the capability to notice when I am slouching and to correct it!

How does this connect to attitude? Well, your posture is directly related to how people perceive your confidence. I have found that when you stand up straight, you display more confidence and people take what you say more seriously. When people take what you say more seriously, you start to take yourself more seriously and have a better attitude and outlook on life and your goals. It is a happiness domino affect!

Mornings

I am a morning person. I may have mentioned this previously but I really do enjoy getting up early and getting things done earlier rather than later. Now, this isn’t something that has always been true about myself (in high school I really didn’t like getting up early 😂). Over the last year, however, I either had to get up before 5am or right about 5am to get to work, work on homework, or go take a picture of some mountain. This has taught me the value of the morning.

I have fallen in love with that time, right before the sun rises and the world is quiet and peaceful. I focus the best during that time on whatever it is that I need to do.

Initially, I had thought that I would have to change my attitude to be able to do anything at that hour, but I found that it was the opposite. As I awaken my mind earlier, I find that I am better equipped to handle the issues of the day. I carry that peace that I love from the pre-sunrise morning throughout my day.

(*Disclaimer* I try not to stay up super late. My goal is to be in bed by 10 😴.)

Sleep

That brings me to my third point: Sleep. I love sleep. I love naps. I usually try to plan a nap somewhere around 1pm. (Unfortunately, I don’t always get it though and that may be a problem.)

Lately, I have seen how not getting to bed soon enough and getting up early has impacted the attitude that I carry throughout my day.  It’s not that I’m super cranky or mean but rather, more inwardly, I don’t have the best outlook on situations. It’s interesting though, over the summer I was sleeping less but was able to function at a higher level. (maybe that has to do with the focus that I had on one goal each day? Not sure, still trying to figure that out.)

This last week, I started to track my sleep quality through my watch and a phone app and found that the quality of my sleep is lacking. I have done this before, like two years ago, and back then my phone app rated my sleep at 80-85%. Now, the app is rating my sleep at 45-50%. Still trying to figure out why, but I have definitely seen how not getting the best sleep has influenced how easy it is to choose my attitude during the day (especially between 5-10 pm 😬).

Since I put my focus on these three things this week, I was able to clear out some of the clutter in my life and accomplish a lot more than I thought I could.

What are the simple things that make up your life and allow you to become better?

Also, shoot me a message if you have any suggestions that could help with my sleep! I love and am so grateful for each of you!

-Mitch