From the course: Happiness Tips

How to start your day and enjoy music

From the course: Happiness Tips

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How to start your day and enjoy music

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- The first minute of your day sets the tone, and most of us hear the alarm clock go off and we think to ourselves "oh no, is it that time already?" and the bed is so comfortable. How I hate getting up. But this isn't a very positive mindset for starting your day, is it? What if you leapt out of bed saying "oh, I feel great today! Let's get started!" Before you get a chance to even think, get out of bed and tell yourself you feel great. Say that the day is going to be great, you're really looking forward to all it will bring, and say it out loud, if you can, and you will find that you really can fool yourself. Your subconscious, which generates your emotions, does what you tell it. If your habit is to always feel bad when you wake up, that's what it will do for you the next time your alarm clock goes off. And as you plod to the bathroom, you're telling it to generate negative feelings, which it will do for you. But if you leap out of bed, making positive noises, you're telling it that something has changed, and that from now on, you want positive feelings when the alarm clock goes off, and it will do this for you instead. If your body language is positive as you walk to the bathroom, you'll fool your subconscious a bit more. There's no catch to this, it works and it's free, so please do try it. It really is all in the mind, and we know that because if you're getting up at 5AM to drive to the airport to go on your holidays, you feel great, don't you? You're wide awake straight away, and you're feeling good. So the potential to do this every day is already within you. By the way, you have to believe what you're saying. If you groan the words "I feel great, I love getting up early," then you won't fool anyone, let alone yourself, so it has to be convincing. You have to fake it 'till you make it. I think the quickest way that you can change your mood for the better, and it's free as well, is to put on some great music. Don't underestimate the power of music. From the moment you get up, put on some rousing or lively music. Maybe The B-52's' Love Shack, or Do Your Thing by Basement Jaxx. I use my phone when I'm travelling for work and staying in hotels, sometimes quite depressing ones, and on my phone I only have cheerful music. So when I get up, I just put it on shuffle, and everything it chooses will do the trick. If you've got up to Badlands by Bruce Springsteen, you're ready for anything. This is a bit of a sacrifice because most of the music I really love is quite depressing. Things like Del Amitri and Janis Ian, and Jackson Browne, and The Smiths, but listening to them really does change my mood so I know that when I get up I need the more cheerful stuff. So you could maybe make a playlist of music that you like and which is cheerful. Maybe Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves, or Echo Beach, or New Shoes by Paolo Nutini, or Tom Petty's Learning to Fly for example. In fact, while I was writing this, I listened to Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al, and I also had a mini moment listening to the sax solo on Year of the Cat. That was ten seconds of pure happiness right there. And this cheerful music campaign could also be while you drive. In fact, if you're the only one in the car, it has the extra benefit that you can even sing along to it as you drive around town. Personally, I like to sing along to Bob Dylan, I can even do the voice, but let's not go there. So to help you with this, I've collected a list of suggested music that's uplifting and also good quality in my opinion, and here's a link to my playlist. Email me with ideas if you think I've forgotten anything. So, start your happy music campaign today! What would you listen to when you get up tomorrow morning? And don't forget, as the alarm goes off, and you leap out of bed, feeling good, and ready to face the day, what would you say to yourself?

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