You’re Awake, You’re Alive & You Feel Fantastic!

Obviously, sleeping is wonderful. It is restorative and restful.

The moment you awaken, however, is an even greater occasion. Here is the real opportunity. We get a chance to greet the day; to set the stage for prosperity.

Just like the saying—you only have one chance to make a good impression—the same can be said about rousing yourself from slumber. You get one chance to do it right; to poise yourself for success.

I’m going to share with you several ways to do this.

Inspirational speaker Esther Hicks proposes that we meet the day with thanks.

Say thank-you for another chance to do well, to succeed, and to be happy. You’ve just hit the reset button on your life and this day is a clean slate.

Pausing to appreciate where you are, what you have, the people in your life, and the people not in your life, your specific abilities and challenges. All of this is empowering.

We don’t have to succumb to the negative habit of wishing we had gotten more sleep or disparaging what is to come. Just lie there, eyes opened or shut or somewhere in-between.

Then say, “Thank you,” aloud or silently. By doing this you’ve launched the day in a way that will bring you even more for which to be grateful.

I like a phrase shared by one of my employees. She, in turn, heard it somewhere else, making it impossible for me to give its author full credit.

Upon achieving consciousness say, “I’m Awake, I’m Alive, and I Feel FANTASTIC!”

You won’t miss the irony in this statement if you’re hung over from too much partying or working the night before. It can even bring a smile to your face because of the possibly huge disconnection between your aches and pains and your spoken sentiments.

This is good because laughing at yourself and your situation will lighten you up, which is partly the aim of these affirmations.

The late Zig Ziglar, one of my favorite self-improvement authors, advocated doing something other than awakening and simply rising. Anyone can do that, and most do, without enthusiasm.

He said our goal is to quickly move from grumpiness or indifference into energized positivity. It is only from becoming aggressively enthusiastic that we’ll be able to succeed.

So, his tonic is to wake up, put your feet on the floor, and start clapping your hands!

It sounds outrageous, doesn’t it?

But harken back to that nursery school song, “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands!”

As kids, we loved doing it. So why not do it as grown-up kids?

I can tell you from personal experience that it works. As a professional speaker on the road, waking up in hotel rooms, I found again and again that ignoring my jet lag and applauding perfectly sets the stage for a wonderful day.

Within hours, I usually hear that applause coming back to me from grateful audiences, because I earnestly shared information with them, instead of drolly rolling it out.

Clapping and other techniques succeed, in spite of our feelings that they are goofy. As Dale Carnegie shared:

“If you act enthusiastic, you’ll BE enthusiastic.”

This is an incredible behavioral phenomenon, sometimes called the “act-as-if” principle.

Taking on the outer appearance of a positive emotion tends to make it manifest inside of us.

William James, an early psychologist, posed the same theory, proposing it as a question:

“Do we run because we’re afraid, or are we afraid because we run?”

The answer is, “both.”

We can actually make you feel the emotion of fear or anxiety if you’ll follow this simple direction.

Begin to breathe shallowly. Speed it up, so you’re panting. Within 30 seconds, and probably no more, you’ll begin to grow concerned about your health or well-being, guaranteed!

Please remember, we’re doing this only to demonstrate a point!

We associate being out of breath with being out of control and as creatures we don’t like this out of control feeling. It distresses us.

Even though you know that I induced you to do this exercise, by following my direction, your body will send a signal to your brain that something is wrong, though you know nothing is at all the matter. Deep in the reptilian part of our being, we reject this explanation, succumbing instead to emotions that are more primal. You can stop feeling anxious or fearful in a second when you restore regular breathing.

Happily, the same principle applies to tricking ourselves into feeling enthusiastic and optimistic.

We don’t clap without a good reason. Although we’ve artificially begun this act, thinking it silly and unbecoming, as we continue doing it something else takes over.

Like priming a pump, we’re “wasting” a little water to make the real thing gush out in quantity.

Our positive emotions flow forth because we associate clapping with appreciation, with having been rewarded, with liking something and wanting to get more of it.

You’ve had a terrible night’s sleep. So, what?

Say “thank you,” repeating it often.

Tell yourself, “I’m awake, I’m alive, and I feel fantastic!”

Start clapping, and don’t stop until you’re enthused and a grin is on your face.

I like reciting this affirmation, first thing in the morning: “I’m rich!”

This is especially useful when I’m feeling anything but affluent.

Maybe I had an expensive car repair as I did the other day. Unexpectedly, when taking a break from recording one of my books in a Hollywood studio, my car simply stopped running in the middle of the street.

It didn’t help matters that the temperature was over 100 degrees! I phoned the auto club and they asked, “Are you in a safe place?”

“No!” I shouted back over the din of passing traffic and honking horns.

Cars were barely stopping behind me, ignoring my hazard lights and waving arm, telling them to go around me.

The tow truck took me to the nearest Mercedes dealership.

“My gosh, this is going to cost a ton!” I recall thinking. I typically use local, independent repair shops.

I was feeling exhausted, impoverished, and almost overwhelmed because I still had half or more of the book to record. At first, they informed me it was going to be a small repair. Then they came back and broke the bad news.

After that small repair, my car still wasn’t running. I needed a new fuel pump.

But not to worry—I’d be loaned a brand new Mercedes courtesy car that would enable me to drive the 55 miles back to my home, return the next day, finish recording, and then pick-up my regular ride.

It turned out they needed an extra day to finish the repair.

Somewhere in the middle of this chaos I started to relax.

I let go of my concern about the repair expense. I began to enjoy the free coffee and refreshing air conditioning in the dealership. I wasn’t sitting in traffic, risking being rear-ended and stressed.

I recognized that I was getting the velvet glove treatment, really communicative customer service, which I appreciate.

At last, I started feeling rich, instead of poor.

Suddenly, I saw all of the positives in the experience. First, I stalled in the middle of civilization, not in a remote, deserted location. It was a weekday.

Though I had pushed to do the recording on a Saturday, the studio declined. Now I was relieved the car stalled out during the workweek when dealers were actually open.

I was even glad an authorized dealer was in charge of the repair. That gave me confidence the job would be done right.

A zillion things went perfectly, including the book recording, which I believe is one of my best. In spite of this sorry episode, I still completed the job in the anticipated amount of time.

My voice didn’t reveal any agitation on any of the sound tracks.

What was it, exactly, that turned things around?

It was that simple affirmation: “I’m rich.”

What is a slightly inconvenient and even rather costly repair to someone who is rich?

It’s a mere blip on the screen and nothing to stay agitated about.

When you start your day with this maxim, repeating to yourself, “I’m rich,” your experience will show you the many ways in which you are wealthy.

I left that episode with an added insight. My car is a classic. I love it. When I retrieved it at the dealer’s, it was gleaming from having been freshly detailed.

After test-driving that loaner I can honestly enthuse that my car rides better than the new ones, and it is far more sporty and beautiful.

When I drive it I feel truly rich.

I’m not missing a thing by watching the newer models being shown at the dealership.

I hope current buyers feel the way I do, after 10 or 11 years have passed.

You are rich, too.

Start the day wonderfully by reminding yourself of this fact.