The School of Greatness - 996 This Evening Routine Will Transform Your Life

Episode Date: August 21, 2020

On today's 5-minute Friday, Lewis details a simple evening routine that will help you wake up feeling refreshed and hit the ground running the next day. Follow these four steps to build a more successful, productive life.Kobe Bryant on Mamba Mentality, NBA Titles, and Oscars: https://link.chtbl.com/691-podKevin Hart Breaks Down His Secrets to Success: https://link.chtbl.com/956-podKatherine Schwarzenegger Pratt on the Power of Forgiveness: https://link.chtbl.com/925-pod

This is 5-Minute Friday! I want to start this episode with a quote from Pastor Paula White who said, Your future is found in your daily routine. And while I used to believe that your morning routine is what set you up for a successful day, I've also learned that a conscious evening routine is equally as important. So I wanted to share with you what you can do before bed in order to hit the next day running. I've also learned that a conscious evening routine is equally as important. So I wanted to share with you what you can do before bed in order to hit the next day running. And there are four key steps.

But before I share these steps, I want to tell you a story. My entire childhood, I dreamed of being an All-American athlete. And I had the goal of doing it in both football and track and field. Now, track and field, I didn't decide that I wanted to be an All-American until I was actually in college. And it wasn't until about six months before the national championship that I decided I wanted to try a new event, which was the decathlon. Now, the decathlon has 10 different key events. And the challenge was I hadn't done some of those events. So I had a lot of making up to do before my six months at the national championship.

One of those events was the pole vault. I had never done. So I had no clue how to do the pole vault. And experts say that the pole vault is one of the hardest athletic feats to tackle in sports. So I had a lot to catch up before six months was up. And what I decided to do was I was going to make every minute count in the day, specifically my evening routine. This is when I started to truly tap into preparing for the next morning.

What I would do is I would watch a video, a highlight videotape of the best pole vaulters in the world and seeing them hit their personal best in the pole vault. Then I would actually lay upside down in my bed and do the movements that the pole vaulters were doing. I would act like I was running down the runway. I was putting the pole into the box and I was going upside down over the par, visualizing this and throwing my legs up in the air in my bed while I was watching this tape over and over again. I would do this for about 30 to 60 minutes a night for six months.

Then the next morning, I would actually go to practice at 6 a.m. in the pole vault practice and implement the things I was dreaming about and visualizing the night before. Now, this story is important because six months later, I actually became an All-American athlete after never trying the pole vault before these moments of actually implementing this process. And I credit it a lot to taking action every single day, but also having great coaching and this evening routine. Without this evening routine, I would not have been prepared for what was to come. So here are four key steps that I want you to think about for your evening routine. I want you to eliminate

electronics that cause distractions the hour before bed. Now for me, I had electronics because I was visualizing and repeating something I was going to implement the next day. So it's different if you're using electronics for that. But if it's distraction, if it's just news, if you're just watching mindless TV, that's not going to support you and set you up to win the next morning to be successful in your goals and in your dreams. So eliminate distractions from electronics at least an hour before bed. And I like to put the phone as far away as possible so I'm not tempted to check it in the middle of the night or early in the morning. Gratitude is the second step and it's huge for me. I practice gratitude first thing in the morning, middle of the day, team meetings when I'm with friends, and at night.

I always ask my girlfriend, what are three things you're most grateful for? And I share three things I'm grateful for right after. For whatever reason, sharing gratitude and hearing someone else share why they are grateful brings perspective in your life, lowers your stress, brings you to a place of perspective so you can really appreciate that moment and give you that restful sleep that you need. Then I'm visualizing the day.

This is step three. I like to visualize whatever that may be for you. Play a movie in your mind of how you want tomorrow to be. Create that visual representation of the inner actions, of the steps you're going to take, the actions, getting clear on exactly what you're going to do. And then the fourth step is to create a list of the concrete action steps for tomorrow. When I am clear on what I'm doing tomorrow, when I have a schedule in

place, then my mind isn't racing and questioning when I wake up, what am I going to do today? It's really focused on those key things that I want to do. If you do these four key steps, I guarantee you'll wake up feeling refreshed, motivated, and ready to go. If you find that this evening routine works for you and inspires you, then make sure to share with someone else who could use it and start applying it to their life. So grateful that you're here today on this five-minute Friday. If you enjoyed it, please subscribe over on Apple Podcast and leave a five-star review to help us spread the message of greatness to more people around the world.

And if you want inspirational messages from me every single week, then text me the word podcast to the number 614-350-3960. And I want to leave you with this quote from my friend and author Glennon Doyle, who said, a good day is a good day. A bad day is a good story.