Creating Daily Disciplines // WRAPS
We know that creating daily disciplines or rhythms in our lives is important, but the question is, how does it all come together? How can we create these habits, and how do we know which habits to create? I’ve created a formulaic system to remember the crucial daily disciplines, and you’ll find it if you continue reading.
They journal their thoughts, meditate or pray, speak positive over their lives, read personal development books, workout, and listen to podcasts or success audios of others who have gone before them. They don’t do these things occasionally. It is a daily ritual, and they are non-negotiables in their lives.
So if successful people are forming these habits, and we want to be successful in our own endeavors, then it can be concluded that we need to develop these same habits into our daily lives as well. You’ll find many coaches or successful people talking about these very things, and, at first, it may seem super overwhelming.
How in the world am I going to fit all these habits into my already full life?
The solution? It doesn’t have to take hours to get all these habits in. You can cater them to your life and your schedule, and we’ll talk about this more in a minute.
One day while on a run, I was thinking about these daily habits, and I created a fun, formulaic way to remember the non-negotiables of successful people. That’s what I do on runs. I solve the world’s problems!! When it’s just me and my thoughts, watch out! I’m not sure if it’s the fresh air or the solitude or the fact that I’m doing something to better myself, but it’s the place where I’m inspired most.
The formulaic acronym that I created to remember these important habits is called WRAPS:
- W — Workout
- R — Read
- A — Affirmations
- P — Pray/Journal
- S — Success Audios
W is for Workout
We’re no good to anyone without our health. It’s a great idea to get that heart rate up even just a little first thing in the morning. It increases our endorphins and wakes us up to be productive throughout the day.
Our health is of utmost importance. This is one area that if you even commit to just 20-30 minutes a day, I promise you that you’ll feel a difference.
You’ll have more energy, more focus, and just plain feel better about yourself because you stinking did it even when you may not have felt like it.
R is for Read
Remember, leaders are readers. We must develop a love of learning into our lives if we don’t have it already. We just can’t grow and develop without it.
Reading is vital because it breaks us open and begins the necessary process of working on ourselves. It exposes our weaknesses and helps us develop our strengths. It’s not about how much we read, but it’s about applying what we read to our lives and creating a lasting change.
A couple blog posts ago I shared about the three books that have literally changed my life, so if you’re not sure where to start or what to read, maybe that will get your juices flowing. Pick up one of those books first!
Related: Life Changing Books
A is for Affirmation
Have you heard it said that what you say is what you get? Well, there’s more to it than that, but we naturally feed ourselves negative all the time. Our thoughts want to go to the negative right away rather than to the positive.
Affirmations help us to stay on the positive track and create a positive mindset. The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:8 to dwell on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy. It doesn’t say to dwell on the negative, whatever’s going wrong, why we can’t finish, and so on. How we speak to ourselves is what we will believe about ourselves.
Starting our day with some spoken affirmations gets our mind in the right place and helps us to build self-confidence. You can speak affirmations about your goals, your marriage, your finances, your career, your kids, yourself, or any other thing that you are struggling with currently that you want to change.
Think about it as a mini-pep talk to get you ready for the day! We can become our best cheerleaders!!
P is for Pray
I believe wholeheartedly in the power of prayer! However, if you don’t, then consider meditating, which is also a great practice. Prayer can calm our anxieties and create a peacefulness, a sort of rest. It’s a place where we can shed our frustrations and grievances. We can take off any emotional baggage.
Prayer is a place to build a relationship with a God who loves you and wants to take your cares on himself. It’s comforting to know that I don’t have to do all and be all because I have God on my side also, and if I just ask Him to come alongside, He will! He wants more than anything for us to prosper and live a life of abundance, but it starts with a true and vulnerable relationship.
I’m also going to insert journaling here.
I journal almost every morning, and sometimes it’s just my own thoughts, sometimes they are prayers to God in written form, and sometimes they are lists of gratitude.
Writing out our thoughts in the morning is a great way to release them and be ready to get to work. It can help us figure out what to focus on and what may not need attention at the moment. I also believe there’s value in logging your personal journey because you can look back on that and see where you came from and take pieces of that journey to help others as they walk through similar situations.
When I broke my ankle this past winter, I started an “Injured Runners Journal”, and it helped me log my thoughts and even figure out how I was feeling at times. Looking back, if I hadn’t taken the time to log the journey, I’m not sure I could even remember some of it, and it was a traumatic experience within just the last six months.
S is for Success Audios
The best way to learn is through others’ experiences. They are the greatest teachers. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to. What a way to get an education!
I usually throw a podcast on while I run, when I’m in the shower, or when I’m driving. Drive time is a great time to get a success audio in because you’re stuck in the car and have nothing else to do. Turn off the music and turn on something that will have a direct affect on your future! It actually makes my drive time enjoyable and something I look forward to.
“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.” — American politician Colin Powell
How to Get It All In
- Read 15 minutes a day in a personal-development book.
- Listen to audios while driving or getting ready in the morning (doesn’t take extra time, just changes what you do in that time)
- Pray and journey for the first 15 minutes of your day.
- Start with a short 20-minute workout.
- Get up an hour earlier than you normally do, or stay up an hour later.
- Create a morning or evening routine that reflects these habits.
Related: My Morning Routine
Related: My Evening Routine
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. This doesn’t have to take hours of your day. Start small. Stop making excuses and start taking small steps toward your goals.
FINAL STRETCH
So there you have it, my formulaic way to remember the daily disciplines that will move you forward in business, goals, and life. All you need to remember is WRAPS!
Create this habit, and you’re wrapping your day up in a bow.
Everyone likes a present, and they especially like one with a bow on top. It creates an essence of completion. Presents are fun, it’s something new and exciting. Kids could care less what’s inside half the time because the fun is in unwrapping the gift!
As you’re creating these habits, you’re creating change. You’re creating a new you. WRAPS gets all of that in there. It’s like you’re unpackaging a new you every day as you consistently develop these habits with WRAPS.
Our success is rooted in our daily habits. What we feed on, we will absolutely hunger for. Choose to feed on disciplines that will make you better and propel you forward.
Which of these disciplines is easiest or hardest for you? Comment below and let me know.
And, remember, you are a winner. Just run YOUR race!
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