SFH #83: The Two Minute Morning

A science backed method to start your morning 🌅

What if you could spend two minutes in your morning setting yourself up for health and happiness throughout your day and rippling through the rest of your life?

Today, I tried the Two Minute Morning method for the first time. I believe in having a menu of tools and resources to test, lean into, and teach others about healthy living. This practice was a logical choice for me to test out since I was familiar with the author's work. I met Neil at an event where he was the featured speaker discussing his new book (at the time), The Happiness Equation. I was immediately hooked. Several concepts resonated deeply with me. In particular, I loved his take on retirement and happiness.

The method behind this simple two-minute morning process is quite effective and proven through research. Let's take a look.

Step 1 is the 'release,' Neil suggests writing it: I will let go of…

This research from Science magazine shows that holding onto our regrets creates undesired outcomes in our behaviors.¹ Namely, we take more risks and act with aggression more often. On the flip side, as we process and release our regrets, we create greater contentment and happiness. As Neil put it's in the accompanying video below, this exercise 'crystallizes' these effects. You can process your regrets mentally and get them out of your body.

Step 2 is the 'gratitude,' written as: I am grateful for…

This research shows that when we get very specific, we can relive and connect more deeply to our gratitude, thus increasing our baseline happiness.² I wrote this morning, "I am grateful for Lisa making the boy's breakfast."

Step 3 is the 'singular focus,' written as: I will focus on…

The science behind dialing in our focus is primarily due to decision fatigue.³ We all get overwhelmed with decisions at times in our lives. This fatigue is different from what we typically experience with physical exhaustion. We are not consciously aware of the energy drain occurring in our minds, but it is accumulating, and the consequences will come due. When we can zero in on our day's most important tasks and needs, we can mitigate the inherent protective patterns that show up with low mental energy—splurge behaviors like eating or shopping—or leaning into stimulants, like caffeine, sugar, or even TV.

Are you ready to try out this simple and fun routine to get your day off on the right foot?🦶🏽

Here's the video from Neil explaining his method. 📺

1. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/336/6081/612

2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12585811/

3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6119549/