Recently, I had a friend exhibit what is infamously known among my group of friends as the “MCAT panic-attack.”

When you get closer to THE day (You know, before a big test or deadline), it’s so easy for us humans to panic and avoid studying, or working, all together.

But I have some happy news for you. You can flip the switch on your emo moods and get some more positive vibes flowing through you. The secret lies in a consistent daily spiritual practice.

It’s the Weird Thing Successful People Do in the Morning

Have you ever noticed how successful people are prone to doing weird stuff? Like singers who make weird noises to exercise their vocal chords or athletes who do weird rituals. Well, they do it because they know it’s worth it to be weird. Successful people do weird stuff to keep focused and get ahead.

We have all been given the same capacity to achieve. I mean, physically, we all have bodies that move and muscles that work, we all have the same 24 hours in a day. YET, some humans just can’t seem to get their stuff together.

That’s because, WE AREN’T JUST BODIES IN TIME!

Forbes, INC. Magazine, and Success Magazine have all confirmed that the most successful people in the world DO have some kind of spiritual routine they turn to during their day.

Our Mind Can Be Our Greatest Strength or Biggest Weakness

There are mental farts that can really mess us up and cause us to procrastinate like the devil (yup – speaking from experience). I once had a friend describe the trajectory of my grades in school as a graph that goes up really high and then down and up really high and then down and then up and down again.

Totally didn’t approve of that description, but anyways…

Since I started to employ a strong spiritual practice, my “trajectory” has improved a lot and is much more consistent now; I don’t have such big pitfalls anymore, because I take care of the crazy in my head.

We need to pay attention to our spiritual treatment. The worst thing that unsuccessful people do is think it’s TOO weird, that it’s a waste of time, and then they completely abandon it. Well guess what, sucks for them because this stuff’s legit!

If you want to achieve ultimate success, build a spiritual practice that you come to each day, consistently.

This is What I Do

Meditation, Visualization, Grateful Affirmations.

Those are the ones you can pick from right now.

I use affirmations everyday – I freakin’ LOVE and swear by them. They also help me be more visual and express gratitude at the time same; because I have affirmations that support those points.

I have a list of affirmations that I read before I start work and before I sleep. It takes no more than 5 minutes and it has changed my life completely. I have been more productive than I have ever been and don’t have anymore down days.

I also mediate through prayer. This helps me center myself and regularly remind myself of what’s truly important in my life. Sometimes, the struggles in our life can get BIG and overshadow everything. Prayer helps me shrink those problems down to a size I can deal with.

You can also do straight up visualization. This is where you picture yourself in your mind’s eye achieving your goal, and do it every day until you achieve it.

Straight up gratitude is all about taking a few minutes and naming 10 things you’re grateful for.

Here’s my Suggestion to You

Take a moment right now and decide you will commit to this. Pick one of the above methods and plug it into your day. This takes the same amount of time as brushing your teeth. Plug it into a consistent spot in your daily schedule and commit to it for a week.

I bet it’ll be the most productive week of your life.

The Most Important Thing to Remember

This needs to be a consistent practice. You can’t do it for a week and expect it to become permanent. This needs to be a part of your life, period. You don’t bathe for a week and stop for the rest of your life and expect to be clean, right? Same goes for this.

To maintain positive vibes and an optimistic outlook that keeps you productive and gets your stuff done, you must have a consistent spiritual practice that you’re ready to commit to,  period.

So, whether you’re taking your MCAT or launching a new course, keep your brain in order and your nerves in check with a daily spiritual practice.

This is key to success!

June 2014 Issue