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We are approaching not only a new year but an entirely new and fresh decade. You’ve survived the holidays and are ready to start over.With it being the end of a decade i’m sure many people are like me and looking at the past 10 years instead of just the last one. Personally, I was a drug addict in 2010 and in full fledged addiction, life was not pretty and I was slowly dying.

Approaching 2020 I am now nearly 5 years sober and really have found an appreciation for the small things. Having a job, having friends and family, having a significant other who I truly love. In such a negative world sometimes we need to really go against the grain of our thinking minds and just focus on the positive.

I say against the grain because if you’re anything like me, your mind can be a truly negative place no matter how well things are going and if things aren’t going well? The mind can wreak havoc. When I was a drug addict I was total slave to my mind, no matter how much I wanted to stop using drugs my mind told me otherwise and off I went.

I figured once I got sober that my mind would give me a break and while it doesn’t obsess about drugs anymore, thankfully, it does create insecurity and doubt.

Six months ago, I found myself in a major funk in life. The thing was, nothing was wrong, I had a great job, I was good at it, I had a great girlfriend and that was going well. I realized it was my mind simply beating me up and me allowing it to happen. I had to flip my mindset

What have you thought about for the past hour? What did the thinking look like? When you actually sit still and reflect on what your mind has been telling you recently it can be baffling. Between daily worries, fears about the future, random thoughts about our friends/family, concerns at work, I could add to the list ad infinitum, we think about a lot.

When is the last time you told yourself any of the following things:

• I am doing great
• I love myself
• I’m a good friend
• I’m a good significant other
• I’m great at my job
• I’m proud of myself

I bet reading those just now made you feel a little better, didn’t it?

Six months ago while in the midst of that funk, I began performing a routine in the morning to get started on the right foot. I’ve found several things that work for me, I’m not here to tell you this is the only way to start thinking more positively but I want to share my experience. My routine include:

• Meditation - it takes a lot of concerted effort to quiet your mind, but it is possible. Meditation involves finding somewhere quiet and focusing on your breathing and trying your best to eliminate thought. It is not easy, and like most things takes practice to truly master but you would be amazed at what getting still and clearing your mind as best as you can will do for you.

• Writing - I believe there is major power in pen to paper, I’ll spend mornings writing down some positive affirmations, what I am grateful for, just something that is on my mind, anything works. Find what inspires you when you sit down with a pen and paper and just write it, it can be extremely cathartic at times.

• Visualizing - Where do you want to be in life? When I ask that question there is a picture in your mind of what you want life to be. There is a mysterious power when we literally just close our eyes and picture ourselves doing what we ultimately want to do in life. For me I visualized myself going to the gym and getting in good shape and it has actually helped me in my fitness journey.

These practices are completely free, simple and do not take up a lot of time. I feel the morning is the best time to do this because there are days I forget to do these things and I walk out of my house with that ‘garbage head’ and it shows throughout my day. Morning is a great time to get your day on the right track.

As we head towards 2020, make things simple as you start reflecting on resolutions and aspirations. The power of flipping your mindset and practicing some self-love mentally can completely change the way you look at life. Find your morning ritual, practice it as consistently as you can and watch as you reap the benefits from simply changing your thoughts.