Would you like a new idea that could have a huge impact on your outlook, attitude, productivity, and happiness? Would you be willing to make a change in your daily routine to increase your personal satisfaction and help you reach your goals faster than ever? Are those achievements worth 30 minutes a day for you?

Thirty minutes is what you need – thirty minutes at the beginning of your day. The habit that will help you reap all the benefits described above is spending thirty minutes at the beginning of the day on yourself, your happiness, and your complete well-being. This relatively short amount of time will help you start your day with more purpose and help you be more intentional about your day and your life.

There are a variety of things you can do during your thirty minutes, and as you read through this list, you may see some things that are already part of your daily routine. The list is not intended to be a checklist designed for you to try to complete each item every day. Rather it is a list from which you can choose the things that appeal to you the most or that you feel will help you gain more control, success and happiness in your day and in your life.

The list

Plan your day. Sit down with your planner or to-do list and review the things that need to be accomplished today.

Pick the critical few. While your to-do list may be long, take a few minutes to determine the 1-3 things that need to be accomplished today. Include at least one that promotes an important project or goal; In other words, don’t just focus on the urgent things, but also consider the important ones.

Review your goals. If you have a written list of goals, use some of your thirty minutes to reread them, review your progress, and see yourself achieving them.

Pray, meditate or reflect. Depending on your spiritual beliefs, you may choose to pray during this time. If that’s not part of your beliefs, you can choose to reflect on the day before, looking for lessons and insights, as well as resolutions for important challenges you might face in the day ahead.

Prepare for key moments. Perhaps on this day you will be giving a presentation, making an important sales call, asking for a raise, or any of a thousand other important things. Use some of your “Golden Thirty” to prepare yourself mentally to get through those times.

Exercise or stretch. You can use some of your thirty minutes for your exercise regimen. If you don’t exercise regularly, you might consider doing some stretching. Keep in mind that during this physical activity you may be able to do some of the other items on this list (depending on how you’re exercising). Remember to consult your doctor before making a significant change in your exercise patterns.

Read something positive or uplifting. Read something inspiring, motivational, or spiritual. Those few minutes at the beginning of the day feeding your mind with positive thoughts will pay off throughout the day.

Make progress on a learning goal. If you’re working to learn something new or develop your expertise in some area, 30 minutes a day of hard study can make you a world expert in a couple of years. Don’t you want to be a world expert? Then it won’t take you that long to learn what you want!

Things to exclude

As important as the to-do list, there are things to leave out during this time. Keeping these things out of this thirty golden minutes is just as important as what it includes. These things should be excluded because they will not have a positive impact on the start of your day.

The morning paper and the television news. If you need to be informed, get what you need in smaller doses, but don’t mix it up with your “Thirty Golden Minutes.”

The repeat bar. Develop the habit of getting up when you have determined that you need to get up. Hitting the snooze bar once is fine, but if you hit it over and over again, you won’t get your thirty minutes, and you’ll be right in the shower!

The second (or third) cup of coffee. Maybe you want a cup of coffee or tea during your first thirty minutes. That’s fine, but try to avoid putting too much caffeine into your body during this planning and preparation time.

Find time

You may be wondering where you will find thirty minutes in your day. Remember that you are not going to find those minutes – you’re going to have to make them. Making this time may require going to bed a few minutes earlier or taking things out of your morning routine (like too many minutes of morning news). Making the time will be one of the hardest parts of creating this new habit, but after the first few days you will find that the benefits far outweigh what you have “given up” to make it happen.

But I’m not a “morning person”

Ben Franklin said, “An early bedtime and an early riser make a man healthy, rich, and wise.” While I’m sure Ben was a “morning person,” I’m equally sure there are differences in people’s body clocks. So while this may be a lot easier for some than it is for you, don’t use it as an excuse. Note that I haven’t told you to start your thirty minutes by setting your alarm for 5 am – all I’ve suggested is to make time at the beginning of your morning. Your start can be at 5, or it can be at 9. The time of day matters much less than the moment: your thirty golden minutes should start very soon after you wake up.

This habit, like many others, will take some time to implement. But if you keep doing it, you’ll quickly see the benefits, making this habit stick and you’ll be glad it’s become a permanent part of your life.