During my lunch breaks I like read business articles from The Muse, Ragan PR and most definitely The Huffington Post. I like to learn about what top CEO’s have in common. What’s the number one trait all successful people share? How do happy people stay happy? Who got voted off Dancing With the Stars? Ok, I admit I throw a lot of entertainment in with my lunchtime reading!
I read that many CEO’s and successful people are up early and at it. In the gym by 5 a.m., showered, breakfast, early conference calls before 7 and in the office by 9. I know my strengths and it is does not include ‘up at 4 a.m. and off to the gym before the sun made its appearance’. Heck, I take breakfast to work because I like sleep that much.
However, of all the articles I read I kept coming back to the concept of making your bed before you leave in the morning. I knew I should do it. Heck, I had some nice pillows from Target and they spent too much time on the floor. Then I remembered an article I read back in the spring of 2014.
U.S. Navy Adm. William H. McCraven, you know…the commander of the U.S. Special Operations command that captured and killed Osama Bin Laden. Well, he told the graduating class at University of Texas that his number one piece of advice to anyone was “If you want to change the world, start by making your bed.”
Ok, so this guy found enemy No. 1 and you’re trying to tell me that before he left in the morning he stopped to make his bed? Do you think he uses the hospital corner technique? Is he a throw pillow kind of guy? I had a lot of follow-up questions, but the point he was trying to make was if you accomplish a task before you even leave the house you’ll be more likely to keep that trend going the rest of the day.
So, one day at the end of February I stopped and made my bed before I left for work. I even took the quilt my mom made me and tried to throw it on the edge of the bed in away that says, “The Property Brothers decorated my room”. I realized that in the time it took me to make my bed, I wasn’t late for work, I wasn’t missing out on anything and that I actually took pride in what I was doing.
For the next week I made sure that before I left for the day no matter where I was going, I made my bed. And then it became a habit. I realized how much I loved coming back to my room at the end of the day to it being nice and tidy (kind of…clothes actually making it to the hamper is my next task). And the fun phrases on my pillows really did start to give me that pick me up I needed before work. My favorite is the gold “Hello, Lovely!” one.
As silly as it sounds, I was really proud of myself for keeping this bed-making thing going so long. I noticed a shift in the way I looked at myself. If I could make my bed, what else could I do?
So tell me, do you make your bed? If not, are you up for the challenge? Take a second and Google making your bed. The number of articles on how it can increase your happiness may just convince you!
And don’t worry about the hospital corners!
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