How Do You Start Your Day?

I have some morning rituals. Very specific steps to get my day started that are usually something like this. Coffee, New York Times, shower, more coffee, breakfast, play with Miki and get her dressed, have a protein shake, more coffee, maybe go to Cafe Cluny for some breakfast, roll into the office about 10 or so.

But, there are other certain days when I can’t seem to muster the motivation to get out of bed. Without explanation, the energy that I usually feel in the morning, just isn’t there. Today was one of those mornings.

There is one thing for sure. When I am feeling lethargic, I almost ALWAYS find myself in a state of complacency as well.

When I find myself in this state of mind, I usually start by making excuses for it. I have so much stress, so much to do, so many things on my plate. Maybe it is the 25 miners killed yesterday in W. Va. Maybe it is the Blue Jays losing in the 9th to the Rangers last night. Maybe it is that my mom is very ill and it breaks my heart to see her suffer. Or, maybe it is because I am simply not grateful for those things that ARE working for me, for the blessings and abundance that I am surrounded with. Maybe I have just lost sight of what’s really important. Maybe I am out of perspective and my life is too much about my life..?

This morning I spent a little time on the http://thegentlemensfund.com website, one of my favorite charities.  I came across this blurb…

***Education is a basic human right. It’s an imperative. Only education will break the cycles of poverty, disease, and injustice that plague so many of the world’s children. Yet, every year more than 100 million children miss out on the benefits of an education. The Gentlemen’s Fund ® initiative, HP, and Ashton Kutcher believe that number should be zero and that’s why they support UNICEF‘s education programs. UNICEF works to ensure that all children have access to a rights-based, quality education. Their innovative programs and initiatives target the world’s most disadvantaged children: the excluded, the vulnerable, and the invisible. These efforts involve action at all levels because the empowerment of the world’s children is the responsibility of the entire global community. If we make this commitment now, the investment will yield benefits for generations to come.***

As the co-founder and CEO of one of the largest communities of entrepreneurs in the world, I thought about the 100 million who don’t/won’t even have the basic skills to survive in the 21st century. I thought about the incredible privilege and opportunity I was born into. The basic necessities of life where never missing for me. I was reminded of the blessing that I seem to have taken for granted for just a moment.

With the absence of gratitude, complacency sets in. With complacency comes the cancerous mindset of contentment. With Contentment comes disenchantment, and with disenchantment comes self-sabotage and the disgusted feeling of lethargy.

Regardless the specific circumstances, when I find myself in this place, there is one sure fix that I know will always work for me. Giving.

I have always felt that “what you give, is what you get”. Not because I read this somewhere is some motivational self-help book, but because I have FELT it. I feel it all of the time and when I need more of that fix, I just give more.

This morning, http://thegentlemensfund.com UNICEF Education Fund happened to be the the charity of choice.

Sure as sure can be, before I even typed in the last four digits of my Amex, the feeling of gratitude and inspiration started to pulse through my veins. Like a master-RESET button, my mind was cleared.

I am ready to take on the day! I feel great:)

Best,

Jay Kubassek

Established a few years ago to commemorate GQ’s 50th anniversary, The Gentlemen’s Fund® is an initiative that aims to raises support and awareness for issues that are essential to modern men. They encourage their fans and readership alike to become agents of change by contributing to charities that champion these causes.

Visit http://thegentlemensfund.com to get your gratitude fix.

How better to start your day, than you make a contribution to the betterment of our world. Do it, and you will be hooked.