How do I choose to have a good day?
Updated 23 July 2026 by Chanelle Segerius-Bruce
Most days are decided in the first ten minutes, usually by a phone. You wake, reach out, and start reading through one sleepy eye, and before you have had a single thought of your own you are comparing yourself to everybody else. This covers how to take that back: setting an intention, protecting the morning, and a handful of journal prompts that work even if you have never journalled before.
Quick answer
You choose to have a good day by deciding how it starts instead of letting your phone decide. Do not reach for it first thing, because reading email and social media before you have had your own thoughts puts everyone else's agenda ahead of yours, which is where overwhelm comes from. Turn off all notifications. Put music on, keep the news off, and be present with whoever is in the house. Then set an intention for the day, the way you would at the start of a yoga class, and journal for a few minutes.
Your phone should not get you first
The short version, if you would rather watch than read.
You wake, roll over and reach out, and your first contact of the day is a screen. Before long your brain is on and you are comparing: what you could be doing, what you should be doing, what everyone else is doing.
You have not given yourself any space to simply be and breathe and have your own thoughts first. That is what sets the overwhelm going, and it usually means you have put everybody else's agenda ahead of your own before breakfast.
Turn the notifications off
Technology is a tool that serves you and your business, and it will happily make a slave of you if you let it, checking relentlessly for no reason.
The first thing I tell coaching clients is to turn off all notifications. It does more for feeling less overwhelmed and distracted than any productivity system.
Protect the morning
Put some uplifting music on and lift the mood in the house. Morning energy matters more than people give it credit for.
Do not check email. Do not check social media. Do not watch the news. If you have children, be with them.
Once the house is quiet you can journal, or listen to something inspiring, and set your intention for the day.
Have a routine you actually like
Mine is simple. Once my daughter has gone to school I make a cup of tea, go up to the sunroom, look out at the ocean and write. That room is where my ideas come from.
I use a nice journal and a ten-year-old Parker pen that belonged to my late father. The point is that the ritual is worth protecting, because guarding that bit of quiet is what makes the focus possible.
Prompts, so you do not write a shopping list
If journalling is new, the blank page is the problem. These four give you somewhere to start.
- Today I feel rich because...
- Five things I am grateful for are...
- I am open and ready to receive...
- I release and let go of...
That last one is particularly good when something new in the business is frightening you, or something personal is sitting heavily.
Change the behaviour, set the intention, and the day tends to go the way you wanted it to.
Key takeaways
- The first ten minutes usually decide the day, and most people hand them to a phone.
- Reading email before you have had your own thoughts puts everyone else first.
- Turn off all notifications. It is the single highest-return change.
- Keep the news out of the morning and protect the energy in the house.
- Set an intention, the way you would at the start of a yoga class.
- A ritual you enjoy is easier to protect than one you impose on yourself.
- Use prompts so journalling does not become a to-do list.
Frequently asked questions
How do I start my day better?
Do not reach for your phone. Set an intention first, put music on rather than the news, and give yourself a few minutes of your own thoughts before anyone else's.
Why should I turn off notifications?
Because they hand your attention to whoever wants it most. Turning them all off is the first thing I ask coaching clients to do, and it consistently reduces the sense of overwhelm.
What is setting an intention?
Deciding what the day is for before it starts, in the same way a yoga class begins with one, so you know at the end what you came for.
What should I write in a journal?
Try prompts. Today I feel rich because, five things I am grateful for, I am open and ready to receive, and I release and let go of. The last one is useful when something is worrying you.
Does the morning routine have to be long?
No. A cup of tea, a few minutes of writing and no screens will do more than an elaborate routine you abandon by Wednesday.
Is it the mornings, or is it the workload?
Some days are ruined by the phone and some by a business that needs you for everything. If it is the second, Get Leveraged, my 1:1 consulting, is about building it so it runs without you. Book a call to see if we're the right fit.
