Do This One Simple Thing To Bring More Joy Into Your Life [PHOTO]

Today, because of this one change, my day was dramatically different. And so was the amount of joy in the rest of my day. I recommend you do this soon.

My day typically starts at 3am with 90 minutes of reading and writing. Then a 20 minute drive to the radio station to do the show. Today (7/30), I had different plans and it turned my day into pure bliss ALL DAY. What I did this morning instead of the show, played a big roll in my attitude change - how my day began, set me up for joy.

I chose to take the morning off so I could read to a group of 4,5 and 6 year-olds at Anderson Japanese Gardens. It was one of their Garden Explorer days where the kids are immersed in the beauty of the outdoors and participate in activities centered around reading and art.

I have no idea if there's any science to back up my new theory but it might just work for you:

We all become creatures of habit and our peace of mind belongs to a routine. Get up at the same time, go through the same motions, get in the car, and go to work. Try changing part of that for one day. I'm not saying you have to take a half-day off, but maybe you get up and DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT(LY). I can't tell you what that should be but you'll figure it out. It will start a ripple effect that will begin to change the way you feel. Excitement was first. I was excited that things were different. I don't dwell on trying to figure out exactly what made that mental change, I just enjoyed the new way I felt and ran with it.

My alarm went of at 6:30am. That was the first big piece of JOY... 3 hours and 30 minutes later than normal. I got to kiss my wife while she was awake and have my first cup of coffee while hearing the sound of her voice. That never happens. If I woke her up at 3am, she might turn violent. After this start, there's was no way anything could've messed up my day. And nothing did. And an extra bonus was that I had energy in the second half of my day that propelled me through at least 2 days of 'to do list' tasks at home.

Here are a few 'small' routine changer ideas to get you started:

• Brush your teeth with your other hand (you will start laughing at how weird it feels)
• Instead of kissing her 'goodbye' while she's sleeping... Go ahead and poke the hornet's nest with a stick... and wake her up to give her that kiss.
• Do your cardio workout before you eat your first meal (unless you're a type 2 diabetic, then you should have a little something first).
• Do what I do in one of the pictures above; go outside, take off your shoes, and scrunch/wiggle your toes in the grass

I'm no expert, but I think you should give this a try if your daily routine is starting to wear on you and you've become numb to the people and things around you. What really do you have to lose.