Who Is Programming Your Day?

I remember Saturday mornings as a kid. 

My brother and sister and I would plant ourselves in front of our big wooden console TV and switch between its two or three channels with a giant knob.

Our choice was between Super Friends and Bugs Bunny.

That was about it.

The Wonderful World of Disney appeared on Sunday nights. The Wizard of Oz showed once a year. And we had to read TV Guide to find out when these things were happening.

If we needed to learn something, we had to pull an encyclopedia from the shelf. Or go to the library and navigate the card catalog.

We had to go find the information we needed.

But now?

The world comes looking for us.

We are pummeled by information. 

Thanks to algorithms and digital breadcrumbs we leave everywhere we go, the world tracks us down. It sends us things we may not even want. Some information we may be diligently looking for. But most updates and news arrive uninvited.

Today’s influx of information isn’t just annoying—it’s spiritually exhausting.

Do you wake up and immediately reach for your phone? Scroll through news, social media, emails, and messages? 

If so, you may be handing control of your mental state over to the world. You’re letting others’ voices into your head before you connect with your own. And you may be allowing others’ priorities, agendas, and anxieties shape your daily thinking. 

How you begin your morning sets the emotional and philosophical tone for your entire day.

Within minutes of opening your eyes, you are likely absorbing:

• Texts that focus immediately on what other people want

• Breaking news designed to trigger urgency or fear

• Social media posts that spark judgment or comparison

• Ads trying to get you to consume, consume, and consume some more

• Emails that shift you into reactive mode

You haven’t even had your coffee yet, and your brain is already running someone else’s program.

Imagine instead beginning your day by connecting with yourself first. What if instead of immediately letting the world hunt you down, you start by:

• Writing in a journal or sitting in silence. Giving your own thoughts space to surface before other voices crowd them out.

• Going for a walk, stretching, or exercising. Moving your physical body helps you inhabit your own energy and physicality before engaging with the external world.

• Reading, praying, meditating, or enjoying your coffee or tea in silence.

• Asking yourself: What kind of day do I want to create? What matters most to me? How do I want to show up today?

Developing this kind of morning practice is a leadership practice. You are essentially taking a greater lead of your own life, programming your own day.

Just as we may be somewhat intentional about the food we put into bodies, we can be thoughtful about how we feed our minds. 

Not all information deserves access to your headspace.

There is something sacred about those quiet mornings when your mind is still your own. Before the day's demands rush in, you have a choice: Will you start from a place of inner calm and clarity, or will you begin already reactive and scattered?

To be more intentional, you can choose specific times for checking news or social media. Designate phone-free zones in your home. Unsubscribe from people or things that leave you feeling anxious. Follow people who inspire you and seek out information that creates more positive energy in the world. 

The world will still be there when you’re ready for it. But you’ll engage with it from a much more grounded, intentional place.

Imagine this: How would your life be different if your voice were the first one that you listen to, rather than the last?

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