Our busy lives often lead us to making excuses for not doing the things we want to do or what is important to us particularly when it is something that we choose to do for ourselves. By focusing on our priorities, we are able to live life more fully and give more easily to others.

Non-negotiables are the routine tasks that I do daily that are of importance to me and provide structure in my life. These non-negotiables create the foundation for a productive, energised day and enhance the quality of my life.

“Keeping commitments to yourself is the ultimate act of self-love. Staying true to your word shows that you value your own goals and desires. You are capable of upholding the promises you make to yourself.” – Catherine Beard, The Blissful Mind

My daily non-negotiables include:

1.    Exercise

For as long as I can remember exercise has been an important part of my daily life. When I was younger, I danced fervently, walked for miles, went swimming and went bike riding with my sister and our friends. As an adult, I focus on mixing things up with body pump classes, walking anywhere from 5-20km, lots of workouts on YouTube – cardio, Pilates, yoga and stretching videos all form part of my weekly exercise routine. My favourite workouts include Sami Clarke; Boho Beautiful; Move with Nicole and Sanne Vloet.

2.    Meditation

Words are unable to express all of the amazing benefits of my daily meditation. I feel more in control, less emotional or reactive, make better decisions, experience feelings of calm, clarity and an overall feeling of well-being. As I have been doing it for so long now, I can easily meditate anywhere, anytime with or without music and even if I am feeling tired.

For those interested in learning meditation, I advise people to start and not be concerned with the time. When you first learn meditation, you will most likely find it challenging and may even fall asleep, time seems to slow down, and 5 mins can feel like 15 minutes. However, it most certainly is worth the effort to persist.

3.    Excitement

I am a highly organised person therefore I like structure and planning my days, weeks, and months. I aim to find something in my day that I am excited about. It is simple things like going to coffee or dinner with a friend, helping a client, going to the hairdressers, having a fun workout, or enjoying a nice meal that I have cooked.

Our lockdowns during Covid really highlighted how vital this daily task was. As a bonus when you feel excited, it transfers to others, and they get excited too.

4.    Learn

For over ten years, I have worked in the learning industry and one of the reasons I enjoy it so much it because I am constantly learning from my colleagues, clients, and participants. I also do a lot of research on various topics using podcasts, books, online groups, and the internet.

One topic I love researching daily is the stock market. No matter how much information I read or listen to, courses I enrol in, there is always so much more to learn. I had a questionable experience with an adviser which led to more dead ends in terms of sourcing a new adviser. This experience made me even more determined to learn as much as possible and invest on my own.

5.    Nourish

By no means is my diet perfect however I am constantly making changes such as learning new recipes from Adam Liaw, reading books like Life Force by Tony Robbins; tracking my food using MyFitnessPal and finding new ways to improve my diet and overall health.

For example, recently I have introduced a very simple yet refreshing green smoothie that makes me feel amazing from Caroline Deisler, add either MCT oil or ashwagandha to my morning coffee before a workout, include spinach leaves to as many meals as I can to increase my fibre intake, daily magnesium, fish oil and vitamin D supplements, aim for 2 intakes of calcium and at least one piece of fruit daily.

There is nothing better than eating high vibrational foods that make you feel energised. Your diet impacts how you feel, what you do and what you wear on a daily basis which is why it is important to nourish your body with healthy foods. In the long-term, nourishing your body can assist greatly in preventing serious health ailments.

Loving the early mornings, means I can easily fit in my daily non-negotiables which make me feel amazing and are a wonderful way to start my day. Now that I have shared my daily non-negotiables and the reasons why they are important to me, I would love to hear from you.

What is your favourite daily non-negotiable? Leave your comments below.

Angelina Zimmerman