Let’s just look at how an average person starts their day. Imagine that this is you. See if you can spot the mistakes in your behaviour.

06.30. Wake to the news on the radio. Turn over and while pulling yourself out of sleep, absorb the news headlines.

06.40. Get out of the bed. Hit the bathroom and conduct the ablutions.

06.50 Return to the bedroom and get dressed while listening to amplification of the news stories that you heard earlier.

07.00 Downstairs to have breakfast. Listen to two opposing politicians argue both sides of one of the issues of the day. Then, listen to “It says in the papers.” Gulp down the feed and head out to the car.

08.25 You have been 35 minutes in the car at this stage. During that time, you have heard the news headlines twice, the traffic reports for the whole country twice and become angered by the seemingly endless stream of bad news. You have also given some thoughts to the problems facing you in the day ahead.

08.45 You arrive at the office, a broken man.

Or are you?

It is not possible to immerse yourself in so much negativity, gloom and bad news and still have a balanced perspective. I recommend making one simple step in your life that will yield real rewards. Make ‘News’ something that you opt into rather than something you wallow in. Listen to a music station in the morning. Then, you simply make the decision as to when you should get informed. This way, you avoid immersing yourself in the problems of the world. You will be more focussed and able to see your own objectives more clearly. Try it for a week. It is empowering. It lets you focus on what matters to YOU without the backdrop of gloom. I’ll leave the music choice to you.