Recently I talked about the importance of making yourself a priority first thing in the morning, by doing something for you - meditation, walking, yoga, gratitude journaling - to name a few examples.

I really started to take my morning routine seriously after reading The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, which outlines how to set up your mornings for success.

And when I think about Hal, it reminds me of another lesson I learned from him - his 5 Minute Rule.

Hal's 5 Minute Rule helped him get through one of the toughest times of his life - getting hit head on by a drunk driver going 70 mph, and being in a coma for 6 days.

Here it is...

When things go wrong, give yourself 5 minutes to feel sorry for yourself - complain, moan, cry, punch the wall, whatever you need to do.

When the 5 minutes are up, take a deep breath and say, "can't change it."

3 VERY powerful words.

I can't change it, therefore I'm not going to feel bad about it.

There is no value dwelling on something in the past whether it was 5 minutes in the past, 5 months, 5 years or 5 decades ago, you got to accept it, be at peace with it, and move on.

And Hal applied that to the car accident.

He couldn't change it. It happened.

The best he could do was to not dwell on it and make the very best of his situation, even if he could never walk again and was going to be in a wheelchair his entire life.

Powerful!

Talk about perspective, and appreciating what you DO have.

This is the ultimate example of gratitude.

Is there something in your past that you're holding on to that still makes you mad about?

Don't dwell on it. Let it go. It's in the past.

If it's a person that's made you mad, you could even send a card to them expressing your appreciation for them, even if they did you wrong.

Try it! It's powerful!