#55 How Do I... Start My Day Off Right?

Ever wonder how to actually practice being the sun, not the salt, in daily life? In our very first episode of the “How Do I…” series, Dr. Harry Cohen and Connie Fontaine dig into the practical side of living heliotropically, starting with the question: “How do I start my day off right?”

Here’s what you’ll hear:

- Honest, real-life routines from Harry and Connie, including gratitude lists, positive planning, and morning rituals that set a sunny tone, even on tough days.

- The little daily details that make a big difference, whether it’s swapping news doomscrolling for uplifting podcasts, hydrating before coffee, or reaching out to friends with quick calls and kind words.

- Why lighting up someone else’s morning (at Starbucks, the office, or even your own kitchen) ends up lighting you up, too.

- Favorite ways to build connection at work, like greeting everyone by name or borrowing ideas from team meetings that blend “a little sun and a little salt” for camaraderie and trust.

- The truth that knowing what to do isn’t the same as doing and how gentle reminders (and this series!) can help turn those good intentions into actual habits.

Packed with candid stories and simple tips, this short episode sets the tone for exploring everyday ways to bring more light, intention, and positivity to your world. It’s not about perfection! It’s about practice, picking yourself up when you slip, and sharing the journey with others along the way.

Tune in, share your own “How Do I…” questions, and join the movement of living a little more like the sun, one morning at a time.

(This is our first in the “How Do I…” series! It’s a mini-episode, perfect for anyone ready to turn heliotropic ideas into real-life action in no time at all!)

To explore the book, or for more episodes, information, tips and tools to live a more heliotropic life, visit us at bethesunnotthesalt.com and find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

Transcript

[00:00:00] 

Dr. Harry Cohen: Welcome. My name is Dr. Harry Cohen and this is the Be the Sun, not the Salt podcast. I'm joined by my co-host and chief super spreader, Connie Fontaine. And this series is So How do I Or We Practice? Be The Sun, not the Salt Connie.

Connie Fontaine: Well, and we talk about this, these are the calls, letters, emails that we get from our friends and family and other listeners that say, well, can you gimme some specifics? And we do that a lot with our guests and I think we're gonna try and do that with this series. And I think this morning I, the best place to start is how do I start my day off right?

Dr. Harry Cohen: How do you start your day off right?

Connie Fontaine: Um, I don't always start my day off, right? I think that's the whole point of this practice is this is a good reminder. I know how to start my day off, right? I know that my day is started off right of a, I've got a plan for the day. B, I start with something positive, [00:01:00] grateful. I put something nutritious in my body. um, more importantly, when I exercise, and that's the one I've told you a million times, I'm so bad at it. I'm so bad at forcing myself to do that in the morning. And, um, but it does, it starts my day off, right?

Dr. Harry Cohen: So I love the honesty in which you shared that, what I do to start my day off right, and I try and keep it really simple. I write. A brief email based on the day of the month. I read a chapter of Be the Sun I've been doing this for almost two years on how I want to apply that lesson for myself. Then I write three things I'm grateful for and I write three goals for the day.

Now that's what I do every single day.

Connie Fontaine: men. I mean, that's a, it sounds just like out of a book. You should be, we should all be doing

Dr. Harry Cohen: Well, I don't know about we should all, but, but I, I started doing it and I do this and it's really so darn helpful for me. I also drink 16 ounces [00:02:00] of water, uh, before I have my coffee. Every water, uh, before I have my coffee, every, I usually write in those three goals, I only write three.

I usually write, exercise and, and, and I don't write the eat healthy throughout my day 'cause I do that,

Connie Fontaine: just do that,

Dr. Harry Cohen: I, but my breakfast is really a good, healthy breakfast. I could spend 20 minutes talking about side of am, about my healthy breakfast.

Connie Fontaine: But you, to your point though, that's a practice you, you've become. So you don't need to write it down anymore because you just do

Dr. Harry Cohen: I do.

Connie Fontaine: You just do it.

Dr. Harry Cohen: We just,

Connie Fontaine: about, so we don't, we don't commute. We don't run to the office anymore. Um, you know, we're doing most of what we do from our, from these spaces that we're in right now. What about going into the office? What's a great way to start the day?

Dr. Harry Cohen: well, I, I mean, when I'm driving and I do drive a lot, I [00:03:00] really shifted what I listen to while I'm driving. I'm gonna, I now listen to either music, I. A podcast that I wanna be uplifted or learn something from, or, um, or silence. I stopped listening to the news and sports talk radio for entertainment. Um, and that's what I do.

I also think about who I can call. While I'm driving that I wanna reach out to, not necessarily for business to get something done, but you know what? I wanna reach out and have an uplifting conversation. I really do that deliberately.

Connie Fontaine: Well, and I think you've even mentioned that you're starting to re-listen to a lot of our podcasts. As much as we don't like to listen to ourselves, it's a good reminder that we learned a lot. Doesn't mean we're doing everything we learned.

Dr. Harry Cohen: Well, I, I only just recently, this is embarrassing, started to re-listen to some of our podcasts and [00:04:00] found gold in them, their hills, and one of actually two, now three of the different, um. Guests I reached out to after listening to them to thank them for, um, agreeing to be on our podcast and also, uh, reconnect with them.

In fact, next week I'm gonna visit one of those guests.

Connie Fontaine: That's

Dr. Harry Cohen: I.

Connie Fontaine: I love that. And I think about the days of commuting and going into the office and those that really lit up my day to start out the day. Right. Those that smiled, said, good morning, made an effort instead of just going straight to their cube or office and dropping their bag and digging right in.

Dr. Harry Cohen: I do that deliberately. The, the Starbucks. Good morning. Thank you. I sometimes, not always, but very deliberately, look for people to uplift here. Uh, pay for the person next or behind me. Um, that's the kind of thing that I'm really on the [00:05:00] lookout for, saying something sweet and kind and deliberately uplifting, um, to somebody else.

Connie Fontaine: You told me that you went into the restaurant recently intentionally. 'cause you realized that's something you haven't had a chance to do

Dr. Harry Cohen: Well, it wasn't, I go to the restaurant a lot, but what I normally do is I stay up top and talk to servers and buss and food runners. But I made a point of going to the kitchen and the this, my chef and sous chef and sushi chef. I made a really deliberate point of saying, I so appreciate I. What they have created and wow, you know, I know this stuff, but it's the great greatness of doing it.

Thank you. That means so much to me. Now I know it does with the fact that all three of them, um, said that it's because I did it. And so the, the tiniest things I try and do the tiniest things that are easy to do. I also do this, um, phrase that I say to my wife, Jan, is there anything you need for me to do for you today?

And it's almost every single day, [00:06:00] man. Oh man. Is it helpful for us, for her, for me? Um, keep, you know, keep it simple.

Connie Fontaine: Well, I think everything we've been talking about, I can imagine this in a setting at work. I can imagine it at home. If your morning is Starbucks or your morning is your yoga class, wherever you go, taking that moment to light somebody up, lights you up too. No matter what you're going through, you're gonna get some impact from that.

Dr. Harry Cohen: You know, I know so many people in the automotive space, um, general managers of dealerships who've shared that when they go to work, they go through the shop, say hello to every single technician before they hit the front of the store, um, and say hello to every single person. Before they head to their office.

Now, it sounds so simple and so easy. As a dear friend once said, this is so easy. It's easy not to do. So

Connie Fontaine: right.

Dr. Harry Cohen: you go into any of your workspaces, say Good morning. And if you know their name, say their name to every single person. I do a thing where I'm trying to learn every single [00:07:00] person's name at the, at the restaurant, and I don't, and I forget,

Connie Fontaine: Right.

Dr. Harry Cohen: and I don't mind saying, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Uh, Samantha. Or don't, don't, don't, uh, remind me and I'm, it's okay. I forget. But I think people appreciate the fact that, I'm trying to remember people's names.

Connie Fontaine: Yeah, you know, there was a, I'd say an advanced person in, in terms of being heliotropic that we work with is Kaylyn Campbell. And, you know, I watched Kay do something masterful this week and last week actually is when I first noticed it because I got included into a team meeting that she runs and she, she concludes the meeting with everybody, sharing a little bit of sun and a little bit of salt in their lives. And it has done so much for the comradery, for the, you have a chance to share what's really going on with you. And what I've seen in her team is the, the will, the en enjoyment of knowing a little bit more about each other. Because sometimes it's a work thing, sometimes it's a personal thing. So there's this vulnerability, this sharing that creates trust and love, and [00:08:00] it's created a follow up because you wanna check back in with each other.

How you doing with that? Or, Hey, I. You mentioned this this morning. How's it going now? Are you doing okay? Um, and then also it's the, it's the practice of let's think about all the good that's going on too. So I, you know, there's, I think there's probably a lot of examples that we'll be able to share through this series of what people are doing well. this practice, um, and what we struggle with, because I think what you said is knowing isn't doing. We can hear all these great guests that you and I have hosted and we learn all these great gems and then we forget to put 'em into practice. So I think this series will help us remind and be a little bit better version of ourselves as

Dr. Harry Cohen: Which is the whole point. Thank you Connie. That's why we're doing this. Let's keep doing it. And as a wise, Sage once told us recently how, how, how, so.

Connie Fontaine: That's

Dr. Harry Cohen: Let's talk about

Connie Fontaine: how,

Dr. Harry Cohen: how, how, how we do this and so that we can do it more regularly. Automatically. And when we forget, we can turn it around and do it as soon [00:09:00] as we remember.

Connie Fontaine: That's right. So for our listeners, how do you start out your day on the right foot? Share it we'd love to hear about it, and we'd love for you to practice that more along with us. Please share this, help us create this content by letting us know how you're starting your day out right or any other, how do I, that you want us to create. So thanks very much for listening.