Our mornings are a crucial time for shaping the outcome of our upcoming day. And the great news is: it’s 100% within our power to make each day a great day.

Here are five activities to do first thing in the morning to start your day with confidence.

1. Make your bed

“If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.”

You may have seen clips of a speech by Admiral William H. McRaven, delivered as a Commencement Address to the University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished your first task of the day, and it will give you a small sense of pride that you can then take with you into the rest of your day, and it will encourage you to accomplish more and more tasks.

I have heard this phenomenon referred to as “the psychology of achievement.” In essence, successfully completing one task triggers the feeling of happiness in your brain – your brain releases dopamine (the pleasure hormone) and you get a “rush” from achieving… which then motivates you to complete another task, and another task, and another task!

Making your bed will help you tap into this psychology of achievement phenomenon early on in your day, and prime you for success. Plus, your bed will look great – and there are a number of benefits associated with a clean house, too!

2. Make a mental list of things you are grateful for

Gratitude, the act of being grateful, is proven to have significant mental health and wellness benefits. When you practice gratitude, you experience:

-Increased happiness

-Improved confidence

-Physical health benefits

-Better sleep

-Better relationships

By starting your day with a small dose of gratitude, you’ll be able to trigger all of these benefits first thing in the morning. The best way to practice gratitude is to make a quick list – either mental, or a written physical list – of at least five things you are grateful for. You definitely don’t have to stop at five, though! Keep going until you can’t think of anything else – you’ll be overwhelmed at all you have to be grateful for, and you can’t help but have a great day after that.

3. Decide to have a positive day

Confidence and optimism are choices that we make, every day. Back in college, I had the privilege of listening to a speaker who truly changed my life. The point he emphasized was:

Each day when you wake up, you have the choice to decide whether it’s going to be a good day, or whether it’s going to be a bad day.

And it’s true. Mindset has such a big impact on the flow and outcome of our days. If we approach the day with a positive mindset, and we are determined to make it a good day – to accomplish our tasks, to do good work, to achieve our goals, and expect good things to happen to us – then we will have a good day.

You can reinforce this concept by using affirmations in your morning routine. Affirmations frame the mind for success, and help put subconscious thinking into motion that reinforces our goals.

Some of my favorite affirmations to use in the morning (usually while I’m washing my face, getting ready for the day, doing my makeup) are:

“Today is going to be a great day.”

“I attract good things into my life.”

“Good things happen for me every day.”

“I am bright, brilliant, and beautiful.” (I have Jen Sincero to thank for that one!)

Give one of these a try, or create an affirmation of your own and see how it positively impacts your day.

4. Exercise

Some of the world’s most successful people, like Anna Wintour, Condoleeza Rice, and president Barack Obama, wake up early to fit in exercise and set them up for success in the day to come.

There are so many benefits to exercising in the morning, including mental clarity, renewed energy, improved confidence, and again, the psychology of achievement phenomenon we mentioned earlier.

Especially if you find that you struggle with making time for exercise, give working out in the morning a try.

5. Set an intention for the day

As you go into your day, up-level your confidence and motivation a notch by setting an intention for your day. If you approach your day (and your life) without specificity, you cannot expect specific results. You have to decide what you want and go for it.

I like to think of a daily intention as a daily goal for yourself. It could be a mini goal, like “I’m finally gonna call my friend, who I’ve been meaning to call back for weeks,” or the deadline for a larger goal, “today I’m going to crush my interview.”

Dial into your gut feeling, listen to your intuition (what you really, truly want), and set your intention.

With these five practices, you’ll set yourself up for success every day. Make these a habit and watch your life change for the better.