Morning routines are ultra-important. What you do with the first hour you’re awake dictates how the rest of your day goes. How your days play out eventually shapes how your life unfolds. I have a few go-tos to make my mornings serve the rest of my day and ultimately my life.
Make sure to have your phone off for the first hour, checking your phone immediately when you wake up will derail you and put you into reactive mode. You want to be in a proactive state where you can do critical thinking or be creative. When you internalize YOUR big powerful story, you’ll begin imagining the process of making it real. You can’t do that checking email. Right when you brake slumber, you should be telling yourself the story, painting the picture of your ideal future.
This first hour is your time, be selfish with it. You’ll find if you get that FIRST hour for yourself in the AM, no matter how the day goes you can feel accomplished. You at least conquered that hour for yourself. I know the Miracle Morning is becoming increasingly popular and for good reasons.
Mom said to make your bed! And she was right. Research has shown that how you start your day usually determines how you’ll end it. Making your bed seems silly, but again it’s a tiny task that subconsciously builds confidence and momentum for the day ahead. Wake up exactly when you planned, make your bed and complete your sleep. This is the first little action to build self-confidence for the day.
Have a to-do-list, it’s very important to have a daily map. This can be made the night before and it’s fun to check off things you completed the previous day. It also gives your brain and ego a sense of completion, WINs we can stack!
Prioritize your to-do list.I usually start with what I call the “Big Rocks,” and then you have the small rocks and last, the sand. The big rocks are one or two of the biggest things I must achieve in order to feel that I’ve positively moved in the direction of my goals.
Imagine an empty glass cylinder. To get the most items in there, you need to start with the big rocks, then the smaller ones and lastly, the sand. If you went with the sand first, yup no way there’s going to be room for those bigger rocks (the most important tasks for the day). And this is how 80% of us function, reactive to the day and to its distractions (the sand), leaving us little or no time to complete the big rocks.
The big rocks are what you MUST complete today, don’t do anything else until those big rocks are checked off. These big rocks should align with your overall life vision and passion which we will talk more about in future blogs.
I love how Steve Jobs would routinely look in the mirror and ask himself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” If you wake up 2 or 3 weeks in a row saying NO, it’s time for a change. And that’s OK. Start using your morning routine to plot and plan the change or what the change should be.
Experiment with different routines to see what works for you. It takes a little time but with some trial and error you will find it, it’s life changing.
Here’s what works for me in the morning, in order:
Stack gratitude – I take a minute or so to be grateful for something in my life or even just smile, when you use the muscles in your face to smile it triggers your brain in a positive way.
Drink 20 ounces of water – Jumpstarts my metabolism, add acidity (lemon or lime)
Read 10 pages – Personal growth material that extends your thinking and personal blueprint
Quick journal entry – Pen to paper, thought dumping without thinking or stopping changes everything, triggers creative ideas and cleanses your mind.
20 minutes of cardio – I either do kettlebells, dumbbells, run, YouTube videos or a gym.
Watch a YouTube video or podcast – Watch or listen to something that expands my thinking or furthers my education on my current subject of interest. (Philosophy, personal growth, guitar, science, etc.)
Meditate – Still learning. I’m horrible at this currently, but I know this is a HUGE part of many successful people’s routines, and for good reason. Find a method of meditation that works for you.
Kiss my loved ones
If I complete the above morning routine 5 to 7 mornings out of my week, I feel accomplished. I feel ready for the world and I feel I’m growing to be the best version of me possible. I can usually get all this done within an hour or a little over.
The most important concept with all routines is adherence. Stick to your plan. Everybody has a morning routine, it’s up to you to make it one that serves you in the best possible way. So create and tweak your routine to own your mornings and let us know the amazing ways it changes your life.
Stack Gratitude,
élan
