A Transformational Morning Routine That Can Change Your Life
Today is your opportunity to build the tomorrow you want.
If you’re working on personal growth and/or self-improvement then you need to have an exceptional morning routine. If you haven't already heard but some of the most successful people on the planet have a morning ritual that they practice.
Steve Jobs would begin his day by asking himself one question, “If today were my last day on earth what would I do differently?”
Obama starts his day with a weight and cardio routine and then finish by having breakfast with his daughters.
Oprah starts her day by being out in nature with her dogs and then does a meditation practice.
Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, makes sleep his priority. Making sure he gets enough helps him wake up ready to make smarter decisions.
To begin planning a morning routine you need to set your intentions because not all morning routines are created equal. You need to make sure that your ritual is suited for you so that you can actually be consistent with it. Not everyone is wanting to be just like Oprah or Jeff Bezos (although I wouldn’t mind having that lifestyle). The point is that you need to find out your why, what is your purpose?
A majority of people, especially in these uncertain times, are waking up glued to their phones and begin to go down the rabbit hole of social media that eventually leads to making you feel bad about yourself. Others are waking up rushing to get to work and start their day thinking of the list of things they need to do and by the time their day is over they haven’t even had a moment to themselves.
Having a morning ritual can help set you up for a healthy mindset, get you through the day in a more positive way, and help you reach all of your goals. There are a plethora of lists of morning habits you can find online but I will share a few that I think are exceptionally transformational and very effective to get you started to a healthy body and mind.
1. Practice mindfulness
When you first wake its important to be mindful of how you are feeling and what your initial thoughts are. Sometimes we take on how we felt from the day before, especially if it wasn’t a good day and if we’re not mindful this will carry on into our day. If we choose to be aware of how we feel we can acknowledge it and move on and choose to start the day with a different attitude.
2. Get out of bed
Sounds so simple right? Simple yet challenging for so many. Just getting out of bed is a simple act in taking a step in the right direction. It leads you to take a step forward to continuing your day. After this, it's important that what you do next is setting the intention to begin your day. For me, this looks like going to the kitchen and turning the kettle on to prepare my coffee, washing my face, and then making my bed. This signals my brain that I am awake and ready to get on with my day.
3. Meditate or Journal
I like to put the option for both because they both serve as a purpose for making time for yourself. Whether you choose to meditate for ten minutes and or write a few pages in ten minutes, both will help you be more intuned with yourself. Meditation and journaling both work in powerful ways by creating a space for you to just be. They help in visualizing your goals, whether it be on paper or in your mind. When you meditate or journal you allow a space for you to just dump how you think or how you feel and this allows you to release whatever you may be holding inside. It will make you feel lighter and help reduce stress at the start of your day.
3. Move your body
Exercise is one of the vital habits that tend to improve all other areas of your life. When you start to exercise you start to feel good and when we feel good we begin to lean more towards what feels right for us and our health. This could lean into making better decisions about our diet and our mental health. Moving our body and getting our heart pumping increases blood flow and oxygen throughout the body. Your brain actually loves exercise, get enough blood flow and oxygen to it will help you become more alert, awake and focused. Your body will begin to release endorphins, those “feel good” hormones in the body.
4. Eat right
Now more than ever proper nutrition and hydration are vital. Making sure you start your day with the right foods will make it that much easier to achieve your health goals. Eating the right foods can help boost your immune system, prevent cancer and other diseases, it can increase the quality of your sleep, help you lose weight, and overall make you feel good. Here I explain the one secret to achieving your best body.
Motivation isn’t the only thing you should be counting on to get you to achieve any of your goals. It’s going to take will power to set a routine and be consistent with all that applies to it.
Your morning ritual should be tailored to what works best for you. It doesn’t have to be as complex or as simple as someone else’s. The purpose is to get you to set a ritual and to be consistent with it.
