My Morning Routine

Hey everyone! I have been coming across so much stuff lately that's really made it clear to me the importance of having a solid morning routine and starting your day off well! It's been one of those things that has shown up for me so many times, I thought I should start paying attention! The recurring theme has been that successful people start their day with a series of habits that fill their cup and set them up for the best day possible! (Everyone is different though, and there's no one routine that everyone should follow!) Some of my sources for these ideas have been: the She's Unshakeable podcast - the host, Fleur Lonsdale, asks all her interviewees what their morning routine is; Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris, I listened to this on Audible and the recurring theme through all the segments was the importance of starting the day right; our weekly online training sessions with Babes in Business and Her Collective have repeatedly brought up morning routines as a secret to success; and then finally, I came across a really brilliant webinar in the Healthstyle Emporium about rituals and routines and why they work! Basically, a routine is something that you do consistently; good or bad! So those toxic or unhelpful things that you may be doing are as much a part of your routine as the better habits you're trying to incorporate! And remember to start small - you're much more likely to get overwhelmed if you try to do everything at once! Just pick a couple of things, maybe behaviours you want to swap for something better, or new habits you want to introduce, and just try do one of them for a week. Then the next week, add in another one! Give yourself small wins, because you won't change your mindset overnight! A routine is defined as a sequence of actions performed as a regular procedure. And a ritual is defined as a series of actions performed to a prescribed order, almost like a ceremony. While a routine is more of a conscious decision, rituals cut through that thought level and operate on more of a subconscious level. Rituals can be used as a release, just to let go of different things weighing you down. Some release rituals might include, writing (mind), a bath or shower (body), or burning (soul). Your morning "routine" can be made up of all these little "rituals" to help start your day in flow! You can use intentions to guide your subconscious; by setting an intention and really feeling the feels of the outcome. By consciously feeling the emotion, it communicates to yourself that it has already happened. Intention setting can be such a powerful tool to determine the outcome of your day; because that's it, you get to decide! Having a solid morning routine means you run your day, instead of your day running you; it takes away procrastination and decision fatigue. It puts you back in control! You get to create your day - plan your schedule and make sure to leave plenty of white space, time to just be, in amongst the hustle and bustle. Because who would have thought that taking some time out before rushing into the day would be so profitable?! There are so many things you can do in the mornings to set yourself up for a great day ahead! Different things work for different people, so have a think about what would work best for you where you're at right now. But some ideas could include: meditation, reading, journaling/intention setting/grattitudes, movement/excercise, or anything else that you know leaves you feeling really inspired and strong! As most of you know, I recently cut breakfast out of my morning by adopting intermittent fasting (you can catch up on my blog about it), so that left me a chunk of time in my mornings to just be me. No, not more time to scroll social media in the mornings! I think if there's any habit that everyone would benefit from, it's this: don't touch your phone for the first hour when you wake up, and the last hour before you go to bed. The content we're seeing on our devices, not to mention the light waves from the screens is a massive trigger to things like our cortisol (stress) levels, and our circadian rythym - making it harder for us to sleep at night, and having us running on adrenaline from the very moment we wake up in the morning! (May have to write another blog to delve into this a little deeper, but for now, routines!) So I charge my phone in the office, and when the alarm goes off, I either let it ring out, or go turn it off and leave my phone there! Then, instead of forcing myself to eat first thing in the morning, I now make myself a soothing cup of tea (something herbal is usually what I reach for), and sit down with my journal! I start with grattitudes, and fill a whole page with things I'm grateful for, followed by saying "Thank You" in my mind for each one. Then I set an intention for the day based on how I'm feeling, and write it down, along with a handful of affirmations that empower me to believe the intention I set! Some days I'm feeling creative, some days I'm feeling productive, and some days I'm not feeling in flow towards any one thing. That usually completes my journaling, but occasionally, if I have a little time, I'll dive a little deeper with some journaling prompts. (You can use an app like Dive Thru, or Google some journal prompts the night before and write them down ready for your morning - using your phone is ok here, just don't get stuck in the scroll hole, you'll undo all your hard work!!) Another thing that really fills my cup up is movement! But not a full on workout; if I workout early in the day I usually just want to go back to bed after!! But some gentle movement, like yoga or a walk, plus some fresh air, does wonders for my soul. On work days, this usually looks like getting outside, letting my dogs out for a run, and doing my jobs like feeding the chooks and horses, or just going for a little walk to turn the pump on. Sometimes it's even just hanging out the washing! Just getting outside with the animals for 15-20mins while the sun is coming up is the best thing I can do for myself in the mornings! On weekends or days off, I'll add in a yoga session or a longer walk as part of my movement. Currently, I'm still getting over the mindset of getting up earlier so that I can fit more of these soul filling activities in! Another thing I love to include on mornings I'm not tied to a schedule is a bit of reading and/or meditation! These are other things that I cherish on my weekends off, but don't do consistently through my work week; I think it's safe to say I just need to get up an hour earlier to fit everything in, but until I sort out my bedtime routine and start going to bed earlier, I know that's just not practical for me right now! Once I pick up my phone, usually when I come inside about 15mins before I have to leave for work, I spend 10-15mins building my online business. This is something else I wasn't doing consistently before I started thinking about routines, so here we go; growing myself - growing my business! What a way to start the morning! The other thing I wanted to touch on is a night routine! Obviously, I don't have much of one yet, but I want to! Ideally, I'd love to be in bed by 8:30pm, asleep by 9pm, in order to get up at 5am. But mostly it doesn't happen! I get caught up doing something and then the next thing, and the next, until I fall in to bed at 10pm... not ideal for my health, since I know I struggle to function with less than 8hours sleep! The routine I'd love to have is have dinner around 7pm, tidy the kitchen, have a shower and then work on my business until 8:30pm, then phone away, and read a book in bed and wind down before sleep. And then there's days where I don't get inside until 7pm, so everything gets pushed back an hour! So I'm still working on how I can incorporate a proper routine into my hectic schedule, while still achieving everything I want to achieve; I know there's a morning person inside me somewhere, she'll come out when I start getting enough quality sleep and I don't have to drag myself awake in the morning because I'm well rested! Well, that's me! I'd love to know what your morning/night routines are?? What's sacred to you?? What are your non negotiables??