Makeover Your Morning
One of my closest friends recently asked me what the main contributor was to my success regarding my health + fitness journey. My mind immediately flipped to the complete internal transformation that I grew into the months during & after my divorce. However, I knew that wasn’t what she meant, so I sat with the question. When I looked back over the past 12 months, I could pinpoint 2 specific things:my morning routine & my accountability group.
Today I’m writing about my morning routine, in hopes that someone who is confused as to why their days just aren’t what they envision, feels inspired and gives it a try. As silly as it sounds, my morning routine truly changed the trajectory of my life in most every genre in the past year.
Starting our mornings with intention is the difference between taking charge of your whole day versus being in reactionary mode. If I didn’t have a routine, I’d wake up, hit snooze a few times, scroll social media, and eventually roll out of bed feeling frazzled to get back to people and ill-prepared for the rest of the day.
➡️ Step 1: It All Starts The Night Before.
You are your best self when you are rested. If you’re up late working or watching Netflix, of course it’s going to be hard to wake up early. You’ll be running on fumes by 10am. My basic rule of thumb is to go to bed by 11pm. If I go to bed by 11pm, I know I can wake up at 6am and feel *fully* rested throughout my entire day. My friend April recently reminded me of a powerful John Maxwell quote that I want to share with you: “If you’re not preparing then you’re repairing.” I try to remind myself of this every night so I can make sure I’m prepared for the next day.
➡️Step 2: Set Your Alarm Clock On The Other Side Of The Room.
Most people today use their phones as their alarm clock. Setting your phone on the other side of the room is a bigger deal than we think -
It keeps you from staying up scrolling and laying around scrolling in the morning, and it gets your butt out of bed and your body moving. If you get out of bed and walk across the room to turn your alarm off, you are so much less likely to hit snooze. Speaking of “snooze,” every time you hit that 9 minute button you trick your body into going back into REM sleep. That means the sleep inertia cycle is stunted and you can count on being groggy for at least the next 75 minutes. I can promise you that if you get up and get your butt into gear following these steps, you’ll feel more awake at 7:20 than you would if you had snoozed for 20 minutes.
➡️The most important part: Drink 12oz of Water As Soon As Your Feet Hit The Floor.
If there is any advice you take away from this post, let it be this piece. Your body just went 7-8 hours without any hydration. Your cells are dehydrated. Your mind is dehydrated. Do your body a favor and drink some water. Your workout will feel better, your skin will feel better, and if you throw a couple ice cubes in, you might even feel more awake! I keep a filled up 20oz tumbler cup on the nightstand and chug it before getting out of bed.
➡️The last piece of my morning routine puzzle, and perhaps my favorite, is to Set Your Intentions For The Day.
I know that that statement can sound so wishy-washy. What I mean by this is think about how you want to feel throughout the day. Write these things down and promise them to yourself. Anytime you feel like your mood is shifting in opposition of the person you want to be, remind yourself that today is a day for _____ (insert intentions here)____. I usually pair this activity with a ten to twenty minute podcast or a chapter in the book I’m reading, to gain some inspiration. I always choose to read (or listen) to something that I feel I’m not performing the best at. We coachy people call this “personal development” and I consider it fitness for my brain. I even prioritize it, just like I prioritize my fitness. I’ve even compiled a list of my favorite personal development reads and popped them in here for you!
Morning have literally become the absolute favorite part of my day.
It’s not a step-by-step calculation of the things that are going to make my day great. Sometimes I do all of these things and life happens and my day isn’t great. But a year ago as I spilled my coffee in my lap sitting in traffic late to a Pilates class I was scheduled to teach, I envisioned my future self: sitting in a chair in the sun at 7am, workout complete, drinking water, listening to something inspiring and jotting something down in a notebook. I’m now convinced that girl I saw in my mind, the one who had it together, is a version of who I am now.
If you’re reading this, I’d love for you to share about your essential morning routine in the comments below!