036: The Morning Routine of Champions • Passion Design Project

Summary::

Your alarm clock goes off, it’s another day. Will it be good or bad? Too early to tell. You rub your eyes, thinking about the list you have ahead of you, and try to come up with a good reason that you can press snooze and shut your eyes for at least 10 more minutes. You deserve it right?

Actually, what you deserve is to have the life of your dreams.Oops, did I interrupt your visions of sleep with that comment?

Listen, no matter if you are a morning person or not (we’ll talk about that later), you can have a successful morning routine that starts your day off with a bang! And setting your day off on the right foot, gets you into that mindset of getting your life on the exact track you want it on.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive; to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. – Marcus Aurelius

If you’re like me, you know a good routine in the morning could help you get a bit more accomplished, but you can’t really seem to find one that jives with your schedule, so instead you sort of mosey around, doing things here and there until you realize your morning time is no longer. It’s work time and my headspace is not where I wish it was. This was me for the last few years; I had really good intentions. I did! Some days I even felt like I had a successful morning. But sometimes doesn’t do much for developing successful routines.

My morning routine deﬁnitely sets the tone for the rest of my day. If I’m rushed and stressed in the morning, that will carry through my work day. – Tessa Miller

So if you want to start the new year off with one new habit, I would suggest implementing a solid morning routine. Plus, it’s probably a lot less of a struggle than some other resolutions you may have been tossing around in your head!

Let’s set a few ground rules. There will be no more snooze buttons, no more skipping breakfast, no negative thoughts, and definitely…lots of candles and coffee involved.

Morning routines are actually quite simple. They should have some basics. A consistent wake-up time, hydration and getting the body ready for the day, some self-reflection and development, and some nourishment. Easy, right? We’ll dive in a little further, but let me remind you, my routine will most likely look different than yours, and that’s the beauty of it. Do what works and feels good for you. But by feeling good, I don’t mean falling back asleep ha!

Establishing a bedtime and wake-up time.

Consistency is key here and you can do it! Use times that are practical for you. 10:30 and 6:30 work for me but maybe yours are a bit earlier or later. And if you are a night owl, take some time to think about why? Are you simply watching movies or maybe you use that time to do housework (can you rearrange that or ask for help)? Or is it just a habit these days? Think on what would be the best use of your time, and give some small changes a try.

If you want to make your dreams come true, the ﬁrst thing you have to do is wake up. – J.M. Power

Hydration + Preparing the body for the day ahead.

Water, water, water. Remember, you’ve dehydrated yourself while sleeping so rehydrate immediately. Your bod will thank you. Luckily, I live in altitude, so I never have to remind myself to drink water, I wake-up absolutely parched!! Preparing the bod also means stretching. Maybe do some yoga poses in front of a window – find a million on YouTube if you haven’t done yoga. About every other day, I do a more intense workout, usually following Kayla Itsines half-hour program.

Self-reflection & Self-development.

First and foremost focus on positive thoughts. Release all anxious thoughts back into the world, we do not need to fill up the spaces of our head with those, especially right now! If you want to conquer a jumble of thoughts in your head, add meditation. It has the power to drastically improve mood, concentration, stress levels, and productivity. Download the Headspace app and give it a try with me – it’s not scary I promise! Have a few books by your bed on self-development. The ones sitting next to my bed right now are: How Rich People Think, Stop Saying You’re Fine, Leveraging the Universe, and Wild & Free. Let me know if you’d like any particular suggestions! A gratitude journal, regular journal, or brain dump are also super beneficial and I would encourage at least one of those daily.

Nourishment.

I’m all about breakfast, large or small, but something! I made a blog post on some awesome ideas for breakfast, which you can find on my website. Quickly, some ideas are bulletproof coffee, apple or banana with nut butter, veggie omelet, green smoothie, acai bowl, oatmeal loaded with seeds, nuts, and fruit, avocado toast, and tons of others. For something more on-the-go, there are crazy healthy and yummy granola bars to always have on hand as you grab a piece of fruit on your way out the door. Bulletproof coffee is good on the go, too.

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With those ideas in mind, here is what my morning routine looks like:

Bedtime 10:30pm. I prefer to do a 10-minute meditation at night, as opposed to in the morning, so I put on a Headspace 10-minute meditation once my head hits the pillow and fall asleep shortly after. I wake up to a soothing song or alarm at 6:30 am. On my calendar, I have blocked out an hour for my morning routine, so I don’t try to rush myself. The moment I wake up my mind wants to think of everything I need to accomplish for the day, so if that happens I focus instead on my breathing and drinking a glass of water. Sort of a mini-wakeup-meditation. I then grab my 5-Minute gratitude Journal that I keep by my bed and my Daily Devotional, and I do a page of each. The Journal sets my intentions for the day and gets my mind prepared. I plan to start adding in 5-10 minutes of actual journaling soon. Then I’ll sit up in bed and do a light stretch of my body. Depending on the day, I either use the next half hour to read a self-development book or else do a half hour Kayla Itsines workout. I finish up with getting myself together in the bathroom and making breakfast – eggs and greens almost every day. Then it’s time to jump into work at around 8 am and also when I allow myself to check social media and email!

This is what works for me, but as you can see, it’s totally up to you how you organize your morning. For instance, you can always exercise later or cut the reading short, or meditate on your commute.

I encourage you to implement a solid morning routine as soon as possible, as it will only benefit you! If nothing else, start setting strict bedtimes and wakeup for yourself to get yourself prepared to take on a more beneficial routine soon.

Thanks so much for joining me today!!

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