Conquer the Morning!

Morning time is your intimate time. It is the time of the day when you are free to carry out your activities without being interrupted by the outside world. Waking up earlier than everyone else gives you time to invest in yourself. That is in fact what a morning routine is: doing the things you really want to do and taking the time to reflect on your goals and invest in yourself. When you start every day by focusing on what is important for you and engaging in healthy habits - you subconsciously and consciously take actions towards the life that you want to achieve.

Main benefits of having a Morning Routine:

• Lower anxiety and stress levels

• More free time

• Breaking bad habits

• Having control over the flow of you day

• Avoid mental fatigue

• Improved focus and energy levels

What you Morning routine should include

Drink Water

The first thing you want to do as soon as you wake up is drink a glass of water. The moment that you wake up is when your body is the most dehydrated. Grabbing a cold glass of water will help you wake your mind and kick start your day. I typically drink 20 to 30 ounces of water wishing the first 3 hours of the day. I drink more on days that I exercise.

Exercise

Any kind of activity that raises your blood pressure and causes endorphins to be released in your brain will do. It can be anything from push-ups, jogging, to yoga and stretching. Something that you enjoy doing and that will put a smile on your face by doing it.

I like to swim in the mornings. Swimming gets me out of my comfort zone because the water is usually cold. I treat the cold water as just another challenge to conquer in the morning. Once I get into my swim routine I don't even notice the cold water and I feel great for the rest of the day. On days where I have a lot of work to get done, I will do pushups or squats or maybe 20 minutes of yoga in my kitchen.

Healthy breakfast

Having a delicious and nutritious breakfast every morning will supply you with the energy needed to kick start your day. Delighting your taste buds will also put you in a good mood. Chose foods that are healthy, but also very dear to you. Some mornings, I enjoy 100% grass fed beef with peppers, onions, avocados, cilantro and salsa. That packs about 40 grams of protein that I need to get through the morning. Other mornings I may fast only having water until about 2 in the afternoon.

Personal hygiene

This one might seem like a no brainer. However, taking the time to groom yourself up to your standards greatly impacts your confidence throughout your day. If you need to set aside 30 minutes to make sure your make up is perfect – do it. If you need 20 minutes to get that clean shave – take your time with it. Making sure you have plenty of time to focus on you to be ready for work will keep you calm as opposed to doing your make up in the car or wishing you had shaved, but woke up too late to do so.

Meditation

Set aside 5 to 50 minutes to simply sit down in a quiet and comfortable area. Simply use this time to calm down and focus solely on your breathing. Thoughts will surface and stir; simply let them fly away without giving them too much attention. In time, and with practice your ability to focus and clear your mind will improve. Ask me about the best meditation app I have found for newbies and masters alike.

Visualize your goals

Visualization helps you keep in mind what you want to achieve and how you will achieve it. It reminds you why and for what you are getting out of bed in the morning. Take a few minutes to see yourself as you want to be, relationships and skills that you want to have. Make the visualization exercise as real as possible with the five senses. Put as much detail into it as you can. This focuses your attention on how to spend your time through out the day. You will catch yourself asking: Does this task/activity move me toward my goal or away from it.

Make your Morning Routine into a Morning Ritual

Design your mornings in a way that you will fall in love with them. Pack them with activities you really enjoy doing and that leave you feeling accomplished. A morning routine should be something you look forward to.

You don't have to do all of these at once. When I started doing a morning routine, I packed a lot of stuff into one hour so I could conquer the morning. The morning routine I have now, typically starts with small wins at about 5:30 am. The order that I go in is, 1)make my side of bed as quietly as possible(wife sleeping), 2) brush teeth, 3)do 60 seconds of push ups(if I was not going to the gym that morning), 4)Drink at least 8-16 0z of water, 5) write for 1 hour(ask me later about this), 6)Meditate for 10 minutes(great app recommendation for this to make it easy). Don't beat yourself up over not getting something in that particular morning. Resolve to do it better the next day. This is a process. Trust in yourself that you are doing your best and do it.

A book I was reading at the time I started my morning routine is: The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. I highly recommend it to get you off to a great start in the mornings. Having a well-planned morning will help you get out of bed in itself and help start your day on the right foot. Conquer the morning and you have conquered the day.