Building a simple morning routine
Hi friends
In this month’s Lifetonic we’re looking at elevating our wellbeing by building a simple morning routine (or ritual if you prefer that term).
But what is a morning routine?
A morning routine is all about starting the day off in a way that helps you to feel your best. This can help you build momentum for the day ahead and help improve your concentration, energy level and your mood.
Research shows that it can also positively contribute to your wellbeing by:
- Reducing stress and overwhelm
If you tend to have a lot of worry or anxiety, then establishing a routine can help you to focus your mind and give it a rest; especially as the routine becomes second nature to you. This can help you to make better decisions throughout the day.
- Gives you more focus and time to reflect on the intention you want to set for the day
None of us do this nearly enough! We just get up and jump right into auto pilot mode. Instead, try setting an intention of what you want to get out of your day, how you want to feel, and let it flow from there.
Never tried this before? Then use your TLC Quick Start Guide that will take you through a formula for this!
- Builds a sense of organisation and feeling ready for the day ahead
With a routine, you have a plan and a plan leads to organisation which ends up giving us more time in our day and less stress. Hands up if you want more of that?
- Prevents disease by supporting a good night’s sleep
Have you factored in that a good morning routine really starts with a good night’s sleep? By creating routines that help us to get better and more quality sleep, we not only feel better throughout the day, but quality sleep is also connected to lowering stress and fighting inflammation in the body, which means you can capitalise on your morning.
This month your challenge is to either create a fresh morning routine for yourself or have a think about upgrading your existing one.
To help you, I’m outlining two routine ‘templates’ to inspire you into action. You can pad these out in any way that you think might work best for you.
Let’s take a look at them….
3 Step Morning Routine – 10 minutes
The 3M’s Morning Routine
Movement
Meditation
Mindset
This is my personal morning routine although I also use it at various points in my day, not just in the morning, because of the unique way that it helps me to stay consistently grounded, present and fluid in my body.
You might even recognize these as the building blocks of The Lifetonic Club….
Sometimes I do longer than 10 minutes if the time allows but at most, I aim to do 10 minutes spending roughly 3 minutes on each.
I purposely haven’t given the specifics of what I do under each because I want you to make this an exercise all about you so give it a try!
5 Step Morning Routine – 25 minutes
Best Possible Self Routine
Gratitude
Meditation
Movement
Visualization
Affirmations
This is a morning routine that I used when I was shifting careers and felt like I needed to do a little more work around the results that I wanted to call in for myself.
It’s a little longer at 25 – 30 minutes but if you’re working on a big project, making any shifts in your life or just want to double down on your own self-care and build confidence in yourself, then this might be the one for you…
To build a morning routine that you’re going to win with, there are a few questions you might want to ask yourself first….
5 questions to ask yourself when building a morning routine:
1. What’s the why behind your routine? If you can connect with why you’re doing it, you’re far more likely to stay consistent with it
2. Find a routine or rhythm that feels good for you not because it’s what Meghan Markle does (you know what I mean here!). Experiment with different things until you land on a formula that’s giving you the greatest wellbeing return – this is the routine sweet spot!
3. How are you going to make it non-negotiable? It you’re out of the habit of being in a routine, this is going to be a big one for you.
4. How many steps is your routine going to have? In this lifetonic I’ve highlighted a straight forward, 3 step routine and a slightly longer 5 step one. Go back to your why and the non-negotiable question – this might help you answer this question. And remember – your routine should slip seamlessly into your day and should never be overwhelming.
5. Remember we’re not all or nothing thinking here! Your morning routine can also be an evening routine or lunchtime routine or a post meeting ritual! The important thing is that you are building a personal system that’s going to help you to feel better more of the time and call in the results you seek for yourself more of the time.
Are you surprised that I’ve not mentioned making coffee, brushing your teeth or flipping pancakes yet?!
You can, of course, include ALL of those things (and you should definitely brush your teeth!), but a good morning routine is really all about setting you up to win your day.
Share your morning routine journey in our Facebook Community and lets support each other to win not just today but EVERY day! You are more than worthy of it.