The Importance Of A Morning Routine

Morning routines are so powerful in living an intentional life. They create discipline, balance and boundaries that set you up for success. In looking at some of the most successful people, what they all have in common is a morning routine. They are all unique in their own way. For example, Howard Schultz; ex CEO of Starbucks gets up at 4:30am, walks his three dogs, does a work out and then makes coffee for himself. Oprah gets up between 5:30 and 6am, spends an hour at the gym and is in the make-up chair by 7:30am. By 11:30am, she has already filmed two shows and called her relatives over in Africa before they go to bed.

What Does Your Morning Routine Look Like?

 Ask yourself what your morning routine is like and check in on whether it’s intentional. By intentional, I mean is it a routine that helps you become productive? Or helps you achieve your most desired goals?

For example, my morning routine is this;

• Wake Up 5-6am
• Have a hot shower
• Go to boxing training
• Eat Breakfast
• Coffee + Write/Read
• Start The Day around 8am

Signs Your Morning Routine Needs a Revamp

If you have a morning of uncertainty, your day becomes much more of the same. Your days are on autopilot, which reduces your productivity and awareness of what you’re actually doing. They are unintentional. Some of the biggest signs of an ineffective morning routine are;

• Constantly hitting the snooze button
• Feel tired every morning
• Constantly rushing
• Disorganised
• Waking up at different times

How To Change Your Morning Routine

Determine Your Evening Ritual

To change your morning routine, it’s going to require discipline. The discipline starts from the night before (Your evening ritual). Everything you do before bed has an effect on how you’ll feel in the morning. For example, if you eat a lot of food before dinner, you’re going to wake up feeling sluggish and tired because your. I’d suggest going to bed at a reasonable time with clarity on what you’re going to do the next day. The clarity is what you’re going to do to that will help you get things done. It’s also important to have a clear mind before bed, as having a mind full of different thoughts and feelings can disrupt your sleep and won’t help you be as effective in the morning.

Keep Things Simple

You don’t need to try everything all at once when you are changing your morning routine. And to be perfectly honest, you may not even be able to implement all your ideas for change all at once. So  be simple about things. It could be as simple as focusing on not hitting the snooze button each morning, or making sure you are organised. It’s okay to experiment with new things as only you will know what helps you become more effective in the mornings.

Exercise

This is something we should all make time for. In researching all the successful people in the world, the one thing that they all have in common in their morning routine, is the time for exercising. It doesn’t have to be an hour. It can be 30 minutes, or even 15 minutes. Morning exercise fuels your day. It is a big stress reducer and improves your mood so you are zoned in on a more productive and effective day. If you’re not currently exercising in the morning, then give it a go. Experiment and see how good you feel from the days you exercise vs. The days you don’t.

Eat A Decent Breakfast

Eating a decent breakfast goes a long way into making better daily decisions. If you skip breakfast, you’ll find yourself getting hungry over the course of the day. When you’re hungry, your decision making becomes impaired and your impulse levels are heightened. I suggest focusing on eating breakfast after you exercise, as this is what can really set you up for an effective and productive day.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practice these morning routine habits and you'll become more effective and productive. You'll have the energy throughout the day to keep going and stay focused.