What are the first 3 things you do when you wake up in the morning. Do you start your day with an intention to make it the best day you can. Or do you (like so many of us) start the day with everyone else’s priorities.
If you’re starting the day by…
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Checking your email
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Cruising social media
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Being woken up by a hungry offspring
Chances are the answer to that question is “everyone else’s’ priorities. While it’s easy to let our outside influences dictate our priorities, doing so leaves you feeling drained, unfulfilled and just generally frustrated.
What if you could start your day feeling inspired instead of tired. Feeling like you set a plan and actually accomplished it? What if you started the day better so your interactions with your spouse, your co-workers and your kids were the best they could be.
Our secret: create a morning routine that sparks inspiration, rejuvenation and learning.
The bad news? You might need to wake up a bit earlier to make this happen.
The good news? You’ll feel so much better waking up early won’t feel like a chore. Heck, you might even look forward to it!
So here are 5 steps you can take today to start your day strong!
Wake up 45 minutes earlier
We know, we know, this sucks. BUT unless you’re currently waking up at 4 am OR you have shift work, this is completely do-able. (hint: if you go to bed a bit earlier this is even easier!) Waking up earlier allows you time to commit to yourself and your goals before anyone else can distract you. The first few mornings are going to feel rough. You’re going to want to hit the snooze button, but try not to. Commit to a week of getting your butt out of bed and getting started. And if you’re like me, try putting your phone or whatever alarm device you use on the other side of the room. Forcing your body to stand up works wonders in kicking the snooze routine.
Spend 10-15 minutes in gratitude and planning for the day!
Gratitude is a broad term that gets thrown around a lot but, have you tried intentionally starting your day from a place of thankfulness instead of “have-tos” or “should-haves’? Keep a journal by your bed and start with this exercise:
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List 5 things you’re grateful for. They can be tiny things…
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Someone opened the door for me
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The sun hit my face while I was walking and it made me smile
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My kiddo said something hilarious
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You get the point. Look for things that light you up, that make you feel happy and grateful for the life you get to live. Some days will be more difficult than others. Some days you’ll find yourself stretching for positivity, but that’s okay. The goal is to train our brains to recognize the positive because that’s much more difficult than seeing the negative.
Move your body!
This doesn’t need to be your workout for the day. You can spend 10 minutes stretching or walking around the block. The goal is that you’re moving and slowly waking up your body instead of jolting out of bed and immediately feeling stressed by all the things you’re already behind on. This ten minutes of movement can help you slowly mentally work through your day and your priorities. You’ll be amazed at how much clearer you feel about your priorities.
Take 20 minutes to learn something/work towards a goal.
You may feel like you have zero time to invest in yourself. Are you wanting to learn a new language, learn a new skill, read a book? Guess what? You just got the time to do it! Spend some time each morning exploring your curiosities. You’ll start turning those things on the “I wish I could” list to the “Hell ya, I’m doing this!” list in no time.
STAY OFF YOUR PHONE!
Here’s one thing we know for sure, starting the day on your phone does not spark creativity and joy. Make a commitment to check your phone until you’ve spent a solid 30-40 minutes on you. Our phones are great for a lot of things, including distracting us from the things that are really important. Be selfish, start your day for you! Leave everyone else behind until you feel fully grounded, centered and ready to conquer you day!