The way you spend the first 30-60 mins of your morning can have a massive impact on the rest of your day and even your life. A more productive morning routine will mean you are more productive in life as well. Changing my morning routine a couple of years ago, made a huge impact on my life and it can on yours by giving yourself a little time to follow some very simple steps.
It’s fair to say we all have rituals in our life, whether we like it or not. The way we handle our finances, relationships, our health or even our children. If you look at someone who goes weight training five times a week, you can usually work out, just by looking at them, their attitude and rituals towards working out. The things we do on a daily basis have a huge impact on the results we get from life.
Starting the day in a proactive and not reactive state is powerful. Waking up, after hitting the snooze button three times, checking social media and emails for half an hour then rolling out of bed to have an unhealthy breakfast and a quick wash followed by a dash to get to work on time, isn’t an inspiring way to start the day! Reacting to social media, emails or what’s on the news is stressful and unhelpful.
Many of the most successful people in the world such as Oprah Winfrey, Tony Robbins, Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama, the list goes on and on, take control of their day with good rituals. As you known these people weren’t just lucky, they have certain things they do daily that make them successful and it starts with daily rituals that turbo charges their morning and allow them to be focused and have the energy to attack the day. They do things to help them have a strong body and mind.
Here are my 5 simple steps that are guaranteed to add rocket fuel to your morning, make you productive all day and change the quality of your life. If you want to be as successful as you can in life and help others as well, you can’t do that until you help yourself first.
1. Get up when your alarm goes off
The snooze button is not your friend! Dropping back in and out of sleep makes you groggy and by hitting snooze you’re subconsciously telling yourself you’ve failed in your first commitment of the day. Waking up at the time you set the night before is the first step in conditioning yourself to achieving your goals. It may be a small win but, lots of small wins throughout the day equals a fantastic 24 hours. Tomorrow, when your alarm goes, jump up and grab a glass of water or green tea straight away.
2. Mental Vitamins!
Take two or three a day with your tea. What I mean by this is, have written down two or three positive affirmations and say them out loud. One of your affirmations could be “I have all that I need to achieve what I want today”. Then, while you drink your morning tea or water, take time to say what you’re grateful for, it could be as simple as having a warm bed to sleep in, a job to go to or just that you’ve woken up! Expressing gratitude helps you put your life in perspective and gives you a more positive outlook. Whilst doing these genuinely try and smile as this creates a ‘feel good’ state that you will take on through the day.
3. Pick two big wins for the day
Before you go to bed, pick two things that, if you accomplished them will feel like the day was a success. In the morning, look at what you’ve picked, close your eyes for a minute and visualise yourself doing those things. Try to be as specific as possible, play the images out in your mind and see yourself doing them successfully. You can’t have huge, epic wins every day, but having a strategy like this will keep you focused and moving in the right direction.
4. Exercise!
Yep, you probably guessed that this would been in the list somewhere; and maybe, like a lot of people, you are filled with dread at the thought of anything more punishing, first thing in the morning, than walking downstairs or lifting a kettle! Relax, you don’t have to run a 10k to get some benefit here. Between 5-7 mins of activity is enough to get you breathing heavily and it won’t have a major impact on your time. Exercising takes care of your mind as well as your body. Your body is linked to emotion, and even some light exercise can go a long way to combating stress and makes you feel good for up to 7 hours after.
5. Breakfast
Now I know some people will say they never eat breakfast or can’t face anything until after 11am. One of the best things you can do for yourself, your mind and your body, is to eat a healthy breakfast especially after exercise. It doesn’t have to be much, it could be a nice green smoothie or some fruit. My personal choice is porridge with banana, nuts and dried fruit with a cup of green or peppermint tea. This sets me up for the day and keeps me going until my next meal.
Take charge of your morning! When you start to be proactive and look after yourself first, you become much stronger at dealing with whatever the day throws at you. As I mentioned before, morning rituals massively helped change my life and we all have them. Ask yourself, do yours get you pumped for the day or disempower you? Are they slowing you down, holding you back or helping you get what you want from life?
This guest blog was provided by Robert Lattibeaudiere
Business Strategist and High Performance Consultant for i2i (Impossible 2 Inevitable)
Robert Lattibeaudiere
To this I have added my own unique approach for creating business cultures that have brought me success in sectors such as Telecommunications, the Travel Industry (Co-op Group), large contact centres, direct sales and Retail.
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