So, you want your day to go well? As your morning goes, so your day goes.
Get a morning routine. If you are thinking of making the The365Commitment, then consider starting by establishing the habit of a morning routine. It is truly a great and foundational habit with many benefits. Something well started is well finished!
The most important benefit of a solid morning routine is the fact that you are taking care of yourself first every day. The demands of the day will come and it is easy to jump right into dealing with everything coming your way and skip taking care of yourself. I once knew an old man named Woody, he was my next door neighbor – literally our doors were right next to each other – I was 18 and he was 80 something. He said, “You can’t take care of other people if you are not taking care of yourself first.” He was right.
Here are some tips about creating a morning routine:
- It does not have to be long or elaborate routine. Most of us DO NOT have 1.5 – 2 hours in the morning to make mushroom tea, exercise, meditate, hit the steam room, lay in the isolation tank, do hot yoga, practice visualization, run 6 miles, drink bulletproof coffee, etc. – all these are great but not necessarily required.
- Most importantly, create a morning routine that serves you and fits your time in life. A morning routine can be 10-15 minutes long. As long as you are doing things that support and prepare YOU for the coming day.
- Be consistent with your morning routine – make it a habit. Just something that you always do.
- Consider incorporating activities that feed each of the three dimensions: mental, physical, spiritual.
- Create a list of what if most important to accomplish for that day, and visualize yourself taking the steps to do it. This is proven to help, a great practice and can be easily incorporated into a prayer or meditation habit. Even if it is just one thing – this will help you realize your goals.
- Don’t wait to “feel like” having a morning routine, if you are like me then it might be waiting a long time. Just do it because you know it is the right thing to do, countdown 5,4,3,2,1, and just do it.
- Ignore the advice above and make a morning routine that works for you.
The proverb “Well begun is half done” is a proverb attributed to Aristotle. It’s a good one and applies to how we start each day.
Two things I do each morning that I challenge you to try. 1.) Just as you are waking, emerging from dream state, pay attention to the thoughts and and images that cross your mind – leverage the wisdom that may emerge from your subconscious or dream state thinking. 2.) I also write this blog every morning (with rare exception) – it usually gets me thinking positively and gets the mind in thinking mode. This is hard to do, but worth it.
Ben Wagner (234)
Member The365Commitment
