A SOLID MORNING ROUTINE SHOULD BE IN PLACE FOR EVERYONE, BUT ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE WAKING UP AT 5 AM OR EARLIER TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
The importance of a morning routine cannot be stressed enough. There are people that I have come across that wake up in the mornings and just move through the motions. I have also met people who have a solid morning routine in place. The difference between the two is a stronger more focused mindset.
After executing on my own morning routine consistently, I noticed a drastic difference in my overall mental and physical health. I would like to share with you what my morning routine looks like, but first, lets go over how and why I created my morning routine.
How I Created My Morning Routine
My morning routine was created through trial and error. I started reading about self-help and as I dove into the subject, I started to pick up on some things. One of the biggest take aways is that the most successful people in the world have a solid morning routine. I started to see that they were waking up earlier than most people and their mornings had intention. So, what I started to do was implement one at a time and really focus on the consistency. My goal was to implement one thing at a time and then see how it affected my day to day.
Focusing on self awareness helps to see if something works for you or against you. I eventually put a sequence in place that made sense to me and worked for me. As I read more and more books, I picked up more and more tips and morning habits. I found things that worked extremely well for me. I hung on to the stuff that worked over time and the ones that didn’t work well for me, I tossed.
Why I Chose My Morning Routine
A routine is a series of habits and behaviors that you set up for yourself. Like I mentioned before, alot of people disregard routines all together. A morning routine for some can be waking up, getting dressed, grabbing some coffee and banana and heading out the door. I prefer to take a different approach to my mornings. I learned that my mornings have a strong impact on my overall day. Because I realized this, I created a morning routine that helps improve my mindset. Let’s dive into the whole routine.
1. Wake up at 4AM
This is the first piece to my morning routine. I wake up at 4AM. Waking up at 4am gives me a pocket of time before I need to get into my car and go to work. With this pocket of time, I am now able to construct a series of habits that will encompass my morning routine.
If I don’t wake up at this time, then I have less time to play with before I need to leave to work. With all the things that I like to get done before I go to work, I need sufficient time. Waking up this early is not easy. I get it. However, the benefits far outweigh the discomfort. With the ample time I created for myself, I can now just cruise through my morning routine. I can take my time doing everything and it becomes therapeutic instead of chore-like.
2. Listen to Something Positive
I have found that waking up to some positive words immediately after getting out of bed really helps me. I like to put on some motivating music or some motivational videos that I found on YouTube. With the videos that you find on YouTube you can make a playlist. I like to listen to the playlists that I have created for myself and just move through the next phases of my morning routine. Listening to some really positive words that early in the morning just does something for my mental health. It’s a great way to start your morning.
3. Brush my Teeth & Cold Water Face Splash.
The first place I need to go to when I wake up is the bathroom. I need to brush my teeth immediately and splash some really cold water on my face to wake myself up a bit. Clean breath and a cold water face splash helps me move in the right direction. At 4am, the direction I am trying to head towards is mental clarity. That morning fog that lingers around is something that I need to slowly get out of.
4. Get my Workout Clothes On
Once I finish splashing water on my face and brushing my teeth, the next step is to go into my closet and get fully dressed in my workout clothes. I put on clothes, my socks and lace up my running sneakers nice and tight. Asics running shoes are my top choice for my workouts. The Asic sneakers really help with my running. They provide me ample support and cushion for the impact on the joints that comes with running. By getting dressed in full workout clothes, it makes my brain realize that there will be a workout that will shortly follow.
5. Coffee and Water
Once I am dressed in my workout clothes, my next step is to go to the kitchen and turn on my coffee maker. Coffee for me is an absolute must in my mornings. I like to drink plain black espresso and accompany that with a tall glass of room temperature water. Our body is dehydrated when we wake up in the mornings. Drinking a large glass of water helps to get my digestive system working. By drinking a large glass of water I am better hydrated to take on my morning workout.
6. Journal
By this point in my morning routine I am already alot more alert and awake. I am still listening to my headphones from the moment I woke up. The positive words by now are already starting to take shape and forming my mindset for the day. In this phase of my morning routine, I like to sit down at an empty table. All I have with me is my journal, my coffee, and a large glass of water.
Journaling for me has made an extreme improvement on my mental state. By journaling consistently, I have learned to become more self aware. Journaling has taught me how to perceive things that are happening around me with clarity. During this time, I basically write out what is on my mind and what I expect out of myself. I set an intention and I commit to that intention throughout my whole day.
7. Exercise
After I am done journaling, the caffeine from my morning plain black coffee is already roaring through me. My brain is awake and alert at this point, and I am ready to move. I move to my next phase which is my exercise routine. As I mentioned earlier, I like to head out my house and go run a 4 mile loop within my neighborhood. If I am not going for an outdoor run, I am in my garage doing a weight training session for about an hour.
The exercise helps by increasing my breathing and my heart rate. I break a great sweat and I have been doing deep breathing work, simply because of the intensity. Working out in the morning makes you more alert and energized by the time you reach the office. You are significantly more alert and relaxed in comparison to a day of not working out in the morning. This is a total game changer if you add this to your morning routine.
8. Cold Shower
After working out for an hour, I come back and I jump into a cold shower. I typically start it off with warm water. Then slowly, I move the water handle all the way to the cold side. By the end of my shower, I am even more awake. In addition to being more alert there are great health benefits behind cold showers. It’s something that will leave you feeling accomplished and refreshed.
Cold showers are difficult, but once you start doing them with consistency, you will see that the benefits far out weigh the discomfort. If you are ever in need of a serious wake up in the mornings, jump straight into a cold shower and hold there for a few minutes. That should light you up pretty quickly. It’s also a great way to lift your spirits during a difficult time.
9. Relax time
After showering, I like to get dressed and just sit in my room and talk with my spouse. I also like to catch up on some morning news. Throughout this entire time, I have not opened any social media or engage in any type of discussion or conversations with anyone. I sit during this relax time and just reflect on my achievement. Executing my morning routine is always an achievement for me. I like to use this relax time to enjoy the benefits of my hard work.
My morning routine is something that I do for myself. It helps me to become better as an individual. By following this morning routine, you have accomplished more than most people do by 11am. This type of morning routine is not for everyone. It can be found as extreme and uncomfortable. However, if you can discipline yourself to carry this out with consistency, you begin to see and feel the immediate benefits.
There are some things in life that are worth doing regardless of the difficulty, and setting up a solid morning routine is one of them. If you are looking to increase your mental toughness and set yourself up for success throughout your day, then create a solid morning routine. I hope that sharing my own morning routine adds some value to you and helps you get started.
