How To Create A ‘Life Changing’ Morning Routine

When you read about successful people, you usually discover they have an amazing morning routine.

You know the type – up at 5am, 20 minutes of meditation, eat breakfast, write for an hour, have a workout; etc. etc.

..all before anyone else is out of bed.

It makes me tired just thinking about it!

But..

To be successful, or accomplish more, you need to be disciplined – with yourself.

Obviously not every successful or highly organised person has such a routine, but it can only help.

If accomplishing more (much more) in the morning appeals to you too, then a structured routine could literally change your life for the better.

What Time To Start?

Let’s be honest, the hardest part of a morning routine, is having to haul your ass out of bed much earlier!

Getting out of bed at 4am is not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ and possibly not an option for the majority of us.

Even if you do manage to do so, sustaining such an early start would probably lead to failure pretty quickly.

But getting up at 5am, 5.30am or 6am is certainly within most people’s capabilities.

Many people already start their day at this time anyway.

When I’m working from home, I usually get out of bed around 7am – give or take 30mins.

That’s not exactly lazy, but imagine how much I could get done if I started the day two hours earlier?

A shit load, that’s how much!

Over the course of a week (not weekends) that’s ten hours.

More than an entire working day!

Even an hour earlier equates to almost a working day.

Starting your day just 20 minutes earlier can make a big difference. You can get a lot done in 20 minutes!

Is A Morning Routine Right For You?

Starting a morning routine is not going to work for everyone.

It is a major, life-changing decision, and there are a few questions you should ask yourself before you take the plunge…

• Could you get up 1 hour, 2 hours or 20 minutes earlier, every week day?
• What would you do with that extra time?
• Would it be beneficial to your life to do so?

Think about each of those questions for a minute.

You’re either going to come out in a cold sweat just thinking about it..

..or

A sense of excitement and anticipation has just stirred within you.

Hopefully it’s the latter of the two emotions!

Deciding On Your Morning Routine

If you’re still on-board, the next step is to determine what you like to accomplish or do more of before your working day starts?

Everyone will have different goals as to what they could achieve with the extra time.

It might only be that you just want an extra half an hour to get the kids all prepped and ready for school.

Or you might want to have some time purely for yourself (a great idea).

Or you might want to complete lots of mini tasks that really set you up for the day and help you be more productive.

Here are a few suggestions you might want to incorporate into your new morning routine:

• Drink a large glass of water
• Go for a walk
• Go for a run
• Do some push ups
• Do some light stretching
• Write in your journal
• Practice yoga / Pilates
• Check your emails (but keep it to a minimum)
• Make packed lunch(es)
• Meditate
• Practice mindfulness
• Write your blog
• Read a book
• Listen to an audio book
• Listen to some inspiring music
• Watch a motivational video
• Eat a healthy breakfast
• Create your to-do list

Even in just 20 minutes you could tick off quite a few of those items.

Start With Very Small Steps

A morning routine needs to become a habit that you continue for months and years to come.

If you’ve been used to getting out of bed around 7am (ish), following a random routine, there’s no sense in forcing yourself to start at 5am.

Choose a time that is easily doable.

As this is all new to me too, I’m going to choose 6.30am as my new morning start.

That’s only 30 minutes earlier than my normal start.

But still..that’s 30 minutes of warm, cozy, bed-time I’m giving up!

Make It A Challenge

Starting a morning routine is a challenge. And if you treat it as such, you’re more likely to accomplish it.

I’m loving my weekly challenges, so I’m going to add my morning routine to whatever weekly challenge I’m already doing.

The only difference is, I’m going to start my morning routine on Monday, rather than Thursday.

Note: I’ve decided not to extend this routine into the weekend. For now, it will be easier and more achievable if I just stick to week days.

Monday is the obvious time to start and it gives me a few days to psych myself up!

Remember – the decision to start a morning routine could be a real life changer.

Don’t take it lightly.

Document Your Morning Routine

I wish I had discovered the joy of journaling (I like that phrase!) much earlier in life.

Even though I’m fairly new to the art, it has already given me so much clarity.

That sounds a bit new-age nonsense, but just go with it – for me 🙂

I’ve not started yet, but come Monday, I intend to document my morning routine in a new online journal.

I’ve already started a fitness journal, so now I’m going to start a ‘morning routine’ journal.

It may not be a long-term journal, but that’s the beauty of a journal, compared to a diary.

With a journal you can document/record specific times of your life, such as a wedding, a holiday, a weight loss diet, a fitness routine, new recipes, new job etc.

Writing down your specific ‘journey’ however long or short, has so many benefits.

One of the major advantages of keeping a journal, is that it holds you ‘accountable‘.

Which means you are more likely to do the things you want to record.

Let The Challenge Begin!

On Monday 19 February, I will start my morning routine.

I will have an extra 30 minutes to do something useful/constructive.

I’ll let you know on Monday what I decide to do with my time.

What’s your morning routine?

Do you have one?

Are you going to start one?

I want to hear about other people’s morning routine and find out what works well and what doesn’t.

Let me know in the comments section below.

Peter