Routines: Morning & Night

My routines are SACRED to me. And not just “oh I enjoy them”; it’s more like “my world may crash around me if I do not do these things every single day”! Oh yes I am an absolute drama queen, however these are the things that I have been doing that have helped me live a healthier and happier life.

I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON. I just want you all to know this fact, I was the girl who slept in every morning of the week. I knew exactly (down to the minute) how much time I needed to get up, drink a coffee throw some make up on, get dressed and go to work. I would set my alarms (yes, multiple, 3 to be exact) to wake me up slowly to essentially get me alert enough at 7:45am to make myself a coffee so I could get out of the house by 8:30am. For YEARS I told not only myself, but every single person around me that I am not a morning person, I said it so much that it became my reality.

In August last year I went to Tony Robbins’ event “The Power of Success”. It. Changed. My. Life. Rachel Hollis spoke at that event among many other extremely inspirational people. But something she said changed something deep inside of me. I can’t even remember what it is that she said but I remember the feeling.

It was like someone punched me in the stomach. It hit me so hard. What if what I was telling myself all these years was a LIE? What would happen if I started to tell myself something else? So I started with this;

“I AM A MORNING PERSON, THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT WAKING UP EARLY THAT JUST GIVES ME SO MUCH ENERGY”

Today, 5 short months later, that statement above could not be truer. I am proud to say I have 1 alarm! I BOUNCE, yes bounce, out of bed at 6am (cue eye roll from my former non-morning-person self)! The things that I do following this bouncing-out-of-bed routine are the things that set me up every single day to reach for the best version of myself, these are also the same things that are completely and utterly sacred to me;

• 6am out of bed as soon as alarm goes off, no snoozing or going back to sleep!
• Make a coffee and my lunch for the day
• Unpack dishwasher and tidy house (this includes making my bed every day)
• Sit at the kitchen island and drink my coffee
• Journal! 5 things I am grateful for, 10 Big Audacious Dreams I have for my life, 1 Goal to achieve to get me one step closer to a dream of mine. (This journaling practice is from Rachel Hollis she has a Podcast episode, a section of her website and so much more dedicated to this!)
• Read a chapter of the personal development book I am reading at the moment
• 7am week days Rachel and Dave Hollis go live on Facebook and Instagram. I love to listen to this as sometimes it’s just funny, and sometimes they drop something PROFOUND that I do not want to miss! Drink my pre-workout.
• 7:30am Do my 23 minute HIIT workout (at home, in my living room!)
• 8am – Shower, get ready for work.

The reason I am sharing this morning routine with you is to help inspire you to start your own routine. It does not have to look like mine, it doesn’t have to look like anyone’s, it just has to be something that gets you off to a great start every single day. All of the things above mean something to me and trigger an emotion or feeling.

• I don’t believe any day is started without coffee, I could give up any food group EXCEPT coffee.
• Having a clean and tidy house helps me feel like my life is under control. I have heard many people say that our environment has a huge effect on how we are coping mentally. If our environment is chaos, we are likely to feel chaotic in our minds. This is why I love to have my house at least tidy each morning.
• Journaling has been something that reminds me every single day where I want to be and who I want to be when I grow up! But seriously, this reminder triggers something in me every day to do at least one thing that day to help get me to where I want to be. Also the gratitude part of it helps me start my day looking for the good. I write small things like; a stranger smiled at me today, or someone complimented my outfit, or someone let me in in traffic. This makes me look for the small things every day that are so good but we often forget and focus on the bad.
• My workout! Ah I love to feel fit and strong and have a long journey ahead of me to get to my goal. BUT, every day when I finish my workout I am one step closer to that goal and boy does that feel good! Plus you can’t beat the endorphins from a good sweat session.

So I encourage you to write a list of things that make you feel good, or feel happy. What are things you can do every day that will make you feel whole and happy and enough? Take some of these activities and create your own morning routine around them! That way you will start your day doing the things that make you happy!

On another page write a paragraph or a page or a novel about the person you want to be. Who is she/he? What does she/he do every day? How does she/he act? Who are her/his friends? How does she/he dress? Does she/he travel, have a family, run her/his own business? Any detail you can come up with, write it down. With this description; you can come up with the 10 BIG AUDACIOUS dreams to write in your journal each day.

We want to hear from YOU! Tag us in your Instagram posts, email us with any questions, or just let me know what your morning routine looks like!

When talking about a morning routine, it doesn’t only have to be morning. There is so much benefit from having a solid night time routine as well. This is something I am still working on so I will hit you back when I have one that works for me! I hope you find something helpful in this and will encourage you to take another step toward your best self.

 

Zoe Clein