I can almost hear you thinking: “Just one more snooze” as you shuffle around your bed early in the morning.
You’re either giving yourself just enough time to get ready for work or rushing to get one bite to eat before heading out. This is the sad reality most people face.
You hear about morning routines on the web and in Podcasts. You hear about morning routine practically everywhere yet you’re convinced they don’t apply to you.
Afterall, you’re not a morning person. You’ve always stayed up late and sipped on coffee like water throughout the day.
The problem with your current routine is that you’re bound to fail eventually. Worse yet, you may wake up one day and realize that you’ve been living someone else’s dreams and not your own.
Starting each morning without a plan is a recipe for accomplishing “random” tasks throughout your day. In other words, nada!
It wasn’t that long ago when I, too, fumbled each morning and after discovering the impact my mornings had to my entire day, I quickly adopted a daily morning routine.
It boils down to this: if you want to make every day successful, you’ll need a morning routine.
Let me walk you through on why this is the case.
Start your mornings with the intention
So, what’s the hype around your mornings?
Simply put: 0 distractions
Most dream about going back to school or starting a business. Most dream about finally having the courage to change careers.
The result?
Most people lose hope with achieving their dreams. Some struggle squeezing time for their dreams and very few accomplish them.
The answer?
Carve out uninterrupted time each morning. Use this time to plan out the most important tasks that you’d like to accomplish by the end of your day.
Let’s say you’re planning to go to grad school one day. Start breaking this goal down into actionable steps with concrete deadlines.
For example, if a prerequisite is taking the GMAT test, then spend 1 to 2 hours each morning studying.
Repeat this for 5 to 7 days a week and you’ll be carving out 10 to 14 hours for your most important tasks.
The best part is that your mornings are only a small portion of your day. Once you begin making progress towards your goals, you’ll become motivated to carve out additional time throughout your day.
Start waking up with intention and reap the benefits of your uninterrupted mornings.
Create a morning routine that sticks
Accomplishing goals is great but goals alone won’t create a fulfilled life.
Instead of using your morning routine solely to accomplish goals, incorporate other meaningful factors. In the book “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod, Hal covers 6 different components or Life Savers.
The 6 components are:
- Silence: Sitting in silence or meditating. (1 –5 mins)
- Affirmation: Reading positive affirmations out loud (i.e. today’s going to be a great day). (1 –5 mins)
- Visualization: Visualizing your goals or looking at a physical vision board. (1 –5 mins)
- Exercise: Doing home workouts or going to the gym. (1 –60 mins)
- Read: Reading blogs or books relevant to your goals. (1 –5 mins)
- Scribble: Writing down your most key goals to accomplish by the end of the day. (1 –5 mins)
Start using Hal’s Life Savers in your morning and eventually add your own components to truly make this routine yours.
Start living a purposeful life
Imagine this:
You’re no longer snoozing your alarm and you wake up each morning excited.
You’re excited not because you’re going on vacation or anywhere special. You are feeling pumped because you’ll be making progress towards your most important goals. You’re healthier than ever, smarter than ever, and more present than ever.
It wasn’t too long ago when you considered yourself a night owl. Now, you can’t believe your life has changed for the better.
Sounds good?
The truth is you can transform your life for the better. You now understand why morning routines are a powerful way to start your day.
The only person stopping you from living a fulfilled life is you. I challenge you to adopt Hal Elrod’s morning routine and discover how your life transforms.
Are you going to keep wishing for better days or take the initiative to make each day a successful one?