Why mornings?

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Have you ever experienced a rough couple of days?

This week has been tough. One of my young students passed away. The children returned to school and brought to the surface all of my COVID-19 related parental anxieties. I battled self-doubt in my creative projects.

Through all of this week's ups and downs, my morning routine stabilized me. The activities that I do before 7:30 AM steered me to arrive at a new perspective. In this post, I will give you three steps to help create or improve your daily routine.

Do you have mornings when you do not want to get out of bed? On more than one day this week, the snooze button begged for me to get up, press it, and get back under the covers. My awareness that every day is a blessing to improve yesterdays for better tomorrows helped release energy to place my feet on the ground.

I have a routine that pulls me through the dark hours of the morning to sunrise. It consists of prayer, meditation, capoeira, bodyweight exercises, scripture reading, and journaling. Despite the soundness of my routine, it isn't always easy to start.

I stumble from the bedroom to the living room at 4:15 AM. The couches that I pass on the way to the kitchen always look tempting to get a few more minutes of rest. However, once I begin by turning on the light in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water, and begin to pray, it’s a wrap!

By establishing or refining your morning routine, you will find that your thinking and movement can ignite with consistency.

Enough preliminary discussion; here are the three interconnected steps to help you create or improve your habits that begin each day:

1. Start with Why.

Take a moment today before bed to write down the routine you intend to follow. Think about your life's purpose and how daily habits can empower progress toward your goals. If you find this difficult, it might be because you are unclear about your Why. Simon Sinek’s book, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, is a great resource to clarify your Why, or reasons for living.

2. Place your alarm away from your bed.

If you know your Why, but continue to struggle to get up and do the How, take your phone off the nightstand next to your bed. You should not be able to reach the snooze button from the comfort of your pillow. I started placing my phone out of reach at night when we moved to Mexico, and it is a game-changer.

3. Find an accountability partner in yourself!

You are more likely to stick to your exercise goals if you meet someone at the gym or on the road. The problem is finding a reliable partner. I suggest you transform your Why into the self-accountability necessary to follow your routine.

Make time daily to revisit your Why, review your routine, and plan for success. Thinking about your reasons for living and creating the environment that empowers you can combine and serve as the ingredients to bake the achievements you want in life.

You will have your moments of struggle. Let me remind you, I struggle. We are from ancestors who struggled for freedom. Select your social media app, and you can see that the struggle continues.

The social consciousness we possess, paired with an internal drive, can influence our lives and communities. Create or improve your morning routine with a Why focus to guarantee progress. Often, the hardest part is getting started.

Have a productive week, and share this post with one person experiencing difficulties in this phase of their life. If you haven't already, subscribe to this blog for similar posts.