My Morning Routine: What I Do To Win The Day

My Morning Routine & What I Do To Win The Day.

“Either you run the day or the day runs you”- Jim Rohn.

My morning routine has been one of the most life-changing habits I’ve developed. I wake up at 5am, meditate, and finish my gym workout all before 6:10am. When I tell people this, they think I’m crazy.

The truth is, I never used to be a morning person. In fact, I used to hate waking up early. I would prefer to stay in bed, all toasty and rugged up. Why would I want get up earlier than I had to, especially when it’s cold/ dark/ raining outside?

Well, you’re probably wondering how and why I decided to make such a drastic lifestyle change and start my mornings at 5am?

WHY I DECIDED TO START RISING EARLY

I’ve spent a significant amount of time investing in my own personal development. After reading countless books and listening to hundreds of podcasts about the habits of world class performers, I realised there were some recurring themes. One of these themes was that successful people rise early. In fact, studies have shown that 90% of executives wake up before 6am on weekdays, and nearly 50% of self-made millionaires wake up at least three hours before their workday actually begins.

I realised that there were so many wasted hours in the day I wasn’t utilising. Rising early and waking up earlier than I ‘need’ to has resulted in me being able to achieve some incredible things before my work day has even begun. It’s also the time when I get some of my best work done, because my mind is fresh and free of distractions.

WHAT MY TYPICAL WEEKDAY MORNING LOOKS LIKE:

5:00am: Wake up & make the bed

5:05am: Meditate for 10 mins using the Headspace App

5:15am: Get ready for gym

5:20am: Commute to gym

5:25am: Workout at F45 Training

6:15am: Shower & Get Ready

6:50am: Eat breakfast (prepared the night before)

7:00am: Commute to my favourite cafe

7:10am: Work on my blog & personal projects over coffee

8:30am: Commute to work

9:00am: Work day officially begins

HOW I STARTED WAKING UP AT 5AM

As mentioned earlier, I was never an early bird and rising early is not something which came naturally to me. Here are the steps I took to make the change:

1. I decided I wanted to become a morning person. The first step to making any kind of change is wanting to make the change, and believing that you can. I decided I wanted to start rising earlier and making the most of my mornings.
2. The change I made was gradual. I didn’t start by waking up at 5am. I went from waking up at 7:30am, to 7:00am, to 6:30am etc… the change I’ve made has been gradual and over a period of two years.
3. Setting rules & parameters. Setting my phone to aeroplane mode (or out of arm’s reach), setting a ‘no screens within 2 hours of sleeping’ rule and setting a nightly alarm as a 15 minute reminder before bed have been some disciplines I’ve found useful to help me get to sleep earlier.
4. Develop a morning routine. If you wake up early with no plan or direction, chances are you won’t utilise your time effectively, and you’re probably better off just sleeping! I established a morning routine as detailed above, which sets out a plan of exactly how I spend the 4 hours before my work day commences.
5. Be good to yourself. There are days where I’m completely exhausted/ burnt out and I decide my sleep is more important to me. It’s ok to take a day off, so long as you get back to your routine once you’re feeling better/ more refreshed.

MY MORNING ROUTINE

Make every day a great day by starting on your own terms and something good for you.

How do you spend your mornings? Do you follow or want to establish a morning routine? I would love to hear your thoughts, please leave your comments below!