41. I FINALLY have a Morning Routine!

A morning routine is crucial. It’s something that has been a longtime coming for me and I finally feel confident enough to share my journey.

There is power in a morning routine. I learned this from the book Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. It goes through six different areas that are key to building an effective morning routine:

1. Silence – meditation or prayer, reflection
2. Affirmations – think about what do you really want in your life
3. Visualization – visualize your day or future
4. Exercise – move your body
5. Reading
6. Scribing – journaling, getting thoughts out of your head

 

 

I’m a night owl so I was staying up too late, hanging out with the hubby or watching TV or working, and sleeping in later than I probably should have. So when the alarm went off in the morning or when a child woke me up, it was panic mode as soon as I left my bed to hurry and get the kids shoes on, get everyone out the door and off to school. Mornings were chaos because I had no preparation to focus on me or my day ahead. It’s been on my list to start this morning routine so I finally made it happen in the fall!

Having a morning routine has changed my life drastically. I just feel like a level headed, mom boss that is ready for anything. Because I am taking time to focus on myself, I feel invincible. And it’s all because of a simple morning routine!

START WITH ONE THING AT A TIME

I started with something I’m pretty good with which is journaling. I was doing it everyday, but not in the mornings. So now when I wake up, I grab my journal and write down anything that is stressing me out. I then scribble that out and write down 10 things I’m grateful for with affirmations underneath.

MEDITATION

I figured after a week or two of early morning journaling, I was ready to do more in my morning routine so I added in meditation. I use a guided meditation, and there are so many good apps out there if you don’t even know where to start. At the end of my meditation, I sometimes finish with a prayer because it helps me to focus on what my day’s going to look like and feel like.

MORNING STUDY

I want to spend time in my scriptures each day and have meaningful study, so I added scripture study in my morning routine as well. I do my deep dive, Come Follow Me on Sundays because I have more time then, but for my weekday mornings, I like to do at least one thing that connects me with God. Starting with a few scripture verses, a talk or something from my Gospel Library app helps me to feel like I’m starting off my day focused on my connection with God.

GET READY

Now this might be silly because it’s so simple for so many of you, but I started consistently washing my face, getting ready, taking my vitamins and drinking water each morning. I used to be a splash my face with water, throw on a sweatshirt kind of person but I now stick to a 4-step skincare routine (and my skin has never looked better btw) and do something everyday to put some kind of effort into getting ready. Whether that’s putting on mascara, lip gloss, full glam or a nice outfit.

I have learned that when you look good, you feel more confident and are naturally more productive. I want to emphasize that I’m focusing on getting ready because it makes me feel confident and is not for anybody else but me.

EXERCISE & READING

Lately I’ve been working on exercise which is the most difficult part of my morning routine because I’m not big into vigorous exercise. I like to do some yoga or stretching, maybe walk on the treadmill. The last part of my routine is doing something to grow myself, so I’ll turn on a podcast or listen to audible on my way to school drop-off.

 

That is my morning routine! I’m taking the principles I’ve learned in the miracle morning and building it into my own routine that works for me. That’s important to remember, that even though we have studies proven how doing these things can benefit your life, you still need to bend and shape them to fit where you’re at. I know that if I do these things, I’m doing everything I can to help me prepare for my chaotic day of being a business owner and a mom.

 

 

If I start my day with these steps, I’ve noticed that I can stay in a place of peace, love and empathy and how I want to feel as I go through my day. I have noticed that I react more calmly, I’m more level headed and slow to anger.

 

So my challenge for you is to 1) start with one thing at a time, then add on other steps to your routine. Slowly build up your morning routine list. Then 2) print it out and put it on your mirror. It’s important to keep up your routine, even if you’re running late or sleep in. I still try to do everything on my list but just for at least one-minute. Then create bookmark goals so that you can still keep your goals – go back to Episode 33 about making new habits.