Morning Routine for a Happier Day
I often get asked about my morning routine, and to be honest it is still something I continue to tweak and change. I used to habitually wake up at 6am every morning. Even without an alarm, my body just woke up. Then this dreaded thing called Corona Virus happened and I got very sloppy with all of my routines and my normal day to day actions. I have been working very hard to build my morning routine back, and make it better than ever!
Current State morning routine is wake up at 6:30am, brush my teeth, drink a big cup of water and then do at least a 15 minute workout. Some days I do a much longer workout, but as I re-build I want to ensure my goals and routines are something I can follow through on daily. It’s about the little wins and starting small to build up to where you want to be. After my work out I sit down and work on my blog, think of new posts, answer emails, etc. After doing some work on the blog, I write down my daily self affirmations and gratitude. I find at least 3 things to write down for my self affirmations, and to be honest most days they are the same, to provide myself that reassurance and to counter act that damn voice telling me otherwise. With gratitude I choose to find at least 1 thing. While some days are harder than others to find things to be grateful for, I write at least one daily. Now some days it could be a list of 15, I don’t put a cap on how many I could write. One thing I should note is that my daily affirmations and gratitude are hand written in an actual journal. I love to write, and I find if I step away from a screen to do those things, I can be more intentional with myself.
Once my gratitude and self affirmations are done, I spend at least 10 minutes meditating. Meditation allows me to get centered for the day and since I just wrote about positive things in self affirmations and gratitude, I use that energy and bring it forward into meditation. When I finish up my meditation, I shower and then grab breakfast.
I won’t lie, breakfast is my least favorite meal. I know for a lot of you, you may be thinking I’m crazy to not like breakfast. I usually consider breakfast to be my first lunch of the day. I get it, I am weird. :) Normally, I would go for something like leftovers from dinner the night before. I have been on and off with protein shakes over the years. Let’s just say I am trying to figure out what to eat, something healthy, easy, filling, and most importantly, not a typical breakfast food. So if anyone has ideas, let me know! Now my morning is complete and I can begin my day. I believe that with a routine similar to mine, it definitely helps to start the day off right.
What I want to add to the routine:
Wake up earlier than 6:30. I am ultimately backing up my time to get to 5:30. I am setting my alarm earlier every day by a couple of minutes so I don’t shock my system into waking up at 5:30. I should be to that point within a month or two.
Make my bed. I find coming to my bedroom after a long day and seeing a made up bed gives me a sense of satisfaction. I am definitely having a harder time with this one, but am working through it on a daily basis.
My morning routine is obviously a work in process. I would love to hear about yours and what works best for you!
Love and happiness to all!
Melissa M
Happinessexpected@gmail.com