Morning routine.
This is a topic I am really passionate about.
And I think the interesting thing for you to know is that I've been in the trenches with this one, I'm not coming to you from the perspective of having this all nutted out for my whole life. I never used to be a morning person. I used to roll out of bed before work, throw on my outfit and run to my bus stop to catch the bus to go into the office. No breakfast, no exercise, I didn't even shower like I hope I did my hair. Some mornings, I might have done my makeup like it actually makes me cringe thinking back to this time. And I just operated like that for years because I didn't know any different. And then one day, I met my boyfriend Nick, who is the most sprightly up and about morning person you've ever bloody met…
And in the beginning, it was annoying. But through meeting Nick and seeing how he did his mornings and how he spent his time, I slowly started to pick up some new habits. So with Nick, his classic ideal morning was to get up early (a lot earlier than he needed to), so that's what I started to do as well. And we would go for a walk and get a coffee. Some mornings I would sleep in, I didn't feel like it. But for the most part that was the routine. And it was a really beautiful way to start the day because we weren't looking at screens, we could connect and we were exercising, and we had a fun little ritual of going to our local cafe in the morning.
I've now created a morning routine and morning habits that are really fulfilling. My morning routine is my safe space. It's a time where I get to fill my cup, I get to do things that set me up for the rest of the day and that sets the tone for the day. I find my morning just very energizing.
The benefits of having a morning routine and of waking up earlier is that it: increases our overall happiness, reduces our stress, increases our productivity, provides us with better sleep, we feel more confident, we're able to nourish ourselves and eat breakfast and we have more time on our hands.
I will still snooze my alarm, you know, sometimes I'll sleep in and I need to listen to my body, and I'll feel tired, and I resent that bloody iPhone alarm. But I know overall, that I'm really committed, I understand the benefits. And it's a fully formed habit that I know that I'll have for the rest of my life.
So now into the actionable tips to start.
Start the night before. And this might sound a bit funny, because it's got nothing. Seemingly, it's got nothing to do with the morning. But it has everything to do with the morning, because the first thing that we're doing in the morning is getting up earlier. So that means that we need to make up for that sleep that we're potentially missing out on elsewhere. So it all starts the night before, it starts with having a bit of a wind down ritual. So shutting down screens at a certain time, maybe that's having, you know, a caffeine free chamomile tea, maybe it's reading, maybe it's journaling, maybe it's been really committed, disciplined and dedicated to going to bed earlier. Because these are the things this is a ritual, this is the routine that's going to help you wake up and get up earlier and really make that routine strong.
Start really small. And this is something that I really preach with clients. We don't want to bite off more than we can chew. Because if we start too big, it feels out of reach doesn't feel realistic. And we're setting ourselves up for failure. So, like, start as small as you can set your alarm for five minutes earlier. And then you can consistently and gradually build on that. So tomorrow morning, I want you to set your alarm for five minutes earlier, start really small, and build on that.
Something that I see all of the time is this concept of ‘all or nothing thinking’. So you've started this really beautiful morning routine, you're going really well. You're feeling all of the benefits you're feeling you know on top of the world, and then maybe you have a busy weekend. engagements, parties, hands, weddings, whatever it is. Maybe just partying for the sake of it. And that's okay too. And so come Monday, you fall off the bandwagon, you snooze your alarm, you're sleeping and you don't get around to doing the routine and the actions that you want to. What's really common here is for people to see that as a failure and throw they want to throw the whole concept the whole routine out the window. So that's where the all or nothing thinking comes in. You're either all in and doing something 100% Or perfectly or you're not doing at all. And this is such a sabotaging way of thinking for almost anything any goal change or outcome you're working towards all or nothing is one of the most common hurdles that I see people stumble across. What the really important and key thing is here is how you get back on track how you get back on the horse. Okay, we slept in Monday. Amazing. My body needed more sleep. What am I doing Tuesday to get back to where I want to be back to my morning retain, maybe I'm not going as hard or as or doing as many things in my morning as I was last week, maybe I'm just gradually getting back on the horse. So try and avoid that all or nothing thinking and just work on coming back, getting back into routine getting back on the horse getting back on track.
I am reading still atomic habits by James clear at the moment. And I really want to reference his four principles when it comes to creating change and implementing new habits. Because I just love the way he writes. It's so approachable, manageable, and just make sense logically.
So his first principle when it comes to creating a morning routine, is make it obvious. For me, that means laying out my gym clothes the night before, so that when I when that alarm goes off, and when I wake up, I see my gym clothes sitting there, it's obvious I get changed straightaway.
His second principle when it comes to create an a morning routine is making it attractive. So to me recently, making it attractive has meant making a coffee in the morning before I go to the gym. And that's because I've got a bit more time to play with. So I can I can do that. And if you're a nutritionist, and naturopath, all of those things, Don't come at me, I know you're not supposed to have coffee and caffeine first thing in the morning. But for me, that's, that's what I need to do. That's my joy. That's my, that's my moment. That's how I get up and make it all work. So make it attractive.
The third principle for making your morning routine is to make it easy. So that might be just starting with one small action that you're going to create in the morning rather than again, biting off more than you can chew, make it easy, maybe that's setting your alarm earlier, maybe that's going for a quick walk just one by one you can build on it, but just start with one task that you want to implement with that extra time in the morning.
The fourth principle is make it satisfying. So for me that's choosing a gym and a training schedule that I love. So I genuinely look forward to going to the gym, I find it really satisfying. Recently, I've been picking up more strength work and working on my, my former my technique and all of those things. And I'm really enjoying that, you know, I get a lot of satisfaction out of that. So my as you can see, my examples are quite tailored towards gym and exercise because that's probably the core thing that I have implemented in my morning routine for you, it'll be completely different. So, you know, you might not go to the gym in the morning, it might be other things that you want to be productive and proactive with in that timeframe.
And I've got my own little formula when it comes to the morning routine. You want to do something for your mind, something for your body, and something for your soul. So for me in the morning for my mind, I sit down with my journal, I will practice gratitude, I will work out a plan for the day I will put my CEO mindset hat on and work out what what I need to do for the business. And for me, this creates so much space and clarity and it's just nice to have that time to connect with myself and to create declutter and just decompress and write down whatever it is that I most need in that moment. So that's what I do for my mind. The second do something for your body, you've probably already picked up that for me that's exercise five, I can work up a sweat and really exert a lot of energy and go hard in the gym. That for me is really important for my body. You know, it could be for you going for a brisk walk, doing a home pilates workout, whatever it is do something for your body. And then the third is do something for your soul. So for me that's coffee and I know that sounds a bit funny but I love good coffee I'm such a coffee snob I love my morning coffee. It brings me so much joy and for me that makes my soul happy.
So that is morning routine and habits in a nutshell. I hope that you have picked up just one tip strategy tool action that you can take and now implement. I would love to hear what you're implementing. are you implementing an evening routine? Or what are you doing to start small? What are you doing for your body? I would love to hear your feedback.
Life is short. Our time is precious. Carve out time in the morning to fulfill, energise and start your day in a positive way.
Matilda x
And I've got my own little formula when it comes to the morning routine. You want to do something for your mind, something for your body, and something for your soul. So for me in the morning for my mind, I sit down with my journal, I will practice gratitude, I will work out a plan for the day I will put my CEO mindset hat on and work out what what I need to do for the business. And for me, this creates so much space and clarity and it's just nice to have that time to connect with myself and to create declutter and just decompress and write down whatever it is that I most need in that moment. So that's what I do for my mind. The second do something for your body, you've probably already picked up that for me that's exercise five, I can work up a sweat and really exert a lot of energy and go hard in the gym. That for me is really important for my body. You know, it could be for you going for a brisk walk, doing a home pilates workout, whatever it is do something for your body. And then the third is do something for your soul. So for me that's coffee and I know that sounds a bit funny but I love good coffee I'm such a coffee snob I love my morning coffee. It brings me so much joy and for me that makes my soul happy.
So that is morning routine and habits in a nutshell. I hope that you have picked up just one tip strategy tool action that you can take and now implement. I would love to hear what you're implementing. are you implementing an evening routine? Or what are you doing to start small? What are you doing for your body? I would love to hear your feedback.
Life is short. Our time is precious. Carve out time in the morning to fulfill, energise and start your day in a positive way.
Matilda x
