If you’re struggling to succeed and move beyond your current position in life, but find yourself stuck, perhaps there is one place you haven’t looked and that’s in your morning routine.
Experts agree that we are most creative and have more energy in the morning than if we try to push and be productive in the afternoon. But many of us get caught up in highly draining yet low priority work, which takes away from our ability to apply all that good fresh energy to the tasks and projects that really need it.
Laura Vanderkam, author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast discovered that successful people had more control over their schedule in the morning and that they used this time to work on their priorities.
Sometimes our biggest block is lack of discipline and focus. We give ourselves every excuse in the book to do what we want to do, but we don’t put up as much of a fight for the things we need to do and if we want to begin to see a change in our lives and our business, then the key is in how we spend our mornings.
Here are some morning rituals I live by that might help put you on the path to success.
- Get out of bed: Seems obvious, but I know we have all struggled with rolling out of bed on some mornings. It’s important that we don’t allow ourselves to get sucked in by the pillow and blanket monsters that hold us back and keep us from our success. Try drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning (yes before coffee too), so you wake up the organs and hydrate your body.
- Breakfast part 1: This might not work for all, but it’s worth a try to have a 2-part breakfast and part 1 should always be something light. I start with coffee, others prefer tea, some fruit or some other light snack. The idea is to not overload yourself with carbs or anything heavy that will put you right back into the sleepy slump.
- You come first: Now you can jump into exercise, a morning walk, prayer or meditation or whatever you need to nurture your mind, body and soul. Remember you are the only YOU this world has and no one can take better care of you than yourself and if you’re not putting yourself first, then who will?
- Mind your business: This is one thing I struggled with for a long time: I get to my desk and jump into emails and start working on everybody else’s projects. By the time the afternoon rolls around, my own business development would be put on the back burner or I should say, rescheduled to another day. It’s important that we put time into developing our brand and business. Even if you take 30 minutes in the morning to make a new connection, add a feature to your website, engage on social media or promote your latest product or service, it will make all the difference. You have to give to your business if you want your business to give back to you.
- Breakfast part 2: Now we can think about eating something with more substance that will keep our energy up and our minds focused and alert, just try not to over do it and become so full that all you can hear is the pillow and blanket monsters calling.
Everything from rolling out of bed to your second breakfast can be accomplished by 10am, giving you a good chunk of the day left to get work done and be productive. Of course there are lots of other morning routine’s and rituals that can help you achieve success in life, but the most important ingredient is the discipline to do it.
Please share! What morning routine’s help make you more productive? Share in the comments below.