Getting your morning off to a good start can set the mood for the entire day.
Greetings Friends!
It’s been awhile since my last blog post. I keep pretty active making posts on social media, but I wanted to keep it going with a bit lengthier blog post today.
We are still in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic with the world making even less sense than the weeks before. Some states are opening up… some states are digging their heels in and staying closed. So many near future events are still up in the air. There continues to be a level of uncertainty in the world that I have not experienced in my lifetime.
When things are so up in the air, it’s crucial to find some sort of equilibrium in you life. But how do we do that when the world is so surreal? For me, its making sure that I stay with my routine. Each day may bring different circumstances, but you can at least control how each of them begin.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been getting up each morning and beginning it the same way. There is significant research about how having a morning routine can impact your life in a positive way. A Forbes article from 2018 speaks about learning from the morning habits of super productive people. By beginning each day with a similar routine, you are able to put yourself in a mindset that will be able to handle whatever the day throws at you.
On most days, my routine looks like the following:
- Wake up at 4:50 am
- Grab a drink
- Read scriptures
- Journal
- Read a few pages of a non-fiction book
- put on clothes and workout for 30-45 minutes
- stretch
- shower, clothes, out the door by 630 to make it to work by 7
Now I’d be lying if I said I was extremely strict in this routine. There are some days I allow myself some grace and get a little sleep. Take this morning for example. I was very sore from the last 4 days of running and was more tired than usual. So I allowed myself to sleep until 545. This allowed Keri and I to spend some time talking to one another before I head out the door. But I did read scriptures and journal this morning.
You may be saying to yourself, “That sounds great but there is no way I’m getting my butt out of bed at 450 am.” First of all, this is my morning routine. Your morning routine may look completely different from mine. Second, just try getting out of bed 30 minutes before you normally do. That may mean going to bed 30 minutes earlier at night (trust me, thats not easy to do). But I promise you, once you begin your day with some time to yourself, you will be amazed at the differences it can make.
I’ll provide you with another example… call it my Exhibit A. My wife Keri is not a morning person. A good portion of our fights involve me waking her up in the morning. If there is anyone who I thought would not be able to adopt a morning routine, it would’ve been her. But at the end of 2018, Keri decided to participate in the Hollis Co.’s Last 90 Days challenge. Part of this challenge was to begin waking up an hour earlier than normal to start your day. As hard as it was for her, Keri did this every day for 90 days… and has done it almost every day since.
Adopting this morning routine has made both Keri and I better individuals. In turn, we have been better spouses, parents, and workers. I highly recommend everyone taking on something similar.
Thanks for reading this week. Be sure to check out this weeks episode of Ag State of Mind featuring my friend Deanne Frieders from This Farm Girl Cooks.