How you start your day sets the tone you carry throughout the day.
I loved to sleep in growing up. I could sleep until noon if my parents would have let me (they didn’t). I’d be ok rolling out of bed and eating lunch. I enjoyed sleeping that much.
As I got older, I didn’t have the luxury to sleep all day.
I had to head out the door to work and get moving on my day. Most mornings, I would simply roll out of bed, shower, and then grab something to eat on my way out the door. Some days I’d stop to get coffee and then start my work day.
The only intentional action I had was to get clean, consume caffeine, and get through the day.
And my productivity throughout the day showed this.
There were days I was locked in and moving forward toward my goals, but the majority of my days were simply responding to things that happened to me. I wasn’t proactive in setting the pace or focus.
By now, we’ve reset our focus on our goals, our time utilization, and our daily focus.
I hope you’re implementing some of these practices from my last few issues and tweaking them to fit your current position in life – while ultimately setting you up for a better position in the future of where you desire to be.
But it all starts in the morning.
Is your morning routine intentional? It needs to be.
Every successful person in business and life has a consistent morning routine that helps them be intentional in setting a tone for the day. See this article.
My current morning routine looks like this:
- Wake up and throw on workout clothes, wash my face and brush my teeth
- Go upstairs to my office and roll out on a foam roller while listening to a positive affirmation audio track or morning message
- Write 3 things I’m grateful for that morning on a sticky note
- Workout
- Go back to my office and review my 3 most important tasks as well as my schedule for the day.
- Start my first action item.
Notice what isn’t on there initially?
Check social media. Read emails. Turn on the tv. Etc.
It’s easy to let distractions start to derail our day before it ever gets started if we passively head into each morning. But when we take control of the day and start it on our terms?
We can control how it runs.
I found my days tend to be more frantic if I abandon my morning routine. I’m playing a constant game of “catch up” (sound familiar?) and only responding to what’s popping up in my work and life – instead of proactively taking charge of what I want to happen.
HOW TO BUILD YOUR WINNING ROUTINE
1. Plan your morning the night before. Outline your plan of what time you’ll wake up and what your plan is when waking up.
2. Put your phone/alarm across the room from you. No hitting the Snooze button – force your feet to the floor in order to turn off your alarm.
3. Set out something positive/educational to listen to when you wake up: it can be a podcast, YouTube video, or Spotify morning affirmation playlist. Put good information and content into your brain to start the morning.
4. MOVE. Stretch and get a sweat. Go for a walk, hit the gym, or run. Get your blood flowing and body moving before your “real day” starts.
5. Review your 1/3/5/10-year goals and where you want to be moving toward before checking email, social media or starting your work day. Have a clear picture of where you want to be moving toward.
Be intentional with every action to set a strong tone each day for each day.
WHAT’S YOUR MORNING ROUTINE?
If you don’t have one you consistently follow, now is the perfect opportunity to create one.
Set your intention and focus for the day by preparing your mind to compete today.
Win your week – one morning at a time.
If you want help improving your morning routine, might I recommend this?
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Thank you for reading! PS - Here are 3 ways I can help you right now!
1. 🚀 Make Your Next Event Impactful Beyond Just One Day: Learn how we can partner to help your leaders & organization compete every day here.
2. 🎧 Listen to my podcast, Compete Every Day on Apple, Spotify, or here.
3. 📕 Grab a copy of my first book, Compete Every Day, here.