Do you set up yourself for failure every morning? If you hit snooze over and over again, yes you do, yet you didn't know till now. Two years ago, I was in your situation. It was my dream to be a successful person, you know, kinds of people who always look motivated and get things done in no time. I always knew waking up early would change my life, but the problem was not waking up early, it was sleeping early.
As you can relate, I thought I didn't have what it takes to have an amazing morning routine that over a couple of years it will transform to a success story. It was just a dream that I wanted, yes it was, not anymore!
Are these statements familiar to you?
• I'll wake up early tomorrow.
• I've slept late, so I should sleep more.
• I don't do anything useful in the mornings anyways, so why should I wake up early?
• I'm just not the right person for growth and success, I lack the discipline.
If you relate to one of these or all and are nodding your head, this guide will definitely save you from the struggle.
I'll not even mention agonizing impacts of wasting your mornings because you're living them. Let's start with the benefits and how those benefits will change your life in better way.
The first and the best one, waking up early will give you mental strength. Probably, you're saying, "I wake up early every day for work/school and there's no mental advantage!". Okay, I've got a few questions for you: what do you do when you wake up? Go through your emails? Or social media? Or in rush to be on time for your work/school? Another question: what do you do for yourself? To have mental strength, you should work on yourself. According to a study contacted by the American Psychological Association having a good routine in the beginning of the day will reduce your depression, anxiety and stress. More than that, it will increase your satisfaction level which will become happiness.
Second, a good beginning routine will provide you physical benefits. For instance, I do a hundred pushups after I wake up (of course it's not the only exercise I do during the whole day), which skyrockets my energy for the day. I'm not suggesting you to do pushups, you can practice yoga or even go for a walk. Another physical benefit of having a good morning routine is consuming less calories. I made an experiment with a group of twenty people, ten of us slept late for the next month, on the other hand, the rest slept early. As a result, late sleepers ended eating more because when you sleep late you get hungry that's why you tend to eat more which over the years become obesity.
Third, a good beginning always provides spiritual rewards. Visualizing your success does give you inner peace. I remember myself visualizing working as a freelancer and making enough money to travel while working. And that gave me enough motivation every day to work towards my ambitions, thus, my relationships with people became better both at home and at work. When you work for what you visualize today, in some time you'll make it reality. Of course, practicing visualization is not the only way to have inner peace. Meditation, journaling or listing what you're grateful for will help as well.
Of course, there're many other benefits of waking up early, but in my opinion, those which are above are dominant to other benefits. What else will you ask for if you're mentally strong, healthy as a model and peaceful with yourself, right?
I hope you're ready to build your own amazing morning routine! No, don't say, "but I'm not a morning person". Everything starts in your mind, so change your mindset and be positive on waking up early. "Beliefs we've that are so deeply embedded that we don't even realize they guide our attitudes and behaviors", said author Ramit Sethi. In simpler words, what you believe is your reality. So, you better start believing the you're an early bird.
Your morning routine doesn't start in the morning; it starts the night before. Here are five things you need to do to develop a habit from 'Habit Starter Checklist' written by Rob Norback. First, always remind yourself the habit that you want to create, in this case it's waking up early. Second, break it down to small pieces to make it easier and doable, make a decision of routine in regards to your new habit. For example, what activities you'll include in your morning routine. Third, know what rewards it will bring to you. How I did this, I wrote how creating and following a morning routine will make my life better on a piece of paper and read it every day. Fourth, visualize your success with your morning routine. Finally, record the progress, it will definitely encourage you to keep going.
If you're having issues with sleeping because of stress, anxiety and uncertainty (worrying about future) of future, like I had in the past. I highly recommend you to write down negative thoughts like these on a piece of paper, then fold it and tear it apart, finally throw it away. By doing this, you kick out your negative thoughts from your head and you physically do something to them which is extremely relieving.
Other helpful activity to relax before sleep; deep breathing, silence your inner voice, so it won't be bothering you; think about good things, read a book, write diary or look forwards to an amazing night sleep. There's no a certain way to get relaxed before sleep, you can find which one works for you by trying them.
It's time to chase your dreams and since day starts in the morning, you need to have a good morning routine. Start off with encouraging yourself, I believe this is the first thing you should do in the morning. 'Today is going to be the most productive day of my life' this is what I say to myself when I wake up. You can find different ones for yourself such as 'I'll be on my best today', you got the idea.
Every time I wake and encourage myself, I get out of the bed and start doing pushups right away, of course, there're plenty of other exercises you can do. For instance, sit ups, walking, jogging, even dancing, do whatever you want to for approximately twenty minutes that fills you with energy.
Cold water is the enemy of sleep if you can take a cold shower then go for it, however, if not, just wash your face with cold water. Feel awake? Now, tell what you're grateful for, you can make a list of it if you wish. Here is what I am grateful for:
• Being able to wake up
• Living the life that I've always dreamt of
• Exercising
• Yummy breakfast
• Friend
• Going to cinema and spending a great time with my partner
• Being able to finish my projects on time
Read them all out loud (of course, yours will be different), by doing this you hack your brain that you're a successful person, therefore, more achievements coming for you today.
Take your time when creating your morning routine, creating my current morning routine took two years for me. At the beginning, I set up my alarm clock to 5 a.m. and I believed that it'll give me more energy and productivity. By contrast, it gave me nothing but sleepiness, when you do something gradually your chances of success are more likely. Let's say you normally wake up at 6 a.m. next day wake up at 5:45. Then, gradually continue to your wake up time goal with setting your alarm clock 15 to 30 minutes earlier. In short, start small, be persistent and you'll achieve your goal wake up time.
As I've said before, take your time, I didn't build my winning morning habit in a day but in two years. Don't put too much to your morning routine when you're at the beginning, I did that mistake. I read books, meditated, exercised, worked; however, it didn't fulfill me with happiness and I thought of giving up many times. Build your perfect morning routine gradually, for example, exercise, after exercising becomes a habit read a book after exercise. You don't get the whole building in a day, you build it and it takes time.
