A “morning routine” will not help you
Danette Layne
Wellbeing Advocate. Strategic Communicator. Optimizer of Systems. I love to write, hike & make beautiful, useful things and facilitate engaging experiences for others.
I get it - everyone is telling us we need a perfect morning routine so that we can:
- Be grounded
- Create success
- Stay true to yourself
Heck, I’ve even told others to create a morning routine - because of how my own morning time allowed my biggest transformation.
And you’re aren’t alone if you are seeking the perfect morning routine.
The most common blog post I see from experts is on what exactly they do every morning just like we are asking ingredients for the best smoothie.
Which is another thing experts get asked all the time…
“What’s in your smoothie?”
The challenge for you is that those morning routines are customized to each “expert” and they should be customized for you, too.
- Oprah - spends time in meditation and time in nature.
- Brene Brown - holds a gratitude practice, says mantras, and (at least gets dressed) in her workout clothes.
- Sally Susman (EVP for Pfizer) - writes and reads news and email and does some planning or strategizing
- Arianna Huffington - practices mindfulness, breathing, meditation, and journaling.
- Kaya Wittenburg (billion-dollar real estate queen) does yoga
- Tim Ferris - makes the bed (and I think eats raw eggs - or did for an experiment
- Nicole Kidman - smothers lotion each morning to protect her skin from the sun
There are a number of things that show up in reports of what “successful entrepreneurs” do for their morning routine, but as you can see, not all of them follow the same routine.
Before you follow a guru’s morning routine….
Before you just add one more thing to your “must do” list...
Before you add one more thing to “live up to…”
Decide you really want a morning routine.
If you decide you do want one, then the key to creating a morning routine is to customize it.
How to customize your own morning (or daytime) routine.
Step 1: First, decide it’s the morning where you need some rituals. My coach Sacha - has a detox bath as part of her rituals but it’s in the middle of the day.
Step 2: Then decide what activities or actions you need to support you where you are now and help you reach your vision and goals.
- Reading
- Journaling
- Exercising
- Hydrating
- One big action on your dream
- Meditation
- Prayer
Step 3: Then map out the time frames
- When you’ll get up
- When you’ll be done
- And how much time you need for each of the “magnets” above
You might see that you have more activity than time.
Don’t try to shove more than you can do.
I always recommend starting with three activities to make it doable.
This is where ultra-customizing can help and that’s what I help my clients do AFTER they create their personal compass in my Intentional Navigation System. Having the clarity of who they are and where they are going and what matters most - and their current gap - empowers them to not only create a custom morning routine but to stick to it!
Tips to get create a morning routine that serves you:
- Use the steps above to get you started.
- Give yourself at least 4 weeks to get in the groove
- Ask yourself if it’s serving you
- Identify any minor tweaks
- Give yourself at least 100 days to make it natural and a habit
- Be prepared to change it when your “gap” changes or you up level your spiritual awareness
Wishing you a good day - and a good morning routine.
Danette
I’ve been thinking about doing a “Create A Morning Routine” challenge where we create morning routines and implement them and do them with a group of women for mutual support.
Would you be interested? Message me if you are!