“People do not decide their futures; they decide their habits and their habits decide their futures” – F.M Alexander
One of the most crucial factors for a morning routine is to increase your productivity for the day.
Morning routines help you to concentrate better, increase productivity, improve your mood, health and wellbeing. It also provides the foundation for you to practice more discipline. How your morning starts can impact how the rest of your day goes. A good day starts with a good morning routine so let's discuss some habits you might want to add to your morning routine.
1. Make A Morning Plan
Start by creating a plan for your morning routine by writing down specific times that suits you and the activities you want to do. Don't include a 1 hour run at 5am if you know you hate running and waking up early. Let's be honest you will end up hitting the snooze button each morning and another day goes by where you haven't committed to your morning routine. The main thing is to ensure not to waste time or procrastinate. Let me be the first to say your morning routine does not need to be 2 hours long. It's personal to you and needs to consist of a routine that allows you to have the most efficient and motivated day possible, but also one you can keep and be consistent with.
2. Get Your Body Moving
Our energy levels can be low during early hours of the day. Consider adding some exercise to your morning routine. An excellent way to energize yourself is to perform physical activities. This could be anything from a morning jog or hitting the gym to get your heart rate pumping to yoga and pilates. Morning movement allows you to feel more energized, focused, releases more ‘feel good’ hormones and reduces stress. It also helps to increase your appetite for a healthy nutritious breakfast.
3. Practice Gratitude
Rediscover the real meaning of your life with expressing gratitude. Try taking some time out during your morning to reflect on a few things or people that you are grateful for. Count your blessings rather than your problems to appreciate what you have. Doing so improves your mental health and well-being by realising dopamine and serotonin to uplift your mood. It also helps to create a positive mental attitude. Consider getting a dedicated gratitude journal to write what you are most grateful for each day and every day.
4. Positive Affirmations & Meditation
Add some positive affirmations to your morning routine. Why? You should be your biggest motivator. You can write down your strengths and talents, and all the wonderful things you want to manifest and recite them to yourself daily. One simple way to do this is to stand in front of a mirror and say things like: "My life is full of abundance and happiness!", "good things are happening to me!", “This is going to be a great day for me”. You will observe a notable boost in your self-esteem and confidence. You can also try this with some meditation. Meditation helps deal with anxiety and stress. It also enhances the ability to focus and improves mental & immune functionality.
5. Nutritional Breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day; don’t rub your body of the important nutrients it needs in the morning. Eating a healthy breakfast that is wholesome and balanced helps you maintain a healthy metabolism, improves your concentration, and energises your body. Make breakfast a routine and challenge yourself to different breakfast options that you will look forward to each morning.
Final Thoughts
Some of you may not be morning people and dread the thought of a morning routine. To be frank I think morning routines are even more vital if you aren’t a morning person. However, I do hope this blog will help change your mind-set and allow you to make your morning the most effective and motivating as possible. There must be a reason why some of the most successful people adopt a morning routine in their daily lives. So, I urge you to include in your morning routine, things you enjoy, things that energises you and realises the much-loved dopamine.
So, let's start each morning with a positive mental attitude and I challenge you to #TakeTheJourneyWithMe
Lots of love,
NESS & ME