For as long as I can remember waking up early, enjoying a sunrise and finding some time to myself has driven me in my search for peace, happiness and progress.
Despite the obvious excitement of staying out late and enjoying a city by night, it doesn't come close to the benefits that can be found when you connect to start of the day.
A productive morning sets the tone for the rest of my day, and knowing this, I have developed the requirement of a morning routine where a few essentials need to be done before I start the rest of my day.
Whether it’s getting up to have a Lions Mane tea and reading, or jumping in an ice bath or getting out for a long walk on weekends, I never have any regret for missing out on a few hours extra sleep.
The momentum I get from starting early and ticking a few things off my list is unparalleled.
My morning routine has flexibility but consists of quotas I need to fill in a week. I like to read a minimum of 10 pages a day or 70 pages a week, I try to ice bath 3 times a week, and I look to walk for an hour on weekends, weather permitting.
I recognise that having these quotas gives me the ability to track how I am feeling and how much I am pushing myself to maintain or improve who I am.
Research indicates that cortisol levels are higher for the first few hours after waking up. Higher cortisol levels lead to increased alertness as well as greater productivity. (Performance Health)
This research I certainly align with and I would confidently say that with a more productive morning I actually have a much more productive day.
I find that I am far more focused in these early hours, which is one of the reasons I try to read because I find I get distracted less by my thoughts. I wake up and have far more presence.
The introduction of ice bathing for the last 6 months has been eye opening and doing this at 7:30am on a working day dramatically boosts my focus and productivity for the next 5-6 hours.
Self Diagnosis:
I always find it funny when someone adamantly tells me they are either a morning or night person. It's strange how easy it is for us to tag ourselves with the titles such ‘early birds’ or ‘night owls’ to describe how productive we are at the extreme hours of the day.
In my mind we can be both, it’s just down our mindset. However, data suggests that some people do actually perform better at either end of the day.
It is thought that about 40% of people are either ‘early birds’ or ‘night owls’ while the remaining 60% are somewhere in between.
Despite this, I am a firm believer that you are what you think and I believe that most people don't fully understand the power of their words on themselves and how they can be limiting their potential.
Therefore, I'm going to proceed in this piece by writing down some tips about creating a morning routine and how to sustain it and benefit from it, regardless if you think you are a not an early riser.
We all are striving for a better life and maybe by creating your own morning routine you might be able to make the first step towards that.
Data by Thrive MyWay highlights that 92% of highly effective people have a solid morning routine.
Science-backed evidence shows that when routine habits are followed, an individual’s well-being is positively affected, and they are more successful. (Performance Health)
“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” – John C. Maxwell.
Creating a routine:
1 - Timing
The easiest way to stick to waking up early is doing so everyday at the same time, including weekends, until you naturally wake up early. My alarm goes off at 6:15am everyday regardless of how late I go to bed.
The morning routine starts the night before. Set a time to go to bed and be aware of why you are doing this.
Being conscious that you have tasks to do early in the morning and why you want to do them will give you no excuse. This is for you.
2 - The morning routine start small and builds big.
Set yourself one task to do in the morning and repeat it until it becomes a necessity for you. You then can add to it and build further.
The point is, we want to establish a ‘turning up’ habit and therefore want to give ourselves no excuses as why it is too hard to maintain.
Success is about consistency. Be realistic with your time and set an achievable goal to start the day. Set achievable targets. One thing at a time.
3 - Sacred Time, Sacred Space
Make your morning routine your religion. Nothing will stop you living it. Building routines sculpt who you are.
Find a quiet space for you. A space with little distractions. A place to focus on achieving your morning goals.
We don't realise how little space we actually give ourselves from our lives. How often do you sit somewhere with no distractions from technology, people or your life and you just sit there and let your mind wonder and percolate its thoughts?
A morning routine could simply allow you to do this.
4 - Adaptability
One of the biggest killers of a routine is rigidity and a mindset that thinks if you miss one day you’ve failed.
Be kind on yourself. Missing one day out of 20 is fine if you pick it back up the following day. It is about trusting in the bigger goals and recognising flexibility and understanding is needed.
5 - Meaning
Most importantly you’ve got to understand why you are creating a morning routine and why you want to integrate it into your life.
Once you have your ‘why’ you don't have any excuse why you would give up. You only have your reason to get better.
I’ve spent the last 3 years really learning about myself in my morning routine and have recently added trying to exercise a few mornings a week.
It takes time to really settle into a routine and seeing how it benefits you over time only reignites the fire to carry on and push further.
The beautiful thing about your routines is that they can evolve too. When you feel less motivation you can figure out what you can add to it to make it more engaging and inspiring for you.
Spend some time to figure out why you’d want to make this step and then take. See where you go.
I am Will Flindall, host of the Valley of Outlaws Podcast where I speak to those who have decided to take control of their life and follow a passion or instinct.
If you feel like you could be getting more from your life, then maybe one of the conversations I’ve had with the Outlaws might help you kickstart a change.
Peace x
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