The Importance of a Morning Routine
“The core purpose for having a morning routine is to put yourself into a peak state in the morning - so you can then operate from that state for the rest of your day.” – Benjamin Hardy, Willpower Doesn’t Work.
I’ve always found morning routines to be helpful, in a mindless way. I used it as an automated way of not thinking, to live in autopilot mode. My old morning routine consisted of the following; pressing snooze for 30 minutes to an hour, scrolling through social media for another 20 minutes while hanging out in the bathroom, an hour to get ready, shitty coffee paired with a side of dread, and anxiety as the main course due to the dreadful morning commute. Repeat that for 52 weeks and multiply it by 6 years and a manifested result of what the hell am I doing with my life, eventually woke me up.
Given a new opportunity, I am no longer living in autopilot. I’ve made a conscious decision live in the present and with that came with opportunity to create my own environment which has led to lots of learning, which has turned into growth.
Essentially, it all boils down to this; success is a practice. It’s not something that automatically happens or can be tangibly given. It’s a practice that becomes your craft, so that if opportunity comes knocking at your door, you are either ready or you’re not.
The best way to get ready is through practice. Fortunately, we’ve been given the opportunity of this lifetime, to practice. With practice comes success. But first, you must practice. Your practice is your life. What are your initial thoughts when you wake up in the morning? What are your first actions? Do those actions lead you closer to your life goals? What are your life goals? If you’re not sure, that’s the importance of a morning routine. It provides the opportunity to acknowledge yourself, by giving yourself time to create personal goals and inspire your mind.
Here are three simple steps I took to transition out of autopilot:
Read something. Not just anything. Read something that inspires you. Maybe it’s an autobiography of an inspiring person, or the lyrics to an inspiring song, or perhaps it’s a book about spirituality. Read something that will inspire you to look outside of yourself, your circumstances, your problems.
Meditate. This eliminates the noise in your head; social media, the news, television and other forms of being overconsumed with unnecessary information. Meditating is taking the time to acknowledge yourself, your needs, your thoughts, your internal desires. It’s hard to do that in a world that consumes our minds 24/7. When you take time for yourself daily, you are taking your time back and investing it in yourself, your needs, your thoughts, your internal desires. Only you know what you truly need, take time for yourself. This is what meditation provides.
Write it down. Spend a few minutes writing inspired thoughts. Even if it doesn’t seem profound, write that shit down. It’s helpful in the long run when you take the next step in life, which is reflecting – but that’s a whole different topic.
How much should you read? How long should you meditate? How many minutes do you write? Start with 5 minutes of each, get up 20 minutes early for 7 days and you will notice a difference in yourself. Get out of autopilot!
“If you want a different life, you must be a different person. Your morning ritual is what triggers a peak state” – Benjamin Hardy
Success is a practice. Practice is life.
Kirstin Jones is the Founder of The Caffeinated Cork, a community for coffee and wine enthusiast that want to change the world. The Caffeinated Cork hosts an event series called, “Continued Conversations over Coffee” which aims to create change by discussing and embracing the difference.