Do you have an empowering morning routine to kick off your day with intention?
One of the best habits you can develop to create a day that supports you, your goals and desires is to design an intentional routine at the front end of your day.
If you are mindlessly starting your day or operating from automatic pilot, this is your opportunity to make a dramatic shift in the satisfaction and productivity of your day.
Morning routines give you the foundation to set the tone for the day.
It’s your chance to get your body, mind and spirit aligned to greet a fresh new day and create the road map of where you want to go, how you want to get there and how you want to feel in the process.
Ask yourself:
- How can you best set yourself up for success each day?
- What can you do to set the tone for the day?
- What would give you a touchstone to access throughout the day to keep you on course?
- How can you tap into the best version of yourself?
For me, it’s important to start my day in nature. When I lived in Napa, I rescued a German Shepherd – Teddy. Teddy was a very old soul. Every single morning, rain or shine, we walked to the Napa River. We had a favorite spot tucked under some trees on the riverbank where we sat and reflected on life as we watched the fish jump and the ducks swim by us.
It gave me the moment to check in with myself to see how I was feeling, what I needed and what I was ready to give to the day. Each day, I meditated to connect with my inner wisdom and visualized some of my desired outcomes for the day, giving them advance support to flow into my day.
While I no longer have river access here in the desert, every single morning I take my dog Rolo to the park across the street and spend some time by my favorite tree with the same reflections.
While my exact morning routine may vary day to day, here are some items that regularly make an appearance:
Set intentions. Before I start my workday, I set an intention of what I want to experience, how I want to feel or what I want to accomplish for the day. This intention generally makes its way onto a colorful sticky note that hangs from my monitor to keep me grounded in it throughout the day.
Define priorities. Take a look at your to do list and select the top 3 priorities for the day – which items are your biggest needle movers that will bring you closer to your goals? Write them down and make sure they get done before anything else.
Create possibilities. Before you launch into your to do list and priorities, ask yourself:
- What are you open to receiving or experiencing today?
- What are 3 amazing things that could happen to you today?
- What are you ready and available for and how could you spark it into action?
Have you ever had the experience of thinking about someone and then that person calls you? This is the same concept! Have some fun with it.
Create a gratitude statement. Gratitude is life’s elixir that serves, serves, serves. You can declare your gratitude for an existing aspect of your life and you can create a forward-looking gratitude statement. A forward looking gratitude statement is advance gratitude for what you don’t yet have and are calling into your life.
For example, if you are in the process of confidently developing new skills that you want to share using your authentic voice rather than programmed sound bites, you could create: I am incredibly grateful for my rock-solid confidence using my unique voice, skills and talents.
Some additional morning routine starters include:
- Journaling – Morning Pages for the Julia Cameron fans out there
- Read something inspiring
- Watch something inspiring
- Listen to something inspiring
- Strike a pose – literally – strike a Super Hero pose and feel the energy
- Exercise
- Deep breathing exercises
- Energy Work, Tai Chi, Qi Gong (check out Donna Eden for some great energy routines)
- Mantras/Affirmation Statements
- Pray/Connect with Source
- Meditate
- Visualize a successful day/meeting/project
- Pull a card from an inspiring deck
- Get your creative on
- Relax in silence
Now, for those of you who are already raising the objection that you don’t have time – we call that “resistance.”
You do have time.
The questions to ask yourself: Are willing to make it a priority to create an empowered morning routine? Are you willing to make yourself a priority?
Morning routines don’t have to take a lot of time. You can have a powerful morning routine in 60 seconds!
10 seconds to create a gratitude statement for the day,
10 seconds to create your intention for the day,
10 seconds to strike an empowered pose to set the tone for the day, &
30 seconds to select your top 3 priorities.
In just one minutes, you’ve created a 4 step morning routine. Voila!
For all you over achievers out there, for bonus points, take time at the end of each day and check in to see how your day went – Did you accomplish your 3 priorities? Did you live into your intention? Did you feel the power of your pose? Repeat your gratitude statement and say it out loud with feeling.
Do you have a morning routine? Share what you love most about your morning routine in a comment below.
p.s. Rolo recommends adding nature to your morning routine. Preferably with a dog…
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I help purpose-driven entrepreneurs upgrade their mindset, eliminate limiting beliefs and reprogram critical, negative self-talk so they can courageously and authentically use their voice, gifts and talents to make a bigger impact.
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Carpe Diem!
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