Distraction is your mortal enemy, lurking around every corner. In fact, it’s living in the palm of your hand on the daily. We live in an attention economy and we love to be liked, commented on, tagged, shared and saved. Is diving into your device your morning routine?
Over my twelve years running Bloom Business Development, I’ve seen a trend in my high performance clients. Without exception, they all do this and you can too. Starting your day ON purpose is like planting your garden in the highest quality soil.
Think about it, you shower in the morning to wash away yesterday’s dirt from from your body, but do you take the time to wash away the stress from your mind? The power of a customized morning routine, both for you personally as you wake up and then for the start of your work day is undeniably transformative.
I have come to refer to my morning routine as a Sacred Morning Ritual, sacred because of its power, purpose and presence. Carving time out to start your day ON purpose as I like to say, will literally save you hours of time each day. That is not a typo; a 10 minute morning routine will save you hours of time on the daily.
Keep your morning routine simple
A client who was juggling a full-time job, a booming side-hustle and a young family felt she had no time to add anything to her morning routine; this got my creative juices firing. I remembered she adored her coffee so we turned it into practice of presence and gratitude as she fully appreciated the smell of the fresh ground beans and savoured every sip taking in the view from her kitchen window.
For months, she commented on how this small shift transformed her days at work and at home.
Why it matters
If you struggle with time management, working ON your business, self care, inner joy, sleep, focus or clarity, you are in for a real treat.
I re-ignited my morning routine last Fall and have yet to lose my patience with my kids in the morning school run. (Good moms use bad words people!!) I set my alarm religiously to carve out space for meditation, gratitude and moving my body.
Later, when I start my work day I have other routines to get me in a high energetic state to infuse my day, workload and my clients.
According to Northwestern Medicine, having a morning routine can greatly improve your health too, noting that people are creatures of habit. If your morning routine includes exercise you will be increasing your focus & productivity too.
Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and your mind is buzzing with incredible ideas? A study at Harvard noted that students with irregular sleep patterns had lower GPA’s than students with regular ones. Creating routines around how you wake up is critical and not everyone is a morning person. At least 40% of people are most creative in the evening. If that’s you, don’t put pressure on yourself to run a 10 km race at 5 am!
How to create your own customized morning ritual
A few common elements of a morning routine include yoga, stretching, journaling, prayer, meditation, pulling cards, walks in nature, gratitude, sound bowls, breath work, cold showers, hydration and affirmations.
Three tips to start your morning routine ON purpose:
- Decide ahead of time what you will do in the morning.
- Practice some form of appreciation or gratitude. An affirmation practice, journaling or prayer if that is part of your belief system. I am loyal to my Five Minute Journal and recommend it to many of my clients.
- Move your body each morning to get your juices flowing. Combining some affirmations while gazing in the mirror and moving your body is a powerful combo that ticks all the boxes in one.
Three tips to start your workday morning routine ON purpose
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Do NOT check your email until after your morning routine.
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Include a block of what I like to call CEO time to start your workday. Start small with as little as one action; think sending an email or following up.
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Write down your priorities for your day before you begin the day or better yet, do it the night before.
How will you start your day ON purpose?
Your Coach,
Lisa
Grab my free My Life on Purpose Goal Tracker here, to support your empire building as you make more money and have way more fun.
