Why Your Morning Routine Is Important in Achieving Your Goals
Quick Disclosure: Some of these links are affiliate links. When you click on them to purchase something on this page, it won’t cost you anything extra! I might receive a commission for sharing this good info with you. Which works out, because I was going to tell you about it anyway!
I love to hide under the down comforter of my warm bed with my sweet snuggly pups curled up next to my belly, as she hopes she can somehow burrow inside of me. Whenever I realize that my feet aren’t entangled between my husband’s, I dig, scuffle and poke my way through the sheets until I can find his toes. Spooning is my favorite and don’t get me started on my cool touch memory foam pillow. Sleeping and being snuggly can be found on my top five favorite things list.
You know what else is on my top five favorite things list? Crushing my goals. It’s up there with my family and a hot cup of lemon ginger tea. As much as I love my bed and my momma, I’m sorry (Drake, anyone?) I also love to wake up before the world and belong to myself for a few hours before running around taking care of my daughter, the house, our family’s life and everything else. My morning routine is sacred to me and helps ground myself so that I can see the personal growth I work so hard for and achieve my goals.
Let’s talk about why a morning routine has become so important to me in achieving my goals. It has helped me to:
Set the tone of the day
Increase productivity + creativity
Increase energy
Impact the likelihood of creating other healthy habits
Create a sense of control
Before figuring out a solid morning routine, I was constantly chasing my tail and couldn’t seem to get a handle on my life. To make matters worse, the pandemic hit and I found myself as a new stay-at-home mom with my first child still in my belly. I felt like I didn’t know who I was anymore or what was important to me. Like the rest of the universe, the very foundation of who I am was shaken, and I was literally holding on for dear life just trying to survive the day to day. I was desperate to find some normalcy in my lonely, very pregnant, uncertain world. I started out small with a morning walk. I CLUNG TO THIS. It was the time that I could connect with my body & spirit and quiet my mind. This small act catapulted me into a way of life that taught me how important it is to have habits and routines so I can retain my sanity and sense of self.
Research shows that creating habits and starting your day on the right side of the bed sets the tone for your day. Days add up to weeks, which add up to months, which adds up to a year. A YEAR! This may seem like a DUH moment, but once I started researching the effects of habits and routines and how those could directly affect the outcome of my achievements, I quickly realized that a few minutes here and a few minutes there doing some small, not so hard things, could really add up to accomplishing my dreams. I realized that we spend so much time doing things that don’t serve us. Have you checked out that screen time tracker on your phone?! Mine was incredibly shocking. I realized that those hours I spent everyday could be spent on something that actually matters to me. So, instead of laying in bed, scrolling away, I’ve gotten up and gotten to work. Personally, my life has been directly impacted in a positive way by the morning routine that I have curated. Let me give you a snippet of what’s happened so far.
A positive tone is set for my day.
I let things roll off my back a little easier instead of freaking out over how the mess I just cleaned up has re-appeared for the millionth time.
My productivity and creativity has increased.
I get more of the important things that actually matter to me accomplished instead of getting zero things done on an unattainably massive to-do list that I made and hold myself hostage to. I am more creative and have the space for my mind and ideas to breathe, and my work is SO MUCH BETTER than it was when I would just crank stuff out because it HAD to get done.
My energy has increased.
I have more energy even though I wake up at the crack of dawn (because sometimes I go to bed before the sun does, and let me tell you, it’s absolutely amazing). When I found myself taking the time to do the things that fill my cup, I actually felt more alive and fulfilled, even when I hadn’t accomplished anything specific yet. The energy I get is addicting and keeps me waking up early and coming back for more.
The likelihood of creating other healthy habits is positively impacted.
I have maintained a healthy post-pregnancy weight because I move my body early, eat breakfast early, and start drinking that water EARLY, early enough to actually reach that goal of drinking massive amounts of water a day. And because I do all those things EARLY in the day, I make a conscious choice not to mess it up with unhealthy choices the rest of the day (but let me tell you, sometimes having that frozen pizza for dinner is the healthiest decision for my family and me because being healthy also includes being sane and cooking dinner isn’t always the answer to that). Another thing I consider a healthy habit is saving money. I have saved more money (yes, forreal) because I have the time to plan things out and create a plan that’s easy to follow.
I have a sense of control over my life.
All of these positive consequences have created a beautiful sense of control over my life that I didn’t have when I was sleeping in and rolling out of bed to the alarm of my sweet daughter screaming her guts out for some milk. I became the one in charge and the curator of my day. No longer was I asking, “How high?” when the world was screaming at me, “JUMP!”
Let’s be real, if you’re anything like me, getting up early can super suck sometimes (or a lot of the time when I first started). What can help that suck? Knowing your why and motivation. At first, my motivation was small. I didn’t particularly enjoy starting my day with the alarm of my daughter’s screech. That one small act of getting up 30 minutes earlier than her so I could wash my face, brush my teeth and put on a sports bra and yoga pants made me feel like I was ready to take on the world. Little by little, I would add things to my morning routine over time so I could feel like a human being instead of an unpaid servant to an infant. All of these things started out as small acts that made up my morning routine. Today, my morning routine is longer and more intricate because, through this practice, I have unleashed my gifts and talents and discovered what I love to do by setting life goals and living each day intentionally. I have allowed my morning routine room for trial and error and breathing room for the season of life that I find myself in.
If you’re feeling like a slave to your life, like I did, instead of being the creator of your life, a morning routine may be right for you. If you have big dreams and goals but can’t find the time to work towards them, waking up just 30 minutes earlier so you can put on the proverbial sports bra and yoga pants may just be the way to start making that future self a reality.
There’s only 24 hours in a day, and Beyoncé has those same 24 hours. I imagine she has a team of people helping her through that 24 hours, and I don’t (YET! Dreamin’ big, over here), but you get my drift. If she can accomplish much and achieve her goals with the same 24 hours I have, I can too. And you can too! It’s all about deciding why it’s important and allowing that drive to be the springboard for accomplishing your goals.
So, now what? The biggest factor in achieving your goals is creating a foundation of simple routines that set you up for success each day. I’ve got something just for you to help make that happen! In my free Morning Routine Maker, I show you just how quick and easy creating a morning routine actually is. Click the button below to get instant access to the life changing magic that is the morning routine. Brace yourself, you just might become a morning (read: routine) person!
To make our dreams happen, we’ve got to feel good, right? Our mind, body and spirit are all connected and if our body is out of whack, our mind and spirit aren’t going to be in tip top shape either. Something that is an important part of my intentional lifestyle to feel at my best is having a protein packed smoothie for breakfast. My Sunrise Smoothies are what I drink for breakfast every single day to pack in the nutrients needed for crushing my life & biz goals. Skipping breakfast because mornings are too chaotic to even think about eating something? Skipping breakfast because eating in the morning makes you feel nauseous? Skipping breakfast because you’re trying to lose weight? All of those are myths that can leave you feeling hangry and how can a hangry person achieve their goals? Let me show you the magic that are the Sunrise Smoothies and I bet all of those skipping breakfast excuses will fade away and your achievement will skyrocket.
How well do you know yourself? Do you know what really sets your soul on fire? Maybe you’ve taken a deep dive into getting to know yourself before but it’s been awhile. In the Happiness Helper, you’ll go through a quick and easy exercise to really dig into some parts of you that you may not have stopped to think about before. Once you’ve explored these areas of your likes and dislikes, you’ll experience clarity and may even be surprised at some of the things that make your wheels turn. Don’t live inside a tightly structured box of a narrative that you or someone else has placed on you anymore! Prepare yourself to feel empowered to go after the kind of life that YOU want to live; not a life that someone told you that you were destined to. Get ready to take a deep sigh of relief!
Putting small biz owner’s and serial entrepreneur’s plan into action with step-by-step breakdowns of long-term and short-term goals so you can obtain your version of success every day, month, quarter and year!