Lisa Loves - My Morning Routine

I work with a mentor. For a year and a half, I've paid her and I've done what she suggested, almost... The one thing I wasn't doing was the Morning Routine. My belief was that it was too complicated and would take too much time in my already extremely chaotic over-stressed morning. On a call last week, while everyone else was talking about the morning routine, I admitted that I haven't been doing it at all! She asked what would it take for me to do it. I said that I needed it written out in a super easy to understand format and emailed to me - I wasn't going to spend the time looking it up online each day. And then she asked the question I was dreading... "If I received it the way I wanted, would I follow it for 60 days"? LOL The question that only has one answer. So of course I said yes. A hesitant yes, as I was pretty much forced to, but a yes nonetheless. 

Since that day, I've been doing my morning routine and it is my favourite part of the day. Seriously, it is! It is what I look forward to when I first open my eyes. It is what gets me to jump out of my warm comfy bed and be excited to start a new day. The morning routine has had such an impact on me that I am so excited to share it with all of you! It is way easier than it looks and takes around 15 minutes (plus your meditation). Try it for 5 days and let me know how you feel. 

1. Read your vision - If you don't have a vision for December 2019 - WRITE ONE! A one page vision of your life. Actually, even better - do half a page for December 2019 and half a page for December 2022. Make it something amazing that you're really excited about!

2. Write one line about your key initiative for the year - "I am so happy and grateful now that..... "  (what have you accomplished?)

3. Listen to a guided meditation. I listen to the ones from my mentor. Find something that resonates with you. Or even better, spend time meditating on your own. 

3. Decide who you are going to be today as the person living your dream. What are 5 qualities you choose to embody this day? What are 5 qualities the person living your dream has? 

4. Ground all of it in gratitude and list 3 things for which you are truly grateful for. 

5. Now you can create your to-do list coming from this state of gratitude and with this state of being - being the person who achieves your dream. List 6 action steps you'll take today towards your dream. (One of mine for today was to write this blog post explaining the morning routine that has worked for me.) I know that some people also look at how they can be the best business owner today, how they can be the best parent today, how they can be the best spouse today, etc. I try to make sure that each area of my life is accounted for in my action steps for the day. All of them are not purely business related as the person living my dream is amazing in every area of her life!  

Then I usually go for a run or do yoga to take my first action of the day. 

It's been a long weekend without school so I've had the luxury of a few days where I didn't have to rush in the morning to get the kids out the door - breakfast, school lunches, the hour long drive to make it to school by 8:30am didn't happen the last few days. Tomorrow I go back to my regular routine and next week will be the real test when we have to leave the house by 7:15am in order to make it to school at a semi-reasonable (sometimes late - yes I am human) time. I am so committed to my morning routine after trying it out for a week and seeing the difference it has made to my level of peace and calm and ability to deal with the random things that are thrown at me throughout the day. My alarm is set for 5:30am tomorrow! I know that sleep is so important but what I have learnt this week is that how you start your day determines the tone for the rest of it and my mornings of intention setting and meditation have become a daily self-care ritual. I can commit of the next 60 days with a resounding YES! I've spent the last 12 years since having kids on their schedule, with their morning routine and it is time to claim my own! Let me know if you have a morning routine and if it is similar to this, or if you will give this one a try. I'll update you on how it goes and would love to check in and see how you do too! 

xoxo Lisa