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How To Create A Morning Routine And Stick To It
Morning routines often get a lot of attention at the beginning of a new year.
And for good reason.
Morning routines can be one of the most powerful ways to change your life - and that is not an overstatement or exaggeration.
My morning routine has undoubtedly changed my life for the better and if you find a good morning routine for you I know your experience will be the same.
Today I want to share what should be in your morning routine and how to stay consistent with that.
I'll start by sharing my morning routine - what's in it and why - and I'll finish by providing you with questions and guidance so you can create one that is life changing for you.
Parts of my morning routine that are critical are as follows:
1. Getting up to my 1st alarm (ALWAYS AND FOREVER)
2. Drinking 12-16oz of water
3. Doing 3-5 minutes of my daily bible app - You Version
4. Write down 3 things I’m thankful for
5. Read for 45 minutes
I’ll go through them one by one.
1. Get Up To My 1st Alarm
If you are pressing snooze on your alarm, I believe that you’re setting your day up for failure. Or you’re at least setting it up to be a lot less optimal than it could be.
Not only do you lose time in your day when you press snooze, but you are creating a mindset of, “not yet.”
You’re creating a mindset of, “not this time, I’ll do it later.”
And I don’t care if it’s health and fitness, your career, or your relationships, that is not an attitude and a mindset that promotes success.
Get your butt out of bed in the morning to your 1st alarm with the mindset of, “I’m ready to get started now.”
2. Drink 12-16oz Of Water
Drinking water immediately flushes out your system and gives you a rejuvenated and refreshed feeling to start the day.
And it gets you on track to hitting an optimal hydration target for the day which should be around ½ of your bodyweight in ounces + 16oz for every 1 hour of exercise you complete.
3. Do 3-5 Minutes Of My Daily Bible App - YouVersion
I’m someone who believes in God and wants to keep faith a top priority. And I believe a good way to continually prove to myself that my faith and my God are my top priority, is to make it one of the very first things I do in my day.
But it’s not something that takes me a ton of time or effort. It’s very convenient to execute on a daily basis, and they count your streak of how many days in a row you do the daily practice. And y’all know I love something that gives me a scoreboard.
This has been something I’ve had in my routine for 6+ years now, and I always say it’s potentially been the most transformative of them all.
When you start your day with gratitude, you wire your brain to be more grateful throughout the rest of the day.
Sometimes what I’m thankful for is deep, sometimes it’s surface level, sometimes it’s goofy; but it always puts me in a better mood.
5. Read For 45 Minutes
Education is a huge value and priority of mine. I always have a huge list of books that I’m wanting to read and get to so that I can learn more about how to be successful in my life, career, finances, and relationships.
While I hated reading in high school and college, now it's arguably my favorite hobby. (aside from golf and skiing)
That's my morning routine.
So, how can you form one that is transformative for you?
When Forming A Morning Routine Think About:
1) What area or areas of your life do you want your morning routine to support?
Your health, your personal life, career, finances, your spiritual life, your relationships?
My routine has a good mix of positively impacting a lot of those areas in some small and big ways.
Start by determining what area or areas of life you’d like your routine to support.
2) What would you enjoy doing consistently?
What things provide you with a sense of meaning and purpose? All aspects of my morning routine either provide me with meaning, purpose, or enjoyment. Or all 3. And that’s what allows me to be so consistent with them day in and day out.
You don’t have to "enjoy" all of it per say, but you must be able to tie it to a bigger purpose if you want to stay consistent with it.
Secondly, determine what would you enjoy doing consistently. Or what would provide you with enough meaning and purpose to do it consistently.
3) How much time do you have available?
My morning routine takes me 75-90 minutes from the time I wake up. That requires me to wake up at 2:55am on days that I coach and anywhere from 3-4am on days that I don’t.
Thirdly, determine what you have time for. Do you only have time for a 10-minute morning routine? 30-minutes, 45, 2 hours?
Adjust your routine based on how much time you have available.
4) What is an appropriate amount to start with?
If you want to read more but you currently don’t read at all, then don’t try to read for 45 minutes. Read for 5, 10, 15, or 20. Make it more realistic.
If you want to start stretching in the morning, don’t try to stretch for 30 minutes. Give yourself a more realistic benchmark.
Form the habit of showing up for the behavior and then you can increase that amount over time.
Lastly, determine a realistic amount that you'll stick with. Then increase it from there.
Conclusion
A good morning routine is life changing.
If you find activities that have meaning and purpose, and you do them consistently, then your morning routine will change your life.
If you don’t have a solid morning routine, I highly recommend you start one.
You are not what you do in isolation; you are what you do repeatedly.
The habits you do everyday, that often seem mundane, make up the bulk of your life and who you are.
Get the things you do every day right.
If you’d like to implement exercise into your morning routine, then join me for the next 10-Week Transformation starting January 22nd and going until March 28th.
You can sign up for the in-person or virtual program at www.nickcarrier.com/10wt
I’d love to help you crush your health and fitness goals in 2024.
To forming a great morning routine,
Nick
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