The Power of Routine: Mornings

I have been notorious for saying that I am NOT a morning person.  I have said that my entire life, I think.  I have never really liked mornings.  It meant that I had to wake from my deep slumber and do things that I didn't like--school, farming, or a job in the later years.  I didn't have anything to look forward to each day to make me love mornings.

When I was working full time outside the home, I had to be at work by 7:30 am.  Okay, honestly?  I didn't have to be...we had flex time and that was my sweet spot.  I know that I work the best in the mornings, so I wanted to have as much time to work before lunch.  I knew that I would get more done in the mornings than any other time of day.

However, I hated getting up any earlier than I had to.  I wanted to get up, get ready, and leave.  But when I started my health and fitness journey, I quickly found out that I was TOO tired to workout after work.  I really needed to shift my schedule so that I could get up and workout in the mornings. Oh golly....that was hard!  Five a.m. is SO not my friend!  But I did it anyway for over a year.



Fast forward to now.  When we moved to Oklahoma City, I started working from home.  I was so happy to not have to get up super early and that I would be able to set my own schedule.  Quickly, I found out that I wanted to be up early enough to send my husband off to work.

So while I still don't consider myself a "morning person," I do get up and follow a routine.  Early last year when I wanted to read more personal development, I came across a book that actually helped me figure out what my routine should be.  It's a quick read, and I was able to implement what I learned right away!  Enter The Miracle Morning:  The Not-So Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life Before 8 AM. 

This book helped me realize that I needed to have some sort of routine in the morning to set the tone for the day.  If I didn't have a to-do list or any goals for the day, I would slack off and watch a lot of Netflix! The author of this book has his own acronym for his routine called Life S.A.V.E.R.S.  These are activities that he implements into his morning routine so he can be more productive.  It stands for:

• Silence
• Affirmations
• Visualization
• Exercise
• Reading
• Scribing

He describes each of these in detail inside the book, but basically he meditates, affirms himself, visualizes his goals, exercises, reads, and journals.  I took some of his ideas and turned them into my own morning routine.



Each morning, I get up around 6 am.  I give my first moments to God.  I know that if I don't spend time in the Word, reading and studying, that my attitude will not be the best the rest of the day. Reading my Bible helps prepare my mind and gets it centered on what is most important in my life.

From there, I read my personal development book.  This helps my mind grow.  I typically choose books that I'm interested in or areas that I want to grow in.  I'm currently reading  Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples.  I don't read a whole lot at a time, because I want time to journal my thoughts about what stuck out to me, areas that I need to grow or implement what I just read, and pray over how I can be a better follower of Christ.

By then, my husband is usually up and around.  I like to have my quiet time before he gets up because I can have complete silence before the day gets started.  There is just nothing like having personal quiet time with Jesus in the quiet moments each morning.  I will make my husband's lunch and send him off to work.

Then I go directly to work out.  I have to get it done first thing in the morning or else I put it off and then it usually doesn't happen.  I have to sweat before my mind knows what it's doing. ;)   After my workout, I shower and dress.  This part, I've been implementing for only a couple of weeks and it has worked brilliantly.

Instead of putting sweats back on or staying in my workout clothes, I actually get dressed.  That's right.  I put jeans on and my shoes (along with some sort of shirt--typically a t-shirt). I know that if I have my shoes on, then I will be productive and less likely to sit and relax on the couch!

My whole routine takes about two and a half hours.  But this is what gets me ready for the day, and I've completed a lot of tasks that I would normally put off until later.  These are my non-negotiables--they have to happen everyday!

What is your morning routine?  Do you have one or do you need to create one?

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