Coffee, Coffee, Coffee & the word (morning rituals)

As some of you know, I am a pretty spontaneous, free flowing person. If you’ve talked to me about the topic of morning routines though, you know that I get pretty passionate and fired up. The reason for this is that it has changed my life and I really think that setting up rituals (in the morning specifically) has allowed me to have spontaneity throughout the rest of my life.

I realize now that since a young age I have felt the need to form routines but I didn’t really know what to do with that longing until later in life. About eight years ago I went on a women’s retreat where we learned about the bible and important things about life. I remember one speaker telling us about the importance of forming a morning routine. She told us that, “God asks for the first fruits of all that we do so why wouldn’t you give him the first part of your day?” For some reason that stuck with me, so I went home and created a game plan for a morning routine. This stirred up the desire to learn and grow in this area and from that moment on, my passion for this has grown.

Over the course of the past decade routines have become a crucial part of my life. My routines have changed, expanded and decreased but, I’ve dedicated a lot of time to forming habits and coming up with effective routines that would help make me successful. I’m not saying that I don’t have room to grow (I’ve got a long way to go), but I’ve listened to world renown speakers, successful business men, over achievers, as well as listened to myself and what I need in order to obtain the best morning habits (trust me though, I still have bad ones *cough* drinking 10 cups of coffee a day *cough*). 26 years later I can now humbly say that I am a master of routines and that I actually have something to offer on the subject.

Through all of my research I have boiled it down to this simple fact, it’s crucial to take care of your mind, soul, and body in the mornings. If you start out by taking care of all these elements, no matter what the order is, the rest of your day will be set up for maximum success. Here are some of the practical elements that I have in my routine that have changed my life and that might help you get a better grasp on what this can actually look like….

1. Coffee. The first thing I do is…hear my alarm go off and try not to press snooze. I actually keep my phone on the other side of my room so I have to physically get out of bed and by the time I get to my phone and turn it off I am wide awake. Next I sluggishly go and make coffee and chug it as fast as possible.
2. Feed my soul. Next I move to my special space, for me thats a chair in the corner of my room. I can think there, and its comfortable so I sit there. First I ask myself how I am doing, then I journal it all out. It can be the most random things but it normally ends up being a really good time of processing. I feel like this wakes up my brain. My journal also holds my current prayers, past prayers that have been answered or that I’m continuing to pray and some other things, so if I can’t think of anything to pray about I pray over my time and my list that I keep. Then I normally read the bible and then read a book of my choice. It’s normally along the lines of self help or inspirational book. Then I journal again over the things that I learned from my reading. •Side note: Having a plan (that is flexible) is really important with your time with the Lord. In most things in life you have to have a plan to be successful, so why wouldn’t you approach your time with God like this? Have a book in mind, a list of things to pray for, etc. They need to remain flexible and if you feel God changing things up, move accordingly, but otherwise this gives you a general direction to head so you have a purpose.
3. Body. A while back I decided that I only get one body and that I want to honor it. Even if it means loosing some sleep in order to wake up and workout. Personally, if I don’t workout in the mornings it will never happen in the afternoons so I make it a priority to workout in the mornings. I also like the energy that working out in the mornings gives me throughout the day. I normally sign up for gyms where they charge you if you are a “no show” so it’s an incentive not to sleep in or skip out on it. I come home and make a healthy smoothy or breakfast and take lots of vitamins so give myself energy and to help my brain. I take a multi vitamin, an adrenal vitamin, a brain booster, and the rest we can talk about later in another blog 😉 After I feel sufficiently jacked I move onto the next steps.
4. Getting ready. Next I started forming a routine of getting ready. I know this step sounds stupid and vein but I think it is important to feel good about yourself. I feel like if I get ready and feel confident about how I look I carry myself better throughout the day and I am more productive. Feeling good about yourself gives you a more positive approach to facing the day. Maybe thats just me though 😉 I always pick out my outfits the night before so I’m not stressed the morning of. I get dressed, put on make up and make time for my hair, showering, etc. I always allow roughly 30/45 minutes for this. I normally never take up this much time but I hate being rushed so sometimes I allow more or less time some days depending on how I’m feeling about life.
5. Tying up loose ends. Lastly I go over my to do list for the day, add and take away items, answer texts, check my social media and answer some emails (if I have time), before I walk out the door. Doing this keeps me from check them in my car while I’m driving or during the first meetings that I am in.

I know this all sounds overwhelming and hard but I can assure you that the hardest part of this is setting your alarm clock and actually getting out of bed. I would say that you should set aside 2.5 hours for all of this, I know this sounds overwhelming but it’s so good for you. I can promise you that if you start establishing some of these habits or forming your own, your days will be more successful and you will feel so much better about life. Not only will you feel more successful but you will feel a decrease in being “scatterbrained” and will feel less “out of it”. When you are successful and productive it allows you to be spontaneous and flexible throughout the rest of your day. Maybe I’m narcissistic for thinking that you even care about my morning routine but my hope this that this would help someone out in cyberspace feel more grounded throughout their day. May your mornings be bright. Peace & blessings.