The Hustler's Digest StaffI’d heard of morning routines and the regimes of the powerful and successful and I’ll be honest, I sniffed at them, “Ha, if only I had the time to read, practise Yoga, meditate and run 5 miles before 5am, what a load of codswallop.”
I barely had time to brush my teeth and comb my hair before heading out of the door, and I was fine that – what you see is what you get, right?
Then I became self-employed as a Digital Marketer. My son had flown the nest, my husband left the house at 6am and suddenly I had all the time in the world – and I was working for myself – FREEDOM!
But it’s not like that is it? When you don’t have a team to manage, commitments to fulfil and packed diary, just what do you do with your day? I pottered on just fine at first, waking without an alarm and only hitting the keyboard whenever I felt ready. Until the work dried up and I realised no one was going to bring me ‘things to do’. I had to make my own. I quickly spiralled into a negative mindset, I let fear of failure overwhelm me and often stayed in bed or binge watched everything on Netflix.
I’ve ALWAYS been a self starter and walked my own path (however foolish) without a care in the world but here I was, living what I’d considered to be a dream life, without any real direction or plan. I was floundering – BIG TIME.
Enter the morning routine..
I knew this couldn’t go on. I knew I had to change. I needed structure. I wanted structure, I craved structure.
So I listened to podcasts, bought endless amounts of self improvement books, watched motivational videos and even joined the gym (that last one was when I knew I was desperate!). And all of the advice had one thing in common – how you start your day is how you spend your day.
Time to stop sniffing and wallowing and take a leaf from those successful people I had once thrown scorn upon. I created my own ‘Morning Routine.’
I set my alarm for an hour earlier (well, I set my alarm which was the first time I had done in over 2 years), I started listening to positive mindset podcasts before I even put my feet on the floor. I created my own visualisation recording and listened to that before I rose. I even built in a few stretches and jumping jacks to get the blood flowing. I left the sweat pants behind and started getting dressed albeit jeans and a t-shirt but hey, it’s a change.
Rather than grabbing a coffee and heading to the garden office I made sure I had a nutritious breakfast that I took my time over.
Has it made a difference – hell yeah. I’m much more alert, super productive and it’s had a massive impact on my business. I’ve been able to plan, set goals (and achieve them) and I FEEL SUCCESSFUL.
Strange isn’t it? So I’m sorry for sniffing at you powerful, successful people – maybe you do know what you’re talking about after all.
