Do you ever struggle with keeping a consistent morning routine?
This is one of the most common questions I receive from both my clients as well as my followers. So today I’m going to dedicate an entire episode on the topic.
I’ve never been a morning person naturally. So if you ask my mom, one of the things that she loves to embarrass me with is telling my friends and family on how difficult it was to get me out of bed to go to school as a kid.
It wasn’t until my college years that I started reading books about what the most successful people do in the morning. I then learned exactly how beneficial a morning routine can be. I read several books on the topic and I’ve done a ton of experimentation for myself on how to make a morning routine that works for me. So with that said, I have a ton of tips and tricks that I can share with you today to learn how to create one that works for you.
Why a Morning Routine is Important
- Morning routines are an easy way to start off your day on a positive note.
- Sometimes it’s the only way to get time for yourself.
- It’s an opportunity to invest in yourself and your future.
- It’s great for your mental health.
How to Create a Morning Routine that Actually Works
Be clear on why you even want to have a morning routine.
What are you trying to accomplish? You have to get really, really clear on what exactly it is you’re trying to utilize this time for. For example, if you want to become an author but don’t have time to write your book, your morning routine might be that you specifically want to write your book. Whatever the reason, make sure it’s something that makes you happy.
Figure out what activities to include.
What activities do you currently do in the morning that you aren’t necessarily happy with? Evaluate your current morning routine and decide what is it that you would like to change. For example, if you hate exercise, it doesn’t have to be a part of your morning routine. You can do it later on in the day. There’s no rules, remember you get to decide.
You really want your morning routine to bring you from a place of positivity and alignment very first thing in the morning. So it is so, so important that you’re doing something that you actually enjoy, otherwise you’re not going to want to wake up to do it. Try to make sure it primarily includes activities that make you feel good.
Commit to your routine
Commit to doing a minimum of 21 days every single day, starting off your day with your new routine. Remember, it doesn’t have to be first thing in the morning, and you don’t have to wake up earlier to do it. Just make sure you make time for it at the start of your day, whenever that may be.
Watch or Listens to today’s episode below.
Watch on YouTube
Listen on Corrie Lo Radio
I’m going to challenge each and every one of you to set up a morning routine. What’s going to be a part of yours?
Leave me a comment below or DM me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. I’m going to be featuring some of my favorite comments on this episode and other episodes on the Corrie Lo show and just may feature yours.
Show Transcription:
00:00 Do you ever struggle with keeping a consistent morning routine? This is one of the most common questions I receive from both my clients as well as my followers. So today I’m going to dedicate an entire episode on the topic you’re going to want to stick around because by the end you’re going to know how to create a morning routine that actually works for you and has you excited to wake up each and every day and get it started.
00:30 So the truth is, I’ve actually never been a morning person naturally. So if you ask my mom in particular, one of the things that she loves to embarrass me, you know, telling as far as telling stories to, you know, friends and family is how difficult it was to get me out of bed to go to school as a kid. And it wasn’t until probably my college years that when I went on a personal development kind of kick and I started reading books about what the most successful people do in the morning that I started to learn exactly how beneficial a morning routine can be. So with that in mind, I read several books on the topic and I’ve done a ton of experimentation for myself on how to make a morning routine that works for me. So with that said, I have a ton of tips and tricks that I can share with you today to learn how to create one that works for you.
01:20 And that’s exactly what we’re going to do today. Before we go ahead and get started, if self-help content and learning how to be motivated is something that really interests you, be sure to go ahead and hit subscribe and tap the bell. That way you’ll be updated the next time a new episode airs. So let’s talk about why a morning routine is so important. First off, it starts off your day on a positive note. So when you can wake up with intention on exactly what you want to be doing, very first thing in the morning that’s going, you know is going to make you feel good, that’s going to put you into positive vibes and just really, really hype you up. It’s going to set off your day on a really positive and progressive. Note. Another reason as important is for so many people, it’s the only time you can get for yourself.
02:03 So shout out to all the mommies out there like myself who get no time to themselves. Pretty much ever. Your morning can be your opportunity, especially if you wake up before everybody else to actually make time for yourself to do something that you actually enjoy doing. That’s not to say that everything else you do as an enjoyable but something that’s just for you. And other reason it’s important is it’s an opportunity to invest in yourself and your future. So for so many of us that have goals and dreams that are beyond what we do in our regular day to day, sometimes it’s difficult to make time for that. So for example, if you aspire to one day be an author but you’re working a nine to five job, it’s often difficult to find time to do that. But if you create a morning routine where part of what you are doing each and every day is writing, that’s going to bring you one step closer towards your goal.
02:53 So morning routines can help with that. And lastly, it’s great for your mental health. So because you are taking time for yourself because you’re proactively learning because you’re waking up with intention each and every day that is going to help you mentally and puts you in a positive frame of mind, which is not a bad thing for your mental health. So let’s get real. There is a reason that so many people ask me about morning routines and that’s because it’s not easy. Some of the reasons it’s not easy and why everybody doesn’t do it. Cause if it was easy, everybody, what is, it’s hard to wake up early. So many people are just not predisposed to waking up early. Hell I was one of them. So we definitely know that that’s working against you and it’s also difficult to stay consistent, being able to each and every day wake up and do the same thing without having life.
03:43 Get in your way at times can become unrealistic. Also, you may try something that’s recommended for you by one person that just doesn’t work for you. So morning routines that work for one person don’t necessarily work for everybody else. So where do you go from there? So I started off in the same place as you guys and what I did was I decided to read a bunch of books. So some of the ones that spoke to me in particular, and I’ve talked about this on the show before, first one was 168 hours by Laura banned account and that one was more of a time management book. And she has some other books that are specifically on what the most successful people do in the morning. And that really got me thinking number one, I should be utilizing my mornings better than I am right now.
04:24 Through that, I read some additional books just trying to figure out what system would work best for me. And the one I ultimately settled on was hel L rods, the miracle morning. I’ll make sure that I link to it here in the show notes along with Laura Vander comes. But these books made it much easier for me to create a routine that works for me. But the number one thing that I want to emphasize here is ultimately you’ve got to do what works best for you. So how Ella Rod’s routine follows the acronym savers. Savers stands for silence or meditation, first thing in the morning, affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading and scribing. I found that by experimenting and trying out this specific routine, it worked great for me. You can devote however much time you have available in the morning. For me, I tried to do at least an hour. And again, it’s that time that’s just for you.
05:17 But this specific routine makes me feel good for people who don’t necessarily want to work out or don’t, aren’t big into reading. There are other ways that you can go about having the same type of routine. So for example, I didn’t always have time to read first thing in the morning, especially when I was commuting two hours each way to the city every day for my prior career. But what I did then was I listened to audio books instead. So there are different ways that you can mix and match and make things work for you. But the core points of this whole episode is just a create a routine that works for you. That’s something that you actually want to do and I’m going to talk you through right now exactly how you go about doing that. First and foremost, you have to be clear on why you even want to have a morning routine.
05:59 What are you trying to accomplish? So I know for me, I personally use it as time for myself. I use it to nurture myself to work on my health. Exercise is a big part of mine. Um, you know, my mental health care is in there too with my meditation, you know, as part of the the sabers acronym. But you have to get really, really clear on what exactly it is you’re trying to accomplish. Using the example I used earlier with the person who wants to become an author but doesn’t have time to write their book, your morning routine might be that you specifically want to write your book. So you’re going to wake up each morning, make your cup of coffee, for example. If that’s what makes you happy, sit down and dedicate that time to writing. For a lot of people it may be that they want to get fit and get in shape.
06:41 So exercise, maybe they’ll focus of your morning routine, figured out exactly what it is you want to accomplish because that’ll make getting up the next day in order to do that very first thing in the morning, that much more motivational for you. Next up, what activities do you currently do in the morning that you aren’t necessarily happy with? You know, evaluate your current morning routine and decide what is it that you would like to change. So for example, I personally hate rushing in the morning. I absolutely hate it. I can’t stand it. So for me, one of the first things that I evaluated in creating my morning routine was to try to not have as many preparatory acts first thing in the morning. And I would try to do them in the evening before, not that I’d have to handle them the very next day. We’re going to talk a little bit about prepping for your morning routine in a, in a few minutes, but just stick with me on it.
07:33 So first things first, try to think of what you don’t want to be doing in the morning. So for example, exercise, if you hate exercise, it doesn’t have to be a part of your morning routine. You can do it later on in the day. Who cares? You really want your morning routine to bring you from a place of positivity and alignment very first thing in the morning. So it is so, so important that you’re doing something that you actually enjoy, otherwise you’re not going to want to wake up to do it. Next up, you want to start thinking about what activities make you feel good. So for me, meditation makes me feel amazing. So I do it. First thing, same thing with my yoga. I love to read. So that’s a very important part of my morning routine. But what is it that you enjoy? For some people it may be having a cup of coffee every morning and watching the sunrise.
08:17 You know what activities spark joy within you, try to incorporate them into your morning routine. Then from there you’re going to commit to doing a minimum of 21 days every single day, waking up for your morning routine. Now I also forgot to mention to you your morning routine doesn’t have to be very first thing in the morning. It doesn’t mean that you have to wake up early. And I’m going to talk about this a little bit more in a few minutes, but whatever time you wake up naturally and then fit that routine into your calendar, make sure you actually schedule it for at least 21 days that you have an alert somewhere that that’s your time to wake up and commit to it and move forward with it. It takes 21 days to make something a habit. So it’s mentally much easier to start with thinking, okay, I’m going to do this for 21 days and then I’m going to evaluate how it’s working for me as opposed to going into it thinking that this is my new morning routine.
09:07 I’m committed to it for the rest of my life cause that’s just going to psych you out and you’re going to stop. Some other things you could do to make your morning routine easier is committing to your health. So a lot of times it’s difficult to wake up early in the morning when our health is out of balance. So if you’re not getting enough sleep each night, if you’re supplementing with caffeine or other types of supplements that can disrupt your sleep, these are all things that are going to make it harder for you to wake up even if you want to wake up. So definitely take care of your health first and foremost. Another thing that’s also helpful to, to get you out of bed a bit earlier and be excited for it, like I mentioned, is to set yourself up for success the night before. I personally absolutely hates doing preparatory stuff in the morning.
09:48 So some of the stuff that I do the night before as I get my son’s lunch ready for school, I get all of her clothes laid out. I put out my workout clothes, if I’m going to do yoga first thing, my book is next to my bed that I want to read. So everything is ready to go. So when my alarm goes off I, I don’t have to do anything else. I just get to go right into my routine and it is just blissful and wonderful and it’s my time and I love it. Another thing that’s helpful too, especially if you have difficulty waking up first thing in the morning is you try a sleep cycle app. This was one that worked great for me. I use an app called sleep cycle, but what it does is it tracks, uh, as you’re sleeping throughout the night, at what point in time you are in your sleep cycle and it gently wakes you up at a time that you are more awake than in a deep sleep.
10:35 This, I found it, I wake up less groggy and it’s much easier for me to kick my feet out of bed when I use this app versus when I don’t. So if getting out of bed is something that is in particular difficult for you, definitely check out a sleep cycle app and see if that helps. All right, so let’s talk about some challenges. I know what you guys are all thinking. First up is I hate waking up early. That’s fine. Then don’t super simple. Just because it’s a morning routine doesn’t mean it necessarily has to be in the morning. If you work at night and you wake up at 11:00 AM, guess what? You can do your morning routine at 11:00 AM it’s more a routine that’s for the start of your day and it doesn’t necessarily have to be a morning routine. So, and another fear that a lot of folks will have is, okay, well what if I start a routine and then life gets busy and I don’t have time to do it later?
11:24 Well guess what? You’re not married to. Your routine. Routines are meant to evolve with you based on what your personal needs are. It’s more important to make the commitment to make that time for yourself. So if things get busy and your current routine is at an hour, I know for me I’ll just cut it back. I’m happy if I go through my savers, you know, within 15 to 20 minutes. If I don’t have time, some mornings, other mornings I have no time and I just can’t do it and that’s fine. You forgive yourself and you move on to the next day is not a big deal. And like I mentioned before, a lot of people will say, okay, well Corrie, you mentioned, you know you’re doing meditation and visualization and you know, exercise and all these things. I don’t have time for that every day. Well that’s fine then you don’t do it every day.
12:08 That or you only do the amount of activities that you feel comfortable doing. If reading is more of a priority for you, then exercise, then carve out however much time in the morning would make you feel good to read for a little bit. That’s it. It’s very simple. As it as in general, we tend to overcomplicate these types of things and that ultimately prevents us from taking advantage of a, you know, a strategy that will really help you and motivate you moving forward. All right, so here’s the deal. I’m going to challenge each and every one of you to set up a morning routine. What’s going to be a part of your morning routine. Leave me a comment, a take a screenshot of this video and DME on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Be part of the conversation. I want to hear from you and hear all about your morning routines.
12:52 I’m going to be featuring some of my favorite comments on this episode and other episodes in our Cory lo show. So here is this week’s comments of the week and I just may feature yours, so be sure to let me know what you’re doing as part of your morning routine. Also, have you found value in this video? Be sure to like it. If you didn’t dislike it, that’s fine. I will not be insulted and I will work harder next time to make a video that provides you a bit more information and value you can use. Ready for even more motivational tutorials just like this one. Be sure to visit my website, www.corrielo.com and sign up for my email list. Every single week you’ll receive tips, tools, resources, and interviews designed to help you lead a more motivated life. I look forward to connecting with you there.
