How I Trained Myself To Wake Up Early & Set a Morning Routine
Hey Everyone,
For years, I’ve been studying the success stories of CEOS, celebrities, and entrepreneurs. Through my studies, I’ve noticed one thing. The majority of them wake up early and have a structured morning routine.
For example. Bob Iger talks about waking up at 4 AM every morning in his book, The Ride of A Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO. He says it helps him prepare and have a moment to himself before he gets his day started. Bob isn’t the only one. Issa Rae, Tim Cook, StyleSeat founder Melody McCloskey, Oprah, Michelle Obama, and more are all early risers. With that in mind, I decided to challenge myself to wake up every morning at 6 AM and create a structured morning routine.
Now, let me tell you in advance. I’m naturally a morning person. My body likes to wake up around 7:30/8 AM and get the day started. Switching to 6 AM felt like a pretty attainable goal. During my research, I kept reading that in order to have a successful morning, first, you had to have a successful night. This would be the tricky part for me. If I wanted to be up by 6 AM. I’d have to be in bed, and knocked out by 10 PM to get a full 8 hours of sleep. That would mean I’d need to start my bedtime routine at 9 PM. I’ll admit, I did NOT have a bedtime routine AT ALL. I just did something different every night and called the day a wrap.
Since I’m a bit of a lazy girl at the end of the day, I settled on something easy. A quick nighttime face wash routine, brushing of the teeth, and reading to wind down. I also made the decision to put all of my electronics on do not disturb, and on the other side of my room. Most people suggest putting them in another room, but that doesn’t seem realistic for me. I like things near to me just in case there’s an emergency.
Now, it was time to come up with a morning routine. This was the easy part of me. I’ve been a morning journal/prayer girl for a few years now. Do I do it consistently? Absolutely not. However, I knew it was time to create some consistency. I decided that every morning, I’d get up, and drink a cup of hot water with lemon/ginger. Or regular water if I’m feeling extra lazy. Next, I’d journal for a few minutes and follow that with some prayer time. I also decided I’d dedicate a few minutes to just sitting with myself. Quiet time. For just me and my thoughts. With a plan in place, I got to work.
I’m not going to lie, the first few days were a struggle. I got up later and some days I just straight up went back to sleep. Every day I still completed my routine and allowed myself grace. We’re in the middle of a pandemic, grace, and being gentle with myself matters. I’m proud to say that now, I’m heading into week 5 or 6. I’ve noticed a big difference.
When I don’t do my routine, my day feels off. I find that I’m more easily influenced by things. I’m also quick to jump on social media vs working on a project. On the days that I do it, I’m also less likely to scroll or honestly even turn on the TV. I’m more focused. I love doing it! There’s something calming about being up while the rest of the world is resting. The quiet time with myself has helped me work out A LOT of life details. I also found that after my quiet time, doing a quick workout, followed by drinking a smoothie felt like a treat.
Recently, I also decided to use that quiet time as a time to meditate. I’m also hoping to use it as a time to visualize and manifest the things I want in my life. I’m only on day 2 of this so I’ll circle back in a few weeks to let you know how that’s going. I’m also hoping to push up my wake up call to 5 AM. In the meantime, I’m taking it one step at a time, day by day.
I’m so proud of myself for sticking with this. What about you? Are you an early riser? Or a nighttime owl? Challenge yourself and join me in waking up early every morning. Let me know if it works for you.
