If You Want To Change Your Life, Start By Changing Your Mornings
A habit, by definition, is a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. “Regular” being the word to pay attention to. Implementing healthy, positive change takes consistency and thoughtfulness. And I find it is exactly when I am craving more consistency in my life that I commit to new habits. The problem, though, is that whenever I try to implement these new habits, I end up trying to incorporate too many at once and none of them stick.
So, I started asking myself, how I can set myself up for success?
I then stumbled upon a video by the YouTuber Matt D’Avella where he showed how he was able to start three new habits at once by simply incorporating them into his already established morning routine. This video motivated me to write down all the new, positive habits I wanted to incorporate into my daily life. I then cherry picked a few and plopped them into my morning routine. And it has affected an enormous change in my overall mood, outlook and productivity.
Here’s what I did.
Now that the kids are back in school, my mornings are more predictable: perfect conditions for forming new and lasting habits. Since adding these few things to my morning, I feel so much more in control of my day, which slowly is leading me to feel more in control of myself, my reactions and my mental state.
The five things I wanted to incorporate into my life were:
- Drinking more water
- Better stress management
- More energy
- Exercise
- Writing
Not only have I managed to implement and stick to all five of these new habits, I am able to get all of them done before 10 AM on most days. Here’s how:
In the morning, while we’re all eating breakfast, I take a supplement designed for stress management along with some CBD. I then prepare a cup of Mushroom coffee (which gives me all the energy I need without any of the jitters or crash of regular coffee) and I fill up a big bottle of water to take with me on a walk. After dropping baby off at school, I head to a nearby park and take a walk, drinking my water bottle along the way. This takes about 30-45 minutes, but its up and down hills, in the fresh air and sunshine, and I feel like a new person when I’m done. Back in my car, I open up a note on my phone and write a little something about what all I thought about on my walk. Maybe the book or podcast I was listening to struck a chord and gave me an idea, or I just have something sitting on my mind and the walk gave me the time and space to sort through it. Either way, I end the walk hitting my daily word count and inspiring myself to continue writing when I get home.
What I need in the morning won’t look the same as what you need. But I encourage you to sit down with a piece of paper for literally one entire minute and write down all the things you want to try doing more of. My list had things like drink more water, floss every day, morning walks, take my vitamins. Then circle 1-5 that you feel are easy enough to add to a routine you already have in place. Maybe during your drive to work. Or your evening workout. Or your nighttime bathroom routine. Whatever makes sense for you.
I thought I was a lost cause when it came to forming new habits, but this trick has really helped me shift gears. I feel like I am making a lot of progress and all it took was narrowing down the few things I wanted to do more of each day and implementing them into an already established daily routine. Now that those habits have a stronger footing, I can start adding new ones to the mix.
What are some habits you want to develop?