Raise your hand if you're a morning person!
Hahahaha...nope, not even close.
I love the IDEA of being a morning person, and I love it when I am actually up and at it, but my natural rhythm is productive things happen starting at 10a.m. and I am a total night owl. This might be you too, or maybe you are an early riser who gets up with the sun and the birds and all that other annoying crap that happens way too early. Either way, you'll find some value in this week's topic - Miracle Mornings. About two years ago I read this book, The Miracle Morning, by Hal Elrod, and it really struck a chord for me - I encourage everyone to read it! (sidenote - my personal recommendation is to read the original, not the network marketing version, even if you are in direct sales).
The premise of the book is how we begin our day truly sets the tone for our accomplishments by the day, month, year and our lives. So I read the book, bought into the idea, and started a morning routine -- it was awesome. I was in the swing of it, I was seeing increased energy and focus, I was balancing all my responsibilities, I was running (and I am not a runner - I got a coach and she was awesome) and I was crushing my rank and income goals in my doTERRA business. Things felt GOOD. Like, really good. Like, "you want to brag on yourself for doing all the things but you're trying not to be obnoxious" good. I was running 5ks for the first time ever. I was walking the stage in front of 40,000 people being recognized as a top earner in my company. I was energized and excited and super on track....And then, well, and then things tailed off and my routine skittered, slipped and ultimately vaulted itself over the rubicon. My travel schedule interfered with my morning routine, my running coach got pregnant (how dare she have a life?! haha), excuses became my BFF, and as things slipped in came the fatigue. I slept in every morning. I told myself I loved it, I needed more sleep. I didn't love it, and I didn't really need more sleep (I never get fewer than 7 hours, usually 8), but I was stuck.
My Gallup Strengths test has me listed with my #1 strength being an Achiever. When I am not meeting goals, growing, and accomplishing things I am not happy. And rolling out of bed with, or even after, the kids get up is not who I want to be. Complaining and grouching is not who I want to be. So I grasped at straws trying to find the trail back to what makes me feel my best. Now, if I had a personal referee, he would be following me around at this point in the story blowing the whistle and throwing flags for False Starts every other week. I would build up what I was going to do and then not get it done. I have a super early morning person friend and I tried to work out with her, but anything in the 5 a.m. hour was wrecking me and leaving me still super tired and sleep deprived even if I got to bed at a decent time. It's supposed to be spring but I feel like we live in Game of Thrones Winter. I would weigh myself and then eat tacos of comfort and depression. I'm busy, I'm stressed, and my "favorite" excuse everyone embraces...drumroll... "I don't have time." I tried to find a free meditation app to use but none did for me what Headspace did. Are you irritated at my whinyness yet because I sure as heck was. SO MANY BLOCKS. I was at my all time highest weight (yes, even higher than when I was massively pregnant) and scared to set goals in any aspect of my life.
This is when Eye of the Tiger starts playing and it's time to dig in. I found my way back to what works (more on that in a sec) and I want to share my routine with you now that Miracle Mornings are BACK!!!!
- I wake up at 5:45 a.m. and grab a peppermint beadlet from the nightstand - popping one of these in my mouth makes hitting snooze impossible.
- I go to the gym for an hour with my neighbor/bestie at 6am (3 days of weights + walking and 2 days of walking).
- I come home and drink lots of water and take my Lifelong Vitality Pack (this is huge) for energy, focus, cellular health and all the micronutrients to flood my body with good nutrition and keep my immune system up so I stay on track - oh, and MOOD - so important for my mood!
- I set the diffusers going with citrus oils (lime, wild orange and black pepper is a personal fave) and wake everyone up and get them going with these happy, mood and immune boosting blends. The oils and a cup of water are by the diffusers already so it's easy and I won't skip it. I dance with the dogs a little and yell at everyone if they aren't out of bed yet. My boys are 9 and 6 and are responsible for their laundry and such and laying things out the night before for minimal morning catastrophes.
- I eat one of two things - farm fresh eggs with veggies or a chocolate trimshake with unsweet vanilla almond milk, frozen berries, fresh spinach and frozen okra (you can't taste it, promise!). Sometimes I add a little cacao powder for extra richness. If the kids don't want eggs they can help themselves to fruit and a protein, like string cheese, but eggs are all they're getting out of me. We avoid sugar cereals, poptarts and other frankenfoods. Their grandparents can spoil them with that and enjoy the ensuing fall out. lol!
- After the kids are fed and out the door I take one drop each of peppermint, frankincense and wild orange, blend in my hand and inhale with a few deep breaths for centering and clarity and to really expand the quality of the time I have left - time is not our enemy - and then take 10 minutes to do my Headspace meditation, which benefits me as well as all the people I will encounter in my day.
This is it, and this will be my Miracle Morning routine for at least 30 more days before I add a few other best life practices that have gone missing from my life and are hanging out somewhere on a Have You Seen Me milk carton (going from walking to running 5 days a week, oil pulling, and spending 20 minutes setting appointments or connecting with new people/networking).
How did I get back on my morning routine?
Vision and Planning - I spent a lot of time thinking about what I really want out of my day/week/year/life and why I want it. I made sure that when I set up my routine there was not a deeper want that would subconsciously block my new goal - this is HUGE (for example, if one of your goals is working out, but snuggling with your sweet innocent kiddos as they wake up in the morning and before they transform into crazy wild things is a deeper want for you, get real and don't set those two up to battle, because working out will lose every time - so I go before they wake up).
Accountability - I found someone (my close friend/ neighbor) who could go to my same gym every single day at 6am. We do weights together and we do our own thing for cardio but each morning I know I have to be beside her car at 6am to go to the gym. If you are good at being self-accountable, that's amazing! I can be for some things, but not when it comes to rolling out of bed. If you can't find a buddy, find one of those annoying early birds to give you a call each morning and remind you of why you want this - they'll probably be thrilled to help - because they are so. damn. chipper. And pop a beadlet. There is no going back to sleep after that burst of peppermint oil!
Consistency - I don't have to make a decision every morning, I just know I am getting up at 5:45 and at her car at 6. If I had to DECIDE, I would probably decide to sleep in. I am a weak, weak human in the first hours of the morning. Consistency in time, consistency in what I eat and consistency in taking my supplements takes away the energy of decision-making and works in my favor.
Tracking - some people love the Fit Bit and if you do, do it, but it's annoying to me keeping up with charging one more thing, and oh the buzzing as I sit at my desk working on worky stuff, that was a block - listen Fitbit, not everyone can move around for their job, some of us are basically brains in a jar...I found that I can use the Health Tracker on my iphone and that method works for me. When I was starting to really plan and I tracked what I was doing it was no secret why I was not feeling my best. I can get in under 2,000 steps a day if I am not intentional! Thanks to Dave Ramsey and Free to Give, I know the importance of tracking money, but tracking in order to get a clear picture and winning results applies to ALL areas, including health! Now I get in at least half of my 10,000 steps a day first thing. I can pick up more at lunch or while the boys are playing sports after work, so I have options. My iphone also tracks my meditation minutes so sometimes I find myself sneaking in another session before bed or sometimes with the boys - they aren't great at it but it's lots of giggles together and they thing it's fun to do what Mom is doing. The bottom line? Numbers don't lie.Tracking is critical so you can measure results objectively.
Do you have a Miracle Morning? If so, I would love to hear what you do to own the first part of your day! If you don't, consider trying some of these tips and let me know if they work for you!
