As we wake up each morning and dash out that door to make our dreams come true – there are days when we need someone to kick us out or pull us up from our beds and we find ourselves crawling to work. Welcome to the most common challenge of our times – lack of motivation to keep going. In my years of learning from some of the best in the world, I find one word common – this one word connects all of them together. The word is ROUTINE!
I cannot emphasize enough the benefits of having a routine – no matter how whimsical! If it works for you and helps you get big things done – keep at it! Here are some of the most life changing routines of game changers around the world.
Morning Routine– While the 5 am wake up time is great, not all of us are cut out for this. If you are a creative owl, then so be it. This routine suggests cutting out that one hour from your routine to set you up for the most creative hours of your day. If it’s the morning – you want to wake up at 5 am, do a 20 minute work out to dump in some endorphins in your bloodstream grabbing your favourite cuppa coffee and diving into some life changing audio books or videos to change your hard wiring to a POSSIBILITY filled mindset for the next 20 minutes and deleting words like ‘can’t’ from your vocabulary. And wrapping up the last 20 minutes with visualizing your goals or writing down your affirmations! (simple as they seem, the effectiveness of this routine alone can change your life beyond measure!) For the owls, find any time of the night that suits you and do this routine, works the same!
Work Routine– No matter what time you check into work, keep your first 90 minutes the most sacred. Keep them free of any technology – no emails, no social media (may make you feel less important, but we can deal with it later!) Focus these sacred 90 on the needle movers that will take you close to your audacious goal. The world can wait till you see your mails again! Doing that biggest and most productive work first thing in the morning fuels you with enough energy that snowballs into a day of getting a lot more done! So schedule those 90 minutes into your every morning!
Night Routine – Some days are great and others don’t turn out exactly as we plan them. This night routine ensures, no matter how your day went, you press reset before you hit the pillow. Keep a journal by your bedside and write 3 things you are grateful for today. Doing this every night, (says research) helps you count your blessings, elevates your energy and sets you up for a great day the next morning! (If you are thinking, this is childish, I dare you to do this for the next 90 days, and then we can have a conversation!)
After reading countless number of blogs, watching enough ted talks and reading some fantastic authors, I find these routines to be a big part of their days. And the one thing I like about all of them the most is – it’s never too late to begin. You could be at any stage in your life or career, and these routines will make it all even better, so give them a shot! And let me know what shifted!
