Wake Up and Be Fabulous: Ten Tips to Power Up Your Morning Routine
I was never a morning person. I’d wake up and pull the covers back over my head and want to sleep for another five hours. I’d wait until the last minute to get up and then rush around barely registering my surroundings.
Every night I’d swear it would be different, and every morning I’d stumble out of bed hating the morning.
A couple years ago when I was starting my business, I decided to make it my mission to become a morning person. I knew instinctively that learning to be positive in the morning was going to be a key to my business success.
I looked for practices and habits that were easy to learn and implement, and over time I found it easier to get out of bed. After some experiments (I’m not part of the 5 AM club) I finally astonished myself and realized I had grown to love the mornings. I’m certainly not perfect, and there are still days when I wake up in groggy despair, but on the whole I embrace the mornings now with ease.
Starting the day with habits imbued with pleasures we choose, powers up our whole day to be productive and focused on being authentic and true to our paths and our plans.
Get curious and creative in setting up routines that make you wake up feeling excited and ready to take on your to do list and the world.
Level Up Your Nightstand
Your nightstand is the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning, and the last thing you see before you go to sleep. Is it set up with items you love? Or is it a harrowing mess of overdue books and scrunchies?
Take 20 minutes and clear off everything that’s sitting on top of your nightstand or in the drawers. Start with a clean slate. Then think about what would motivate you to see when you first wake up. Is it a beautiful photo of a vacation where you felt alive and energized? Is it a book of meditations that inspire you to get present and focused? Is it a vase of flowers that reminds you of the small luxuries in life?
Deliberately choosing items that make you feel delighted will remind you to go about your whole day making decisions aligned with your true self.
2. Schedule Phone Time
Many of us want to spend less time on our phones, yet they’re the first thing we grab when we roll over. They’re too easily accessible if they’re right beside us when we wake up.
Try charging your phone overnight somewhere outside your bedroom. In fact, having a designated charging station in your home where all the devices go at the end of the day is a great way to make screen time more intentional. Set particular times in your day to check email, messages, and to connect on social media.
Don’t foget there’s other ways to get your day started other than scrolling on your phone.
Try reading a page from an inspiration book, reviewing your goals you’ve printed out, playing music, or stepping outside and letting the natural light wake up your mind.
3. Throw Out Your Scale
Want to guarantee you start the day grumpy, defeated, and at the mercy of society’s expectations for what a woman is worth? Step on a scale first thing.
Throw out your scale. I mean it. I haven’t had a scale in my home in years. Giving up resting my worth on a number on a scale means I’m free to appreciate my body for what it can do. It means I can undo the harmful messages: don’t take up space, you’re only valuable if you fit a very narrow body type - thin, white, able-bodied, and you must focus your whole day on shrinking yourself to find love.
Start the process of learning to love your body. And if that’s too far of a goal, start with a neutral thought: I have a human body. I have a human stomach. I have human legs. And work up to honouring the beauty of your body.
It’s possible to be at peace with your body. Throw out the damn scale.
4. Set Out Your Movement Clothes
Not everyone want to do a 10K first thing in the morning. That’s why I suggest setting out your movement clothes as opposed to work out clothes. Work out clothes to me implies I’m going to jump out of bed, throw on my runners, and start hard core weight training. Not gonna happen.
I lay out yoga pants and a loose fitting shirt I love. I can easily slip into these clothes and start to move my body in a way that feels good.
A great habit to get into is setting out your movement clothes the night before.
You then skip making a decision if you’re going to move your body. The clothes are out. You’ve already decided.
5. Move Your Body in A Way That Delights You
Put on music and bop around if you’re in the mood. Do tree pose while brushing your teeth. Stretch in the kitchen while your bread’s in the toaster.
I like to lay out my yoga mat the night before. I sometimes have to trick myself: Just do one pose. If you don’t want to do anything after that, you don’t have to. Sometimes all I do is one pose, but most of the time once I get started I keep going.
Movement of any kind - even for five minutes - will change your mood, your energy level, and your outlook.
You’ll feel in charge,. and that little boost of pride and accomplishment will start the day off strong.
6. Dress for Your Future Self
If you’re working at home, a lot of us want to simply stay in the comfy movement clothes we’ve put on. We tell ourselves: I’ll shower and wash my hair later. Then it’s 2:00 in the afternoon, we still haven’t showered, and we’re avoided filming any IG stories, getting on a client consult call, and running out to the printer to pick up our order.
Try this. Imagine your business six months from now - thriving, fully booked, and in demand. Imagine yourself in that future scenario. How is that woman dressed? How is she carrying herself? What kind of jewelry is she adorning herself with? How is she taking care of her grooming, her wardrobe, herself?
Go through your closet and give away the clothes that no longer fit, that you no longer love, and that aren’t aligned with the woman you’re becoming.
I’m not saying you need a whole new wardrobe, but f you do want to pick up some new outfits, try thrifting. It’s fun and great for the environment, and you find unique treasures. Or invest in pieces you know your future self is going to need for when she’s speaking at conferences, conducting sales meetings, and shining on Zoom calls.
Permission to be Extra AF.
7. Make Your Bed
It’s easy to do. It’s a small win. And gives you a sense of achievement first thing.
Jim Rohn talks about the concept of Easy to Do and Easy Not to Do in his writings, and many people use his philosophy. Doing things repeatedly that are easy to do accumulate results throughout the day, week, and year. For example, it’s easy to spend 15 minutes a day stretching our bodies. It’s also easy not to do it.
If you continuously choose to do the easy thing, over time it compounds into great results.
Become aware of your decisions throughout the day and how often you choose the easy not to do option. Then challenge yourself to make a conscious choice to do the easy to do option. Watch momentum pick up and your life plans take off.
8. Meditate for 2 Minutes
It’s just breathing, people. It’s not fancy.
9. Eat Intentionally
I think food choices are very personal and individual, and we need to spend a lot less time obsessing over what we eat.
That said, it’s a great habit to start the morning with foods that power up your body and mind: delicious foods that beg us to set a lovely table, take the time to savour their tastes, be present, and nourish not just our bodies but our souls.
Make it beautiful. Make it special. Make it delight your senses.
10. Gratitude Journal
There are many people who’ve written extensively about the importance and the benefits of practicing gratitude - for good reason. Gratitude focuses our attention on the things that are going right, the positive forces in our lives, and trains our brains to search for the good. This makes for a life that’s rich in meaning and purpose.
Take time to be grateful in whatever way works for you. Perhaps it’s a moment of thanks before you eat your breakfast. Perhaps it’s a prayer of gratitude that you get to live another day earthside. Perhaps it’s journaling in a pretty notebook with a motivation quote.
One of my favourite journal prompts that starts my day with gratitude and delight is “What would a woman who takes exceptional care of herself do today?”
Go do that.
Have a great morning!
