Have you ever had a consistent morning routine?
Turns out something as simple as starting each day the same way can have profound effects on your mental health and sense of well being. If you add exercise into your morning routine, the effects compound even further, reducing stress, anxiety and depression, and even improving self acceptance, relations with others and a sense of purpose in life.
All of that from a morning routine?
Yep.
But why does it have that effect?
There are a few things going on when you commit to starting each day the same way. Let’s take a look.
The first is a sense of autonomy and a growing appreciation for your self-discipline. This makes sense, right? If you are able to establish and stick to a morning routine, that alone can give you a sense of power or control over your own life.
You start the day on your terms, not just when you HAVE to get out of bed.
I used to say “I’m just not a morning person!”
Turns out, that’s BS.
It’s totally up to you. What I actually meant, but didn’t want to acknowledge was
"I consistently make poor choices and stay up far too late doing things that aren’t important, and then mornings are unpleasant for me.”
It turns out what you believe about yourself, the story you tell yourself about what kind of person you are or are not, matters. You CAN be a morning person. You ARE in control.
Just move from being interested, and make a commitment to start getting up consistently.
That’s all there is to it.
When you do this, your body starts to appreciate the regularity. You may find yourself waking up, ready to go, before your alarm even goes off. This is your circadian rhythm falling into place.
Ask yourself, when you hit snooze, do you feel refreshed after those 9 extra minutes?
Or if you’re like I was in college, and you hit snooze 10 times, were those extra 90 minutes actually helpful? Or do you still feel just as sluggish when you finally do drag yourself out of bed?
Our bodies crave regularity in our sleep schedule. So do yourself a favor and wake up at the same time every morning. It gets easier the more you do it. I promise.
Thirdly, it can reduce our stress and anxiety.
Our brains crave predictability. Order. Our brains love to know what to expect. It cuts down on the amount of decisions that need to be made and the amount of energy that needs to be spent making those decisions.
The opposite of knowing what to expect is anxiety. The more certainty we can bake into our day, the less anxiety we will experience over all. Not to mention the stress that comes from having no margin in our morning.
Let’s just paint two scenarios and you tell me which has more anxiety in it.
Scenario One: You wake up at 6:30 am, and yeah maybe it’s hard the first few times you do it. But you have time to exercise, eat a good breakfast, reflect on your upcoming day, or your life and what you’re grateful for. Then you leave for work with plenty of time to beat traffic. You’ve already been awake for a few hours so you’re alert and energized when you arrive and you have a plan for what you want to accomplish today.
Scenario Two: You sleep until 8:25 and give yourself 5 minutes to throw on some clothes, and get in the car. Maybe you hit the drive through on your commute, and are pushing the speed limit the whole way so you can get to work on time. Any little setback or slow down causes your chest to get tight.
So much of our stress and anxiety is self-inflicted. I know because I’ve lived out both of those scenarios as lifestyles.
Let me tell you, establishing a morning routine has been one simple change that can make a huge difference in your outlook on life and your mental health.
Lastly, you’ll experience improved focus, clarity and energy throughout the day. I admit, the first few times you start getting up early, you might not have a surplus of energy right away. It’s a new rhythm and takes some time to adapt. But I’ve never once worked out first thing in the morning and regretted it. Literally never.
If you can manage to get in the habit of getting out of bed when you first wake up, and starting your day with some kind of exercise, you will have improved energy, focus and clarity throughout the day.
If this turns out not to be the case for you, I want to hear from you because you’ll be the first!
In my next post I’m going to share my exact morning routine, one that’s easy to remember, and easy to follow.
It’s so simple anyone can do it.
Let me know in the comments whether you already have a morning routine, or if you’re interested in establishing one.
I think I can help!
-Greg
Commentaires