If you've been hearing a lot about morning routines and you're wondering how on earth you're going to be able to make this work for you as an entrepreneur and a parent this video is for you.
“The early bird gets the worm” – Proverb
If you’re like most people (myself included a few years ago) you get up at the sound of an alarm, and rush straight into your day. There isn’t much time to lose in the morning if you have to be somewhere (like a job, or school drop off) at a certain time. If you have kids to feed and get dressed, it can be a whole ‘nother ballgame entirely. Toss in traffic and a hurried shower and breakfast and you have a typical American “dream”.
Sounds more like a nightmare, doesn’t it?
Have you ever tried getting up an hour earlier than you normally do? It sounds insane till you actually do it for a few days and wonder why the heck you hadn’t thought of this sooner!
Why you should get up earlier
Hat tip: I highly recommend and credit the book, “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod (they also have a version specific to entrepreneurs coming out soon).
The book, and concept around the “miracle morning” is simple yet has a profound impact if you apply it. Hal’s story is also super inspiring, which helps when it comes time to get creative with excuses.
When you carve out the first hour of the day (or several hours if you so choose) to work on your personal development you’ll soon notice the course of your day is remarkably different. You get off on the “right foot”, so to speak… Hal recommends dividing this time into 6 key activities:
S.A.V.E.R.S.
- Silence
- Affirmations
- Visualisations
- Exercise
- Reading
- Scribing (Journaling)
Rewinding a bit…
Let me preface this by saying that when I was building my business in my evenings and weekends and I had a full-time day job, plus a teenager and two toddlers at home, my “miracle morning” was nonexistent.
It was a miracle if I was up in the morning.
Nowadays, I am an entrepreneur full-time, running two businesses and still have 3 children at home. But bottom line I totally understand if you’re thinking to yourself “how on earth can I fit this into my hectic life?”.
I want to urge you to give this a shot even if it’s just getting up 30 minutes earlier. Trust me, it’s likely to become addictive (and productive) really quickly.
I often get asked how I handle 2 online businesses.
Well, this is one of my multipliers for sure! Try it!
If you want to become a more productive person, the best habit you can start by breaking is grabbing for your phone first thing in the morning while still in bed. Not a great way to start the day.
What my mornings look like these days
I get up at 5 o'clock on weekdays. I have an alarm set but most days I end up getting up 10 minutes before it goes off cause my body is used to it by now. That gives me an hour to hour and a half before my kids wake up so depending on the day.
In the morning the first thing I do when I get up is meditate for two minutes (yes, two!). It’s the hardest thing for me. It's something I'm working on which is why I make it the very first thing (minimizes excuses).
Right after that I go into journaling with black coffee (bliss!) in my hand. Some days I just use my 5 minute journal and other days I also use a plain Moleskine and go to town on that a la “morning pages” (from the book, The Artist’s Way).
The journaling is the part I’ve found most helpful, and what I spend the most time on.
Update from what I said in the video- things have changed since I moved!:
Twice a week I get up, journal and go to the gym for a scheduled group workout with a friend.
The other 3 days I drink coffee in bed while I journal, and move on to reading.
I usually consume books on audible while I do other things, but early mornings is when I read actual physical books without distractions.
I read until the kids get up and come get me. After a few minutes of snuggles (especially with the youngest who is now 5) we go have breakfast and start their day.
It’s not a perfect textbook “miracle morning” but it’s SUCH an improvement from letting the day start with hecticness straight away.
The control freak in me, loves having a handle on how the day at least starts.
Now, I'd love to hear from you! Are you doing a morning routine? Why or why not? What does it look like for you? Leave me a comment below.
