Embrace Your Mornings

Our mornings should be special to us.

Think about what mornings are. It’s the beginning of another day. Congratulations! That’s not an easy accomplishment. Some don’t get that luxury.

Mornings are a gift you should use to your advantage. They’re an opportunity to start a day that could change your life. Whatever your goals might be, you’ll need a positive mindset to start the day. Use your mornings to start that mindset.

I’m not here to tell you what you need to do to have a positive morning. That all depends on your goals and priorities. I’m here to tell you that you need to make your mornings count.

Maria and I prioritize a few things every morning.

Get enough rest.

Take care of yourself.

Prepare for the day.

Maria loves to snuggle and stay in bed as long as possible because she’s not a morning person. Funnily enough, she also doesn’t like to stay up very late either because she wants to get enough rest. Her perfect morning is sleeping like she doesn’t have to be anywhere or do anything at any specific time. Then after waking up and taking her time to get ready, she takes on a task. She loves being productive, but she doesn’t like to be rushed.

When Maria and I first started dating, I didn’t prioritize sleep, but now that I do, I can’t go without it. My perfect morning is getting 7–8 hours of sleep then eating breakfast and going to do something active or productive. Monday through Thursday we wake up at 6:30 am. After I wake up I go to the bathroom then take my dog for a walk. When I return I eat breakfast and take time to reflect on what I want from the day. I like to take this time to write 5 things I’m grateful for, or an idea that I’ve been running through my head. I’m out the door, on my way to the gym by 7:30 am. I spend an hour working out, then start my workday.

Before I had this routine, my mornings consisted of rolling out of bed at 8:30 am, rushing to work, and surviving the day until it was time to come home. My goal back then was to make it through the day doing minimal amount of work without messing something up. I wasn’t very happy or satisfied with my job.

At first it was hard to make these changes. I didn’t want to go to bed early enough to wake up at 6:30 am. I was tired at work the first couple of days. However the more I stuck to the routine, the easier it became to go to bed and wake up. Now there are some days I wake up before my alarm.

I also felt the benefits later on in my work day. By the time 4:00 pm came around, I still had energy to work. I could take on more projects within a day because I wasn’t tired. The quality of my work began to improve and I was better prepared to handle any emergencies that popped up.

The only days that I don’t wake up at 6:30 am are Friday and on Saturday and Sunday. Friday I wake up at 6:00 am. I have a contractual position with a startup and our meetings are early on Friday mornings. On Saturday and Sunday I will occasionally sleep until I wake up without an alarm. I partly do this because Maria hates me waking her up early during the week and I want to give her a break, but mostly I do this to relax. I can get obsessed with a routine, to the point where I’ll sacrifice my happiness and plan every moment of my day. I have these relaxing mornings built into my schedule for my physical and mental health.

Find what your perfect morning is. What does it take for you to wake up and chase your goals? Strive to recreate or hit that goal every morning. You’re going to have to make sacrifices to achieve those mornings but it’s worth it. Don’t worry about being perfect. There are going to be days where it doesn’t work out. That’s ok. As long as you’re still alive, you have another day to try again.

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