“The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in the morning feeling just plain terrible.” ~Jean Kerr, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, 1957
Imagine your morning is a football game. You’re at the line of scrimmage; the snap starts your morning. Which are you?
A false starter?
On time?
Knocked on your butt?
Two months ago I felt like i had been knocked on my butt every morning. It was cold. My bed was warm. Mornings are hard.
Today I wake up, jump out of bed and get going. I feel energized, charged. I am more focused and ready to get from the day.
To get there I had to start really simple. The ideas listed below take less than a minute to do.
Feel free to add more in the comments.
1. Change your alarm
Having an alarm clock next to my bed made it really easy to hit the snooze button. Move your alarm across the room so that you have to actually get out of bed to turn it off.
Tip: You might also want to invest in a traditional alarm clock. Using your mobile phone makes it really tempting to check messages, emails and other things that can change your whole morning mood.
2. Breath Deep
Focusing on your breath for one minute moves oxygen throughout your body. Using a breathing pattern can help kick your neurotransmitters into high gear. Tony Robbins does this in morning among other high achievers. Give it a try.
Tony Robbins pattern: 1-4-2 first inhale, then hold for 4x the first amount of time, then exhale for 2x the first amount of time.
3. Massage your Face
Rubbing under and above your eyelids. Massaging your jaw, cheeks and ears can help make you feel more awake before you jump out of bed.
4. Drink Water
After a night of sleeping our body is slightly dehydrated. We need to be sure to add water to our system to keep the blood flowing and hydrated. Some sources say drinking 1.5L in the morning is best. I can’t do this in one sitting. For this article, I recommend starting with one glass of water. That can be enough to get you going.
Tip: I drink a little noni juice in the morning before I eat my breakfast.
5. Eat a light breakfast
I used to try to cook a full, belly filling breakfast for myself. That didn’t work well for two reasons:
1. Took too much time to prepare. I missed so many times.
2. I felt tired after eating a big breakfast
Having a light breakfast is faster and is just enough to get the metabolism moving.
Truth: it might take a little more than a minute to do this, but I’m putting it in there anyway.
6. Change your Toothpaste
There have been several studies around the negative side effects of toothpaste. I know you might be completely committed to that Colgate Total, but give a new brand a try for a month and see if you notice any changes.
7. Do a wall sit
A wall sit is a stationary workout for your thighs. After I complete a wall sit my legs feel warm and my body is ready to keep moving. One minute will be easy for those in shape. If it’s a challenge, start with less and work your way up.
8. Do a downward dog
Probably the first yoga position taught and with good reason! It is fairly easy to do. It gets your upper body activated. And you can start with one minute and see how you feel after 10 days.
9. Write a gratitude journal
Take a minute to write a few things that you are grateful for in the morning. This helps get out of your own head and put something down on paper. After a while you will have a full book of gratitude that you can look to for inspiration and motivation.
I highly recommend that solopreneurs do something like this. The solo business world can be overwhelming and depressing at time. It is good to inject habits that help drive inspiration and motivation.
10. Go for a walk
This is another activity that might take more than a minute to complete. Going for a walk is a low impact physical exercise. You can even combine this habit with some of the others actions in this list. Use the power of “Habit Stacking” as SJ Scott would call it to build a routine during your walk.
The power of morning routines is evident. There are tons of cases showing that a structured morning can build momentum for the rest of the day. That is why I am taking on the challenge of creating a new program focused on just that.
Your Turn
What would you add to this list? leave a message.
Also, Check out the Six Minute Morning: Build morning momentum in six minutes a day.