4 LIFE CHANGING MORNING HABITS YOU MUST START TODAY

Losing confidence and the loss of motivation right now is totally justifiable. It’s a really rough time mentally for everyone. Especially if you are a small business owner or entrepreneur. During uncertain times when it feels like everything is falling apart, you have to retrain your mind to stay focused. Now is the perfect time to reach back into your memory and think about why you started. You know what to do, you've done it before. Time to take action and get back to basics and start recentering now!

Truth be told I’ve been on self-quarantine for the past 3 years. It just hit me in the last few weeks that long before any threat of a virus was in the mix, I’d been intentionally sheltering in place for a while.

In the last several years I’ve been laser-focused and dedicated to creating the foundation of my business. As many of you know I worked in corporate retail for several years before taking a leap of faith and becoming an entrepreneur. In my book Cre8ted to Win, I refer to quitting my job as "the best worst decision I’ve ever made". This was a tough and hastily decision but I guess that’s why it’s called a “leap of faith”. You honestly just have to JUMP and have faith that it’s going to work out.

During my self-inflicted quarantine time, I was struggling just to pay bills and put food on the table for my daughter and I. At the time my daughter was still in high school and each month offered new obstacles.

I believe it was the beginning of the Easter season in 2015, and I was trying to decide what to give up for Lent. This was when I sacrificed sleeping in and chose to get up every morning to exercise and work on my business. So I dedicated to 30 minutes of exercise and 30 minutes of blogging before going to work at my part-time job.

Every day I was up before sunrise attempting to save my future, become my own boss, and follow my dreams. In my online course, The Mindset Makeover, I coach on several best practices for turning your Morning into sacred time.

Taking action and changing my habits was a true turning point in my journey. I did my research and everyone I followed had a morning routine in place. At this time my influence and virtual mentors were Les Brown, Jim Rhon, Tony Robbins, Eric Thomas, Brendon Burchard, Mel Robbins, and Even Carmichael. They all said that in the morning was when they learned how to command the day and be productive.

Cre8ting NEW habits and routines take time. I challenge you to take action this week and work on incorporating a NEW best practice that will inspire you to MAKE THE MORNING!

4 SUPER EASY HABIT CHANGES TO HELP MOTIVATE YOU TO MAKE THE MOST OF EACH MORNING.

Here’s the scenario. It’s just about time for your alarm to go off. You grunt and start throwing those covers back, grab your cell phone and drag yourself to the bathroom. The moment you start walking back towards your bed you have ONE specific decision to make. Lay back down for another 30/45 minutes OR turn the lights on and MAKE THE MORNING.

When You Get Up - Stay Up

Commit to turning the lights on and looking out the window.

Make a habit of turning on the lamp on the nightstand or preferably the one across the room. Do so as soon as you come out of the bathroom. Take a peek out of your windows and turn the lights on. If it’s still dark outside pay attention to the calm feeling and connect to it.

(Reminder - It may be good to Make Your Morning by going to another space if turning the lights on will disturb others in your bedroom. You don’t want this commitment to upset anyone sharing your space. You might want to grab your robe and a comfy blanket and find another space)

Commit to Sitting Up - Don’t Lay Back Down

Yes, you can get back in the bed, but only if you promise to sit up in the bed.

It’s easy to make a commitment to get up and turn the lights on, but you have to go all the way. If you do get back in the bed, sit up in the bed. This is your best bet for not going back to sleep. You know yourself the best if you know for a fact that you can not be trusted with getting back in without laying down, go sit at the kitchen table. You won’t be productive and this time will only be wasted. Keep in mind that if you are super tired then you should rest. Listen to your body, you will want to be alert and sitting up in order to use this time wisely. Prayer, meditation, stretching, and breathing are an essential part of this process. Find what works for you and

(Reminder - Prayer, meditation, stretching, and breathing are an essential part of this process. Find what works for you and stick to it. Be committed to getting uncomfortable in the morning so you can be comfortable and productive throughout the day.)

Production - Not Consumption

Be productive during this time. There’s plenty of time to consume all the external information later.

This may be a hard habit to break, but don’t touch your phone. Don’t even look at it when you go to the bathroom when you 1st get up. Taking time each morning for yourself and to connect with your thoughts before connecting with everything else is the first step. So make sure you are also committed to breaking the addiction to your cell phone during this process. Give your mind a chance to think and process your thoughts and emotions before consuming the demands and pressure from the world. Your laptop may be off-limits too. You will have to be the judge.

(Reminder - if you use your cell phone or laptop for journaling just make sure you turn off your notifications so you can be dedicated to your writing time. It’s easy to get distracted by the temptation to see what’s going with all the bells going off. So take precautions. You don’t want to get up early only to waste 45 minutes consuming social media nonsense or get stress out by work issues)

Wake up hours early - Not just a few minutes

Thes additional minutes are on top of your normal morning routine

Make a new habit of journaling every morning. Don’t take this task too seriously, you don’t have to write full sentences, it doesn’t even have to be on lined paper. Use this time in the morning to clear your thoughts and connect with your emotions, and just write. This can be about anything that’s on your mind. Or you can very well use prompts and have intentional topics.

(Reminder - This is your time to take to God, yourself, your future self, or just be creative. No one is going to see or read your thoughts unless you choose to share, so don’t overthink this. Just write freely.)

Who knew that after being committed to giving up sleeping in for that 46 days of lent, I’d be forever changed? Your life, your future, and your habits all depend on how you choose to behave each day. This sacrifice can be challenging, but you can do it. Start setting goals that will allow you to wake up with a plan so you can MAKE THE MORNING. Once this becomes apart of your daily habits you will see a tremendous change in your productivity and energy.

So wake up every morning with the intention of pursuing your greatness. We were all born to be and do great things. It’s totally up to you to choose to GO BE GREAT every day!