Your daily habits and routines are absolutely critical to your success.

You need to own the day. You need to set yourself up with the foundations to have a great day.

Back in the day, I used to just roll out of bed and go through the day dealing with whatever or whoever shouted the loudest and being sucked into the dreaded emails, pointless meetings, endless phone calls and other people’s problems & agendas.  But for the past few years, I’ve had a morning (and evening) routine which I keep tweaking over time to make sure it still works for me.

As far as morning routines go, you may have read ‘The Miracle Morning’ by Hal Elrod, a great book and I took a lot from it in developing my own routine.  I also use the Best Self Journal.  And other people, books, and training events have influenced my routine to find what works for me.

My own morning routine, I call it my FIRST THINGS FIRST.

• F = Fitness 
• I = Inner Powers
• R = Reading
• S = Scribing
• T = Time

FITNESS = physical exercise every day.  Gym for me (6 times per week) and even on my ‘rest day’ I’m doing body-weight exercise in the house (just some press-ups, sit-ups etc for 5-10mins). Find what works for you – running, walking, weights, rowing, whatever. Just exercise your body every day, it makes you feel good afterward. It’s a test of your commitment and discipline too.

Fitness also includes:

• Eat well (fuel your body with the right things, moderation folks, no endless junk)
• Sleep well (7hrs good for me, know how much you need to feel good/energised)
• Hydrate well (min. 2 litres of water per day)

INNER POWERS = exercise your mind every day. Meditation is the key here.  It’s not hippy shit either, try it. It’s just sitting somewhere where you won’t be disturbed, being still and breathing. No Yankee Candles or burning incense required. There’s plenty Apps to help you, I started with Headspace and still use it but often just do it unguided now, it’s just sitting breathing after all but to get started, try an App.

Your inner powers are also your Beliefs, Thoughts, and Values. Here you can use the power of Affirmations and Visualisation.  Speak/think positively about yourself and imagine what it is you want, see it and feel it and think how great it’ll be when you have it. Focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.

READING = Learning and Applying your new knowledge.  Read every day, just a couple of pages in the morning, or listen to Audible, or a Podcast, or YouTube videos, or TedTalks. Self-education and personal development is the key to your success in life. I have a great book called The Daily Stoic which is one page a day plus I add in maybe a video or article I’ve previously saved, and when I’m in the car I always have an audiobook to listen to. Remember though – YOU MUST APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE. Pure consumption will not change anything.

SCRIBING – = Journalling and Writing.  Remind yourself of your Goals, show Gratitude & Appreciation; write down at least 3 things you are grateful for, review your Wins and Lesson Learned from the previous day, get the random thoughts/ideas out your head. Do writing exercises like ‘Your Perfect Day’ – write down what it would be like – when you know this then you can work on getting it.

TIME = Plan the Day with Balance & Focus. How we use our time, how we spend it (or waste it!) determines our level of success in achieving our goals and driving change.  Own your day or the day owns you.   Work out your Most Important Tasks (MIT’s) – the things you need to do to take you closer to your goals. There needs to be at least 1 MIT per day (up to 3 if possible). Schedule your day to include all you need to do and want to do. Priorities are your Morning Routine (First Things First), then your MIT’s, then any other stuff like numbers, team, appointments, calls to make, emails etc. You may need to build some flexi-time for any reactive stuff.  Be kind and don’t overcommit otherwise you’ll get bogged down and burnt out. Work in 90day cycles with a Goal and action plan to get it.

And remember to schedule TIME for your loved ones, for fun and for rest.    

You can do it.

#thewifecallsmeahippy