So you’ve probably heard this before. But let’s throw away everything you know about routine for about 10 minutes. The misconception is people think they have to make their entire life one big routine or they need to adopt about 10 different ones. The truth is you may get to that point but you definitely don’t need to. Tapping into the full power of routine is extremely beneficial. Ever heard of a bed time routine or a morning ritual? Well in this article I want to go over both and explain the personal benefits I get from each of these tactics. They can be as long or as short as you’d like, but these strategies are built by you for you. Remember that.
The Morning Ritual: This could be anything you want, meditation, a workout, reading a book, listening to your favourite song, affirmation, visualization, taking time with your significant other, playing chess… or a mixture of all the above. Most people underestimate the control they have over their day. If you start ahead of the eight ball, you’ll most likely stay there. Sadly, the inverse is also true. Think about it, picture yourself getting out of bed and going for a run only to come back and enjoy a breakfast you love while listening to upbeat music. Once you finish eating you go over and read something you enjoy for 15 minutes, then you top it all off with affirmation and visualization of things that drive you. The cherry on top can be your morning coffee. Think about how you’d walk into the office that day, you’d feel like the head, not the tail. You are now in complete control and ready to handle anything the day throws at you because you grabbed those first two hours and squeezed the life out of them YOUR WAY!
The Bedtime Routine: Look you can keep listening to every motivational video that tells you that you don’t need sleep or you can listen to thousands of scientific studies that say sleep is imperative to success. Listen if you go to bed at 10 p.m. and wake up at 5 a.m you have 17 hours to do whatever it is that you need to get done. Most top CEOs can finish a whole day’s worth of duties in 12. Sacrificing sleep is not admirable, it’s stupid and inefficient. If you schedule your day out, you can probably finish all of your to dos quickly and effectively. Making sure you get to bed on time can simply be shutting off all devices at 9:30 and having a hot shower. You can then drink tea or read for 15 minutes and be asleep by 10. The key here is starting to wind down at 9:30 NO MATTER WHAT! Don’t let your to do list run you. Move those tasks on to another day. If you didn’t finish them odds are they weren’t pressing. Sometimes you’ll have to burn the midnight oil but try to minimize that by fully utilizing your day.
Everything in this article was an example. You can create your routines anyway you want; the most important thing is to HAVE THEM. They will change your life for the better. Start having the best days, weeks, months and years of your life right now.
