5 Simple Life Hacks to Jump Start your day

One of my favorite pod-casters always asks her guests two questions:  1. What did you eat for breakfast and 2.  What’s your morning routine?  This got me thinking.  Why is it so important that she asks EVERYONE?  Personally I used to  get up as late as possible, get ready for work and grab a quick breakfast on way to work.  Hey, I’m up!  Isn’t that the biggest part of starting your day?!  Well come to find out it’s a bit more that that.  The magic of your whole day can only truly begin once you’ve set yourself up right.  After multiple lessons I’ve come to find out my best days truly start when I’m going along a mindful morning routine.  Now I’m NOT AT ALL a morning person and LOVE my sleep but sometimes it’s simply an extra 30 min-1 hour  is all I need.  In this post I hope to help you start each day of right to fully enjoy your daily journey no matter how much extra time you may have in the am.

• Meditate!!!!  Yes, I know for some of you this may be a woo woo word but truly taking 5, 10, 15 min before you get out of bed can truly alter how your day goes. Call it meditate, reflect, or even just “checking in” can really make a difference in how your day goes even before you make your first step of the day.  Spend a moment to check in with yourself.  You could reflect on a dream (I believe dreams hold so much information for us if we only take a moment to pay attention.  If you are able to slow down and reflect for a moment you would be  surprised at how much you remember and then WRITE IT DOWN.  Give it a try).  This is also a great time to practice your gratitude and intention practice.  What kind of a day are you setting up for yourself?  Set the intention today to make it a good one and BE GRATEFUL for the blessings and gifts that are on their way today!

• Stretch!! I’ve found the best way for me to start my day is through yoga.  I’ve been able to carve out an extra 20-30 min in my morning to just let my body stretch and center.  (and sometimes just wake up slowly) and boy can I tell you it’s made a difference!.  Don’t have 30 min?  Do a few gentle stretches or gentle exercises even in bed can get your body loosened up and ready to handle the day.  Watch your animals.  What’s the first thing they do when they get up?  Yup that’s right: STRETCH and MOVE!!!  Your body needs to wake up too.  And no, that jumping you did to shut of the alarm doesn’t quite cut it!!

• Breakfast!  (Not gonna spend too much time here cause every diet, nutritionist, etc has already told you the importance of this one.)  How much importance do you actually place on breakfast?  Is it a quick stop through a drive through or quick run into the gas station for a bite while you pump gas on your way to work?  Yea, I see you!  Personally, I know a little too much about that habit as I’ve been there far too often.  If you are like me then you think you are saving time and just grabbing quickly on the go.  Problem is you are either hungry the rest of the day or crash all too quickly and end up not having as good a day as you would had you spent just a few extra minutes and grabbed that healthier option. I’ve found that preparing the night before has really helped me.  Also, make sure you have on hand what you like and that it’s easily accessible and ready to just “grab”.  IF you can make the time to sit and eat a quick breakfast in your home vs car/office this can really go a long way too.  Not only will you be able to focus on your driving, but taking that moment to center and truly savor your meal will also set you up in a gratitude state of mind!

• MOVE!!!  Wait,  I already talked about yoga/stretching and now this woman wants me to do it again?!  Well, sort of…..this time I’m talking about getting out and moving! A mindful walk with the dog, spending 2 extra minutes connecting with nature while feeding horses, or exercise/running!  I’ve found that by the time I get home from work a lot of times it’s way too easy for me to come up with an excuse to avoid going out again.  Doing my exercise in the morning has helped me cross off a big to do item off my list.  Also this really helps my racing mindset.  Most every race I sign up for starts in the morning so shouldn’t my training too?

• Set yourself up to succeed!  Starting the night before make sure you prep your plan for the am so there’s no thinking about it or trying to figure out what needs to be done or how you are gonna do it.  Once you have a game plan STICK TO IT!  Get to bed at a good time and then make sure you are waking up at the appropriate time to get everything going that you want to.  If you are one that likes to snooze a bit then build this in to your morning!  Try to remove any and all barriers and squash any excuses your mind might try to play on you.  The more prepared you are, the easier this whole process becomes.  Along those lines, try to wake up at the same time every day!  EVEN ON THE WEEKENDS!!!! It starts to become habit for you and overall easier to get up and moving!

Starting your day off right is really only a gift you can give to yourself and can help shape how the entire day will go.    If you are not a morning person this takes some getting used to but trust me you will be able to notice a difference!  It really will become easier, I promise!   Also, please don’t beat yourself up if one morning you aren’t as successful as you would like.  Each day presents a new opportunity for change and you are not doing yourself any favors by beating yourself up or focusing on what you aren’t doing!  Focus on the change you want and go for it!  Celebrate each morning and each step along the way!

Do you already have a morning routine?  I would love to hear more ideas about what you do to get your day off right!  Post a comment and share!