I hear a lot of billionaires, millionaires and extremely successful (financially) people give tons of advice on this routine or that. Do this every morning and be a rockstar, do this every night and be a champion. I have news for you, I could care less what they say, I am not those people and on several levels I don’t want their lives. That being said I’m not against a lot of what they teach, the problem is the absolutism they teach it with. So from a therapists perspective here are my thoughts, recommendations and options for a solid morning or evening routine for you to take more control of yourself and begin the hard work of manifesting the life YOU want.
Thing one is establish which is hardest for you, morning or evening. Once you know then that is where the routine needs to begin. Find the area you struggle with the most and begin to build habits that create discipline to master this portion of yourself. How does this help, well a small sense of control, a small sense of accomplishment and the best part, everything else you have planned will be better than what you started or ended you day with. Its easy to build these types of routines, you should look to put some level of discomfort in your routine for the worst part of the day. So, you morning people who just stare at the tv in the evening, add evening walks/exercise/studying, morning haters, same concept. Whatever the discomfort is, add something of development either physical, emotional, social or spiritual improvement. This will slowly turn your brain to acknowledging the value in this time you’re setting aside and make a habit become a corner stone of your discipline in life, and discipline is really what these rich folk are selling you! We have heard it our whole lives get discipline, be motivated, but the problem is usually we take too big of a bite, its overwhelming and we quite and repeat. So start small, minor changes to your hated times in the day to begin changing your relationship with yourself and your self-growth.
Routine options just 5-30 min a day:
Read something that is for growth and development not pleasure.
Journal
Gratitude lists
Exercise
Carve out time for family or friends daily
Create something (build, paint, plant)
Get outside
Yoga
Meditation
Prayer
Breathing exercises
A personal example (I am not a morning person), the routine I do several months out of the year, I don’t recommend this for anyone, its miserable, but it works for me! I wake up between 5 & 5:30 am, I start my coffee, I layout warm clothing (sweatpants, long sleeve, socks, slippers) I then get in a cold ice bath (40 degrees) for 3-7 min, yes you read that right, I have a damn deep freezer filled with ice water on my porch! The ice bath is for several reasons, physical and mental well-being, but also to force myself to do something miserable when I’m most likely to be lazy. After the ice bath I strip down, get my warm clothing on, pour my coffee and focus on breathing to warm up, this whole process gets me to about 6:15-6:30 am. Once I am warm I read my bible, I do a single chapter minimum every morning, I then have my second cup of coffee, a warm shower and get ready for the day. There are tons of small steps in this process like get the kids up, prayer, eat breakfast, but the differences of ice and reading are two negative experiences for me, I prefer to be warm, and I’m not much of a reader naturally, and that’s why I force myself to complete these tasks. I want a strong relationship with Christ so forcing myself into the word is mandatory for me, and I want to have the benefits of cold exposure for my body (I’m a little old and beat up from my service time).
I hope you find this helpful, and a little more clear on a manageable way to begin implementing a routine for you, not theirs, and not to be them!