How I Became a Morning Person

Picture this: Your alarm goes off for the 4th time this morning. You are exhausted and just want to hit snooze for a fifth time but then you check the time. It’s 8:40am and you have 20 minutes to get ready and be at work by 9. You jump out of bed, heart racing, quickly brush your teeth, throw on some clothes and run out the door. You get to work 10 minutes late and realize then that you have two different shoes on. Your stress from the morning turns into work stress. It’s now 7:30 pm as you're leaving work, pissed off and exhausted from the day. As you get home you know you can't relax because of all the errands you still have to do. You finally pass out at 2am and then wake up the next morning to do it all over again.

This is no way to live your life! While this example may be an exaggerated version of a bad morning, the concept still applies. The way your day starts off can set up the way the whole day goes. Everyday can't be great but here are some things you can do in order to have a good morning that will hopefully lead to a good day.

Setting up your morning for success

The way you fall asleep can directly impact your quality of sleep. So let's start with having the most cozy night time routine.

First, getting at least 8 hours is a MUST. So whenever you have to get up, just count back 8.5 hours and that's your magic time to go to bed. Sometimes it may be too early in the night to fall asleep but there are ways you can train your body to get on an earlier time schedule. I do these 3 things to help me fall asleep:

• One thing you must do, is put your phone away for the night. My sleep has improved immensely once I started doing this. The blue light from the phone is so harsh on your eyes, especially in the dark that it's sending a signal to your mind to stay awake when you are trying to do the exact opposite. Seriously, this is a MUST.

• CBD Gummies are FABULOUS, especially the ones with Melatonin. I take one gummy and I get tired in about 30 minutes. My favorite is from Highline Wellness.

• Next I play Ocean sounds as a background noise. I don't know if it's just me, but I can’t sleep in total silence. Some form of white noise helps my mind relax and slow down.

• Lastly I read a chapter or two of my current book. Reading really puts me to sleep fast, no matter if I’m interested in the book or not, there's just something about it that just knocks me out.

Morrrrninggssss here, the morning’s here!

I start off the morning with a soft alarm, nothing that's too loud and alarming. This helps me ease awake rather than shooting up with my heart racing. I try my best to immediately get up, but I even have slow days sometimes.

The first thing I do after I wake up is write in my journal. I got this tip from the Skinny Confidential podcast. Each morning you write down the below:

3 Gratefuls- These can be cliche or simple. Starting off the day listing what you're grateful for seriously a game changer. It forces you to think about what is good rather than what is bad immediately in the day.

3 Must Get Dones- These items are non-negotiables that have to get done that day, in the order of importance. This does not have to be work related, just anything you want to do that day in order to have a fulfilled day. For example, each day I write down what workout I want to do, because this is a non-negotiable that I want to get done in the day in order to feel good about myself.

3 Want to Feels- How do you want to feel throughout the day? Calm? Motivated? Inspired. Set your intentions for the day ahead.

3 People you are sending happiness to- Give good thoughts into the world and get some back.

Manifestations / Mantras- Write down anything you are manifesting into the world, or any affirmation you want to live by. A common montra I use is “I have a healthy strong and beautiful body”

6 To Do Items- These items should be different than your Must get dones for the day. Write down anything else you want to do that day that can be moved to later days if it's not done this day.

Once the journal entry is completed I then move onto my workout for the day. I now strictly work out in the morning for a few reasons. One, you get it out of the way so that you don't have to worry about scheduling time later in the day. Also, in the morning you are also not weighed down by any food you eat that day.

After the workout I take a 3 minute cold shower. This is another tip I got from the Skinny Confidential. Here are some benefits to a cold shower in the morning:

• More energy

• Increase circulation

• Reduce inflammation

• Aid in muscle soreness

• Boost weight loss

Lastly I make my favorite breakfast, seen in my “What I eat in a day” post and watch some youtube videos while I get ready for the day.

If you would have told my college self that I would be a morning person, I would have never believed you. But these steps have helped me become more of a morning person and I can honestly say that I look forward to my morning routine. Every morning is a new start, another day of living and learning. And that’s a beautiful thing.