Most Morning Routine Advice Hurts More Than It Helps
If you’ve ever found yourself spending just a little too long watching celebrity morning routines videos on YouTube, you’re not alone.
Most influencers will make you believe that a ‘productive’ morning routine means you have to…
- Drink a gallon of water before noon.
- Spend an hour exercising before you start your day.
- Meditate in the Himalayas for a year before getting to work.
- Take a 20-minute ice bath before your feet hit the ground in the morning.
Okay, so maybe those last two were a teeny-tiny bit of a stretch.
But you can’t blame me for being passionate, can you?
The truth is, morning routines don’t have to be ultra-complicated.
And – contrary to popular belief – they don’t always have to be productive.
Let me explain…
It Took Me Years To Figure This Out
I used to plan for weeks and weeks about the ‘perfect’ morning routine.
Then one day when the birds were chirping and the temperature was an ideal 72° – I tried my fresh, new, ‘perfect’ routine.
Things went pretty well for a couple of days, a couple of weeks if I was lucky, then life hit me.
And my routine completely fall apart.
Turns out the “10-Step Morning Routines” from my favorite influencers fall flat.
After reverse-engineering what makes a great morning routine, I realized something…
I was struggling to make a great routine for myself because I was following trends and copying other people – instead of creating something that fits me.
I took my routine back to the drawing board and started with the essential, well-researched elements of a great morning routine.
4 Essential Morning Routine Elements
Step 1: Sunlight: Aim for exposure within the first 90 minutes of waking up, depending on the weather. Just a short period under the sun can kickstart your day.
Step 2: Cold Exposure: This can be a quick cold shower, ice rolling on your face, or if you’re feeling adventurous, a cold plunge or ice bath.
St
ep 3: Hydration with Minerals: Start your day with a glass of water, add a pinch of sea salt or some mineral drops for an extra boost.
Step 4: Set Your Mind Up for Success: Spend a few moments in gratitude, meditation, journaling, pray or some other type of mindfulness practice – whatever fits your beliefs and preferences.
These four elements are proven to give you more focus, less puffiness, an early sense of accomplishment, better sleep, and much more.
Plus, they only take a few minutes each.
Boiling my morning routine down to the basics made me realize that I didn’t need to be ‘productive’ first thing every morning…
I need to be aligned.
I need my morning routine to set me up to start the day with a win – and make me feel ready to take on whatever the day throws at me.
Don’t worry, you can start a new morning routine with any one of the proven elements in just a few minutes every morning.
Putting Your Morning Routine Together
Most new morning routines – or new habit changes in general – fail because they’re too difficult or too vague.
Which is why I’m so grateful to people like James Clear and Dr. Andrew Huberman who’ve done in-depth research on how to make habits stick.
Here’s a quick template to help you build a new morning routine starting tomorrow:
I will do [new morning routine element] in [specific location] after [current habit] at [specific time].
Example: I will ice roll my face in my room after brushing my teeth at 7:30 A.M.
Budget vs. Boujee
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