An Inside Look at My Morning Routine

So many people have been sending me private messages asking about my morning routine! If you're following me on Instagram, you have probably seen my gratitude journal, my prayer app and of course my personal development books.

Two years ago, I read the book Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and from that point on my morning routine started to have intention & meaning. I started getting up really early and reading in the morning, doing my personal development, praying, and writing in my journal. So many of you want to know how I schedule time in my day to work on these types of things that may seem like a luxury to lots of moms. Who has time to journal when you've got a baby up before 6 and how can you meditate with your kids flying around the house? I figured the best way to explain it all is with a blog post that has links to all of the things that I love!

First of all, I want you to know that I’ve always been an early riser. When I had my kids I made the conscious choice to get up before the rest of my family and to start my day with this practice because I feel like it sets me up for a better mood and a better mindset for the rest of my day. I found that even though I hate my alarm clock just like all of you might, I’m way more productive when I have this quiet reflection time in the morning! #worthit I found that when I slept in, I was always feeling rushed and getting behind on absolutely everything! It occurred to me very early on that when you have kids, your time is not yours when they are awake. So it is necessary for me to fill my own cup and it means I get up earlier than they do. I keep praying that one day they'll start sleeping until 7 but until that day comes, my alarm is set for 5am.

When that alarm goes off I get up, go to the kitchen, and pour my coffee. I prepare it the night before and have it on an automatic timer because I like to smell it first thing and it totally gets me out of bed if I think it will get cold while I snooze! Total psychology right there. Then I go into my living room, keep the lights off, pop in my ear buds and start with just 5 minutes of meditation using the Insight Timer App (that I LOVE!) If you are someone who has never meditated before this is a great app to start with. 5 minutes is just enough on some mornings, and when I got better at it I went for the 20 minute meditations. But not every morning, I truly don't have time for that long every day even though I wish I could!

After I do my 5 minute meditation its time to start my gratitude journal. I recently got this one on Amazon because it's really simple. I like this journal a lot because every day it has you write down three things you are thankful for. It really makes me take a step back and think about my past 24 hours and what I’m thankful for. At the end of the week it asks what your highlights from the week are. Instead of waking up and focusing on what went wrong the day before, adding this into my daily routine really helps me keep a positive outlook! I like starting my morning with a positive mindset and just being GRATEFUL for the ways that I'm blessed or that I might even take for granted in my daily life if I weren't doing this.

Then I move on to my prayers. I use an app that’s called She Works His Way and this is what you probably see me screenshotting a lot on my Instagram stories. All of the content is geared towards women who are in business and who want to incorporate their faith in what they're doing. I'm not sure how the writers know but their topic for the day is usually related to something I’m going through in my business at the moment!

That all takes me about 20 minutes. Then I read a chapter of my personal development. I like books that help me to grow as a person as well as leadership books for growing my business. Some of my favorites are The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy and The Magic by Rhonda Byrnes. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has problems with self-limiting beliefs or feeling like they can't get ahead in life. I choose personal development based on where I’m at in my life, so sometimes it’s leadership, sometimes it’s personality styles, it could be motivational and a lot of the time it is learning about the Law of Attraction and manifestation. Because I am very woo-woo at the moment! Because I don’t have a lot of time every morning, I will literally read one chapter every day. So it takes me awhile to read a book, but that’s what I feel like I can personally handle in my life. The chapters usually give me ideas for my social media posts for the day.

From there, I go to my regular journal. I use journal prompts, like these Destination to Self-Love -Journal Cards. So I write about how I felt when I woke up that morning (anxious, rested, etc.) and then I will talk about whatever is going on in my life. Sometimes I'll write about something that's bothering me, but I don't like to focus my attention on what I don't want, so I tend to write about the direction my life is going and what is going right. I always try to end it with what I’m going to do to myself better that day.

Then I make my to do lists for the day. I usually do this on a sticky note and I will write down the top five things that I want to accomplish before the day is over. I know that as a business owner, a mom and a wife that I’m pulled in a million directions. When my to-do list is any longer than 5 things, I get overwhelmed with all the things I don't get done. So I’ve narrowed it down to just my top five for the day. If I don't write something down, I forget it! And I really like being able to check things off at the end of the day.

After that, you guessed - it’s workout time! I go down to the basement and press play on whatever program I’m doing at the moment. My workout is part of my "me" time and it’s been part of my routine for over three years now. Thirty minutes or an hour of working out is going to give me more energy and sweat out any crappy food I may have eaten the night before (#guiltyattimes)! I don't always want to exercise, but I try to remember how good I feel when I'm done. So many women tell me they are "too busy" to workout. I remember saying those things to myself and then when it became something that I wanted & needed for ME - I miraculously now had the time!

It's not the easiest choice, but if setting the alarm 30 minutes earlier each day meant I felt WHOLE again as a woman (not mom, not wife, not daughter, just ME), I will gladly make the sacrifice! Because at the end of those 30 minutes I felt so much more empowered to take on the day. My mind is always clearer on a morning when I sweat first! If you were to read any article on the routines of successful CEO’s, most will include waking up early and exercising as part of their routine! I'm ON that bandwagon, let me tell you!

I go upstairs after my workout to blend my Shakeology and see who's awake if they're not already climbing on me & my yoga mat. I get the kids and myself ready - I get one kid on the bus by 8:15 and drop another off at preK by 9 and promptly start my business hours at 9:30. I get started with the rest of my day and I find I am SO much more productive when I stick to this EXACT morning.

The weekends are a little bit more flexible, but I try to never miss this routine. This is what gets my mind in the right place to conquer the day ahead of me. I hate the feeling of waking up when my kids get up and scrambling to take care of myself and take care of them in such a short amount of time.

There it is! My morning routine begins at 5:00 am and the prayers, journaling, & meditation only takes me about 30 minutes! Then my workout which is usually 30-40 minutes, never longer. In reality an hour to an hour and 15 minutes is what you should set aside. If that is too much, start with just 30 minutes a day! I’m telling you that adopting your own self care routine is going to be life changing! Do me a favor, will you try it for 30 days? Make it a priority by scheduling it into your calendar like a meeting with your boss that you cannot miss. Then, report back to me & tell me how you feel!

I hope this helps any mom that feels that the day runs them. You have control, you have a choice! So now you know what I'm making a priority in life - feel free to reach out if you have questions and I’d love to hear about your morning routine as well!

Xx,

Jen

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