Trust me. It’s a tough life being a bartender. It’s a hard life as a musician. Imagine doing both! Well you are!
Late nights, crazy hours lots of repetitive physical activity. All of these things could be a recipe for disaster. But not for you. You’ve got a plan. You have a well thought out structure that helps you achieve great things. You have a ritual and routine in place on which you’ve built a foundation of confidence, inner peace and knowledge.
You do have that…don’t you? Don’t you?
Wake and bake? No dude!! Don't do it!
Let me guess, most mornings start with you realizing it’s not morning, but afternoon. You crawl out of bed and grab a Gatorade or a can of iced coffee out of the fridge. Maybe you even roll over and just wake and bake. (Guilty)
You turn on the TV and just lay there for a couple of hours watching Rick and Morty, or BoJack Horseman. You finally decide to get something accomplished and so you play Call of Duty for 2 hours hoping to save the world.
You pick up your guitar and strum a few chords and think about writing a song for that girl you like. You give up after 5 minutes.
You drag your body to the shower and get ready for work.
And before you know it your days have started to blend together. Days become weeks. Weeks become months.. You get the picture.
So what do you need to do? How can you get more accomplished and how can you stay focused?
Well one way is to create a structure in your life. You need to have a purpose!
What is it you are doing ? What are you really doing? Is it your goal to just slog about, go to work, come home and slog about some more? No? I didn’t think so.
You want to accomplish things right? You want to grow and become a better version of yourself. You want to life a life of joy. Of adventure. Of accomplishment.
They say that every journey starts with the first step. And so thats what we are going to do. Every morning we will start of on the right foot with that all important first step.
Write your own story for the day!
You need to establish and maintain a morning routine. Thats right – even if your morning starts at noon! It is important to start your day off with a focus and direction that will carry you through the day with a clear path ahead.
If you search online you will find numerous suggestions for ‘morning routine’.
What is a morning routine? It’s a chance for you to put yourself in the best position to succeed in your life.
Morning routines can look very different, but almost all involve most of these practices -Meditation, Exercise, and Journaling.
“I’m not gonna keep a diary!” you’re probably crying right now. Baby.
No, you’re going to keep a journal! A journal can help you organize your thoughts, write out plans of action, create structure, explore ideas, doodle, and so much more.
“But what do I write about?” You ask. “How do I even start?”
Journals come in many sizes and forms. It can have blank pages, lined pages, pages with questions and prompts to nudge you on your way.
For instance a gratitude journal might ask you to list 4 things you are grateful for that morning. Your answers could be anything from coffee, to washing machines, your Moms home cooking, the guy at Starbucks that makes your latte, your sister, clean air, your health…you get the idea. These types of journals help us grow more gratitude in our lives.
Some journals might ask you to list 5 things you are going to do to make today a good day.
Some journals might be a blank page that stares back at you piquing your curiosity and sense of wonder.
You don’t have to write the Magna Carta every morning. Sometimes it might be just a few lines. Other times you’ll be writing pages of stuff. There’s something about putting pen to paper that clears and focuses the mind, and trust me it’ll help provide you with clarity and drive to get you through the day.
You may be asking, “But I do journal, but I like to write in it at the end of the day to get all my thoughts out. “
Great!! Keep doing that. But you should really also put some thoughts down first thing in the morning. Again, you don’t need to write a lot. Just get your brain engaged and committed with the day ahead. Plus usually when you wake up you’ve had dreams and ideas that filled your head during the night and you’ll want to get them on paper.
You only need to spend a few minutes each morning doing this. At first it might seem hard but you’ll grow to love it. So do yourself a favor and get a journal.
Calm down and clear your head!
Next – Meditate!!
“What!?” you’re crying. “I can’t meditate!” Baby.
Yes, you can. And yes, you will. You don’t have to sit cross legged on the floor for 3 hours every day chanting ‘om’ until you find inner peace. Meditation is a practice. Just like you practice your guitar. The more you do it the better you get at it.
Sitting in stillness and silence for even a few minutes a day will give you greater sense of calm and peace as you go through life.
If you look online you can find thousands of free meditation practices. My advice is to find one that is short. Look for ‘morning meditations’ to start. Lots will pop up and offer you guided practices that will help you understand and actually learn how to meditate. You can find some that are only 3 minutes long.
My favorite app is ‘Insight Timer’. It has hundreds of free meditations that you can use to dip your toe into the water and get a feel for what its about. As you learn and grow you’ll come to love and really look forward to your daily meditations. Believe me.
Shake your groove thing!
Next – Exercise!
“But I hate exercise!” you cry, “I’m not a gym rat”. Baby.
You don’t have to be a gym rat to get exercise. You don’t need to take spin classes or lift weights every day to get the benefits of exercise.
For our purposes were only talking about exercise as part of our morning routine. Sure it would be great if you ran a few miles or went to that spin class but mostly you just need to get up and moving. You need to start your day with some physical activity to get your blood flowing.
Of course check with your Doctor before starting any exercise program. You big lump of jelly.
For our morning practice we are just going to focus on movement. That might mean different things to different people. Take a walk with your dog. Go for a quick jog. Do some yoga. Do some kind of circuit training.
‘But I don’t have time!” You wail.
Yes. You. Do.
There’s an app called ‘7 Minute Workout’ that’ll do the job. There’s many others as well. Don’t be lazy.
Exercising first thing in the morning sends a message to your brain that it’s ‘Go Time!’ and we are ready to blast off into the day.
So a typical morning routine might look like this.
You wake up, go to the bathroom, brush your teeth and drink some water.
It’s important to drink some water first thing in the morning. You’re body is dehydrated and needs water!
Do not check your emails!! Do not turn on your TV! Do not look at social media! Do not have any outside distractions!!
All of these things can wait. Do not allow them to discolor your day. Go into your morning routine with a clear mind ready to focus!
Sit down in a comfortable place and meditate for a few minutes, relaxing and clearing your mind of distractions and focusing on your day ahead.
Grab your journal and write down some of your thoughts. Maybe some goals for the day or perhaps some things that your grateful for. Get those ideas and thoughts out and on paper.
Then exercise for a while. You might do the short workout from the app on your phone. Maybe you’ll take a brisk walk. Or even do some yoga. Jumping jacks. Sit-ups. Deep knee bends. Something!
Then ‘Boom!’ you’re done! All of that could be done in less than 20 minutes. But if you really do it right it might take a little longer.
The point is you’ve got to get yourself up and ready to take on the day. This is a practice that you really need to stick with. Ultimately it will become habit and a part of your day.
Some peoples morning routines are much more intense and time consuming. You’ll find what’s a good fit for you. Just get into the routine and make it a part of your day.
Morning routines jumpstart your day. You’ll go forward with more energy and focus. More drive and purpose. You’ll get more accomplished.
Start your day with a focused morning routine. Get your head on straight as you head into the new day.
It will change your life for the better. It did mine.
