With 2021 right around the corner it’s a time when people are thinking about what they want to accomplish in the new year. Or more accurately, who they need to become in order to accomplish this. Which gets a lot of high-performers thinking about their morning and night routines. They know that how they start their day sets the tone for the rest of it. And, how they end it, sets them up for the next.
Morning routines have been popularized by high-performers across all industries for decades. Why? Because they are incredibly impactful in using your time with intention, efficiency and effectiveness.
When a routine becomes a habit it’s something you get a benefit from without having to consciously put energy towards. You no longer have to decide when you’re going to be able to fit in a workout, reading or meditation during the day. This cuts down on decision fatigue.
A routine also helps ignite the power of what Darren Hardy calls The Compound Effect. The power of small, seemingly insignificant actions, repeated consistently over time.
But, just because you have a routine doesn’t mean it should be the same thing every single day and night. Great athletes don’t do squats every single lifting session. Kobe Bryant didn’t make 1,000 three point shots using the same drills every single morning. While some do, most people who utilize the power of meditation don’t use the exact same practice every single day.
Have a framework, but don’t be married to it. Allow for the flexibility to operate with the self-awareness to give yourself what you need at that moment in time. Figure out how you want your morning routine to serve you and then reverse engineer the process to make that happen.
Here are a couple of examples of reverse engineering your routine:
I’m not a morning person. I have tried SO hard to join the 5AM club over the past 15 years and have failed in as many attempts. As you can imagine, it takes a bit to bring me to life.
So if I have morning meeting or am speaking — virtually or live — I absolutely need to move my body. This is important because I need to do something to raise my energy. Usually this is a run on the treadmill or quick HIIT workout in the hotel I’m staying at.
Now, if I’m focusing on writing, I actually write better when I go straight from bed to coffee to meditation to writing. This is because we are closer to our subconscious mind, where all possibilities and answers truly exist. This is also why some of you might get great ideas at night. Because your mind is moving from analytical part of your mind that’s “running your day” to the subconscious.
At the end of your day, you need to operate with this same level of awareness. I went through a period of my life that was incredibly heavy and reading before bed quite literally felt intolerable. I’d have so much brain fog it would take me 10 minutes to read a single page. On the days when you deal with a lot of stress it might be a great idea to end your day with something light, like a sitcom. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched the complete series of New Girl 😂
It’s crucial to have the awareness of what is driving your night routine.
Are you reading because you’re pulled by a vision? Or are you reading to try and make up for a sense of lack because you didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment during the day?
On the other hand, maybe you had a great day, filled with positive interactions and you moved your business forward. This could be a great time to read and ride that momentum from the day. Of course these are just a couple of examples. The key is self-awareness.
I’d encourage you to think of your routine as a template, one with multiple choice options. Not something so set in stone that you do your routine for the sake of sticking to your routine — not because it actually serves you.
A big piece of consistently sticking to your morning routine is putting in place systems of accountability. This is one thing having Performance Coach is great for — to help hold you accountable for creating the next version of yourself as a leader or in your life. If you’re a bold, driven and future-focused individual looking to get to the next level my coaching program might be a good fit. Drop me an email or DM and we can continue the conversation.
