Monday, May 9, 2011

The Power of a Morning Experience

Now that the May lifestyle experiment is over (just in case you missed it, May Experiment ) , I always try to challenge myself to sustain some elements of the experiment.  For the rest of this month, I'm going to focus on creating a morning experience.  Let me be clear...I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON.  In the past I had convinced myself that my mornings didn't need to be revamped because I always "made things happen". Yet, I am now more understanding of the importance of starting your day off right. I began to admire the people that seemed to get more done by noon than I did by 6pm. I became even more motivated to change when I read the book "The Power of Less" which also affirmed a lifestyle of quality morning time. (take a peek at this blog post from the author Leo Babauta 10 Benefits of Rising Early... ) Having a positive morning experience creates momentum for the day, and prepares you for the things that may no go so well (both expected, and especially unexpected).

When my lifestyle is off balance my morning kinda looks like this...
  • Wake up late
  • Shower
  • Panic over having "nothing to wear"
  • No breakfast
  • Look for my keys
  • Get almost to my car and realize I forgot something
  • Go back in my place, find the forgotten item, and sigh at the mess I created while rushing
  • Get in the car and tell myself "I've got to do better"
  • Grab a caffeine fix and snack out of the vending machine at work
  • Spend the rest of the day trying to get myself back on track
When I think about creating my morning experience (especially during the work week) there are several things that I'd like it to include:
  • Music
  • Healthy Breakfast
  • Meditation
  • Exercise
  • Prepared Wardrobe (accessories included)
It sounds so simple, but for me it has been a struggle. Yet, I am committed to this change because I believe that it will completely refresh my NeoSoul Lifestyle.  I've already done a few things to get things moving in the positve direction! I bought a closet valet to put my wardrobe on, created a morning playlist, and got a healthy cookbook for breakfast ideas.  Also, I'm still working on going to bed by 10:30pm so that I can wake up to have time to pray and exercise.

So my goal is a wake up time range of 5:30am-6am, and be out the door by 8:15am.  That's almost 2.5-3 hours daily! 15 hours during the work week!  Time to invest in my well being. 

Have I motivated you to create your own NeoSoul Lifestyle Morning?  I hope so! And please...don't be limited by my morning experience.  Create your own to enhance YOUR life.... surely there are plenty of other things to consider....
  • Listen to motivational audio books
  • Yoga
  • Get some fresh air and take a walk or run
  • Too tired for sex at the end of the day, why not start the day with it!
  • Tickle your senses with an aromatherapy shower
Do you have a quality morning experience? Please share your insights!

3 comments:

  1. My morning routine could use some (a lot of) fine tuning. When my alarm goes off, I stay in bed at least 15 to 20 minutes after I shut it off. When I do finally get up, I spend about 30 minutes running between 3 closets trying to figure out what to wear. And since its not warm enough here to wear my spring clothes, I'm really in a jam. I move turtle slow in the mornings. I am not a morning person and I'm usually annoyed and ready to bite someone's head off if they say ANYTHING to me. I know I need to get my morning routine together. I'll try this week. Great post with really good tips.

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  2. That sounds a lot like most of my mornings. It's weird that I actually wake up an hour before I need to get going and I think I could use that time better. This biggest challenge for me is eating breakfast. I've been easing into it but it works wonders for my day.

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  3. Keep going! I agree that having breakfast makes a BIG difference in the day! Looking forward to hearing about you plan to remix your morning ritual!

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