6 quick ways to jumpstart your morning (that actually don’t include a $4 latte ;))

Beep….beep…..beep….beep…..SNOOZE

Beep….beep…..beep….beep…..SNOOZE

Beep….beep…..beep….oh man time to get up….

[rush around half asleep, get dressed, grab books, skip breakfast]

[nodding off in class…]

Does this ever happen to you? 

There are two kinds of people in this world --> Morning people. And people who hate morning people. 

Okay so it is more like a continuum. And I am somewhere in the middle. I definitely do not wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed, and it takes a lot of effort for me not to hit my snooze button over 5 times.

It’s easy to decide whether you are a morning person or not and let it dictate how you start each and every day. Are you grumpy? Sluggish? Dreading the day? Would you rather start your day off happy? Excited? Thrilled even?

About a month ago I realized I was not making the most of my mornings. I was starting off each day sluggish. And I needed a change.

I read two books that helped remind me what it was so important to start my day off right. The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy that I reviewed last Friday, and Stop Saying You’re Fine by Mel Robbins (which I’ll review this Friday).

And changing my morning routine has changed everything. 

If you replace your snooze time with the six things below you too will wake up every morning thrilled to start your day.  You’ll feel excited, ready to take on anything. You’ll have more energy, be more alert and more in tune with how to best spend your time, and take advantage of opportunities that come your way.

Are you ready?

Here they are: 

1. Get up on first alarm

Mel Robbins taught me this concept in her book. She said most of us start every day by hitting the snooze button….which literally means we start every day saying “no – I don’t want to get up…I don’t want to start my day."

That subtle opening attitude is not the best way to begin a day. So she recommends at the first sound of your alarm – stand up! Sound extreme? It felt extreme when I first tried it (especially because my first alarm goes off at 5:30am). But I did it. And it works every time. Just Say No to snooze and start your day up by standing tall.

2. Stretch/exercise

Just because you stand up doesn’t mean you’ll want to stay standing, right? Everything in your brain will tell you to lay back down for “just 5 more minutes.” What has helped me combat this is to go straight to the bathroom, turn on the bright lights, and do 2 quick stretches and 10 standing sit-ups. This gets the blood rushing through the body and it literally feels like a boost of caffeine to my foggy brain. Try it.

3. Read your goals/vision statement

I’ll be talking more about how to set goals and vision statements in my upcoming Overachievers Club newsletter (you can sign up in the box on the top left-hand corner to learn more about how to join).

But for now, be sure to write down your goals (I recommend the SMART method) and print them out and paste them all over your room (good ol’ fashion post-its work great too).

Reading your goals every morning will reinvigorate you. It will remind you what you want to accomplish, what is really important to you, and tune in your brain to notice related opportunities. Focusing on your own life goals each morning will excite you (if it doesn’t than it means you haven’t written down your true goals…the things you really want) and help you see the opportunities throughout your day to help you reach your goals -- opportunities you would otherwise miss if you weren’t focused.

4. Journal/prayer/meditation

Take a few minutes to reflect each morning. Choose something that works best for you and take that time to remind yourself of what is truly important and express gratitude for what you have in your life right now.

5. Nutritious breakfast

Find something that you really like, that’s easy to make, and that has nutritional value. This will help boost your energy and get you ready for the day. I’m not a big breakfast person so what has helped me is buying one of those individual-cup blenders (kind of like the magic bullet) and making quick healthy breakfast smoothies. (My current fav: 1 banana, 3 cups unsweetened almond milk, 1 tsp fiber, and 1 tsp vanilla spiru-tein powder, ice.)

6. Set your priorities and do one big, ugly task

Have a to do list that you review every morning. I like keeping mine in a Google document so I can access it anywhere, on any computer. Do not overload your to do lists because it just doesn’t work. I have a “Today” category that is all I need to focus on each day; I never put more than 3 things on that list. 

Every morning, decide on what those 2-3 priorities will be on your "Today" list. Do not write down more than 3, and make sure they represent the most important things you need to accomplish in that particular day. Then do whatever you can to start working on the top priority that morning.

Starting your mornings off this way will change the way you feel about each day. You will feel more positive. And something else really interesting happens when you focus your mornings on yourself, your goals, and what you want out of life. Things start happening. It feels like magic. But what it really is, is you deciding what you want, deciding to work hard to get it, and starting off every morning with a positive, hopeful, and ready attitude. 

It’s not always easy. But I promise you – it’s always worth it.

So next time you hear that Beep….Beep….Beep….Beep….let it be a reminder that you have the privilege of waking up to enjoy another day, and kick that two-faced snooze button to the curb ;)