“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.” –Jerzy Gregorek
During the first week of COVID-19 lockdown, I found myself eating too much, sleeping later than normal and watching too much TV. My “new” normal was leading me down an unhealthy path. After a week of this behavior, I thought to myself—this isn’t really me; I don’t feel good; I need to change before this goes too far. Constant improvement is my MO. I don’t want to stagnate or regress. I didn’t feel great and knew that if I kept up my new habits my physical and psychological health would suffer.
So, I thought that tightening up my morning routine would help me set up each day for success. There are many outstanding books on this topic. Out of all the books I have read, the two the motivated me the most were The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma. Even though I believe that starting the day right is critical to success, I have always struggled with achieving a consistent morning routine. It doesn’t come easy to me. My husband is a night owl, so I often end up staying up later than I should. Rounding up kids for bed can also get you off schedule. Even so, I knew that getting up before work and getting a few things done would start an awesome chain of events in motion for that day. I re-listened to The 5AM Club because for me it is easier to implement and has less moving parts than The Miracle Morning. (Other great books are Atomic Habits by James Clear and Mini Habits by Stephanie Guise.)
Now, I get up between 5 AM and 5:30 AM each weekday, and have my Power Hour. I hydrate with lemon vitamin water, workout for at least 20 minutes, meditate for 10 minutes, journal for 10 minutes and read a positive non-fiction book for 20 minutes. Many mornings I also walk outside with my husband and our dogs. Texts, emails, and social media are all off limits before I finish the Power Hour. So, before I make my coffee and get into the shower, I feel like I am already moving in a good direction. After a month of doing this, I feel great and don’t feel like my morning is right until my Power Hour has been accomplished. Every now and then I stumble and wake up later than I would like, but I am making progress every day.
Will you join me in choosing a better, more improved “new” normal rather than making the easy choices? What are your favorite habits?
Thanks to my friend Meg Cody for the Seabright, NJ sunrise photo. She loves seeing the sunrise on morning walks and so do I.