So You Want to Be a Morning Person?

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For many years I wanted to be a ‘morning person’. I wanted to be someone who jumped out of bed in the morning, who had this natural get up and go. After all, it’s well known that the vast majority of affluential men and women in this world swear by a morning ritual and claim it to be a key component in their successes. But there was more to it then that for me, I wanted to be someone who woke up and was not only ready to face my day but excited to wake up, feeling energized and motivated to get going.

Instead the reality for many years went a little something like this: the alarm went off, I moaned, hit snooze, thought about all the reasons why I didn’t want to get up, pulled the covers back over my head, alarm, snooze, think about why I should get up, moan a little more, slowly get up and felt unable to face my day without first plowing through excessive amounts of carbs or coffee.

I convinced myself for a long time; “I’m not a morning person”- isn’t it funny the stories we tell ourselves?

The reality was twofold.

1. For many years I didn’t prioritize mornings. Living abroad, working crazy hours in a job I loved and a heavy social life resulted in plenty of tequila and late nights, not boding well for the early riser.

2. In the subsequent years I didn’t want to get up, after moving to London and pursuing the corporate world, my party days may have come to more of a close but I no longer did a job that I enjoyed or felt particularly inspired by my life, therefore, my motivation was at an all-time  low.

In 2015 however, I took a year out and moved to Australia. I was living in Perth, WA in a small beachside town and working at a little coffee shop as a barista. It was the perfect job for me at the time; the only thing I had to contend with was the 5.30am starts…

I’m not going to lie the first week or two was hard going, rewiring my body clock and changing a habit of a lifetime, but I began to reap so many benefits from the early mornings that even on my days off I’d still get up around 6 am, and rather then head to work, I’d go for a run along the beach or hit the gym.

I felt energized, I felt alive, I felt productive, I felt happy.  

Had I become a morning person?! Was it possible that I had been giving myself a story all along and in fact now I was flipping this belief on its head?

Ever since that Summer, I have continued to be a morning person and embrace everything that it gives me. As I stepped into my career as a Life Coach and aligned my life, even more, it has remained easier and easier to bounce out of bed early and crack on with my day; it isn’t a struggle, it’s part of who I am.

I changed my circumstances and in doing so changed this negative story I had told myself and have now become the early riser I had always wanted to be.

The 4 Steps to Get You Bouncing Out of Bed

Let me share with you the four steps I took to train myself to become a morning person:

1. What’s Your Story?

Ask yourself what story you are currently telling yourself. Do you say things like “I’m not a morning person”, “I’m not capable of getting up early”, “this doesn’t come naturally to me”? You need to be ready to change your story and this also means leaving your excuses at the door. In order to want to change your story though you need to know what your WHY is.

Why do you want to be a Morning Person? What do you want to gain? What do you want to achieve? How do you want to feel?

Make a list, and make it a good’ un. My reasons why were bigger than my excuses which is how I was able to stick with it.

2. Change Your Circumstances

You need to want to get up each day. That means that you need to be feeling motivated and inspired by the life you lead to make you feel enthusiastic about getting outta bed.

Ask yourself if the life you are currently leading is the life you want to be living. Get honest, get real and get ready to change any aspects that don’t light you up.

You wouldn’t be excited to sit down to dinner every day if you knew the meal you were being served was one you didn’t like. Life works the same.

3. Prioritize

Things have to change in order for you to implement something new into your life.  Look at your current bedtime, if you are usually hitting the pillow at midnight likely chance is when your alarm goes off at 6, you’re not feeling great.

Make sure you are getting enough sleep, and bear in mind that you may need to amend your bedtime to fit in with your new mornings.

Remember that the first few weeks are the hardest of getting into a new routine. Every night before you go to bed look over the list you wrote about all the things you will gain from this new change.

4. Create a ‘Morning Ritual’

Everyone’s morning rituals will look and feel different but creating something that lights you up each a.m. and gets you ready for the day will be crucial in maintaining this long term. Even if you have just 5-10 minutes to do something that is just for you before you head to work, start the day with the kids, this can have a massive effect.

Creating a healthy morning ritual can really help you to shape your day and become a morning person. 

We want to help you supercharge your morning rituals which is why we put together a cool new PDF download of 7 scientifically proven morning rituals to change your life, health & happiness. Download yours here. 

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