Approximately 2 years ago I asked myself a very direct question.
Where in my life can I improve? Where in my days can I improve in order to become a better person, unleash my true potential and enhance my life?
After researching the ultra-successful it was painfully obvious where I could stand a makeover.
My mornings.
If you are like most adults (myself was included) your mornings typically go something like this:
The Typical Morning
*Your body jolts!
*What seems like the most annoying alarm in the world goes off and you immediately feel how tired you are and think to yourself or give out a groan saying, “Know way. I can’t get up right now. I don’t want to do this yet. Just a few more minutes.” Boom you hit snooze.
*Repeat the above scenario 1,2, or even 4 more times. Same feelings, same thoughts and same action (snooze) until the inevitable happens….you HAVE to get out of bed and you do so reluctantly. Thinking about how little sleep you actually had.
*Then it hits like a hurricane! You immediately have a flood of responsibilities rush into your mind. All of the things you need to get done, the things you should get done, the things you should have done yesterday, everything you need to do tomorrow or this month..…..You need to do this, pick up this, talk to him/her, call him/her, pay ____ bill, drop off the kids here, take the dog out, pick up dog food, take the dog for a walk, you should start working out, what am I going to eat today, I have nothing to wear……..Then you snap to it and notice the time, “SHIT” I need to get going or I will be late!
*You rush to the bathroom and begin your madness (some days you waver the option as to whether or not it’s even smart for you to take a shower, you don’t have the TIME!). Rushing through the shower or maybe you stand in the hot-hot shower in a complete daze to avoid the day ahead. You stand there just wishing you could stay in the hot shower for hours and maybe even lay down and take a little nap with the nice warm, hot shower running over your body. Then you come to again, you realize you’ve wasted even MORE time! You must get going or you will be late!
*You jump out of the shower and you see yourself in the mirror only to be disappointed in what you see. How in the heck did I (insert your self-perceived body image here)!? Which makes you feel the burden of having to get to the gym or start eating better…..but you brush it off. I have to get ready.
*You get out of the bathroom, the clock is ticking, it feels like a countdown. You manage to find your shoes, or maybe search for them for a few minutes…..If you have kids, you somehow manage to gather up some random “breakfast” for them, or simply slap some boxes of cereal down for them, you rush them, you rush yourself and you FLY out the door.
*You head out the door with not a moment to spare because you have this timed down to a science. You know exactly how many times you can hit snooze and you know if you hit it one too many times, you must speed up this mass and chaotic process.
*So you walk out the door with a cluttered mind of a to-do list that could never get done in 3 days, let alone, today! You walk out the door with a heaviness of responsibilities and all of the things you “should” start doing, or be doing.
*You walk out the door and begin your day feeling stressed beyond belief, anxious, nervous, worried and your mind racing 1,000 miles an hour with thought after thought.
*You walk out the door and start REACTING to the day. The day owns you.
*You leave simply hoping to make it through the day.
*Now, while on the way to work, you’ve come to the realization that you forgot to eat or maybe you grabbed that sugar loaded bar or muffin as you hurled out the door. But then there’s this moment of excitement as you know you will soon be reunited with that glorious, hot, soothing, strong cup of coffee!!!!! Yippy!
Because you’re a “master” of your time you have factored this into your morning. You know the time required to do this, but on the days you’re “forced” to miss this stop, watch out world! You will be facing a steaming train! A flood of why, why, why does this always happen to me. I have no time for myself, I never get a break, I just want a break!
You feel the wait of the world on your shoulders. You feel the pressure. You feel the expectations. You feel the responsibilities. You feel the sense of overwhelm. You feel this all and you feel it every single day!
Now, imagine this………
Imagine if you walked out the door feeling energized beyond belief and genuinely excited to conquer the day. Imagine your mind feeling light, completely clear, fresh and focused. You walk through the door with real excitement for the day. You leave knowing exactly which FEW things you need to focus on, you know when you will do them, exactly when and who you need to speak with and that’s it. No other useless thoughts race through your head.
You leave your place free of worry, free of doubt, free of anxiety, free of anger, free from feeling rushed, free from overwhelm…… You feel the joy. You feel the excitement. You feel the happiness. You feel the energy. You feel the power. You feel the control. You feel this all and you feel it every single day!
YOU OWN the day!
That’s what it feels like to start your day with calm, energy and intention.
Right now you may think this is way too good to be true. You feel like this may be possible for others, but: “You don’t understand, that could never work for me.”
Implement behavior before you judge and if you want to continue to feel the way that you do in the mornings, just continue to do what you’re doing. But if you’d like real clarity and that blissful, joyful, playful feeling each morning. If you’d like to OWN each day, if you want your LIFE back…..it’s time to change. It’s time to act. It's time to implement a morning routine like the ultra-successful.
That “typical adult morning routine” was very similar to mine. I’d say mine was even more extreme. I would soak up every single last minute of sleep that I could. I’d even forgo a typical shower (takes time away from my snoozes!) so I’d kneel over the shower and wash my hair and face (don’t worry, I did a real shower at night). Then I’d brush my teeth, do my face and hair routine, make a shake and fly out the door. This all would take a max of 15 minutes, as that’s all the time I would allow myself.
Then I had a revelation. I started to read, listen to and research some of the most successful and productive people in the world. During my extensive research common themes, patterns and behaviors continued to show up. I concluded that there was an overall message to each of their mornings: The mornings were for THEM and they used an exclusively designated period of time each morning to put themselves in a positive state and establish clear cut directions for the day.
Think about how you’re spending your first 60-90 minutes each day…..
Lets take a look at the morning routines of some highly successful people, with loads of responsibility:
Margaret Thatcher, former UK prime minister
Thatcher was believed to be a short sleeper (a person who can get by on less sleep than usual), so her late-night political meetings never kept her from waking up at 5:00 a.m. the next morning to listen to “Farming Today,” a popular program on BBC Radio about food, farming, and the countryside.
Benjamin Franklin, a founding father of the United States
Franklin’s much-lauded to-do list (seen below) included some specific rules for how he started each morning. His three-hour block of morning routine stretched from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. and included addressing “Powerful Goodness” and setting a plan for the rest of his day.
Kenneth Chenault, American Express CEO
The last thing Chenault does before leaving his office at night is to write down the top three things he wants to accomplish tomorrow. Then he’ll use that list to start his next day.
Anna Wintour, Vogue editor-in-chief
One of the more enthusiastic morning routines I found was Wintour’s daily ritual of playing tennis. Starts each day at 5:45 a.m. with an hour-long tennis match.
Success leaves clues and I understood this. So I took this information, immediately implemented a comprehensive and detailed routine for myself and committed to the routine. This was huge for me. Why? Well, for starters, to say that I was “not a morning” person, would be a massive understatement. I was a self-proclaimed morning hater. I was a “night owl.” All I could think about when I heard that alarm in the morning hours, was how cozy I felt and how badly I wish I could sleep another 1-2 hours. However I wanted more out of myself, and as I continued to see successful individuals proclaim the importance of their mornings, I knew that I needed to change, if I wanted to live into my full potential.
So I comprised a specific routine and put it into action. What happened to me after implementation was nothing short of incredible. I was able to get into the best shape of my life, both mentally and physically. I was the most productive that I have ever been, taking the largest steps forward in my life. In all, I was blown away with the results.
I felt like a completely new person. Energized, focused, determined, excited and felt completely ALIVE! I’d walk out the door, take a deep breath in, smell that fresh crisp air, look up at the blue sky’s above that were filled with puffy, pure white clouds. Then I’d look over to see the sun rising through these two pine trees……and I was filled with one singular thought…..
Damn, life is good!
Imagine if you could walk out the door each day, feeling just that. Imagine finding yourself saying, “Damn, life is good! Lets do this!” Ever single day.
If you could be like that, feel like that and live like that, each day, what would that be worth to you?
Really ask yourself, like I did, where in your days could you stand a makeover to improve the quality of your life and become the absolute best version of yourself?
Are you following a morning routine that empowers you, fills you up, clears your mind, and energizes you or do you mornings leave you feeling rushed, stressed, angry, and/or on auto-pilot?
Are you ready for a makeover?
If you'd like to implement the step-by-step morning routine that I used to take my mind, body and life to an entirely new level which models that of the ultra-successful, I made it simple for you and created a step-by-step program for you called, 'The Kingsman Morning.'
Here is a text that I received one day after JJ implemented the Kingsman Morning routine.
Check it out HERE. Give it 10-days. Commit for 10-days and I guarantee that you'll be blown away with how you feel and how it changes you.
A 25-pg PDF step-by-step morning routine broken-down into easy to follow and implement time blocks so that you can conquer your days with intention, energy, calm and clarity.
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Think Different - Live Different
Brian Larson