One of the best ways to build consistency in your health is to set up a morning routine.
This routine may or may not include exercise directly, but that’s not the most important thing.
They key to the routine is that you’re setting up your day for success, by starting with success.
You start in a position of controlled behavior because you are in charge of what you do.
Many people wake up and start their day with notifications.
They pick up their phone, they check their social media and they check any notifications that have been sent to them.
They start their day with reactivity to what other people or apps tell them.
A good morning routine gets you starting your day with proactive decisions.
You start with things YOU decided and YOU told yourself to do.
It can be mobility, meditation, stretching, mantras, reading, writing, walking, exercise or whatever else helps you achieve your goals.
It’s doing actions you want to do, to take you in the direction you want to go.
It can be very powerful and very productive.
But there is one caveat…
Your morning routine is only as good as your evening routine.
The only way you can properly set your day up for success, is if you set your morning up for success the night before.
Tons of people WANT a great morning routine, but they just can’t wake up to their alarm.
You want to do all of these great things mentioned above, but when you get downstairs the kitchen is still a mess.
Even if you’re up, you’re too tired to focus.
You’d love to exercise but you barely have enough energy to get out of bed.
Etc, etc.
These are all just excuses and they’re all just conditions of what you did the night before.
If you want to exercise in the morning but don’t have enough time, then you simply have to get up earlier.
You try to get up at 5 but you can’t help but hit snooze, you probably went to bed too late. Stop going to bed at 11 or 12 and go to bed at 9 or 10.
If you want to exercise first thing but have no energy, you need to look at how long you slept and what you ate/drank the night before. (there’s plenty of other things you may need to look at for energy in the morning, but it still relates to the day(s) before)
Clean up your kitchen the night before so you don’t have to do it in the morning.
Set out your gym clothes.
Make your lunch and program your coffee machine. (or don’t have any)
Shower, set out your clothes, pack up your briefcase or backpack.
Even plan out your schedule for the day.
Make the decisions the night before so that in the morning all you have to do is the things you planned and prepared to do.
A great evening routine sets up a great morning routine!
Full disclosure: the success of the article was based on a great evening routine. The day before I had done nothing in the evening and spent my entire morning cleaning up and getting ready, wasting all of my time. Today I woke up ready and got straight to work!