The morning is a precious time that most people take for granted. It is what separates the men from the boys and the heroes from the cowards.
What you do this morning can make all the difference between having a badass day and being super productive, loving life and going on to bigger things versus being lazy, lacking energy and just plain old not getting far in life.
I’ve noticed a trend in modern times called the laying in bed trend. You wake up, but don’t get out of bed for a while. You are just laying there because you don’t have a plan.
It is possible to create a life full of love, wisdom seeking and bigger moments, the kind of life you are so open about because it just plain rocks. Plus I’ve heard this way of life leads to more attraction from that person at the café that you want to talk too, yes that one!
I believe there are many ways to create the life I talk about, but today I just want to talk about two of the ways to super charge your life, body and dare I say it, soul (funky stuff I know). Both of these things go hand in hand. So first, lets tackle the big one: making your morning less dreadful.
1. Create A Wake Up Routine
It always amazes me how many people just slum out of bed, eat some nasty cereal, brush their teeth and off they go on their journey. As I’m sure you already know, we need Life in the morning, not dullness.
I think Benjamin Franklin put it best:
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Going to bed early every night may not always be easy or even manageable 365 days a year, but getting a routine and planning ahead is what is going to crush this battle of you vs. the alarm clock. So let’s fight fatigue and get you shifted from zombie to superhero.
Take Action
1. Stick to the same wake up time, even if your bedtime fluctuates.
The good old “catching up on sleep by sleeping in” deal simply doesn’t work. You need to get up and get your body clock used to the time – trust me, it knows you better than you think it does!
2. Drink 2 pints of water upon waking.
The body dehydrates through the night and this leads to massive fatigue in the brain and body. We need to fix it ASAP!
You might have heard the saying that our body is made of 60% water and brain is composed of 70%, so look at it this way, you wouldn’t go 8 hours in the daytime without drinking, so don’t allow your body to go longer once you have woken up. Plus, science has proven that drinking cold water has been shown to increase your metabolic rate and why wouldn’t you want that?
3. Do a bodyweight and movement pattern circuit.
We need to prime our body and nervous system upon waking and the best way to do that is to get some movement in our muscles and joints. You may be tired, but this should wake you up pretty quick. The following is based on different movement patterns, should create a mind muscle connection and get your nervous system going a bit more than it would have been. Nothing too stressful though.
Try This Wake Up Call: (Do this with 10-15 seconds rest in-between moves and then repeat the circuit if desired.)
Push-ups x 10
Bulgarian split squats x 10 per leg
Overhead reaches x 15
Spiderman push-ups x 5 each side
Plank x 1 minute
4. Have a breakfast of fats and proteins.
Protein is fantastic it boosts your metabolic rate, keeps you fuller for longer and helps repair your muscle cells. Studies are showing that our fat cells are more prone to spiked insulin in the morning which means carbs make our fat cells happy, which makes us sad. So, to stop this go low carb or fast. You will find yourself with more energy and clarity. Here is a staple breakfast I recommend:
Going low carb, need energy and have some weight to lose:
4 whole eggs with veggies, throw in a turkey sausage or two and dig in (salt and pepper to taste).
If you are currently skinny (and want some muscle) however then I would recommend:
Going Big = 4 whole eggs, 2 handfuls of veg and lean meat, 2 tbsp of nut butter, 1 piece of fruit and a handful of oats (cooked in almond, rice or oat milk)
5. Look at your tasks that you need to do today.
You should write these at the end of the day or just before you go to bed. Getting them off your mind and on a white board should help you sleep better and also means you will be productive in the morning by being prepared with all the adventures that lie ahead.
2. The “Write” Life
Journal your way to a heroic living. I know I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not that dear diary stuff that I am referring to. My way journaling is more of an artsy way of doing it, even if you aren’t an artist, you will be able to do this.
Writing a journal has transformed my life dramatically in a short period of time. I know a lot of people write down their day and general things that they do/accomplish that day, but that is only half of the story. Here are some tips:
Take Action
1. List affirmations and quotes that you find incredibly inspiring.
Things that keep you awake, alive and moving towards your overall goal in life. The more you state and write these down the more likely they will be imprinted in your head and subconscious. Make these positive. Here are a few to get you going:
“Thank you, thank you. I am grateful to be alive another day.”
“Today is going to be my greatest day yet.”
“Dean Phillips is a badass.”
You get the point…
2. Use the journal to look at your goals and developments within your business.
List what you currently have going on, what you are planning on doing and the action steps you need to achieve them.
Along with the whole business side of things I like to look at my journal as I take notes on my artistic outflow, any ideas for articles, lyrics, hooks etc. Leonardo Da Vinci was known for rocking this and I’m sure you know how legendary he was.
3. What are you grateful for?
Gratitude is huge huge stuff, if you are unhappy this may be one of the biggest life changing things you can use. It works so well that one study followed participants taking place with gratitude for 10 weeks and their happiness levels increased dramatically.
Just write down what you are grateful for. This might be taking into account the bigger picture, or focusing on each day as it comes.
Personally, I like to go with a mix of things that I appreciated happening that day and big achievements I’m grateful for overall.
4. Going back to the “To Do” list, write down a “yes” and “no” list.
These are things you love and things you want to plan on removing. This can stem from “optimistic living” all the way to “ringing my wife on lunch break”.
Yes – Love, optimism, courage, family, food, fitness, dad dance moves.
No – complaining, hate, disengagement, fearfulness towards achieving my goals.
5. Virtues are huge. Which ones represent you right now?
Abundance? Courage? Compassion?
If you know your virtues and what you stand for in life, you are way better off than people who don’t – it’s that important.
Knowing yourself and what you live by shows character and who you are as a person. We all will have different virtues just like we will all have different affirmations (although you all should write down the 3rd one listed it helps).
There you have it: two ways to rock your love for the morning. By having a kick-ass morning routine you will find the rest of the day a breeze and by having a higher state of living, your day to day activities shall be achieved. (I kind of felt like a sensei saying that part!)
What habits help you have a great morning? Do you have any tips for others to use? Let me know in the comments below.
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Beautiful! I write often about the habit of getting up early and starting your day off right!
Love how you lay out the action plan for the morning!
The only thing I do differently is I journal at night time.
thanks for the extra inspiration knowing other people are rocking their mornings!
Great ideas Dean.
I alternate between yoga and pilates in the morning, 20+ minutes of stretching and strining with proper beathing makes all the difference. I decided to make it an every week day activity several years ago and can’t remember the last time I skipped it.
If I am particularly tired and am up early enough I grab my ipod, lace up my running shoes and start running….
With the yoga and Pilates I bet your posture has impressed so much? Plus I’m sure date nights have improved from it (aka confidence and general awesomeness)
I’m also a songwriter so I know how powerful music can be. Possible “get out of bed” soundtrack for them lazy days?
How long have you been doing yoga for?
P.s remember to stretch your hip flexors alot our body hates us for not doing this enough
Mornings are huge!
I’m stoked to see people who are rocking mornings already on here!
How about a two part system: affirmations and yes and no in the morning to set your day off then at night do the rest?
There are few mornings that I don’t get out of bed ready to go. You’re right, no matter how early/late I go to bed, my body knows when it’s time to go.
However, this wasn’t always the case. As I built my habit of waking up with passion and excitement, I had to remind myself the night before that I had purpose for the next day. I choose to be intentional about influencing and encouarging others and it starts early in the morning by not ignoring my alarm clock… no matter that I’m in that perfectly comfortable and warm spot in bed.
Great encouragement, Dean!
“I had to remind myself the night before that I had purpose for the next day” wow that was awesome stuff.
Even though some claim inspiration is just a fake drug (as some don’t take action with it) i 100% agree that my doing it and showing it you can teach it the best way.
Bonus: Cold showers my friend they rock, i have them in the morning (when i have access to the shower) and after a workout – it makes you feel alive and does lots of great stuff with your fat cells and testosterone.
Take action! That is the big one. To many great ideas stay “shelfed” so to speak. (and no that is not a real word) We make it a habit to just take action no matter what the task and you can be well on you way to being, doing and having more in your life.
Thanks for the reminder Dean
Most forget to take action, they just live a “Coward Life” without knowing it, i believe there is three types: The Prisoner, The Coward and The Hero.
Heroes take action, cowards don’t due to not being optimal YET and prisoners feel trapped.
I’m stoked to see you are an action taker and a coach!
Hi Dean,
This is very useful. I have actually been waiking up almost 2 hours before leaving home to write on my blog and train myself as a public speaker. It has proven to be paramount to have a clear goal. Otherwise, getting up earlier just for the sake of it, is just impossible.
Best regards,
Seb
I think most goal driven people find it easier (i didn’t say easy) to get out of bed in the morning as they have something they want to achieve that day.
When goals aren’t set people have nothing to get up for so they just stay in bed, Do you go straight into your practice or do you warm up then go into it?
Straight ahead… I only have 45min to an hour before I have to get ready to go to work, so I might as well optimize the use of my time.
Love this post Dean. I am addicted to the Gratitude iPhone app and use it every morning for the day before. It helps me get my day started in the right frame of mind!
Great stuff here Dean. You clearly put a lot of time and effort into this post, kudos!
I love doing practices that facilitate my “being” as esoteric as that might sound. Though I’ve used affirmations for many years, I’ve gotten into a “declarations” practice, which although similar is different in a few ways, especially in incorporating and emotions and body piece to it.
One thing is for sure, the earlier I get up these days, the more productive I seem to be. I have not traditionally been a morning person, so it’s blowing my mind. Really like the body pattern piece and gratitude practice, too.
Have you read “The Millionaire Mindset”?
In that he talks about Declarations, in turns of “i will/i promise to…” it’s a damn good read, if you haven’t already i would check it out!
I know people who get up at 5am for their blogs, job, life etc which is crazy but if it works for them then they truly rock.
A good rule to follow which i didn’t put in the article is “Never get more than 9 hours of sleep, or less than 3. Good rest is needed but too much sleep wastes time which could be spent on improving my life or taking over the world”
Hi, Dean. I’ve been doing joint mobility exercises every morning for the past several months. Not only do they energize me, they have eliminated all those ‘aches and pains’ regular stretching just wasn’t fixing.
I haven’t tried drinking water first thing – I always go for coffee – but I do drink a glass before bed each night. Not only does it keep me hydrated, but it’s a natural “wakeup” call in the morning.
When you’re able to start your day in a relaxed but energized way with a good meal, the day can’t help but be good. I’m a firm believer in this. Thanks for the great post!
PS – I’d also add doing something relaxing before bed, like reading for pleasure, rather than checking email or watching tv. It makes a huge difference in sleep quality.
Coffee is amazing – don’t believe people who tell you off for caffeine, it has some great benefits and we may want health etc but we also want enjoyment right?
i would however say drink water with your coffee as you wouldn’t go 7+ hours without drinking in the day (atleast i hope you are drinking lots) so doing it after waking up is a needed thing.
i think that some people work amazingly fasted (no food and then after getting their stuff done they can eat) and some need food to function, it’s rarely said but females actually struggle more with fasting due to their hormones.
I love reading although it has been pushed aside for the past few weeks (which i want to be honest about) but tonight i’m currently about to have my tea and read
.
An hour before bed should be no tv, no phones and no distractions.
Do you have a certain genre or book you love reading at the moment?
TWO ways to rock your life in the morning? Are you kidding me? These are like 24 or something.
I think you’re absolutely right about a morning routine being a must-have if you want to reach your goals. Since I’ve changed (or more likely developed one for the first time) my life has changed a lot. Like a lot.
About the movement in the morning:
It’s cool if you can handle push-ups in the morning, but I bet it can be overwhelming when your just starting out. I enjoy doing sun salutations, because they’re not too hard to do, you won’t sweat and you can feel you’re body stretching.
About the food:
What do you think about juicing in the morning? I currently drink 0,5l of green juice every morning. Maybe a smoothie with a little bit of milk would be better according to what you said, right?
I’d also like to add meditation to the list. I know, I know it seems so voodoo like at first. But just try it for 5 min 7 days straight (or 30 if you’re up for a challenge) and maybe you’ll notice a difference. I do about 15 min of meditation immediately after I’ve gotten out of bed. I feel like it gently helps my body understand that it’s time to wake up.
Hey Iris
Glad to see you enjoyed the article and you’re rocking your mornings.
I have few tips for what you just said (and made love for you right now)
1. Love the idea of sun salutations for stretching, although i would place them at the end of the movements patterns to place the body into a calmer state, i would try these variations if push ups are scary: Push ups on to a bed which is biochemically a lot easier or against a wall at an angle – I find most females can do these and focus on the movement we are waking ourselves up here
2. YES i love greens drinks, in fact i had so much more to this article that i cut down as it was reaching 3000+ so here’s my secrets: Greens in the morning is one of the biggest investments for your body, it neutralizes your PH so you are in a better state (especially if you have a lot of protein) – i would stick with the greens drink but also do a scoop of some protein powder and no milk unless its almond/rice etc – Cows milk is no no for your insulin and health.
3 – I do meditate and in fact when my site launches i have a whole article on meditation and how it has changed my life – i do it for 30-60 minutes a day and i also read a book an hour before bed while drinking a calming decaf tea –
My question for you now is:
Which point of these will you be picking and implementing?
I think everyone should pick just one thing from the list and do it everyday for two weeks then add another point in – that’s how habits are built