THREE MORNING ROUTINES TO HELP YOU WIN THE DAY
“Routine, in an intelligent man, is a sign of ambition”. W. H. Auden
You have the most control over your time from when you wake, until you leave your house in the morning.
You can allow the morning to control you or take charge of the day by establishing a morning routine.
Taking charge through a morning routine sets you on a focused path, leading to a more productive day with organised thoughts and actions.
By experimenting with slight changes to how you start your day, you can dramatically change how your whole day goes!
Borrowing elements from Tim Ferris (best-selling author of The Four-Hour Work Week), here’s three ways to develop a killer morning routine to help you win your day.
After your alarm goes off, try these three things:
1. TAKE A COLD SHOWER RIGHT AWAY
Sounds like a rough way to kick the day off, but it has numerous positive benefits, including:
Improved alertness
The initial deep breathing resulting from the cold water increases oxygen to the brain, making you more alert throughout the day.
Improved fat loss
The cold water activates ‘brown fat’, which exists to generate heat and keep us warm. Brown fat (the fat you want), essentially, burns white fat (the fat you don’t want). Taking cold showers regularly can boost brown fat by 15x, leading to 9 pounds of weight loss per year.
Improved circulation
Your body responds to cold water by sending more blood to your extremities to keep you warm. This increased circulation makes you healthier.
2. MEDITATE
Headspace is a fabulous option to try (the first 10 sessions are free).
Here are a few of the benefits of meditating at the start of the day:
Brain preservation
A UCLA study found that meditators with 20-years’ experience had more brain grey matter volume than those who didn’t meditate (NB: this study also stated that there was some loss of grey matter due to age, but that meditator’s brain deterioration was less pronounced). Keeping the brain active helps preserve brain volume.
Reduced symptoms of depression, anxiety and pain
Meditation is often assumed to be a passive act without conscious awareness, but it is precisely the opposite. Actively training your mind can be a potent weapon in managing depression and anxiety symptoms.
Improved focus
Meditation also helps you to improve the ability to concentrate. Any exercise that is practiced gets improved, and the concentration associated with meditation will improve your concentration throughout the day.
3. USE A FIVE-MINUTE JOURNAL
The 5-minute journal is a simple accessible way to track and focus your thoughts (https://www.intelligentchange.com/products/the-five-minute-journal) and there’s an app for it too
The Five-Minute Journal is a simple way to prioritise your day into what really matters.
It does this by asking you to list 3 things you are grateful for. By starting with gratitude and keeping things simple, you stay focused on what you really want to achieve each day, full stop.
What does your morning routine look like? I’d love to find out what you do to start your day on the right track. Drop me a line at [email protected] and tell me what your morning routine looks like – I’m always open to adding a new weapon to the morning arsenal.
To learn more about healthy eating habits to achieve your fitness goals, contact James Staring, a leading personal trainer in Clapham, London.
ABOUT JAMES STARING
James Staring is a personal trainer based in Clapham, London. His methods have featured in publications such as Your Fitness, Hello, Healthy, Daily Mail, Closer, and many more. After giving up smoking and entering the fitness industry in 2009, James has focused on his passion to help others transform their health and fitness. However, James is convinced that most people struggle so much more than they need to in an effort to improve their fitness. Through his company, Fit to Last, which he runs with his partner, Ali Page – James has helped hundreds of men and women make small adjustments in their daily habits to transform their fitness and to love how they look and feel.
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