Miracle (morning) routines that actually work
There are two things in the world I love more than anything else (well, almost): learning and experimenting. In my pursuit of figuring out what a soul inspired life might look like, growing into my best, happiest and most productive self often requires using myself as a guinea pig. Today included.
One of the nuts I’ve been trying to crack for a while now is HABITS. How they’re formed, the things we can do to uncover them and – most importantly – how we can change the ones that work against us for better ones.
Something else that I’m absolutely convinced of obsessed about is how we systematically overestimate what we can accomplish in the short term, yet underestimate what we can accomplish over longer periods of time. This fascinates me because it’s rooted in the complex way we operate as humans.
Imagine you want to write a book. You know – rationally – that if you spend one hour a day writing you’ll have a book (self-)published within a year FOR SURE. The thing is, there’s a little voice inside you (or a big one, depending on who’s talking) that keeps telling you a year is way too long. Eventually she convinces you to turn your book dream into a six-month plan (if you’re lucky). What started as an easy, soulful *less-than-a-page-a-day* kind of deal has now magically doubled in pressure and daily required effort. Although it FEELS easier (faster, more doable) to write a book in six months rather than a year, the chances of success aren’t better.
I know, I know. You’d expect me to say that the chances of success are lower, right? Well… yes, in a way. But not exactly. If you give yourself a year to write a book, what works in your favor also works against you: TIME.
This brings me to the third (and final) ingredient of today’s conundrums: the compound effect, aka the theory that your REALITY is the result of your daily choices, behavior, and actions.
This is important. Why?
Because if you give yourself a year to write a book (for a stronger punch line: replace with personal dream of choice) but you’re skipping writing hour three times a week… guess what? It won’t get done.
Slip up once and you can get back on the saddle. Slip up twice and it gets tougher. Do it three times in a row and that book idea probably goes back into the procrastination fridge for a while.
If that’s you (and that is SO ME, by the way) I want you to know you’re not alone.
Nobody taught me about any of this stuff, and I *bet* nobody taught you either (would have been great but, hey, there where so many useless other things to learn first). We’ve been conditioned to fail right from the start by not learning how habits really work. And how to make them work for us.
Because the thing is, there’s a big difference between our unconscious habits and what we can consciously do with them: the MIRACLE ROUTINES we can create to bypass, and change them.
Perhaps you’re familiar with Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning. A daily routine that has you wake up earlier to do what the author calls “SAVERS”: silence, affirmations, visualizations, exercise, reading, scribing. That last one simply means journaling but, according to the author, it didn’t make such a nice acronym. There’s a huge community of people adhering to this practice (more than 170000 of them on Facebook alone). And for good reason.
Small actions repeated over time create the most amazing results.
Actions put together into a specific sequence repeated at regular intervals turn into a routine. Daily routines are easiest to remember and keep up. That’s why creating routines for yourself is so powerful – and creates miraculous results!
Long before I came across Hal Elrod’s book, I was already convinced of the power of routines. In fact, due to my HSP nature, routines is something I always had. Whenever I learned how to do something, the most efficient way I could find to do it would easily turn into a routine for me. Although this can make me a little inflexible at times (hmm) it’s also been an incredible asset both in my private and professional life. Having routines help me
save time,
remember what I have to do,
know what to focus on,
keep at it over time,
build habits (!),
improve my productivity,
slowly become a joyful, courageous, free version of myself.
The real juicy part of routines comes from creating them in such a way that they not only make you benefit from the compound effect, but positively influence your subconscious mind at the same time.
To illustrate what I mean, here’s my morning routine (what I consider a great mix of action-oriented and mindset improving steps):
Transcendental meditation
Journaling
Visualisation
Writing down my goals
Affirmations
Reviewing my to-dos for the day and getting started with the first one
I have no exercise in this routine because – ta-da! – I have another routine for that. I use the Pomodoro technique when I work, and use my 25-minute breaks to squeeze movement into my day.
Now, these routines work well for me because I have a home office and no kids. I understand things might be different for you, and having a morning program like mine might not be possible. But that’s not to say that you can’t have any routines set in place. In fact, I strongly *suggest* that you do.
Even just one thing – repeated every day – will have a tremendous effect over a longer period of time. I’ve used this technique for years now to teach myself new skills: piano, writing, photography, drawing, even computer programming. (I know, it’s the multi-passionate in me, I can’t help myself).
My point is: you can do this too! If you’re up to it, here’s what I’d love you to do.
Think about what you want accomplish for yourself. Less stress? Better self-care? Writing a book? More clients? Learning to play the piano? Getting back in shape? Whatever it is, think about one step that will help you to get there. Now vow to yourself that you’ll do it every day (morning, noons, nights… it doesn’t matter when) for the next 90 days.
The results will BLOW YOU AWAY.
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