I realized something powerful this past Sunday…I’ve been failing first thing every morning.
Why? Because I have it in my head that I need to work out right when I get up to have a productive day. And, I believe I need to wake up early to get ahead of my day.
Not crazy early…I actually am trying to wake up at what used to be my normal: 5:30 a.m. Then I want to move it up to 5 a.m. and earlier and earlier until it’s early enough that I’m feeling accomplished by the time the kids go to school.
But here’s the thing: I do not want to work out right when I get up.
It’s cold. I work out in my non-insulated garage where it’s a crisp 30 or so degrees. And I’m so tired that when I do work out, I don’t even feel like I got a good workout.
So most mornings, my little alarm goes off and I either 1) turn it completely off and sleep until my natural wake time of 7 a.m., or 2) hit snooze for a good hour-and-a-half before I drag myself out of bed to begin the morning routine of making breakfast and packing lunches.
I know I’m not alone. But maybe, you haven’t listened to one of my favorite motivational speakers – Dr. Eric Thomas. He’s seriously bomb (thank you D for my new slang!).
You’ll find all kinds of incredible videos of him delivering speeches to students, professionals and athletes – but it was during his Jan. 19 podcast that I realized what I’ve been doing with my morning routine…cultivating a culture of losing.
You can listen (and subscribe!) to his podcast here. But let me provide a brief synopsis of the advice. He and his team were talking about football – teams who have a culture of winning and teams who have a culture of losing. They elaborated that while it’s good to have BIG GOALS, you need to build in little wins.
It stuck. But it didn’t HIT until Sunday morning when I once again hit the snooze button.
With my “must work out first” mentality, I was setting myself up to fail first thing every morning. So much so, that by 7 a.m., I was already feeling like an unmotivated loser who didn’t do what I promised myself I would do.
Can you even imagine how much that has been sabotaging my day?
Naturally – I should have been able to push through it. I should MAKE MYSELF get up and get that workout in…but instead, I did an experiment this week to try and cultivate a culture of winning.
I set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. knowing that I would NOT work out first thing. Instead, I got up to enjoy a peaceful cup of coffee and read the One-Year Bible Plan that’s taken me a solid 3 years to complete. Today, I finished the last entry.
That’s a huge win!
Instead of me pushing off reading the bible each evening because I’m tired or the kids won’t go to sleep or whatever – I’ve spent time every day reading and reflecting on God’s word. Getting caught up on my plan, and finally finishing!!!
Can you slow clap with me!?! I’m doing what I promised myself I would do…
You know what else? I’ve worked out every day too. And not a wimpy “I should do this” workout, but a high-interval “I can’t breathe” workout.
So I’ve switched up my morning routine to wake up with a win! And I’m going to keep doing it. I’ll do all the things that I seem to lose time for during the day first thing every morning, while the house is quiet and there’s no one to interrupt me.
So seriously…ask yourself how much your reason to wake up might be sabotaging your day. What small tweak could you make to change that fail into a win? And if you need inspiration, look up Dr. Eric Thomas on YouTube and iTunes.
Much Love, H
(originally published on LifesETC.com 2/2/17)