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A Better Morning RoutineA better morning routine will be entirely different than what you have been doing. Most people have their days out of whack. Let's look at what most people do. They get up at the last possible instant to get ready for a job they do not really like. They choke down some junk food for breakfast and rush out the door. Does that make any sense at all? The best way to live is to spend all your time doing things you want to do. Adding value, creating different types of works of value and enjoying life. But until you get to that point, you will have a job. I am working on it myself. Most of my adult life I have gone to bed as late as possible and got up as late as possible to still have time to get ready for work and still make it to work on time. When I was married the time I allowed to get ready was compressed because I was so exhausted from the demands of my wife. I never even sat down in the morning for breakfast. And this went on for years. Even after I left her I still was in the habit of not getting up that early. I got up earlier than before but all I did was have a sit down breakfast, sometimes even cooking something quick, like eggs. This was a big improvement in my life. I never had to drive fast and rush to work. I always was early and could drive leisurely to work. But something was missing. I could not put my finger on it until the last few months. What I really love is to get up in the morning, drink coffee, meditate (sit and do nothing but try to clear my mind), read a book, read my emails from the people I love to learn from, read my favorite blogs and write. I am writing this at 5:00 a.m. The best time of the day for thinking is early in the morning. The best time of the day for anything, except working at a job you do not like that much, is the early morning. Instead of getting up earlier and earlier to meet the demands of someone else, like a spouse, children or your boss, get up earlier to do what you want to do. You will absolutely love being up early, by yourself. The time you gain for deep thinking is enormous. The time you gain for self reflection is great. You can get a lot more of the creative work and thinking that most people never have time for. If you get out of bed in the morning and you are already stressed because you slept a few minutes late and you have to rush to get cleaned up and drive through traffic, how will you even have time to think if this is what you really want to do with your life? It is almost as if the way this is ingrained in us is a conspiracy to keep us not thinking. We all turn on the tv while we are getting ready and then listen to the radio and listen to the same news being repeated over and over again. We listen to the same mindless chatter from the radio people chattering on and on about celebrities and local sports. How does knowing about the Hollywood gossip help your personal development? How does hearing the sports stars talk help you get into a career that is fulfilling? How does listening to mindless chatter about nothing at all help your mind power and your contentment? It doesn't. That is my point. There is a newer radio station in the area I live. They started out playing the music I love without having the morning blather. They only had a small amount of time for the weather, traffic reports and major headlines. There was not chatter. But over the last few months the chatter has increased. It is almost as if it is impossible to not chatter on the radio. I am almost at the point of not listening to radio at all in the car. The continuous chatter about ridiculous garbage is maddening. Listening to the same nonsense news stories about politicians and government is pointless. I want to listen to good music to relax not be tensed up about things that do not matter. Try getting up earlier than you think you can but spend that time doing the things you want to do. Do not get up earlier to clean the house or shuffle papers around or do things for other people. Do things for yourself. A Better Morning RoutineI think the best things to do for a better morning routine are: 1. Drink fresh coffee. I love coffee. Why should I wait to have coffee until I get to work? Why should I drink bad coffee? I don't. By better morning routine includes good coffee. 2. Think deeply. I think deeply about my life, my goals, my plans. 3. Meditate. I am trying to learn to meditate. 4. Write out lists. Lists of what you want. Lists of what you want to do. Lists of where you want to go. Lists of your ideal life. A better morning routine will include plenty of writing. 5. Read the books that inspire you and you learn from. 6. Read the types of blogs and news sites that you want to know about. My favorite days are Mondays because my favorite writers seem to put out their best material on Monday. 7. Write if that is what you like to do. Write your books. Write your blogs. Write your articles. 8. Write ideas about whatever you can. Just the act of writing ideas will spark your creativity. Your mind gets sharper the more you think about new ideas and write them down. You lose all this creative power if you do not physically write them down on paper or in your computer. 9. Make plans for the fun things you want to like travel plans. 10. Have a nice, small, healthy breakfast after you have been up for an hour or two, not right away when you get up. Wrong Ideas for a Better Morning RoutineHere are the worst things to do early in the morning: 1. Clean your house. Do this work during the day as a break from deep thinking. I love a clean house but this is not deep mental work. It is physical work that is better later in the day. Or better yet have someone else do this work. 2. Get ready for work really slowly. You probably still work so you will need to get ready. But do this type of thing quickly. You should make getting ready to leave the house quickly a part of your better morning routine. 3. Think about your job. Unless you are planning on keeping your job, it is financially rewarding or you absolutely love it, think about your life. A better morning routine does not involve you spending your precious free time trying to make others rich. 4. Think about and do planning for things you are not that interested in. I do not want to spend these precious early morning hours planning holiday minutia. I want to spend this time thinking deeply about living my life in the most rewarding way possible. Your life will improve the more you do things for yourself and think that you matter.
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