MORNINGS FIRST

24 September 2019

During the final weeks to my previous semester exams, I got a book recommendation from Jeff Rose (A financial education YouTuber) and the name of that book is Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.
The whole time I read that book, I experienced really clear physical changes. I established a consistent morning routine that didn’t clash with my class schedules.
I would go to sleep at 08 PM but if I had things to do, I made sure I was in bed before 09 PM (there were days when I went to bed at 10 PM). I would wake up at 02 AM and deal with school work till 05 AM (I had moments when I’ll close my school work and check YouTube or read a self-help book before I began studying). At 05 Am I would go out for a run. I use to detest exercising, I felt Iike it wasn’t necessary to stress myself so much (lazy mind).

As I kept on reading Miracle Morning, I continued running. As days went by, I found myself loving my life the more when I went out for a run (it was such a personal moment). I would appreciate the coolness of the morning, the gentle breeze, the tranquility that was so relaxing. I would walk by the places in my school that was usually rowdy, and knowing I was the first person to be there (alone!) that morning made me feel ridiculously good. During the day I had lots of energy to get down with aggressive classes and long walks to learning halls.

Fast forward, I am on vacation. I don’t wake up at 02 AM anymore but I do wake up at 05 AM (During the first weeks of my vacation, I would wake up at 10AM in the morning! That made me feel awful after a while).

I am ranting about my morning routine today because it’s the same reason I didn’t have any initial plan on what to write here. And it’s probably the same reason why you might feel overwhelmed during the day.
It’s not just waking up early that matters. What you do during the first hours of the morning does have an effect on the rest of your day. I feel like I need to go back and re-read the miracle morning… And I am recommending that book today.

MILLENNIAL MORNING

The ideal millennial morning starts by waking up when someone makes an obnoxious noise. It starts with a face that says, “I would have squeezed the life out of your voice if you weren’t my relative!” Some people do throw tantrums and pillows. The ideal millennial morning is guilty of grabbing on to the universe first thing in the morning. In an ideal millennial morning, the first things we do will include: checking up on other people’s exciting life, checking up on how many people realised how great we are or checking out what other people have to say about us. The average millennial morning starts with the mobile phone.

GUILTY

Maybe you have honestly made attempts to stay away from the internet first thing in the morning. Most days it works but some days you feel so desperate for acknowledgement. For me, my mobile phone is the first thing I grab on to because I have to turn off my alarm clock; I don’t necessarily go online first thing in the morning, yet I know I’m still doing it wrong.
I usually do my house chores before running into social media but I am still doing it wrong…

THEN WHAT AM I DOING WRONG???

Then what are we doing wrong? I’ll tell you; it’s the fact that we are not meditating and reflecting on our own lives in relation to others.

I do my chores before I bounce on media updates, still I don’t feel satisfied with this restriction. I have to clean the house, I have to prepare a blog post, I have to take a bus back home today and it’s a two hours drive, I have to…. You probably also have so much you have to do.

My blog post is based on thoughts and that’s where I lost it. I struggle to come up with an idea and it’s simply because I did every other thing in the morning aside thinking, reflecting and probably reading a book.
We are suppose to have moments in the morning where we sit quietly and think of our lives, think of our thought patterns, think of our relationships, think of our goals, our personalities and much more. We are suppose to look back and reflect and do what everyone finds weird, that is, talk out loud to ourselves (Don’t worry it’s early and no one is watching).

This activity can be enhanced by processing the information we already had from the previous day and taking regulated and intentional information in for the present day. It can be enhanced by the use of journals: To-do journals for highlighting our goals for the day. Expression journals for expressing our present emotions and thoughts. Gratitude journals for coming up with reasons to be relaxed and joyful (also hopeful).

When I said “regulated and intentional information”, what I meant was reading or listening to things that encourages us or prepares us for our task. It could be reading a small portion of a book, listening to already downloaded podcasts, audio books e.t.c. But these should be after sitting down in silence and embracing the new day we have before us.

If I had done this in the morning, I would have had a well thought out blog topic today. I would have discovered a feeling or idea that other people might probably be struggling with.
Yes, I wasn’t scrolling through instagram. I was actually watching YouTube videos that will help me with my bible study; it’s obvious I was doing the right thing at the wrong time.

I’ll probably be working on this and you also should. Let us take moments in the morning to acknowledge our thoughts.
I am writing this with my travel bag by my side, ready to lock the house up and hit the road. If I had planned my day intentionally and with more discipline, I probably wouldn’t be rushing things up now.

P. S Take a moment and acknowledge your thoughts. Filter them! I say with so much fulfilment that I shot the picture used for the post featured image. And like the fog in that picture, it’s your duty to clear up the fog in your mind before sunrise…

Recommendation: Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.

If you struggle with your mornings, do leave a comment in the comment section below. Let us help ourselves…

From The Purple Journal with love and light.
XoXo