“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit”

-Aristotle

We are creatures of habit. Habits are created through the repetition of an action or thought. When we are intentional, we are conscious of these habits, but many times our habits run unconsciously. Years and years of conditioning can form a habit that we never even think about. And the thing about these unconscious habits that have been created over the years is that it’s hard as hell to rewire and form a new one. 

Have you ever been in a house where the power went out? Consciously you know when you flip that switch the light will not turn on, yet you flip it anyway. Then the next day, you do the same thing, and maybe the next. It takes a while before our body and mind get on the same page in order to reprogram and create that new habit. We flip that switch because we’ve flipped that switch every single day without thinking about it and it is now innate in our bodies mind. Just like driving the same route to school or work every single day and we don’t know how we got there. In sports we call it muscle memory. We are creating habits through repetition, time and time again. 

There are whole books on habits. Jen Sincero has an amazing one called “Badass Habits”. Creating new habits is truly a practice, but there is more to the equation. In order to form a new habit, we are going to have to break the old ones. This is where Joe Dispenza will rock your world in his book “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself”. We must get out of our analytical mind and this is where his meditations are truly profound.

Habits are being run in every aspect of our lives, but I want to talk specifically about our habits in the critical moments of our days: The morning and night. 

Let’s start with the morning.

Why is it so important to have strong habits right when we wake up? Well, these first seconds/minutes/hours create the foundation for the rest of our day. Similar to how “Break-fast” is the most important meal of the day, our habits first thing in the morning are just as important. 

It took me a bit of playing around with my morning routine to understand the value and importance of one. First, I had to understand what a morning routine even was. I was never taught that growing up. I always slept in as late as I could with just enough time to throw some clothes on my body and get to class. How can you play with and adjust something that you don’t even know needs adjusting?

Awareness.

If this is your first time hearing about a morning routine, then welcome. It’s going to change the game for you. But DISCLAIMER…it’s not super easy. If you check out Dr. Joe’s book you’ll see how daunting breaking an old habit and forming a new one can be. 

Awareness in forming a new morning habit implies being conscious of what you do once you open your eyes to greet this beautiful day. Do you roll over? Do you get pissed at your alarm and snooze for an extra five minutes? Do you stumble out of bed, grab a bowl of cereal and head off to your destination? (Don’t fret, I’ve done all of this and still struggle at times…it’s a constant journey)

What if you woke up 30 minutes earlier to do something that would give you more energy in the morning? What if you blessed this upcoming day with gratitude within minutes of waking? What if you banged out a workout followed by a hot/cold shower afterwards? What if you sat in meditation for just 5 minutes to bring calm with you the rest of the day? 

How would you FEEL?

These are a few beautiful morning routine exercises, and there are so many more. The important thing is to find what works best for you.

With travel and moving schedules it can make this daunting new task even harder to stay fully consistent, but remember…it’s YOU vs. YOU. Not you vs. your friend or your co-worker or a celebrity. This is YOUR journey.

For me, exercise was always one of those things I like to do in the mornings. I didn’t do this just for the physical (even though that was definitely my intention at first). I do it honestly because I need to. I do it for my energy. I had days where I would work out first thing in the morning and my energy the rest of the day was on fire! Then the days I didn’t move my body, I was dragging. And I do mean dragging my ass like I was carrying 20 pound dumbells in my backpack all day.

I started to learn about different holistic practices and implemented them into my mornings. I listened deeply to how my body and mind felt afterwards (This is important). While I nearly always feel amazing afterwards, part of my body still wants me to stay in bed and stay comfortable. It’s a constant battle. It’s a game really. So are you game to play?

A handful of great morning routine practices are:

• Make bed
• Set an intention
• Stretch
• Brush Teeth (Be present)
• Exercise
• Cold Shower
• Articulation work
• No Phone 1st hour
• Light Breathwork
• Meditate
• Positive “I Am” Affirmations
• Gratitude
• At least 2 glasses of water
• >10 minutes in Nature

It took a whole lot of time to find what I enjoyed. To find what lifted my spirit and energy. There are still times I don’t want to do these. Way too many times, honestly, but once the habit is created, and we feel the positive benefits from these actions, the you’re hooked.

On this journey of forming a new habit, a MAJOR key is NOT to be too hard on yourself. Make the decision with your morning routine the night before, and if morning comes and it really doesn’t feel right, it’s okay to take a break. Don’t judge or beat yourself up. Love the shit out of yourself. And because you love yourself, fight for creating a strong morning routine.

I heard Joe Rogan talk about how if he only exercised when he wanted to then he wouldn’t be who he is. It’s a funny little paradox that I think relates to a lot of aspects in life, but exercise is one of those things that we can absolutely dread doing, but nearly EVERY SINGLE TIME you feel better afterwards. Once into that grove, spirit lifts every single time because there’s now science that explains what these exercises do to the body. 

The hardest part is overcoming that little tiny voice inside your mind telling you to stay where you are. It’s that subconscious vs conscious fight (95% vs 5%). That voice is your subconscious who wants to keep you safe and comfortable. It’s afraid of the unknown (But fun fact, ALL growth happens in the presence of the unknown). 

Forming new habits is truthfully one of the hardest things. You not only have this internal battle going on inside your mind, but for many, our environment doesn’t necessarily make it easy to make these shifts. We’re at war here ladies and gentlemen!

Building new, healthy morning habits will build a foundation for who you are and who you want to be. When we say we don’t have the time, make the time. Get up a little earlier. It’s never about time, it’s about VALUES. It’s about prioritization.

So, finding exercises that lift our energy and spirit early on will bring that energy with us the rest of the day. It’s a powerful thing, but something you can only truly understand when you play around with it intentionally for yourself. Not from just listening to someone else. Play wIth it and without it. Start to feel into your body. Hear that inner voice come and go. Crush the morning!

Now, we have our Night Routine. 

I was truthfully a whole lot more into the morning routine and putting my night routine on the backburners. It’s something I’m still working on. All of these practices are just that…practice. 

I really value sleep, but I didn’t fully value the wind down to getting into the best quality sleep state. I learned about this in Shawn Stevenson’s book “Sleep Smarter”.

Getting high quality and quantity sleep is massive! We may notice that our sleep might not be the deepest, and at this point it’s time to look at how we are welcoming this stage of the day.

A night routine is setting a time and intention to wind the body down, so when it comes to getting that good ole shuteye, our mind and body are fully ready. It’s like foreplay for sleep.

Here are a handful of great tips for adding to the night routine:

• No screens > 1 hr before bedtime
• No food 2 hrs before bedtime
• Brush teeth (be present)
• Stretch
• Meditate
• Read
• Journal/reflect
• Slow/deep breathing
• (if on screen) blue light glasses
• Reduce artificial light hours before sleep
• Set an intention
• Write “To do List” for tomorrow
• Get excited to enter your dream state

It’s important to set an intention going into that day to evaluate and then reflect on how that day went at the end of the day. Life is just like finances. When we are intentional and aware of where and how our money is going, we can better plan and prepare for the future. When we are aware of where and how our time is being used throughout the day, we can adjust and plan for the future.

Awareness and Intention are major here. 

Play around with some of these exercises. Implement and explore. Then keep it or let it go. Your mind and body are beautifully unique to YOU.

I promise, once you start crushing your mornings and nights, the juicy middle is going to be productive and vibrant and you’re going to take your life to the next level. 

If you’re more of a video person, watch this video by Dr. Joe.

Dr. Joe Dispenza Video

For the best results, (to really soak in this info into your subconscious) watch it every day for the next two weeks. 

Enjoy the ride.

All love.

-Andrew