What's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Do you sit up and stare at the wall, willing the clock to tell you it's 7 p.m., not a.m.? Do you give yourself time to enjoy little things like coffee or a good stretch, or are you out the door within 10 minutes of waking up? It might not seem like what you do when you wake up in the morning matters that much, but in reality, the benefits of a morning routine are powerful enough to make a huge difference in how the rest of your day goes.
Now, I know some people might cringe or even roll their eyes at the mere thought of a morning routine. Like, who has the time, the patience, the energy, and why bother creating a routine when you can just sleep in a little longer? Well, according to fitness coach and healthy lifestyle entrepreneur Mandie Brice, establishing a morning routine gives you an opportunity to reflect on and prioritize your daily goals.
And, if the concept of a legit morning routine is fairly new to you, Brice suggests you start by asking yourself what you're hoping to accomplish most before you leave the house for the day, and what steps you can realistically take to guarantee things go smoothly from there. "Figure [that] out, and think about what makes the most sense as far as an order is concerned, and write it down," Brice tells Elite Daily over email.
Chances are, you'll start seeing benefits you didn't even expect, in no time at all.
"Once you have specific routines in place, you can somewhat go on autopilot for these healthy activities," Brice says, "and eventually even add new positive habits that give you confidence and good input to start your day."
In other words, practice makes perfect. If you can start practicing healthy habits during your morning routine — like taking the time to stretch, not looking at your phone as soon as you wake up, etc. — it just might leak over into other areas of your life, too.
Again, learning to prioritize, make plans, and stick to them is sure to carry over into other areas of life outside of your morning routine. But what about when the plans go haywire? Because, like, that's life?
Brice points out that in regards to a morning routine, you may have an ideal plan in your mind, but that certainly doesn't mean there won't be days when you oversleep, need to wake up earlier, or when some other SNAFU arises — and it's up to you to problem-solve and troubleshoot when these things happen.
Maybe that means hard-boiling a bunch of eggs or buying plenty of fruit at the beginning of each week so you always have something easy to grab in the morning for breakfast, or laying out your clothes the night before so you're not tearing apart your closet at 7:04 a.m. Either way, Brice says committing to a regular morning routine will inevitably help you become a better problem-solver, because sometimes, life happens, you know? And you have to be prepared for it.
Seriously, though. When you've already picked out your outfit, what you're having for breakfast, and you've given yourself a good 10 minutes to make sure you get your cat-eye just right, Brice points out these are all things you no longer have to actively worry about or concern yourself with, meaning your mornings quickly become a total breeze.
"Having a morning routine takes some of the guesswork out of how you begin your day, and gives you some active control in it," Brice tells Elite Daily. "And it helps to start your day with some positivity and healthy activities, like getting some water to drink, reading something uplifting, or some sort of exercise."
Gloria Mitchell, a life coach and host of the podcast Living a Phenomenal Life, tells Elite Daily that establishing a fulfillingi morning routine can benefit you mentally, physically, and even spiritually. A morning routine means "being in control of your day instead of your day controlling you," Mitchell explains.
To really make sure you reap these benefits, Mitchell suggests nourishing your spiritual health in the morning with meditation, and your physical well-being with a satisfying breakfast (and yes, maybe a few stretches, too). She also recommends taking a bit of time in the morning to review your goals for the day, and maybe even for the year, to remind yourself what you're really working toward in the bigger picture.
