Good Morning?

How do you start your day?

A friend has been posting pictures from her morning routine. A number of changes have been going on for her and it has challenged me to consider how much the start of my day affects the rest of it.

I am not a morning person. As a result of teaching I have been forced to become more of an early bird. When I finished teaching I was worried that I would waste mornings as I had nothing definite to get up for. So it was with mixed feelings that I started an early morning job at the local newsagents. This means I am up by 5:20 and home by 7:30. This seemed the perfect solution to getting up and then having the day ahead of me ready for writing. Sadly it has not been that simple. I return home and make a hot drink (usually tea) and then treat myself to an episode of my favourite soap. Rather than preparing me for the day, this weakens my resolve and dampens my creativity so then I have a psychological battle to win before I even put pen to paper. I often end up procrastinating with housework, reading or checking e-mails!

There seem to be different schools of thought when it comes to creating positive morning rituals, but all agree that early is good and that times of work should be broken up with times of activity and times of rest. Some want the day to begin with vigorous exercise or cold showers (yuck!) Others suggest starting with meditation and goal setting and then getting straight into work. All agree that social media should be low on the list of priorities. It all makes a lot of sense; starting the day with activities that should fuel productivity and creativity and giving the best time to the things I say are my priorities. It all feels very intentional and a little formulaic (not my favourite ways of doing things) but I can see that this way could produce the results I’ve been searching for.

 

I did look for some inspiration from great thinkers and writers. Immanuel Kant started his day with a cup or two of weak tea and a pipe. He would then meditate. Barak Obama starts his day with a workout and then breakfast with his family. Darwin would start his day with a walk. Some crazies started their day at 4am, beginning with work and leaving exercise till later in the day. The common feature seems to be that there is a plan and purpose to their mornings. It doesn’t just happen and it certainly wasn’t hitting the snooze button to hurtle out of bed and into the day.

This has caused me to re-evaluate my mornings. I can’t do much about the time of my part-time paid job but I am considering how best to use my time once I arrive home and how best to create an environment that will promote creativity rather than procrastination. I began by considering what I would like to achieve before lunch and the time I would need to do this. It meant being honest about the procrastination and I expect there may be adjustments to make along the way. I (weirdly) feel quite excited to try it and feel it will give me greater confidence in saying ‘no’ to other activities.

Sometimes our circumstances dictate more of the morning routine, especially if there are little ones involved. Even in more restrictive circumstances, there are choices we can make that could make the difference between a good morning and a stressful one.

How do your mornings begin? 

What changes could you make to give you a better start to the day? I’d love to know any changes you have already made and what affect that has had.

Realignment

Having spent a lot of time on our sofa this week, I ended up watching a number of films. One of which was The Emperor’s Club. This is set in a boys’ boarding school and focuses on the lessons between a particular class and their teacher of ancient history. The teacher seeks to inspire the boys through the actions and words of Greek and Roman leaders. One boy who is more interested in making the boys laugh rather than learning refuses to be swayed by the teacher’s attention and enthusiasm. When the teacher meets with the boy’s father, the father asks, what is the point of teaching these ancient accounts? The teacher responds by talking about virtues and wanting to mould the lives of his students. The father is unimpressed.

 I think the idea behind the teacher’s efforts could be summed up by Aristotle’s words: “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” Whether or not we are teachers, we all influence others by the way we live. This gives us great power and one might argue responsibility, to teach well.

Beliefs, words and actions that are aligned are powerful tools. To bring about real and lasting change all three must be in agreement. It is not to say that progress cannot be made without alignment. So often change begins as a thought or a word that is not truly believed and so behavioural changes rarely last. I was listening to a conversation between two comedians on a podcast. They were discussing being vegan. Whilst one could understand the other’s argument about why he should become vegan, he could not fully give himself to the change in lifestyle that this would require. The compassion he felt for the cows was not equal to the compassion he feels for himself in eating a cheese toastie. I am not vegan or judging him. It was just an interesting example, to see that the vegan’s arguments were accepted but this was not enough to affect behaviour.

Changing a lifestyle demands self-awareness and a kindness to oneself. Brutal honesty reveals the true outlook and kindness needs to be applied to help smooth the path of change. I have been through a process of looking backwards in order to see why current feelings and responses to situations occur. Some reflections have been painful, but it was also surprising to discover hidden beauty. It was these hidden, forgotten moments that allowed me to realign my beliefs. This is turn meant I was able to speak different words and act in new ways. The result was amazing and the impact beyond what I could have imagined. The situation involves others and is the reason I am not being more specific in my explanation.

A different, less successful example has been with my writing habits. A mentor recently recommended having five tasks to complete everyday. These should be achievable without specific word limits or timings. The overall goal is to complete five steps that move your writing (or other projects) forwards on a daily basis. I dutifully wrote my five tasks down and pinned them to my notice board. Three out of the five have been completed regularly and the fourth most days, but one task continues to elude me. Having spent a little time reviewing this process I have come to the conclusion that failure to complete the fifth task is because I do not fully believe I can do it. The fear of getting it wrong is still holding me back. Until I face the fear and move on in self belief progress will be slow. That is my challenge to work on my beliefs so that I can achieve some forward momentum with this task.