Wake up. Get ready for work. Drive to work. Work. Drive back home. Eat dinner. Sleep. Repeat.

This is what an average day may look like. Throw in a few kids, side hustles, family obligations or daily responsibilities and you’ve got yourself one hec of a busy day. Whatever your situation, I’m sure it all feels natural to you. Maybe you’re exhausted, but maybe you’re used to ignoring that feeling because you’re simply just doing what needs to get done, right?

As humans it’s natural for us to go go go all day long. We’re meeting the wants and needs of our work, our home or our finances. It wasn’t until I got older that I truly knew what this hard work felt like. The hard work of getting sh*t done. Do this…do that…go here…go there. So much focus being placed on so many different things.

But…what about YOU?

What about the focus on yourself? Your mental health? Your peace? The time you take to yourself to simply just…be? No distractions. No urgent to-do’s. Just YOU.

This is something that we often miss out on. The value in taking time to oneself. Creating room so that we have the capacity to realize our existence, purpose and overall importance of our mental stability. Now you might be thinking, “I don’t have time for that!” Uhm…yes you do. How? Make time. Preferably in the morning before your actual day begins!

Having a YOU morning before your WORK morning is vital to our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health. The moment you wake up, you’re focusing on your existence and your peace before exerting that energy into other people or things. When you take the time to have a YOU morning, you’re making room to increase internal happiness by understanding that YOU matter. You don’t just exist to get things done. You exist far beyond that. You’re a unique individual that has value.

The sad thing about it? Many of us don’t take even take 2 seconds to recognize that.

The value that you have can often be disregarded or unnoticed, by your own self, because of how busy your day is or how heavy your responsibilities are.

Because you matter and because you hold so much value, I want to provide you with 10 morning tips and recommendations that set the rest of your day up for success! Let’s do this!

1. Talk With God

   When we wake up in the morning, we automatically want to hit the snooze button or we automatically start thinking about the day ahead. Instead, taking the time to simply speak your gratitude and concerns out loud makes a difference on how you go about the day. Now, I’m not just talking about a basic prayer. “God do this for me…God do that for me…God give me health…yea yea yea.”

   No.

   I’m talking about real, deep personal talk. What are you truly grateful for right now in this moment? What are you worried about and why? What are those deep internal struggles? Having a moment of genuine appreciation and real honesty with God paves the way for those stubborn walls of yours to be broke down before your day begins. We all have them. Walls of worry, walls of stress, walls of past hurt or walls of personal obstacles that block us from seeing the bigger picture – happiness. So tomorrow morning when you open your eyes, revert your mind to that real talk with God. Break down those walls.

   If you need guidance, I recommend the Echo Prayer app. The App helps you organize your thoughts and concerns so you know what exactly to voice while you’re praying.

2. Read For Knowledge

   One of the healthiest habits we can develop is the discipline to read.

   When you read, you’re taking the time to listen. Absorbing the story, words or advice of the writer who takes your mind out of your everyday life and places you in a different head space. Whether that be a romance fiction novel or a nonfiction personal development book. In my opinion, I enjoy reading those personal development books in the morning and then a good novel at night. That way, I’m starting my morning with mental growth and then can curl up with a great nonfiction story at night before my head hits the pillow. Either way, do what you feel is best for you!

   I highly recommend reading The Defining Decade (for people in their 20’s) by Meg Jay, Millionaire Success Habits by Dean Graziosi, or The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

   If you’re looking for a new nonfiction book to read, I’ve enjoyed reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah or The Witness by Nora Roberts.

3. Read For Wisdom

   When I say read for wisdom, I’m talking about reading the Bible.

   I believe in understanding the word of God so that I can learn how and why I should become a better person for myself and for others. Allow the words to motivate you, to change your unhealthy habits and to inspire you to become the best you that you can possibly be. We live in a world that isn’t set up for us to succeed. We have to work hard and fight for what we want. At times, it can make the words in the Bible seem distant or even unfair while maybe making you feel a bit lost along the journey. A great way to find your way back? By reading those pages.

   I highly recommend getting the Bible app. Not only does it have all biblical verses you can find in the Bible, but you can also change out the version (I personally like the Common English Bible version so I can better understand the words), find a reading plan that’s right for you and your current situation, grab motivational quotes or listen to the audio format!

4. Journal To Reflect

   Did you know that the average person thinks about 80,000 thoughts a day? Crazy! That’s an incredible amount of weight on the mind. Writing down some of those thoughts can help you save energy, save mental effort and save your overall ability to focus on the present. Seriously…write about anything – absolutely anything that’s on your mind or that’s heavy on your heart at that moment. I once wrote a 4 page journal entry on how inconsistent and unconfident I felt. Another time I wrote a half page journal entry on something that I thought was hilarious. The point is to allow your mind to roam free and put it down on paper so you can release, and therefore let it go before you begin your day.

   I recommend getting ahold of the Daily Greatness Journal. It’s filled with space to write, space to create a goal planner and also provides you with daily tips for self-mastery. It’s a bit more on the pricy side for a journal, but completely worth it in my opinion. Otherwise, any notebook or journal you can find at your local store will do!

5. Goals To Complete

   Coming up with a list of goals to complete throughout the day is helpful to keep up with the consistency of accomplishing the things that need to get done. This could be anything from work to-do’s, personal goals or your side hustle ambitions. I don’t know about you, but it’s easy for me to get distracted throughout the day with everything going on. Writing down these goals helps me to stay on track and to ensure that I’m climbing that ladder to success, day by day, by getting stuff done!

   I highly recommend including these goals in your Daily Greatness Journal or, if you’re using a basic journal to reflect as stated above, to write the goals down in there!

   Little hint…a few months or a year from now I advise you to take a look back on these journal entries and goals that you’ve previously written down. You’ll realize how much you’ve truly accomplished over time which will then give you a much needed sense of appreciation in yourself!

6. Meditate For Peace

   The beauty of meditation benefits your entire being. From mental to spiritual to physical to emotional…it’s a necessity in my opinion. When you meditate, you’re simply closing your eyes to focus on the now. Focusing on your breathing and how your body is truly feeling. Doing this allows you to just BE, therefore bringing peace and relaxation to every part of you.

   So sit back with your cup of coffee in the morning, and just BE. If thoughts cloud your mind, recognize them as they are and then let them go so your mind can be clear. Set your mind up for success so you can mentally handle the day ahead in the healthiest way possible.

   My favorite meditation practices are found in the headspace app. You do have to pay a monthly or annual fee, however there are FREE guided meditation options available to you too!

7. Workout For Health

   Gym time – my time. I love everything about working out, but it took me awhile to get there. I used to hate dragging myself to a sweaty room full of people I didn’t know (side note: I had to to teach myself the five second rule – you can read my blog post about that here), just to force my butt up and out to exercise. Eventually I adopted the habit to exercise to the point where I couldn’t be without it. It had too deep of a relieving sensation when it came to any stress or anxiety I was facing. I was able release anger, frustration and worry while at the same time physically getting in the best shape I’ve ever been in.

   I’ll persuade anyone to adopt this habit as I did, and getting it done in the morning is the best time to do it! Scientifically, morning workouts allow your body’s metabolism and endorphins to kick in which gives you an extra energy boost throughout the day. It also allows you to just get it over with so you can go about your day. So any of my people that are struggling to get in the gym, go when you wake up so you can get it out of the way!

   There’s many gyms in almost every area for you to choose from. Otherwise for short inspiration, I enjoy watching Pamela Reif’s effective, no-equipment workout videos!

8. Water For Hydration

   There’s not much else to say about this other than “drink up”! We underestimate how much water the average human body needs. For men, about 13 cups (or about 3/4 of a gallon) a day. For women, 9 cups (or about 1/2 of a gallon) a day are necessary for the body to function in an efficient and healthy manner. Healthy hair, skin and nails are some things that’s great about drinking tons of water. Not to mention that taking the time to drink it in the morning will fire up your metabolism, provide brain fuel and will flush out toxins in your system.

   So drink up, my friends!

9. Vitamins For Strength

   When we’re on the go, we often miss out on our daily vitamin intake. Vitamin A, B, C, and D, iron, zinc, calcium, etc. I’m definitely not the kind of person to ensure these ingredients are being accounted for every single day in all the foods I eat, even though they should be. An easy way to stay on top of that is to take daily vitamins, preferably in the morning, so they have time to dissolve on an empty stomach in order to better stimulate brain function.

   I recommend taking One A Day Multivitamin’s for Women, or for men if you’re a male, to consolidate the amount of vitamins you take into one large multivitamin.

10. Breakfast For Energy

    You know how the saying goes. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” It sounds so cliche, but it really is true. I used to skip breakfast, thinking intermittent fasting was the way to go. But I found that I was actually missing out on the time that my body needed nutrients the most – in the morning. Eating breakfast breaks the overnight fasting period while you’re asleep, which replenishes the body with the nutrients needed to supply enough energy throughout the day.

    Now, don’t go all out. Pancakes, fatty bacon, eggs with cheese, sausage and biscuits… I mean, a big breakfast like this every now and then is delicious. But most mornings should include a healthy and balanced meal when you wake up. How much you eat can depend on gender, diet, and how often you exercise.

    My personal favorites to make in the morning are:

    • egg white veggie omelets (high in protein and vitamins, lower in cholesterol)

    • boiled egg with avocado and turkey bacon (high in protein and good fats, lower in calorie intake)

    • A fruit and veggie smoothie with a side of oatmeal (high in vitamins and good carbs, lower in fat)

    So, there you have it my friends! 10 tips AND recommendations to start adopting in the morning so that you can create a more energized, focused, and healthier YOU throughout the day.

    Why? Because you matter. Make room to increase the internal happiness that you deserve. You hold so much value as the unique individual that you are. Don’t just exist to get things done. Exist far beyond that.

    And remember, bloom to grow. Build to succeed. And beautify to love.

    Feel free to share this link with friends or family to bring these morning habits their way too!

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Let’s beautify your life, today!