The three indispensable ingredients for a good morning ritual

Do you have a morning ritual? If not, here's why you should have one.

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Routines and rituals bring structure into our lives. This is why, for example, they're so important for children. Children who know that their parents will come to tuck them in bed and tell them a bedtime story every evening feel a sense of comfort and safety. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us, as adults, forget about the benefits of rituals. We spend our time running around, reacting to the chaos that comes from the outside while trying to navigate through our own internal mess.

If this feels like you, a morning ritual will help you regain control. When we wake up in the morning, our brain is rested and regenerated. It's the ONLY moment where you have the opportunity to set the tone for the rest of the day. As soon as you let external problems and distractions in, it's too late.

So, how can you craft a morning ritual that will serve serve your greatest ambitions and help you reach your wildest dreams?

There are plenty of books that are dedicated to this topic that will help you understand the power of a good morning routine and motivate you to start one. Just to name a few: The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, The 5 a:m Club by Robin Sharma, Good Morning Good life by Amy Landino. Although each book has a different approach and suggests different types of practices, you will find out that a good morning ritual usually has three components: Introspection, Learning, and Exercise.

Introspection is a moment of mindfulness and reflection. Whether it's through journaling, prayer, meditation, or a silent walk in nature, you can use this moment to ask yourself the important questions about the direction your life should take.
Learning is a moment of mastery and personal growth. You can read books and listen to podcasts that will help you know yourself better and teach you new skills. Another way to use your Learning time is to practice the skills that you're trying to master.
Exercise is pretty self-explanatory. There are a lot of benefits to exercising in the morning (the first of them being that you won't have to scratch your head to figure out how to find the time in your busy day to hit the gym) There are thousands of inexpensive apps and free Youtube channels that will provide you with all kinds of workouts that you can do at home, of all durations and for all levels.

Figure out how you could include these components in your own morning ritual. You can start by asking yourself: what do I need more of in my life right now?
Here are a few examples.
If you hate your current job and you know it's time for a change, but you never really have the time to actually think about what you want to do next, you can try journaling as your Introspection practice. It will help you clear your mind and find clarity.
If you've always wanted to learn a new language but it's hard for you to squeeze that into your busy schedule, you could include this in your Learning practice.
If you regularly suffer from back pain, starting your day with a yoga session or stretching exercises will make you feel better over time.

A morning ritual is personal, there is no right or wrong way to do it. There is no ideal wake-up time or ideal duration, nor are there mandatory practices that you should absolutely include. Your ideal morning ritual is the one that serves you best. The only way to find out what works best for you is to experiment. However, one thing I can tell you for sure is that a good morning ritual can change your life.

Are you ready to start tomorrow? Set your alarm 30 minutes earlier than usual, decide what practices you will try, commit to do it again the next day, and enjoy the transformation.

Thanks for reading The Antisnooze Life! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.