Struggling to Stick to Your Morning Routine? Try This.

What I want to chat about today, is the ever-elusive perfect morning routine.

As creatures who are constantly on the hunt for certainty, we biologically crave a sense of supportive structure in our lives. It’s in our very DNA – in the shape of our soul – to seek our safety and security. Certainty is essential.

But just as imperative as certainty (and here’s where I give a massive shout out to ma man Tony Robbins for these incredible teachings) is variety. Our bodies crave uncertainty just as significantly as it longs for the certain. And this is truly holistic – our bodies (our cells, muscles, nervous systems), our minds, and the very life force energy that breathes us – it all thrives on variety. Variety = growth.

I have clients that wage an inner war with themselves when they lean away from their routines. When their meditation practice abandons them. When their Perfect Morning falls by the wayside and leaves them feeling – quite frankly – fat, lazy and laden with guilt. They point their finger at Resistance – their top suspect, who they deem responsible for their inability to stick to any chosen system.

But I want to encourage us all to see this a little differently.

That burden and obligation that comes with mapping out concrete morning routines? What if we dropped that?

You might be thinking: Yep, sure, that’s great. But I need a sense of order in my life. I need to find my groove. I need a method, a schedule, a formula for success.

I understand. My practices have served me beautifully over the last couple of years – but have they remained the same? Hella no. They’ve changed with my moods, the seasons, the planets, the size of my to-do list, my commitments, and my energy levels.

So here’s a suggestion that’s set to serve us in a number ways.

• First of all, we can say sayonara to the lack of sustainability that comes with an extended routine goal. When we fall short of these lengthy goals, we say hello to the presence of failure, and when we feel a sense of failure, we’re likely to sabotage our efforts in Next Level kinda ways.

• Second, we can all start re-connecting more deeply with our intuition, and we can never get enough of that.

• Third, this suggestion will allow you to personalise your approach to routine; make it sacred; make it self-referencing, rather than allowing the daily feeds on Instagram and Facebook to dictate how you ‘should’ be spending your days.

• Fourth, We’re reeling in our focus from both the past and the future, and allowing our attention to settle a little in the moment.

• And finally, we’re switching mindsets, from trying to avoid resistance, to celebrating variety. Resistance is the saboteur of dreams. Variety is evolution in motion. I know which I’d prefer to acknowledge.

So, here it is: instead of crafting a killer morning routine of epic proportions, try this.

Each evening, when you get a few moments to yourself, close your eyes, imagine yourself waking up the next morning, and internally ask yourself:

What would support me this morning?

{This doesn’t have to take long. 20-30 seconds will do it.}

You may discover that you feel like eggs and avo on toast, instead of your regular smoothie.

You may arise enthused to land on your meditation cushion, or not.

You might trade out your morning run for a few slow, gentle salutes to the sun. You may trade out your yoga class for a sweat, intensified sprint sesh.

You may wake craving a bath.

A giggle with your children.

A conversation with your love, about the things you love.

You may hunger for the first rays of morning light to kiss your face.

You may sleep through your alarm.

Allow your soul to guide you with this. Trust what comes up. This mechanism you’re accessing – the one governed by bodily sensations, rather than mind chatter – there’s real value there. There’s truth there.

We need to release any suspicion that our lives were created to become blueprints. They weren’t, sweet spuds. Variety is the spice of life, and the best thing about this exercise, is that not only are we satisfying the primal need for variety, but we’re also pleasing our need for certainty, by projecting a day-to-day ‘routine’ (though that doesn’t seem to be the right word to use here) rather than a set in stone one.

It’s a far cry from living in the moment, but it’s infinitely more sustainable that the Morning Routine Myth.

Over to you. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Does this feel more sustainable to you? Do you instantly feel a sense of ease enter in as you give yourself permission to chase the tail of Variety?

Close your eyes for a moment, imagine yourself waking up tomorrow, and in the comments below, finish this sentence:

This morning, I’ll feel supported by ______________

I’m looking forward to poring through your answers.

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