As with anything in life, in order to win at something, we must have a plan that we execute consistently.

Mornings are no different

The Night Before

Before the morning has even begun, we must get adequate rest. You and I both know the difficulty of winning your mornings when our eyes just aren’t ready to open (solution to this problem in next point).

To get the rest we need, we must start to tell our bodies in the evening to start releasing melatonin (our sleep hormone). Decreasing the amount of light and switching off our devices are both a great place to start. Aim to do these around an hour before going to sleep. Take out your journal and write out a to do list for tomorrow and anything else on your mind. We have so many thoughts throughout the day so if we write them out then we can remember the goods ones… and laugh at the bad ones…

Now. We are all set to brush & floss our teeth, give a nice, minute long swivel of mouthwash whilst shaking your body (loosen up)… and OH I nearly forgot… have a nice, quick, cold shower. There are recommendations to use either warm or cold showers before bed but experimenting with both over the years, cold wins it for me. Start off warm if you must, then switch the knob all the way around, breathe and try to calm the body and mind. Then… you are all set to get into bed.

The duvet over your cold body will feel incredible, trust me. Now we have around 30–45 minutes or so for you to read, relax, and let go of the day. Some suggest avoiding non — fiction before bed because of it’s stimulating effect… I read non-fiction and sleep great

Whatever floats your boat.

Once we reach our bed time (around 8 hours from when we are scheduled to wake up), get out of bed, make one last stop to the bathroom and do your final pee for the night. Then back into bed, imagining yourself swinging on a hammock in a deserted island (like I do) and have sweet dreams…

The Alarm

If you didn’t hate me after evening cold shower… I’m confident you will hate me after this. Set your alarm for your phone.

Then place your phone on the other side of the room.

This is how you wake up. Extreme? Perhaps. It makes snoozing a thing of the past. Remember, we are here to win our mornings.

Out of bed, now what?

Ok. Remember how I said earlier about our eyes not being ready to open? Well my friend. Here’s the secret.

Once you have turned off your alarm, go to the bathroom to go pee (and maybe ***). Then go inside your shower. Twist the knob to the coldest setting. And turn the water on full blast. Yup.

That will get your eyes to open alright…

Post shower feels

Trust me my friend, you will feel invincible. Like you can conquer anything thrown at you. If you are like me and chase that invincible feeling:

Avoid switching on your phone for as long as possible.

After the cold shower, keep your phone off and do one of the following: run, walk, meditate, yoga.

The secret is: whether you sit down and meditate or not, if you are not using your phone… you are blocking out the outside noise and are consequently in a moving meditation.

If you are reading these tips thinking I am crazy. Try it for yourself and see how you feel. What are some other things you do to win your mornings?

🙏🙏🙏

Since you've made it this far, sharing this article on your favorite social media network would be highly appreciated 💖! For feedback, please ping me on Twitter.