In full transparency I am not a morning person.

I used to spend a large part of my morning feeling groggy, grumpy, and irritated. Which is not a great way to start your day.

Not wanting to spend my time being annoyed and sleepy, I started incorporating new morning habits into my routine.

I noticed a difference after the first week. My mood was better throughout the day, my mind was clearer, and my mindset was more focused meaning I was able to concentrate more while working towards my goals.

This all happened with just a few new habits.

If you want a better morning routine to stay focused and clear all day long so you can achieve your goals, keep reading.

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If you’ve ever had one of those mornings where you wake up late, none of your clothes look good on you for some reason, your hair won’t cooperate, and you spill your coffee, then you know it’s hard to recover from those kinds of mornings.

Our mornings set the tone for the rest of our day.

If the first thing we experience in the morning is something that will annoy or stress us, for the rest of the day we feel a little agitated or anxious.

If we start our morning with self-care, then our mindset for the rest of the day is primed for taking care of ourselves.

We make better decisions when we are in a self-care and positive mindset. This helps us make uplifting and positive choices in reaching our goals.

Just by starting your morning with a good routine can improve your chances of reaching your goals and living a happier life.

*If you want to gain more confidence in just one week, subscribe to my newsletter to receive your FREE copy of the 7-Day Confidence Building Workbook*

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Many of us reach for our phones the second we wake up. We’re then bombarded with lights, colors, distractions, and upsetting news.

For the rest of the day those distracting, negative thoughts are in the back of our mind.

I used to do this not realizing how it was affecting me.

Then one day I listened to a Marie Forleo podcast and heard these magical words: “create before you consume.”

Instead of starting my morning with mindless content consumption, I changed that habit to creating a better morning for myself by meditating for at least 5 minutes every morning.

As soon as my alarm goes off, I set a timer for at least 5 minutes, sometimes it’s more. I sit up in bed with my legs crossed and my hands on my knees.

 I also smile softly. This really does make a huge difference.  

For 5 minutes I will meditate on everything I’m grateful for in my life, a vision of my dream life that I’m actively working towards, or I’ll meditate with God on my mind to hear a message from Him. (I’m a Christian, but God can be whatever higher power you believe in.)

When I open my eyes, I feel happier, lighter, and ready to start my day.

 At this point my dog, Stella, is usually staring at me or whining while she patiently (impatiently) waits for her breakfast.

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Well, first I do walk out into the kitchen and feed Stella, this hungry girl can only wait so long for her breakfast.

Once Stella is eating, I’ll go back to our room to make our bed.

I started making my bed every morning after reading this quote from Admiral William H. McRaven, a retired Navy admiral.

“If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right. And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made—and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.”

This just made a lot of sense to me. That next morning after reading this, making my bed became one of the first things I did for the day.

There have also been studies showing how people who make their bed in the morning are often more successful. Why?

Because starting your morning in this structured way helps you stay consistent and follow through on other tasks throughout the day. 

Turns out all our moms were right; we need to make our beds.

*If you want to gain more confidence in just one week, subscribe to my newsletter to receive your FREE copy of the 7-Day Confidence Building Workbook*

Stella is not only a hungry pup, but she’s also an adventurous one. Being part Beagle going on walks is important to her so she can smell all the new scents in our neighborhood.

Stella and I usually walk from 30 to 45 minutes every morning.

Sometimes I’ll listen to an uplifting podcast or audiobook that inspires me for the day. And sometimes I won’t listen to anything, and I’ll just enjoy my time with my girl and the world around us.

This became my favorite morning habit during 2020 because seeing my dog so happy in a world that felt so chaotic, just melted my heart.

Her easy-going, carefree nature helped to center and ground me. And it still does.

Even if you don’t have a dog, going for a walk is great for your mental and physical health.

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Usually when I get back from my walk with Stella is when I’ll start checking my phone. I wish I could put it off until later in the day, but I’m human.

I’ll check my emails and Instagram. I’ll usually make a post on Instagram if I need to and share a few things to my story.

I do limit this time though. I don’t want to get sucked into the black hole of my phone. So, after 5 to 10 minutes, I turn to YouTube for my next morning activity.

For me personally, if I don’t workout first thing then I just won’t do it. I’ll make excuses for the rest of the day. But I have a good routine now of working out 3 days a week and doing yoga 2 days a week.

On my workout days I do a Pilates routine from YouTube. My favorite Pilates channels are Sunshine Pilates and Move with Nicole.

On my yoga days I practice yoga following a routine from YouTube. My favorite yoga channel is Yoga with Kassandra.

These are usually only 30 minutes or so. Afterwards I feel accomplished and like I did something good just to take care of myself. This helps to reinforce my self-care and self-love mindset.

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After working out or practicing yoga, I’ll make tea. While I wait for the tea to cool in the fridge (I’m an iced tea girl) I’ll grab my scripting journal.

I’m currently using one of the cute custom notebooks from Paper Source. I have the ice cream one and customized it to say, “scripting journal”. Being a notebook collector, I love that I can customize these notebooks to label them.

I’ve recently started scripting. I’ve tried other manifestation techniques before. The only one I’ve stuck with is visualization manifestation that I’ll do when I mediate.

But recently I learned more about scripting and wanted to give it a try.

Scripting is basically writing a letter to the Universe or your higher power, thanking them for all the blessings in your life that you want. But the key is you have to write in the present tense. As if you already have all these blessings and feel the way you want to feel.

So far, I’ve really enjoyed scripting. It makes me smile and puts me in a good mood. It also helps to keep my goals in the forefront of my mind, so I stay more consistent and motivated.

I’ll write another post soon going into more detail on scripting and how it’s working for me.

After I put away my scripting journal, I grab my weekly planner.

I love this planner from Paper Source because it’s a vertical weekly planner. It’s been my favorite planner I’ve used so far.

I’ll look over the tasks for the day and see what quick wins I can get out of the way to get the ball rolling.

My schedule trick is that I write “walk Stella and workout or practice yoga” in my planner so as soon as I open it, I can check off two tasks.

This just gives me a little boost in motivation and gives me a sense of accomplishment.

This is my morning routine that helps me stay on track to achieve my goals. It works for me. It makes me feel more confident, motivated, productive, focused, and overall happier.

I’d love to know what habits you want to incorporate into your morning routine. Let me know in the comments below!