Forming Habits To Establish A Morning Routine+

Good morning!

Jason here from Sovran Healing. Today I'd like to share a blog post about forming habits for a morning routine with my fellow Millennials & Gez Z. We'll discuss creating a morning routine in terms of forming good habits that'll make up your personal morning routine. Including an example of mine to get you started. Feel free to pick out what works and leave out what doesn't. 

Some of you attend school or have a 9:00 am-5:00 pm job, so your morning time is quite limited and you'll need to adjust it. For those of you who work from home or study from home, you can swipe and deploy my routine. I will be sure to create a blog on a routine fit for someone who works a 9:00am – 5:00pm job in the near future.

Before we start:

In brief, you should know that creating a morning routine is like building habits. 

• In order to create habits, we must be disciplined.
• In order to be disciplined you must be consistent.
• The better you'll follow your disciplines, the better you'll feel both physically and emotionally.

How long do habits take to form:

According to the 21/90 rule, it takes 21 days to make a habit and 90 days to make it a permanent lifestyle change. Commit to your goal for 21 days and it will become a habit. Commit to your goal for 90 days and it will become a part of your lifestyle.

SOURCE: ACTIVE IRON

Create a list of your non-negotiables:

Another key point is to decide what your non-negotiables are. They'll act as your basement for routine building. You'll have to play around with your routine and find what actually works best for your lifestyle and purpose. This takes a little bit of time; it's a process and you need to give it time to discover it for yourself.

The first thing you need to know is that in order to honor the non-negotiables, you must be disciplined. Every day, when you wake up and you decide to honor your discipline, in turn, you're actually honoring yourself. 

What you start, you finish:

I'd like to share two quotes that stuck with me throughout my life. I know they'll aid you in accomplishing your routine: 

1. “Get ready like you are in the army.” - Got this from my dad
2. ”Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” - Got this from my Laido Sensei Practice (more on that in another post)

The reason I shared this is that the morning objective is to accomplish your routine in a prompt manner while being fluent. If you rush, you'll miss key details that give you a cutting edge. For example, when I practice my Iadio techniques, I always finish the technique completely. Your morning will reflect your day and if you act lackadaisical (lacking determination & being lazy), your actions for the remainder of the day will follow.

Ritual vs Task

Additionally, you should feel the time for some disciplines to quicken up, while others are like a ritual and shall remain the same. For example, you should gradually get faster at making your bed and preparing tea. Whereas drinking tea should not be a race. 

Create Multiple Morning Routines

Lastly, your morning routines will differ at times and that's ok. If you're running late for class you won't have the time you do on the weekend so it's a good idea to have a pre-school morning routine when time is tight. Trying to stick to just one doesn't work. You'll fall off the bandwagon, feel this is not for you, and give up. In actuality, you just didn't take into account the whole picture, let me explain.

Another key point, is when I travel, for example, it's challenging for me to honor the discipline I do at home.  I simply don't have everything at my disposal so instead of letting it go, I simply switch to my Morning Routine On-The-Go. In the event I wake up feeling under the weather I do my Under-The-Weather Routine, but I still do one.  

So, let me ask you: What do you do first thing in the morning? Do you respect yourself and your body or do you reach for the phone and start to consume messages & social media content?  This leads us up discipline #1.Let's jump right in!

Avoid the Phone

Being that the two of the most valuable assets are stripped from you when you check your phone first thing:

1. Focus
2. Energy

As long as you want to preserve your dopamine receptors, I suggest you refrain from checking your phone for at least the first hour. 

When you check your phone first thing, you are bombarded with notifications, messages, calls, etc. This can be overwhelming and may cause stress and anxiety. Social media apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter can be filled with negative news, which can induce fear. Influencers posting their dream which are usually fake anyhow) can have an impact on your self-esteem if you compare yourself to others. 

In time, if you check your phone first thing, it can be difficult to break this habit. I’ve been there, and I’ve created a few techniques to create a new habit.

My first suggestion for forming habits for a morning routine is to place your phone where it is not easily accessible. Avoid placing it beside your bed. Therefore, you can’t roll over and grab it. Place it in a different room, or far from your bed.  In summary, use an alarm clock if you need an alarm to wake up. Not only does it remove a distraction, it removes a device from radiating your head. 

In affect, you can go a step further, and allow your phone battery to drain, therefore there is no way of accessing your phone first thing.  

Another solution is to monitor your screen time. Most cellular devices have the option to view, limit, and schedule your app usage. This is a great tool as you can have a time limit for each app, have scheduled times when the app can be used, as well as view usage per app. For example, if you spend 5 hours a day on your phone from the age of 14 to 80, it ends up being 13.75 years of your life. At 80 we will all want those years back.  

No Sleeping In

At any rate, I’m not stating that it’s not okay to sleep in. There are times when I do sleep in, and I find it necessary. Although, when it becomes a habit, and you continue to hit the snooze button, it can have a negative effect on your day. 

This is a simple, yet effective method to build consistency and discipline if you want to form good habits for a morning routine. In the event that your room is unorganized, messy, and dirty, this can be a direct correlation to your life. A messy room equals a messy mind. In order to make this discipline smooth, use your energy to first organize, declutter, and clean your room. It's important to realize that when your room is clean, making your bed will be quick. If your room is messy, there can be other things in the way that can distract you, stripping your focus away from the main objective.

Water Quality

All things considered, water quality is my highest non-negotiable. Here's why it should end up on your list too. As a matter of fact, our bodies are over 70% water so make sure you have the purest, freshest water available. I gather fresh spring water just a few kilometers from my house in glass demijohns. Although spring water is naturally structured, I run the water through the Crystal Blue Water Structuring unit to add light and energy to the water. 

Hot Drink  

Hydrating is a great habit for a morning routine that'll stick for the rest of your life. Aim for a total of 64 ounces (1.8L) of warm-to-hot liquids before putting any physical food in your body. The blender drinks break my fast (more on that in a later post).

Place my hot liquids in a clay or ceramic mug  and take them on my morning walk when I greet the morning sun. Walking allows me to enter my flow/meditative state and is essential for me to create new ideas, gather my thoughts, and manifest. I’ve noticed after morning walks, I have more clarity, energy, and drive to conquer the day.  

Forming habit for a routine - Greeting The Morning Sun

Another forming habit for a morning routine is to align with your circadian rhythm. One of the best ways to do so is to sun-gaze in the morning when the sun comes up, and again when the sun goes down.  

Waking up to the sun opposed to waking up to your phone has their differences. When I wake up and get as much morning sun as I can, I feel invigorated and ready to conquer the day, as well as a sense of gratitude. When I wake up and check my phone I tend to feel tired and have less drive to finish the necessary tasks of the

According to Dr. Andrew Huberman:

In short, greeting the morning sun is a great way to expose yourself to Vitamin D, and some of the most vital functions are regulating the absorption of calcium and phosphorus and facilitating normal immune system function. 

Move The Lymph 

As I soak in the sun, I like to move the lymphatic system by walking. I aim for about 10,000 steps a day, and I typically get about 3,000 steps during my morning walk which can take 30 minutes. I bring my hot liquids with me so I can continue to hydrate.

Forming Habits for a Morning Routine Discipline #5: Planning 

Another principal point in forming habits for a morning routine is to know what your main tasks are and categorize them as a high priority. When I say high-priority, I also mean non-negotiable. These tasks must be completed no matter how you feel. Since they are priorities, I complete them first while I have the most energy and focus. Typically, high priority may be pressing and may have a deadline coming up. For example, I have a blog post due tomorrow and need to have the draft ready for review. 

In similar fashion, I then include other tasks. Keep in mind that just because they aren’t labelled “high priority” does not mean they aren’t important and therefore should not be neglected. Other tasks typically aren’t as pressing as high priority, thus why I list them afterward. I will go into greater depth on planning in further blogs.  

To ensure productivity flow, make a point form checklist with a suggested time. The checklist will ensure you finish your tasks on a timely matter and keep you focused. When the clock is ticking, I pay more attention and complete tasks with more efficiency as I aim finish within the time frame. I’ve noticed I’m less vulnerable to distractions when I have a list that requires action.  

It is crucial to reflect back on the quote from Sensei, “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” An example of my High-priority tasks for Business: 

• 1-2 Write Planning section of blog  
• 2-3 Design pictures for spine section of manual – 1 hour  
• 3-3:30 Call backs/message replies – 30 minutes 

An example of my other tasks for Business:

• 3:30-4 Specify benefits for superfoods 
• 4-4:30 Rewrite website bio  

Discipline #6: Exercise

In truth, your body is a temple, and it is your responsibility to maintain the temple. Everything in life is rented, not owned, including your body. Exercise is not something I perform when I am in the mood to do so, but rather a discipline that must be honoured to maintain the temple. Humans were not intended to sit around all day and live a sedimentary lifestyle. This is a key reason why I have included exercise as a discipline. 

It is not as common to see someone with a toned body. Being fit in and of itself emits the impression that you are accountable and are no stranger to hard work. In addition to cardiovascular health, the traits that will strengthen from exercising on the daily is consistency and perseverance. You build consistency when you exercise every day, no matter the excuse. Perseverance is strengthened when you push yourself through the exercise despite the feeling of giving up. These qualities will reflect on other aspects of life such as work and relationships.  

Here is an example of a daily routine of mine: 

• 9-9:30 Bike to gym  
• 9:30-10 Stretch  
• 10-11 Glutes and hamstrings   
• 11-11:30 Sauna  
• 11:30-12:30 Bike Home (its uphill so it takes longer…) 

Forming habits for a morning routine

Now that you read this post, my hope is that these 5 simple disciplines will aid to in establishing your very own morning routine. Remember, the 21/90-day rule. It'll take 21 days to make a habit but you'll need 90 days to make it a permanent lifestyle change. Once you have a routine that takes into account your non-negotiables, your body will thank you, your mind will thank you and you'll start feeling amazing and empowered.  

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