How to stick with your morning routine through the holidays for lasting results
Winter has found its way to the mountains. There’s snowflakes falling. The harsh wind is blowing. And when I dragged the trash down our looooong driveway this morning (because #reallife), it was a blustery 11 degrees out.
Not exactly prime running weather.
So with this shift in the seasons, I’m feeling the need to adjust my own morning routine. For me, that means more days of pilates, fewer days running around the lake. It means adjusting my sleep schedule because it’s darker earlier in the morning and it’s harder to get out of bed. It means taking a closer look at those habits I’ve established and making sure that they’re still working FOR me, not against me.
Because if there’s one thing I want you to know about creating a morning routine (and this is so, SO important) it’s that you get to decide what it looks like.
And here’s why that’s important:
I’m always amazed how quickly we, over here on team human-being, go from attempting a morning routine because of the amazing results it can have → to rejecting it entirely and declaring that it’s simply not possible. Perhaps you’re not a wake-up-at-5am kinda gal or you love to check your email first thing in the morning (which every guru advises against).
But what if instead of taking a prescriptive approach to a morning routine, you made up your own rules?
What if instead of declaring that the holidays simply aren’t the time to start something new, you looked at what a morning routine COULD look like if you started it now?
How much further ahead would you be when the new year rolls around?
Because I know your life and business would look distinctly different, heck distinctly BETTER, if you were intentional about how you started each day.
Which is why I’m so excited to talk about how to create a morning routine you can stick to THROUGH the holiday season and why you don’t have to wait until the new year to start seeing some serious growth and results in your life and business because of it.
Ditch the all or nothing mentality
When starting a new morning routine, it’s common for clients to want to take a 0 to 100 approach. Meaning going from no structure or routine whatsoever to creating a 45-step process no human being would even be able to stick to. But I encourage you to take a different approach.
I think you should go about creating your morning routine much like you would layer a cake, building habit upon habit until you’ve created a routine that is almost second-nature. You see, easing into a routine in this way keeps you from falling off the bandwagon entirely. It gives your mind time to adjust to something entirely new and different so you have more likelihood of sticking with it in the long-term.
Consequently, I think of building a business in a similar way. (Yet another example of how the mindset we cultivate in life benefits our mindset in business!) So many creatives and entrepreneurs fall off the bandwagon when it comes to marketing because they haven’t found a repeatable system that works for them.
They think they need to be on all the platforms, doing all the things. So it’s Pinterest one day! Facebook the next! Wait that didn’t work, how about Twitter! But here’s the thing: split focus almost always means split results. So when you don’t show up repeatedly on one platform before adding another, it becomes too many things for your mind to keep up with, and chances are you abandon marketing all together.
The point is, results are built through consistent efforts, and that goes for both life and business. So what if instead of thinking it had to be all or nothing when it comes to a morning routine or a marketing plan, you tried just ONE new thing, consistently, until you’ve mastered it?
Get creative with how you stick to your morning routine
Our brains love to keep us safe. It’s a survival mechanism that’s hard-wired in there and serves us in many ways, but it also means that you may feel some initial resistance when trying something new. Read: You’ll think of every excuse NOT to go for that run or create that Facebook post. This is exactly why mindset is so effing important, because you have to make a conscious choice to think a different thought.
This can be especially difficult around the holidays, when our schedule can be so different than what it usually is. You were out late at that holiday party. You have house guests. You have Christmas shopping to do. The weather is less than stellar. The list goes on… But this is when you can make a conscious choice to get creative about how you stick to your morning routine.
When we had family in town this past summer, I could have easily bailed on my usual morning routine, stating that there was just “too much going on” and that I’d pick it up again when they left. But instead, I got creative about how my morning routine could work ANYWAY. So instead of my usual run, I went for a walk with the dog and I invited them to come along. Was it what I usually did? Not exactly. But did it still mean that I got my morning exercise in and saw the benefits of that, like more focus and productivity? Absolutely.
Getting creative in this way is a valuable mindset shift in business too. Things don’t always go as planned. I’ve had podcast guests cancel at the last minute and I’ve had ‘emergency’ client deadlines pop up. But getting creative about how you handle those shifts—like doing a last-minute solocast or repurposing content that I wrote previously so I could clear room in my schedule—is equally (if not more!) valuable in business too.
Remember each day is a fresh start
I’m a strong believer that consistency is something you do MOST of the time because I don’t believe in the idea of “perfect.” And here’s why that’s so important when it comes to creating a morning routine that works for you: because there will absolutely be days when things don’t go as planned.
In fact, this is the number on objection I hear when it comes to creating a morning routine. Clients insist that their life “just doesn’t work like that” and that “something always comes up” so “there’s no way I could stick to that.” While yes, it is 100% true that things come up, I don’t think it should hold you back from creating and actioning your ideal routine MOST of the time.
I’ve had mornings when I really needed to be creating content or prepping for a talk I was going to give, when instead, I was out in the yard in my pjs and a messy bun searching for my dog who had dug his way out of the yard. Yes stuff happens, but remember that tomorrow is always another day for you to start fresh.
And you guessed it! The same goes for business too. Just because you missed one newsletter post or forgot to follow up when you said you would, doesn’t mean it has to be all or nothing. Remember that it’s a new day and YOU get to decide how you want to show up today.
Download the free morning routine guide
So you’ve been reading this post, nodding along to every word, but you’re feeling unsure of how exactly to craft a morning routine that you can stick to. Well lady, I’ve got you covered.
This is exactly why I created my free morning routine guide. I want you to have the tools you need to create a strong foundation for a beautiful, balanced life and thriving, successful business.
So if you find yourself…
...Checking your inbox first thing in the morning, before even stepping foot out of bed
...Constantly juggling a mental list of to-dos, feeling behind before you even get started
...Feeling rushed and stressed, like you’re in a constant battle with your schedule
...Scrolling Insta or Facebook, only to wonder where the time goes each morning
...Going through the motions, without feeling intentional or fulfilled
....Wondering if this fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants feeling is normal or if this is just “the way things are”
Then friend, this one's made for you… I’m going to help you create a morning routine you can stick to, so you can not only transform the way you start each day, but change the fundamental ways you show up in your life and business and see more of the results you want!
Tell me in the comments below:
What’s one thing you’re going to “layer” into your morning routine for more results in life and business? Over the holiday season, mine is to add journaling to my morning routine!
Photography by Jennifer Morgan Photography
