How, and why is a morning routine important if it’s just a routine?
Morning routine’s never new to us – we all have heard about it at some point in our lives – but most people haven’t really reflected on what it’s truly about.
Some of you would most likely say: “ I get up in the morning, have my coffee and go to work! How hard can it be?”
“Establishing a morning routine? Do we even need one?“
You’re happy that way and that’s great. But having a structured one is better.
Additionally, we are wired for routines, and since morning is the start of the day, we might as well make a routine out of it that benefits us.
Fill it with actions that make us THRIVE and GROW, not just what’s enough to get us through the day.
Well to go back and answer the question, OF COURSE, we need it.
If you know what to do and how to do it, it’s gonna make things so much easier because you would be prepared for whatever unpredictable’s coming.
And when you are prepared… you’d be less stressed which also means you’ll have greater focus.
MORNING ROUTINE IS A KEY TO SUCCESS
Have you heard that morning routine is an important key to success? It prepares you for something unpredictable that’s coming.
How?
One good example is Brendon Burchard, a #1 New York Times best-selling author and “the world’s leading high-performance coach”.
His morning routine includes doing yoga, looking over his daily schedule through the use of his very own 1-page Productivity Planner, and reading something positive.
Now I’m not saying that yours has to be like his… what I’m saying is look deeper.
There’s a ton of things you can do, all with greater purpose.
SOME THINGS TO START WITH
Br grateful, exercise, and find inspiration… if you start your day with these things, then you will have a great day.
It’s not about the flow of time you have to strictly follow… BUT about how you actually treat yourself well by attracting positive energy through doing things that can help you move forward.
And I get it – there were times in life when this is hard to accomplish.
When my kids were small – 3 young ones – there was no time for sophisticated morning routines. Mornings were to survive.
That’s why I’d also like to say that it is okay to take baby steps, as long as you practice it consistently that it becomes a habit – because there are no quick fixes.
So as long as you try to do something, and you do it consistently and sincerely, you are on the right track and I want you to know that…
You’ll get there eventually.
HERE’S A SECRET
It’s not a matter of how you do it or how long you do it – AS LONG AS YOU DO IT.
There are a lot of different things you can do – here’s to name a few:
1. Having Gratitude.
You will never go wrong with being grateful. Starting your day grateful, and ending it the same way actually has a huge positive impact on the brain.
Aside from the overall feeling of goodness brought by the feel-good hormones, having gratitude for something that has happened or hasn’t happened yet is a good way of setting things in a positive direction.
2. Being physically active.
Do something physical. Move.
This is to clear your mind with negativities and get your thoughts in order.
Working out? Stretching? Whatever works for you. Just make sure to get physically active, even if that means squeezing it in your 10 minutes of free time.
As for me, I like to take a 30-minute morning brisk walk before breakfast.
3. Being Inspired.
Listening to your favorite podcast, reading a book, listening to an audiobook, or singing along to your favorite song?
Take your pick! Because as long as it inspires you – you better include it in your morning routine.
30 minutes or an hour? It doesn’t matter!The point is for you to get the amount of energy you need to jumpstart your day.
These are just some of the “many”, and it may or may not work for everyone because, after all, we still have our own cup of tea.
This is not about what morning routines successful people do, but about how having one helps a lot in achieving success.
Gratitude, movement, inspiration – in general shows what morning routine’s really all about.
Sleep – a very basic activity in life and very important for better health, wellness, and even for the business.
It is a basic function regulated by our internal clocks or the circadian rhythm.
The circadian rhythm, also known as our body’s 24-hour “internal clock” that controls our body’s sleep-wake cycle, is set by biology.
It’s true that our internal clocks naturally change a bit as we age, but we still need to adjust to the rhythm we are born with.
If we violate the clocks, by staying up when they tell us to sleep, they will get out of rhythm and that is when we feel out of rhythm, that’s feeling sick.
Just think of a day after you had too little sleep… you feel drowsy and become a slow thinker.
Guess what? That happens after just one night out of rhythm.
Regardless of your perfect bedtime, the sleeping hours are important as there are consequences to face for getting inadequate sleep.
Repeatedly inadequate sleep results in a lot of problems, including, but not limited to: obesity, blood pressure increase, higher risk of cardiovascular disease, the risk for stroke and diabetes, slow memory recall, and a whole lot more.
These consequences aside from being bad for the health are also bad for the business. You couldn’t be hustling with your business if you are already too unhealthy or forgetful to do so.
THE SOLUTION
Now that we know the risks, let us discuss the solutions.
How do we get enough sleep with better quality?
First, avoid caffeine and cigarettes when it’s near sleeping time. These are stimulants and we don’t want to have much active brain stimulation if we’re gonna sleep.
Next, avoid drinking alcohol late at night. Alcohol indeed makes you feel drowsy and sleepy, but too much of it makes your sleep pattern disturbed so even though you quickly fell asleep because of drinking, you won’t get your sleep in the right order. Wonder why you wake up feeling tired even after sleeping for long hours? Bet now you know the answer.
And third, is to engage in daily physical activity as it helps the body rest and sleep better at night.
Even just 30 minutes of brisk walking will do but remember not to have the heavy physical activity done too close to bedtime so you’re not in the hype when you try to sleep.
OPTIMIZING THE SLEEP ENVIRONMENT
You can also achieve a good night’s sleep by optimizing your sleep environment, like avoiding bright lights or Television as the blue lights of those will block your most important sleep hormone, melatonin.
You can instead wind down by listening to soft music or reading nice books.
IMPORTANCE OF ROUTINE
Not everyone can sleep the moment they lie down. Some need an extra 20 minutes before falling asleep.
If you are one of those who need the extra time, use it to wind down and do it every day until your body gets used to it.
OBSERVANCE IS THE KEY
Do not forget to observe the time you go to bed, the times you wake up at night, the time you wake up in the morning and remember if you have had a good night’s sleep or not.
Maybe you can make notes about this for a week as a sleep diary. That will make you see the pattern with ease. And by seeing the pattern, you will easily know what’s going on and you can easily pinpoint the possible causes of bad sleep.
If you want to know more about how caring for yourself and managing your stress helps in elevating success, here’s a complimentary guide you can download.
“Who said it is? I don’t need one, I’ve got no time for one because I’ve got lots of things to do.”
Well, while I admire your work dedication, I worry about your body and stress levels.
I’m sure that everyone longs for vacation or at least free time for themselves, but not everyone takes one.
Why?
Because they think that if they take one, then they wasted a lot of time since instead of being on a vacation, they could be working.
But don’t you know that if you don’t take breaks at least once in a while, your body or your mind will sooner or later give up because of feeling so overwhelmed?
TAKING A VACATION CAN SAVE LIVES
Yes, in fact, it is actually life-saving to take breaks.
“Okay, that’s too much. No one dies because of not taking a vacation or not taking breaks.”
Yes, true. No one, at least not directly, but a lot of people die from too much stress, and too much stress can be lessened by taking breaks.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND STRESS
Stress is when demands are higher than what you can do when you have too much to do that you feel like it’s never-ending and you always feel like chasing around in that hamster wheel; or maybe it’s too hard to do, just a few tasks but you have no idea how to get to the end of it.
Truth is, we all have normal levels of stress always present in our body because it’s part of our normal biology and without it we’re dead.
Read that again. I said, “NORMAL” stress levels. So they are supposed to be in that state only.
But different situations arise, which then makes the number of our stress levels go up and down, and when it’s too high, that’s the only moment we feel it or get the symptoms like headaches and irritability.
When the stress levels go up, the immune system goes down. When the immune system is down, it’s easier to get sick.
So yes, again, the basic way which is taking breaks, or a vacation, can SAVE A LIFE.
REGULAR BREAKS INSTEAD OF A VACATION
If you think that a vacation is still out of reach, then the technique is taking regular breaks over the day.
Stand up from your desk, jump or dance around a little, sing, jog, exercise, or do anything that you feel like doing as long as you take a break…
Because it helps your brain and system with stress hormones. Is it getting too high? Take a breather and give it time to go down.
Once it’s back to its normal levels, you’ll be surprised at how productive you can be because you feel great.
THE POWER OF MIND
Despite all the above-mentioned, one solution is always not best for all because of personality differences.
Some people don’t like moving, and you’ll be surprised at how they deal with their stress levels.
MINDSET.
Okay, I’ll elaborate.
They ACCEPT. They set their minds and give themselves personal affirmations like:
“Okay, today is a long day and I’m gonna do something so hard but I will do my best to get it done. It will take longer than the usual but it’s okay and it will be done in time.”
This plus breathing and a positive mindset save their day.
You can choose and use which suits you best, or try mixing it up!
After all, what’s important here is being able to control and manage your stress levels properly, so that you feel LESS STRESS, GET MORE THINGS DONE RIGHT, FEEL GOOD, and in the end, HAVE MORE REVENUE BROUGHT BY YOUR POSITIVITY!
‘Where does stress come from?” What a great question, isn’t it?
When we hear this question, we immediately think of the current causes of stress. But what about its HISTORY and SCIENCE?
“Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could eliminate stress totally?“
“Oh, easy peasy. Just take a pill against stress hormones and the levels go down to zero. And we would live happily and calmly forever after.”
Well, if you still believe that way the I hate to break it up to you BUT…
IT DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY.
Our stress hormone system is part of life, of our normal biology, and with no stress hormones pumping around in your body –YOU ARE DEAD.
How is that… POSSIBLE?
THE STRESS THEORY
HANS SEYLE founded the stress theory in humans.
Seyle, who is a pioneer in stress research and nominated for the NOBEL PRIZE 17 times, borrowed the word “stress” from the technical world where it’s defined as “the amount of pressure any material can take before getting damaged”.
This has also been applied to our bodies, how much can our bodies take before they break? How much before our back breaks or our ankles get sprained?
When we’re talking about our bodies or our bones breaking, it all sounds normal but we haven’t until now started to talk about how much pressure our brains can take.
If it’s the brain we’re talking about, more or less it’s only “go home, sleep, and come back tomorrow”, or “rest a little and all will be fine” that we’ll get.
And in case you’re wondering, it’s probably because we can’t really see the amount of damage as we do with our limbs and back. We can’t see if it’s swollen or feel if it’s aching. There are no signs, it just suddenly happens.
And what we know – is that if it doesn’t function – it gets scary.
THE TRUTH
Truth is, stress-related brain dysfunction is NOT a mental illness but PART of NORMAL BIOLOGY.
Did you know that at the least, here in my country (Sweden), brain fog is still not as accepted as having limbing limbs?
But brain damage caused by stress today is more common than physical damage.
But how did we get this system, to begin with? Or, how did it all begin?
HISTORY OF STRESS
Let me start FROM THE BEGINNING.
Imagine yourself 200000ish years ago…
You live in a small cave, and then the savanna is spreading wide outside with all the beautiful wildlife... and you live together with a small group of other people.
You stay “indoors” and rest and sleep during the dark for 12 hours and are out working,hunting, seeking fruits, seeds and berries, when it is light for 12 hours.
In this case, you are just evolving as the modern human being from your older ancestors.
Then you are given 4 BASIC NEEDS – things you need to do TO SURVIVE in that environment.
SLEEP and REST to clear your brain and body and get rid of waste products.
EAT to get energy to your brain and body.
MOVE YOUR MUSCLES because you need them for the hunting and they are connected with your brain activity. It makes you think while you hunt – all to do the right thing in each moment – so YOU SURVIVE.
And PROCREATE– to make your RACE SURVIVE.
This is what you get and it is all regulated by your stress system set up AT THIS TIME.
THE BASIC SURVIVAL INSTINCTS
Because it’s basically survival back then, our ancestors had these 3 survival instincts:
1. Flight, or run as fast as you can away from the threat.
2. Fight, as hard as you can so you can eat, or lose then you become their food
3. Freeze, or fall down and play dead so the attacker loses interest
The ability to move around and think were the two most important tools that made the 3 instincts possible.
The system found the connection between moving and thinking to be important. Remember a time when you lose a thought and the thought came back the moment you moved? That’s what I’m talking about.
Your adrenal glands give adrenalineand noradrenaline for the acute system when we talk about life or death – eat or be eaten – fight or flight – or play dead.
And they produce cortisol for the long-term defense, the endurance.
This is it – and we can call it Version 1.0 of Human Biology.
And it was in a 1.0 surrounding on the savannah – a perfect match of systems – built in the balance!
HOW IT IS TODAY
“SO WHAT? What has this got to do with me and my stressed-out life lately?”
ALL AND EVERYTHING!
You are still – 200000ish years later, a 1.0 human being– functioning very primitively, like when your threats were wild animals and you were struggling to get food.
But now you live in a 5.0 or even 10.0 world.A 24/7 society with endless possibilities.
This is the challenge, what we have to overcome, overlap, or count into the equation on what to do now.
We need to tackle this in a totally different way.
“Food is given around the clock and you sit on your sofa as a potato and grow fat and stale. All the challenges you have at work need new solutions, and it is not okay to run away or smash your boss in the face when they ask you to do more work than you can handle – or fall to the floor and play dead for that matter.”
This is what we need to have in mind, this is why we feel this stressful time. And this is also why we tackle these challenges in such a clumsy way.
We function on reflex and want a solution NOW.But NOW does not always work in this world.
Still, we are swamped with quick fixes – “the market” has figured it all outsell stuff for immediate satisfaction – apps, gadgets, pills, alcohol, medication, drugs, and the like.
They might make us calm for a momentbut mostly they give us one more thing to keep track of.
What to do instead?
BACK TO BASICS
Look back to where we came from, how we are made to function, and adjust to that.
What is your most burning question about stress as a business leader?
You go to work every day. That is where you spend most of your awake time, especially if you are the boss. Shouldn’t that be feeling good, or even great most of the time?
Does it? Be honest with yourself.
Remember my last blog post, stating that 26% of the leadership felt uneasy about going to work, and over 40% in the tax paid systems workplaces.
Sad. Isn’t it? And scary.
Some years ago I asked a group of leaders: “What is your most burning question about stress?“
I got A LOT of interesting questions. And this one is not solvable in the easy way BUT it certainly needs to be addressed:
The question that I got was: “What can I do when the stress is not caused by me but by someone else who puts me in that situation?”
Honestly, it’s not very uncommon. We hear people most of the time complaining about something they didn’t even cause.
“I can’t control my situation! It’s absolutely unmanageable! My boss puts all the problems on my shoulders! My employees don’t do what they are supposed to! I always end up doing everything! My spouse has unrealistic expectations, and someone else always puts me in an overload!”
“I feel like a victim. The overload is killing me.”
Sounds familiar?
Okay, don’t get me wrong. Those situations are definitely normal. There is no quick fix or a one-for-all kind of solution as there will always be different solutions for everyone.
BUT what I can see, is the SAME PATTERN in all of them. You feel the threat from someone else’s problems – one way or another.
One step to clarity is to write about it. Laying it all down is a very good way to get clear on things, and you need it to know why things happen over and over again.
It is not about blaming yourself or someone else, but it is about the fact of what is. Put down all the pluses and minuses you find, and then organize them into themes. Ponder and rearrange if needed.
Depending on what pops up, the next step will be different for each and one of you.
It could be to talk to the person you find “dumping” their world on you. That could be your boss, your colleagues, your spouse, or whoever it was who did not see the pattern.
On the other hand, you might need to take drastic actions such as leaving your job or your spouse. Because you can not change them, you can only change yourself. If things end up in much more drastic actions, it might be good to ask for help.
The next question is completely different: “Is stress aging me? I feel like I aged 10 years last year! I feel tired like an old man/woman and I am still just in my thirties.”
The short answer is – YEP.
The longer version is yes, probably – if you are stressed for a long time. Short moments of stress are part of natural life. In fact, no one can claim they are never stressed, or they are lying.
Consequently, long-term stress will affect your immune system and cause many diseases, including bad skin, making you look older!
Also, it puts you at risk to get cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, obesity to name a few. And not to mention, depression.
The #1 solution to this question is:Take breaks, lots of short breaks every day, or a long break in a month. Let your brain rest and your body relax and you will keep your stress hormone levels on a normal, healthy level – then you can function smoothly again. And you will get just as much done since you will do it right the first time.
The last question I want to share today is connected with the previous question: “Can I recover from long-term stress and regain my health?”
The answer to this is also YES.
Yes, you can recover and of course, it depends on how long it has been going on and if you have developed any irreversible damage. BUT IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS – you can REGAIN YOUR HEALTH and you can at least stop the progress of the chronic disease.
Studies by the Swedish JobHealthIndex show that 26% of the leadership in the private work sector feel psychological unease to go to work a few times a week or even more often. For the leadership in the tax paid services, unease when thinking of work is shockingly at 43%.
Those are indeed shocking numbers and unfortunately, I believe they are true.
There is a myth that once you have become the boss, life at work will be so much easier.
Obviously, THAT IS NOT TRUE.
Ever since 2016 statistics have shown that the boss feels less well than the workers.
AND like all other feelings and moods, this is contagious right down the line in the organization making everyone feel less well than they would without this contagious unwell mode.
Do you too feel the STRESS now and then? Or a feeling of UNEASE when you think of your job? Even feel SCARED that you are not enough? Feel that people TALK BEHIND YOUR BACK and COMPLAIN about you?
It doesn’t have to be that way – IT SHOULDN’T BE THAT WAY!
IT IS ABOUT YOUR LIFE.
And you want a good life, because who doesn’t?
WHAT TO DO NOW..?
LAY DOWN on the ground and play dead?START A FIGHT with someone in the office who offends you? Or RUN AWAY from work and NEVER COME BACK?
These tactics are the tactics built into your spine back then some 200000 years ago when we were turned into humans by evolution – as reflexes to a threat. And these tactics don’t work very well in today’s society. We need to find other ways to defend ourselves and to find a good life.
Let me give you 4 SOLID TIPS on how you can become a better and a much more
SUSTAINABLE LEADER.
It is an important issue not to be taken lightly because you deserve a great life and you deserve the best in work. All to make you a great and healthy leader.
HERE IS THE LIST:
INVESTin your health and personal development. This will increase your energy and resilience. Consequently, it will also help you make both faster and better decisions. It is about simple things like REGULARITY IN SLEEP, FOOD INTAKE, and PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. You don’t save time and energy by messing with these three basic biological needs.
REJUVENATE. Rejuvenation is key – doesn’t that phrase sound familiar? I have met many leaders who know it but who do not take in what it means – TAKE A BREAK!!!
Yes, leaders have the right to take a break – to rejuvenate. Letting your brain have a rest improves your ability to think and do the right things tremendously. A healthy break can be anything between 5 minutes to 5 days – just to get back on track inside your head.
Please note – this is a normal need for every human being. And there needs to be a balance between work and private life.
UPGRADE your work situation. You need to be able to be in charge of everything that affects you. Do you have all the TOOLS you need? How many PEOPLE belong to your workgroup? Can you get extra HELP?
DELEGATE. By involving others you can decrease your work burden. At the same time, this will help your staff to be motivated and grow. They will be proud of the responsibility you give them. They will learn new things and the group result will GROW – while you get time for REFLECTION and yeah, REJUVENATION.
These are a few effective things to do to get control of your workload and at the same time RAISE THE PROFIT IN THE BUSINESS.
Start with one of the things on the list. Work towards that goal and take small steps in that direction. Soon you will see BIG CHANGES.
If you need help to know what step to take feel free to book a free call with Dr. Annika and we will find out together.
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