Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com.
Episode 3045:
Kalen Bruce of MoneyMiniBlog.com shares valuable insights on transforming into a morning person. His article details a practical morning ritual and effective strategies like committing to one simple task upon waking, which can dramatically improve morning productivity and overall daily energy.
Read along with the original article(s) here: https://moneyminiblog.com/productivity/combat-your-morning-self-and-my-morning-ritual/
Quotes to ponder:
"My night self goes to sleep thinking about all of the great and productive things I’m going to do in the morning."
Episode references:
The Power of Now: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Now-Guide-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1577314808
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 3045. How to Combat Your Morning Self and My Morning Ritual by Kalen Bruce of MoneyMiniBlog.com I'm your narrator Justin Malik. I read to you every single day of the year from the best articles and blogs
[00:00:16] I can find with permission from the authors, of course. So that let's get right to it as we optimize your life. How to Combat Your Morning Self and My Morning Ritual by Kalen Bruce of MoneyMiniBlog.com I have two personalities, my night self and my morning self.
[00:00:41] Sometimes we don't get along. When my night self decides to stay up a little later, my morning self isn't too happy. My night self goes to sleep thinking about all of the great and productive things I'm going to do in the morning.
[00:00:56] But sometimes my morning self wakes up thinking my night self is an overachiever and I should go back to sleep. Sound familiar? Here's how I am able to combat my morning self and get stuff done. My morning ritual.
[00:01:11] My day begins at 5 a.m. as I roll or spring out of bed and make my way to the computer. I write for an hour and then I'm off to the gym.
[00:01:22] When I get to the gym, I lift weights for an hour while listening to a great audiobook or podcast of course. Then I get my daily hour of cardio either with my squadron or on my own.
[00:01:33] After that I head back home and work on my blog for about half an hour before getting ready and heading off to work. But it wasn't always like this. How I became a morning person. I decided one day that I wanted to be a morning person.
[00:01:49] I woke up earlier than I ever had before. I had the most productive morning of my entire life so then the next day I woke up and did it again, right? Nope. I let my morning self defeat me the following day.
[00:02:03] That's when I realized that I have to learn how to deal with the morning me by planning ahead the night before. My night self was all about the things I was going to accomplish in the morning
[00:02:14] but my morning self thought my night self was crazy and expected too much. I'd wake up thinking about the mountain of tasks I planned to do. It was intimidating. Eventually all that changed and I started waking up consistently and energetically every morning.
[00:02:32] Here are some things that I started doing. Sleeping seven hours minimum each night, drinking water as soon as I wake up, having a ritual at night to wind down, rewarding myself for waking up daily, and only drinking caffeine before noon.
[00:02:49] I know this is where most people would say something about the importance of breakfast but since I subscribed to the intermittent fasting philosophy, I don't eat breakfast. At least not until lunchtime. It's important to eat high quality real food.
[00:03:04] However, many studies are starting to show that when you eat makes very little difference. How to perfect your mornings. I used to sleep until noon. I wasn't always a morning person. It is possible to become a morning person.
[00:03:21] You just have to take it one step at a time. Here are some ways to deal with the morning you. Number one, commit to one thing. The idea behind this is that you commit to doing just one thing
[00:03:38] that gets you out of bed like brushing your teeth or drinking a glass of water. After that, you can go right back to bed. However, once you are up and thinking clearly, you will usually stay up. Number two, think about one thing. Stay in the one thing mindset.
[00:03:58] As soon as you wake up, your mind is flooded with everything you have to do all day. That's not very motivating for the morning you. Take it one step at a time. By the time you get to the other things, you'll be wide awake.
[00:04:12] Number three, schedule a nap later. It's much easier to get out of bed when you know you can take a nap later on. Naps are actually used by some of the most productive people in history including Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, and John F. Kennedy.
[00:04:30] So don't feel lazy. It's productive. Number four, plan your mornings. You're more likely to wake up if you prepare the night before. So set out your clothes, set up your coffee for easy preparation, write a to-do list. These are just a few ways you can plan your morning.
[00:04:49] Remember, a productive morning starts the night before. Number five, drink some water. The morning is the most important time to hydrate your body because you just went seven or eight hours with no water and water is the most important thing we put into our body
[00:05:05] which makes it a great start to the day. After drinking a large glass, you may not even need coffee. And number six, stop hitting snooze. The snooze button is our first opportunity to practice discipline or procrastination. Don't start your day with procrastination.
[00:05:24] Once your morning self gets out of bed, you'll realize those nine minutes weren't worth it. Why not just buy an alarm clock without a snooze? The key to habit building. If you're used to waking up at noon and you decide to start getting up at 5 a.m.,
[00:05:40] that shouldn't happen in one day. That's a seven-hour difference. And making that change instantly can guarantee failure. The key to positive habit building is starting small and increasing gradually. Try waking up 30 minutes earlier each day for a few days.
[00:05:58] If you find that you're very tired of that way, just start cutting back by five-minute increments. Make small changes. Build habits gradually and you will stick to them. You just listen to the post titled How to Combat Your Morning Self and My Morning Ritual
[00:06:18] by Kaelin Bruce of moneyminiblog.com and it'll be right back with my commentary. Thank you to Kaelin. The idea of committing to one thing is a pretty common trick that works quite well. It's often used for exercise, like going to the gym.
[00:06:34] If you can simply commit to putting on your workout clothes or wearing your running shoes or whatever, there's a better chance it'll happen. Or it could be going to the gym and only committing to spend 10 minutes there.
[00:06:48] Like Kaelin said, most likely what will happen is that it won't feel as bad as we assumed and the 10 minutes will be up before you know it. And you'll figure, why not stay a little longer? It reminds me of kids not wanting to take a shower.
[00:07:03] It's a constant struggle to get in. Then they end up staying in the shower. It's pretty much the same idea. I know there's another example of committing to flossing one tooth. It sounds pretty ridiculous, and it kind of is.
[00:07:17] Because we all know that if you do that one tooth, you'll probably do the rest since it takes a whole two seconds. It's just a mind trick, but it really could work, so something to try. Thank you to Kaelin for this one. Thank you for being here.
[00:07:31] Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow. Where your optimal life awaits.