It Isn’t Your Morning Routine Setting You Up For A Good Day

Surprise

I am morning routine’s number one fan. I wake up by 5:45am every morning. I change into workout gear, unroll my yoga mat, and pull up YouTube on my iPad. I finish up my workout and turn on the coffeemaker on my way to the shower. I shuffle between our bedroom and the bathroom for the next 20 minutes as I get ready for the day. An hour after I’m up, I’ve picked up my journal and I’m settled in to work on my morning pages.

Do you hate me yet for being so freaking rigid in my routine?

For a long time, I didn’t. I admittedly find joy and confidence in the consistency of my morning. Still do. What’s changed for me isn’t the desire to have a morning routine, it’s the belief that the rigidity of the routine is necessary. Being so rigid isn’t the aspect of a morning routine that makes me a kinder, warmer, happier human.

All the parts that have thus far fallen into the container of “my morning routine” are just that — interchangeable parts. They worked for as long as they did because they helped me understand the path from where I started to where I wanted to go. Yoga in the morning was necessary because it was the only time I knew I would do it. Now, I like it more. I enjoy the practice so the morning is an option, but it’s not my only window for practicing.