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Last week I talked about creating an evening routine, so that everyone could learn, how to have a good night sleep. I hope you already started doing the routine, and who knows, maybe you already feel a little bit of the good it can bring you. I sure hope so.<\/p>\n
But then, <\/strong>how can you make the most out of that beneficial good night\u2019s rest? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Because feeling well rested, also harbors the danger of thinking your energy can\u2019t get lost anymore.<\/p>\n When you awake after a nice, long, rejuvenating sleep, you feel rested, relaxed, and able to tackle the new day. And here is where the danger lies\u2026 Be very careful with how you start your new day. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n When you roll out of bed, phone in hand, rushing to the bathroom, reading emails, messages, answering texts, gulping down your coffee, wolfing down your breakfast, rushing into traffic, \u2026. you already ruined your day.<\/p>\n You already let yourself get sucked in into the rat race.<\/p>\n You already let others, decide how you will start your day, by living by their agenda, by answering their needs and questions first.<\/p>\n You have let them decide, how your agenda will look today.<\/p>\n And here is where you need to make changes, when you would like to keep feeling the benefits of a goodnight sleep throughout the day, throughout your life.<\/p>\n If you do make the effort to live as healthily and happily as possible, then don\u2019t spoil your efforts by rushing through the morning, and trying to keep up during the rest of the day.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Like my mentor Courtney Carver* says:<\/p>\n \u201cIf catching up would work, <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n you\u2019d be caught up by now.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Make sure you are ready for the day, and then start tending to others. I know, it\u2019s a new habit, a new routine, most of us still need to create. But do this now, before you are drained, before you are exhausted. As the saying goes, \u2018you can\u2019t pour from an empty cup\u2019. Keep your cup filled so that you can keep helping other people, so that you can keep doing your job, so that you can keep enjoying your life.<\/p>\n When you have a peaceful, joyful morning, you\u2019ll be able to handle whatever happens that day. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s have a look at how you can create a morning routine, a ritual that will bring you peace and make you keep your energy levels up.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Stop wondering<\/span><\/p>\n why you feel so stressed all the time,<\/p>\n why you can\u2019t seem to get out of bed,<\/p>\n why you feel exhausted,<\/p>\n why you feel \u2018hunted\u2019 and pushed around all through the day, \u2026<\/p>\n why so many people seem to be in a bad mood all the time\u2026<\/p>\n You know the answer now, so it\u2019s time to start acting differently.<\/span><\/p>\n Rush, rush, rush \u2026 from the moment the alarm goes off until we leave the house, or worse, until we put our heads back down on our pillows in the evening.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s have a look at how you can take back your mornings, <\/span><\/strong>and have a life again.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Often people tell me:<\/p>\n \u201cYou have no idea how busy my mornings are\u201d, mm, yes, I do.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t add anything to my schedule\u201d, mm, yes you can.<\/p>\n \u201cI am already running short on time in the mornings, I don\u2019t need extra stress.\u201d, I know, I hear you.<\/p>\n \u201cI really need to check my emails before going out the door\u201d, no you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cI have small children\u201d, I had them too.<\/p>\n \u201cI have teenagers\u201d, I had them too.<\/p>\n Everybody has their own reasons for feeling stressed. But believe me when I say to you: you can change this. Yes, you can.<\/p>\n I know change always feels scary. But trust that this is possible. Once you feel the benefits, you won\u2019t want to go back to your \u2018rush-rush-rush-mornings\u2019.<\/p>\n Last week** we talked about having an evening ritual. This will result in more hours of sleep, and in a better quality of sleep. Sleeping more and better, will leave you feeling less exhausted when you wake up. This new energy will help you establish a new morning routine that will protect your energy throughout your day. The goal of changing your habits to these new routines, is to have a more energetic life, a more joyful life, a life with less stress.<\/span><\/p>\n Why would anyone want to change their mornings?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I think nobody would object to being more relaxed? To starting the day in a calm, peaceful mood? When you have a good start of the day, then no matter what happens during that day, it won\u2019t feel as if disaster has hit you head-on.<\/p>\n What could this new morning routine mean to you?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n When\u00a0<\/em>you choose<\/em><\/span> what your morning will look like, you are in control<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span>of what you do, of how you feel, of how you handle your agenda. Even though you will do exactly what you had planned for the day,\u00a0the way you start<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>your day, will determine how you experience your whole day<\/strong>.<\/span> When you first take time for yourself, you\u2019ll feel stronger, you\u2019ll feel more powerful because you start the day\u00a0taking action<\/em>,<\/em><\/span> instead of<\/span> <\/em>immediately going into re-action modus.<\/span><\/em> Being reactive all day, stresses you out, as you feel you\u2019re constantly running behind, because you\u2019re constantly reacting to other people\u2019s agendas. When you choose to be there, for your kids, for your job, for whatever is on your agenda,\u00a0after<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>your morning routine, you are in control. You will have first taken care of your own energy levels, so that your own battery is charged and protected. Now, you are ready to start the day. This is essential to having a happy morning, to having a good day, to living a joyful life.<\/p>\n What can a morning routine look like?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The good thing is, that it is completely up to you! You choose something that you enjoy, something that will make you feel relaxed, happy, \u2026 something that will give you the power to handle the day. When you have never done a morning routine, choose something simple, easy to do, as you don\u2019t want to add stress! This can mean:<\/p>\n stretching before you get out of bed<\/em><\/p>\n taking some deep breaths before you get up<\/em><\/p>\n having a cold shower<\/em><\/p>\n saying a morning prayer<\/em><\/p>\n reading an affirmation<\/em><\/p>\n reading a couple of pages in a book,<\/em><\/p>\n just sitting quietly, inside or outside, with a cup of coffee, or tea and waking up gently and slowly<\/em><\/p>\n meditating<\/em><\/p>\n doing some yoga<\/em><\/p>\n writing in a journal<\/em><\/p>\n going for a short walk (even if it\u2019s just in your garden or onto your balcony), <\/em><\/p>\n enjoying the waking up of the world<\/em><\/p>\n going for a bike ride<\/em><\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Just make sure it\u2019s nothing work-related, nor doing stuff for someone else, nor input of the outer world such as social media, news, no negativity allowed. This is YOUR moment. This is where you take care of your energy, where you make sure your battery is, and stays, fully charged for the day.<\/p>\n How can you establish your routine and keep it up?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The most important thing is,\u00a0it has to make you feel good<\/strong><\/em>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Then, also very important, you have to\u00a0start small<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/span>so that you are able to get yourself started with the routine, and to slowly build up until you have a routine that works for you.<\/p>\n Choose 1 thing<\/strong><\/em>.<\/em><\/strong> <\/span>You can always add or change things later on.<\/p>\n Put your alarm clock 10 minutes earlier<\/strong>,<\/span> so you can spend\u00a0at least 5 whole minutes<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>doing what you chose to do. Be very quiet as to not wake up the rest of the house. Enjoy your activity<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span> Don\u2019t take up more time than you had scheduled, because then you\u2019ll be putting time pressure on the rest of the morning. Do this for at least one week. You\u2019ll notice that it gets easier as you are creating a routine.<\/p>\n See how it feels. Do you need to change your activity? Or do you want to add some time doing it? You can set your alarm clock 15 minutes earlier so that you now have at least 10 minutes to practice whatever it is that you choose to do.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t take big leaps<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>or don\u2019t add too much at once. It must be something that feels easy, that gives you energy and that you are able to keep up doing.<\/p>\n When do you have a good routine?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This is very personal and everybody can have a completely different morning routine. As long as it works for you, it\u2019s a good routine! The goal is to feel in control of your day.\u00a0Make sure you\u00a0<\/em>start the day taking care of yourself, <\/em><\/span>which will guarantee you the strength to tackle the day. Whether you are just taking 2 minutes to breathe consciously before getting out of bed, or you go for a one hour walk, all is okay. Just make sure it feels good, and that it fits in your agenda so that you can keep it up, and that it really makes you feel relaxed and stronger.<\/p>\n Does it have to be the same every day?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n I would recommend practicing the same thing for a while until you can decide whether it works for you or not. You\u2019ll notice that the more you practice the more you\u2019ll feel\u00a0what,<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0how long,<\/em>\u00a0works for you. As you will start feeling more relaxed, more powerful, more joyful, you will notice it becomes easy to add some minutes or to choose 2 activities. It\u2019s all up to you!<\/p>\n I wish you all the courage to start doing this.\u00a0Know why<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0you want to do this, and\u00a0keep it up<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0long enough so that you can really feel the benefits<\/span>. Once you are in this new rhythm, you\u2019ll feel so much better and you\u2019ll be thrilled to have this new routine as your new way of starting the day!<\/p>\n Thank you all for reading me and for supporting me on Medium too! If you want unlimited access to all of my articles and many other authors, you can become a Medium Member and you\u2019ll be supporting me and all the other authors. Many, many thanks to you all!!!<\/p>\n Katrien<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *\u2018Be More with Less\u2019 by Courtney Carver.<\/p>\n ** Sleep: \u2018Pure Bliss\u2019 or \u2018Waste of Time\u2019? by Katrien Degraeve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week I talked about creating an evening routine, so that everyone could learn, how to have a good night sleep. I hope you already started doing the routine, and who knows, maybe you already feel a little bit of the good it can bring you. I sure hope so. But then, how can you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifecoachwomen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifecoachwomen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifecoachwomen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifecoachwomen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifecoachwomen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifecoachwomen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6775\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifecoachwomen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifecoachwomen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifecoachwomen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}