For, I would say, about 2 years I have held the following intention:
“Create a morning routine which empowers my day.”
And it has been an intention that lived in “someday, maybe land.” You know what I mean. It has been a huge challenge for me, as I really do not enjoy routine. After some time I finally embraced that fact about me (did you Rico Mandel on Tuesday talking about doing that which is suited to your personality?), and designed my business to have great variety. Yet I had this desire to really get my mindset right each morning as I know mindset is everything. AND, in order to have my clients shift their mindset, I have to take care of my own.
Now, I do live a very intentional life. I do what I love, and I know I love it and I am grateful for it. I tell people that I care about them, I say no to things that don’t interest me without feeling guilty. I create an intention (almost) every day. (Today’s intention is to “love what’s in front of me” – perfect for a day of client calls!) That said, this whole “morning routine” has escaped me for, OK if I am honest here, probably 3 years. (Before that I didn’t think about it – I was just happy to get my butt out the door each morning).
So first I have to say “I think I’ve found it!” Whew.
I think I had been trying to create a routine I thought I “should” have. Do yoga and meditate. Workout. Write 3 pages in my journal. Now, for those of you who know me, you know I have a mantra – SOS (Shit on Should). Sometimes our “shoulds” in life really creep in and we can’t see them. I thought that I “should” do yoga because it would be good for my body and my mind. I do enjoy yoga, but not in the morning. I just don’t. Wish I did, but I don’t. I tried to, but I don’t. And creating a goal that we don’t actually enjoy leaves us lots of room to “fail” at it and beat ourselves up. A favorite pastime of the overachiever.
So, I think I have found it! I must thank Jamie, my beau, for planting grass seed in my backyard this fall. Because of this I now walk my dog each morning rather than letting him run in the yard. This means I have to get dressed, and leave the house, something on a day like today (first client at 10, last one at 8 pm), I may not do! One cold day I decided to take a to-go mug of coffee with me on my walk. Then I started listening to audiobooks or mp3 downloads from my coach while I walk. I generally latch on to one of the first ideas I hear about in mind, and it begins to race with (I think) brilliant ideas for how to apply it, or even completely unrelated ideas that come from being in the higher energy state.
I realized one day last week that I actually have a morning routine that empowers my day! By accident! I’ve been doing it off and on for a couple months now, but the coffee addition has really made it joyful. And I have stopped judging it as “not good enough.” 🙂 I didn’t embrace it as my routine because I thought “walking isn’t really exercise” and I really thought I “should” be getting two things done at once by exercising. If you are going to go outside, you “should” be running. You are just going to have to go running later, you “should” get it over with. You get the picture.
So this morning I had the idea to add one more thing to my routine – when I come home, I will blog about whatever insight I had on my walk. I always come home inspired with some thought that I am dying to write down. Why not write it here? OK, so I am creating the intention to blog each weekday – a short one hopefully – and I am putting my intention out there. Note, you can trust that I will only do it if it continues to empower my day. Since I have this amazing interview series this month, it will be easy to have lots of food for thought here. (http://www.douxcoaching.com/events/teleseries—freedom-february-summit.aspx?d=2010-02-01). I will just need to watch myself on time as I love to write and can get quickly carried away! I also have no idea if anyone is reading this – while I love write, I do not love sitting behind the computer searching for places to get myself known. If you are reading, and you begin to enjoy my daily insights, I would love if you would pass them on!