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006- Master Your Morning: Transform Your Business and Life with a Powerful Routine

In today's fast-paced world, establishing a morning routine can make a significant difference in our lives, especially for entrepreneurs and those striving to achieve their goals. Whether you're a late riser rushing through your morning or an early bird who carves out time for self-care, the impact of a well-crafted morning routine is undeniable. In this blog post, we'll explore the journey of an individual who transformed her mornings and discovered how it propelled her business to new heights. We'll delve into the key elements of her routine and discuss the benefits of adopting a similar approach.

In today's fast-paced world, establishing a morning routine can make a significant difference in our lives, especially for entrepreneurs and those striving to achieve their goals. Whether you're a late riser rushing through your morning or an early bird who carves out time for self-care, the impact of a well-crafted morning routine is undeniable. In this blog post, we'll explore the journey of an individual who transformed her mornings and discovered how it propelled her business to new heights. We'll delve into the key elements of her routine and discuss the benefits of adopting a similar approach.

The Awakening

The story begins with a realization that change was needed. The protagonist, previously accustomed to waking up late and scrambling through her mornings, embarked on a vacation that provided her with the opportunity for self-reflection. This introspective time in the beautiful surroundings of southern France prompted her to challenge her belief that she was not an early bird.

The Morning Miracle

During her trip, she stumbled upon a book that would prove to be a game-changer. "The Morning Miracle" by Hal Elrod became her guide to waking up early with purpose. It wasn't just about rising early; it was about utilizing that time to become a better individual. The book introduced her to the concept of implementing a series of activities to kickstart her day positively.

The Importance of a Strong Why


One fundamental aspect of embracing an early morning routine is having a compelling reason or purpose for doing so. Without a meaningful why, the motivation to wake up early dissipates quickly. For our protagonist, the purpose was clear—to dedicate time for personal growth, start the day on a positive note, and have more energy to fulfill her responsibilities towards her family, colleagues, and clients.

Incremental Progress

Changing habits overnight can be challenging, so our protagonist opted for a gradual approach. She started by waking up just 15 minutes earlier than usual, gradually extending that timeframe as it became comfortable. What began as waking up at 7:00 AM transformed into a routine where she now rises at 4:30 AM or even 4:00 AM on some mornings. By taking small steps towards change, she made steady progress in reshaping her mornings.

Taking Care of Oneself First

Using the analogy of the oxygen masks on an airplane, the protagonist emphasizes the importance of self-care. Just as we are advised to put on our masks before assisting others, prioritizing self-care in the morning allows us to show up as our best selves for our loved ones, work, and business endeavors. By flipping the narrative of self-neglect, she discovered a wellspring of energy and enthusiasm to tackle the day's challenges.

The Components of an Empowering Morning Routine

Now, let's explore the key elements that make up our protagonist's transformative morning routine:

  1. Reflective Moments: Upon waking, she starts her day with a cup of coffee and takes a few moments of silence and reflection. Engaging in breathing exercises or meditation helps set a positive tone for the day ahead.
  2. Affirmations and Goal Setting: Our protagonist reads her yearly goals and affirmations, reminding herself of her aspirations and staying focused on her desired outcomes. She leverages the power of technology, using Pinterest to create visual boards with her goals and affirmations.
  3. Learning and Growth: She commits to reading at least 10 to 15 pages of a nonfictional book daily. By dedicating time to learn and expand her knowledge, she nurtures personal growth and gains insights applicable to various aspects of life.
  4. Physical Exercise: A 45-minute workout forms an integral part of her morning routine. Whether at a home gym or outdoors, engaging in physical activity enhances her overall well-being and boosts energy levels.
  5. Podcasts and Continuous Learning: To make her walks more engaging, she discovered the world of podcasts. While getting ready for the day, she listens to podcasts or YouTube videos of thought leaders she follows, providing a continuous stream of inspiration and knowledge.

Benefits and Impact on Business


Implementing this morning routine has yielded significant benefits for our protagonist's business:

  1. Clarity of Mind: Starting the day with self-care and personal development allows for a clear and focused mind. This newfound mental clarity empowers her to make better decisions, which positively impact her business endeavors.
  2. Increased Energy: Prioritizing self-care in the morning results in higher energy levels throughout the day. By investing in herself first, she minimizes midday slumps and maintains a positive state of mind, translating into improved productivity.

Conclusion

Embracing a transformative morning routine can be a catalyst for success in both personal and professional realms. The journey of our protagonist illustrates the profound impact such a routine can have on one's life and business. By making small, incremental changes, prioritizing self-care, and engaging in activities that foster growth, she unlocked newfound energy, clarity, and focus. As you reflect on your own morning routine, consider incorporating elements that align with your goals and values, ultimately propelling you towards success.
Episode Transcription

006- Master Your Morning: Transform Your Business and Life with a Powerful Routine

Suzie (00:00):
Welcome eCommerce Empresses to this episode of Woman Powering eCommerce. Join me every Tuesday and Thursday as I take you behind the scenes of my journey as a female eCommerce entrepreneur. Together, we'll explore the highs, the lows, inspiring you to take action and achieve your own business goals. So let's get started.

(00:19):
So for today's episode, I really want to talk about my morning routine, your morning routine. What are you doing on a day-to-day basis, when you wake up? Are you the type to wake up late, quickly grab your clothes, or run to get your kids prepared, and try to eat breakfast while you're packing your kids' lunch? What are you doing? Or are you more the type to wake up earlier and take care of yourselves before everyone else is sleeping in the house?

(01:01):
And let me assure you. When you develop a good morning routine, it can help you achieve your goals and do more in your business. And that's what it did for me. I thought it was not an early bird until I became one. I'll tell you all about it. But I just want to say how much this changing this routine for me from waking up late and running to work from totally making time for my morning and for everything I want to put in it, make time for things, it has really helped me with the business in the end. I'll tell you why. So like I said, I thought it was not an early bird. I used to go to bed super late and I used to wake up late or as late as I could and snooze so many times.

(02:02):
I have to admit, I'm still a snoozer, but not as much as I used to be. I know this will sound maybe a little bit ridiculous, but sometimes I'll just put my alarm clock 15 minutes before because I know I'll snooze 15 minutes. So just to make sure I wake up on time, I'm still a work in progress here. But you'll see I went from, I did a lot to go from where I was to where I am right now.

(02:31):
So it all started when I went on vacation to see my mom who was spending a few months in France. So I went to south, the southern part of France, in a place called Aubagne. It's so beautiful. It's such a beautiful place near Marseille, and I loved it because it was really a good place to reconnect with myself. I'm sure maybe you do that when you go on vacation, but you just take that time to reflect on your life, reflect on what you're doing right now versus what you want for yourself, and just set some goals. Anyways, that's what I do, and it was such a beautiful place to do.

(03:16):
I decided to challenge that belief. Am I really not an early bird? What could I do? And I actually discovered a wonderful book called ... I cannot no share it ... the Morning Miracle. If you have not read that, please read it. As you can see, I talk a lot about books in the episodes, but they're just such a big part of my life and they just really changed me so much. I have to. I just have to share what I learned. So I read that book actually on that trip, and it was just so eye-opening.

(03:55):
Wrote that book? Hal Elrod? Hal Elrod? I'm sorry. I'll have to look it up. But you can easily find that book. It was a game changer for me. So it helped me not only wake up early, because I mean, what's the point of waking up early if you have nothing else to do but wait to go to work? That would not make any sense. Might as well sleep more. But it's about the concept of waking up early to implement a series of things to help you become a better individual.

(04:28):
So first things first, and I'll explain those things, but first of all, how do you start by waking up early? First of all, you need a good why, a good reason or purpose to wake up. So if you feel like the purpose is not good enough, then you're not going to wake up. But if you feel it's going to help you take time for yourself, start your day in a really good way, and find your own reasons, but those will be what will motivate you to get up early in the morning.

(05:00):
One thing that really worked for me. I went from maybe waking up at 7:00 AM. I mean, it's not that bad, right? To wake up in the morning. People, some people, wake up way later than that. But what I did, I slowly went into incrementals of 15 minutes. So let's say I usually would wake up at 7:00. I started waking up at 6:45, and then when that was felt comfortable, I went another 15 minutes, and now I wake up at 4:00, 4:30 in the morning, a little bit more 4:30, but there were some mornings I put my alarm clock to 4:00 just because I love my mornings. I love taking care of myself and doing all the types of things that I can think of that will really start my day off in such a good way.

(05:54):
I see it a little bit at when you're on a plane and they give you all those security instructions and they say, "If we're out of oxygen, who puts the oxygen mask first? You do before doing so for others or for your children." Well, it's the same principle in life. We're trained to just wake up, go to work, and do a lot of things for work or for families and not take care of ourselves or take care of yourselves. But at the end of the day, and what are you usually going to do because you're so exhausted? You're probably just going to watch TV and do nothing else. But if you switch that around and take care of yourself first, in the day, then you have so much more energy to do things for others and take care of your family, your kids, your colleagues, your clients, and all of that. Definitely, if you can implement that in your life, such a game changer.

(06:51):
So now what do I do during my morning? I usually take, that means, about three hours in the morning to do things just for me before I even start getting ready for my day. Or maybe not three hours. Maybe two hours. Maybe I'll include my prep in the morning in those three hours. But what do I do? I take first things first. I wake up, I start my coffee, I take a coffee in the morning, and I just take a moment of reflection in silence. I think. I do it, and you can do the same. Do what you need to do, meditate or do your thing. But just take the time to start your day in a very good place. Close your eyes. Breathe. You can do some breathing exercises. There are a lot of things you can do, but do that to start off with. It's going to be really good. You'll see. It'll start things off really well.

(07:52):
Another thing, then once I'm done that, I'll usually read. First of all, I'm not talking about reading a book. First thing I'll do is read my affirmations. Yes. So what I do, I'll tell you all about it. I'm very excited and it works really well for me. I usually set goals for myself during the year, for the whole year. That has been a work in progress. I've been working on this for a couple of years now, several years, and I'm pretty proud of. I maintain those goals and I read them regularly. And one place I do so is in the morning. So what I do is I make sure I have my goals set out and I read them daily.

(08:36):
I have affirmations or things I want to remember to tell myself on a daily basis. And I do that through the Pinterest platform. I actually create pins with all my goals. I do that every beginning of the year. I take out my Pinterest account. I create a board called, let's say, Vision Board 2023, and I create pins for all of my goals, for financial, physical, spiritual, name it all. So I put goals in there and I also add some quotes and things I really want to remind myself. I read my affirmations and yearly goals every single morning. I do that. Then I'll read my 10, 15 pages of a book per day, always a nonfictional book. If I'm going to read a fictional book, I'll try and keep that for vacation, things like that. But when I'm not on vacation, I am not there to read a fictional book.

(09:31):
Everything I read is has a purpose behind it. It's really to learn and grow as a person in all kinds of aspects. Could be a business book, can be a personal development, could be a health related book, just as long as it helps me grow. Then, after that, what do I do? I work out. I work at about 45 minutes. Either I have a home gym or I do so outside. I'll just go for a walk. And when I do go for a walk, then I like to combine things together. At first, it was hard for me to walk. I found it kind of boring. I love nature, but it was still not too motivating for me. So that's when I learned to love podcasts. So I definitely encourage you to do that if you can, because again, it's like reading a book, but someone reading it back to you.

(10:22):
You have books, you can, audiobooks you can listen to. But I personally prefer just someone talking and so podcasts are a wonderful platform to listen to. And then, again, I've just implemented that just because I like to always ask myself, "What can I do more? What can I improve?" And while I prepare myself in the morning, do my hair, my makeup, whatever, then I'll try and put my cell phone and I just listen to another podcast or a YouTube video of someone I follow. That's it. And usually I start my day around 7:30 AM. I'm already at my desk sitting and working on the business. And that is great. I love it. And the impact on my business since I started that is, one, clarity of mind. When you start your day having taken care of yourself so much like that for a few hours, when you start your day, you're clear.

(11:21):
You've like just nourished your mind, your head of so many great things. It's so much easier to make great decisions right off. You're in a beautiful and a positive state. It's just a great way to start your day, clear in your mind. All the things I learned from the reading, from those mornings, those of course have directly impacted my business.

(11:50):
Number three is energy. I start my day by taking care of myself. So it gives me just that much more energy. I'm so much more energetic since I do that. I used to be a very, very low energy person, but with the years, I'm learning all kinds of things to be more energetic and definitely I don't have as much the slumps during the midday and things like that, just because I took care of myself. A lot of it is mental, right? It's not just physical. It starts in the head.

(12:25):
So what's your morning routine? Do you do anything of that? Do you do all of these things? Do you do only a portion? Are you a snoozer like I was, and still am a bit, but I still work up early. I have to work on that. I'm not perfect. I'm a work in progress. I'm a work in progress. Yes. But we're getting there.

(12:42):
So can you start getting up earlier every day just by 15 minutes? That could be a great first step. I definitely encourage you to do that. And once you do, you will not go back. I have been doing that for maybe four years now, and I'm addicted. I cannot go back. It's so beneficial. So please start if you're not doing it. And if you are, then share with me what you're doing. I love to hear what other people have to say and just share with me.

(13:14):
So before we wrap up, I love it, it would mean the world to me, if you could just take a few seconds to rate and share this podcast or episode. Your support is really crucial in helping us reach more people, inspire more women entrepreneurs, in the eCommerce business. Thank you for being part of this journey with me. I hope you gain some valuable insights and inspiration today to keep learning, growing, and taking action towards your goals. See you in the next episode.