In the middle of 2014, somewhat by accident, I ended up developing a morning routine and potentially this was one of the best things I have ever done.
I am not sure exactly where I got the idea from that a morning routine was a useful thing to have. It slowly developed. I think it might have arisen out of a conversation I had with my niece at Christmas the year before. I had begun by then to start getting back in shape and we were discussing yoga. In the very nice christmas crackers was a little card that had a space written on it for a New Year’s resolution.
We both resolved to do yoga every day for 30 days consecutively…. a bit like with my running it took some 6 months before I actually started to do any yoga.
This happened in September when I found that little card sitting in my wallet and so I started doing Yoga following one of Erin Motz’s 30 day yoga challenges.
Some time before I had found an app called Lift (now called Coach.me), which was developed to help you build habits. I used it to track my yoga…
And then I saw on Lift people were using it to track having cold showers every day – Why I thought that was a good idea, I have no idea. It could have had to do with the fact my grandfather who always looked much younger than he was supposedly had one every day – anyway I started doing that too.
Later I saw on there Meditation which I also started doing and then another habit of writing 500 words every day…
And my productivity began to go through the roof – although for a month or so as I got incredibly busy I let my morning routine lapse until early December when I began to start it again.
As I started working on that routine more I wrote a post on Facebook in a couple of groups I am a member of asking people to share their morning routines and I got some great ideas along with a book recommendation for a book called The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.
In it Hal shares his morning routine and a formula which he called SAVERS which stands for:
Silence,
Affirmations,
Visualisation,
Exercise,
Reading
and
Scribing (Another word for writing but SAVERW doesn’t sound as good!)
Now I really do have a solid morning routine that I think will continue to grow and evolve over the coming years…
And that brings me on to the reason behind this post…
As part of my meditation practice and what Hal calls Silence I began looking for Apps for my mobile phone which would help me with meditation.
There are several that I have used and recommend…
One in particular is called Happier and amongst other things is designed to help you become happier…
and that is what brings us on to Gratitude. Someone wiser than I once said that being able to show gratitude is what helps you find happiness. Most of us know of people who are incredibly rich and by all intents and purposes according to the world’s idea of what makes success ought to be incredibly happy, but end up being miserable…
One of the things I have really noticed living here in Peru is that it isn’t outward success that makes you happy – although I think this is a great thing to strive for, but rather it is those who show the most gratitude that get the most happiness.
And that brings me back to the Happier App – in today’s exercise I was asked to write a letter to my future self about the things I don’t want top forget to appreciate…
So I am reminding myself to be grateful for the following:
That I have the time to do a morning routine
That I am lucky enough to live somewhere where the sun always seems to shine
That I have an incredible family and friends
That my quality of life is really very good
and that I live in a time where technology really has the potential to make life better – indeed my entire new healthy lifestyle is almost all managed from my mobile phone!
Thanks for reading – What are you grateful for?
Let me know in the comments below!
Fantastic post Justin, I see you crushing it on Fitbit too!
Hope you’re well!
Ruchi
Thanks Ruchi – I am doing very well and hope you are too!
My fitbit strap has unfortunately broken and although I ordered a new one to be sent here it still hasn’t arrived, so I think it is under reporting a bit, but it certainly helps keep me active – Very tempted by the idea of getting the new Fitbit Surge when it eventually comes out.