The 5am Club!...or the 10am club, or the mid-afternoon club.
I had such an interesting conversation earlier in the week with a client about morning routines. I spoke a long long time ago about my disdain for this 5am ice bath ‘trend’, which although I do appreciate is great for some people, it’s not for everyone. And there now seems to be a social media trend of everyone sharing their morning routines…
Now, I can appreciate the motivational nature of very success people sharing their morning routines in a ‘how to set up your day for success’ kinda way. For some people this will absolutely motivate and inspire.
However, for those of us who are working through feelings of never being good enough… this can get pretty toxic. (and I really try not to throw the word toxic around lightly, so when I say toxic I mean it).
When we see an influencer with a seemingly perfect life, or a CEO sharing their morning routine that goes something like this…
5am - Wake up naturally
5:05 - Ice bath
5:10 - HIIT workout
5:40 - Yoga
6:40 - Meditation
7am - 3 course super duper healthy gut health promoting breakfast
7:30 - Check emails and prep for the day
8am - 10k run
8:45 - Shower (I don’t know how long it takes to run 10k)
9am - 1st super duper high power meeting of the day
… and so on.
… we can quite quickly feel like a failure. It reinforces our narrative that we’re not doing enough, and we are not worthy of reaching those heights that society says is ‘success’. Perhaps then we even begin to add more ‘to do’s’ into our morning to try to keep up, and fall short because we’re already exhausted from the pressure we put ourselves under the rest of the day.
I use a journal that prompts me to pay attention to my natural energy flow throughout the day. This is a great tool because it highlights what works for ME! Not the (presumably white, male) CEO that ‘naturally’ wakes up and springs into action at 5am. It’s different for all of us. I have friends who want to socialise at 9pm. I want to be in bed at 9.30pm. Learning what works best for us is key to balancing our energy and finding our rhythm… and avoiding burnout.
So I’ll share with you my morning - inconsistent - non-routine…
I do genuinely wake up naturally when the sun rises. So I wake up very early in summer, and winter is a bit of a struggle.
So... wake up when the sun comes up then I STAY PUT. I maybe fall back to sleep for a little longer, or I consciously rest for a while.
The alarm goes off around 7.30ish and I put the coffee on (which I prepped the evening before – excellent life hack).
I brush my teeth while I stroll around the apartment and stare out of the window.
Then I get back into bed with the coffee.
I daydream a little, chat to my girlfriend, and if I’m honest I scroll through my phone (even as a life coach I’m not above that).
Some days I write a couple of lines in my journal, some days I don’t.
Then I have breakfast, still in bed (a crumpet and the green smoothie pictured above).
Then I shower and get on with the day.
This restful start to the day works for me. It changes and shifts depending on what’s happening that particular day, but there’s always stillness and coffee in bed. This sets me up for my version of success.
So, no matter how much or how little you do when you wake up, at whatever time you wake up, whether you meditate, journal, move, or not... as long as it works for you it’s just right.