What Does My Morning Ritual Look Like?

In this post, I’m going to detail what my morning ritual looks like and how it helps me with my business as well as in my day to day life.

What Is A Morning Ritual?

A morning ritual is something you do every day as part of your morning. You might enjoy going to the gym, singing Metallica tunes at the top of your lungs, or sipping coffee while reading the newspaper. What you choose to do doesn’t matter as much as why you do it and what you get out of doing it repeatedly. The kind of morning ritual I’m talking about involves 5-10 minutes of writing down my goals and gratitude then another 10 minutes of using Headspace.

Some of what I do may seem airy-fairy and to be completely honest it seemed that way to me when I first started doing it. But one thing I pride myself on is being willing to give something a try to see if it works. I found that it did work, in fact, it works really well. I also found that it didn’t just benefit my business it also made me a happier person when I added the journaling into my day.

Part 1. Writing Down Goals and Journaling

The first thing I do for my Morning Ritual is I take out a pad of paper and write down 3 Goals I have for my life. These will normally be made up of both lifestyle and business goals. It is important to actually write them down on a piece of paper. It won’t have the same effect if you type it into word on your computer or Evernote on your phone so make sure you write it down on paper.

A typical day might be:

I will earn x amount by the end of next month.

I will complete a half marathon in under 2 hours and 10 minutes.

I will learn to play a new song on the guitar.

Notice the language I’m using. I’m saying “I will” instead of “I hope to”. The language you use is very important. You need to make it a must like you are absolutely sure that it will happen. I also found adding “easily” onto the goals made it more likely that I would accomplish that goal. It’s obviously a psychological hack, I don’t know why it works, but it works really well for me.

After that I then answer 3 questions:

3 Things I’m Happy About Right Now

I write down three things that I’m happy about in my life that are happening right now. Some examples could be being happy because you’ve hit an income target, or you’re down 5 pounds in your diet.

3 Things I’m Grateful For

Next, write down three things you’re grateful for in your life. This will be hard for some people as they exist in a glass half empty reality. But really try to think about things that you are lucky to have. Things that other people might not be so fortunate such as being able to eat three meals a day, being able to walk, having a nice family and good friends, etc.

3 Things I’m Excited About In The Future

Finally, write down three things you are excited about in the future. Some examples would be being excited to see a new movie that is coming out, going away on holiday, going out with your friends, etc.

So a typical day of Goal Setting and Journaling would be:

30th September Goals

3 Goals

I will easily earn over £3,000 per month in Kindle Publishing, Createspace, ACX and Merch By Amazon by October 31st, 2016.
I will easily run my half marathon in under 2 hours and 10 minutes.
I will easily publish 4 audiobooks on ACX by October 31st, 2016.

3 Things I’m Happy About Right Now

My business is doing better than ever.
The weather is great.
I set a new personal best at the gym.

3 Things I’m Grateful For

Family and Friends.
My health.
Not having to work a job I hate for the rest of my life.

3 Things I’m Excited About In The Future

Going on holiday to Lisbon (Portugal) in March.
Getting approved for Amazon Merch.
Going to see the new Star Wars movie.

Once you get into a habit of doing it every day it will only take about 5-10 minutes to do. At first, it will be difficult so I would start with just 3 Goals and then add another question every week. Pretty soon you will be flying through it and you will definitely notice a difference in how you feel on a day to day basis. I found that my ‘baseline normal’ (the average where you’re not super happy but not sad either) went up in a couple of weeks just from doing this exercise every day.

Part 2. Headspace

The final part of my morning ritual involves 10 minutes of using the Headspace App. My friend Will who runs Hit The Accelerator recommended this App to me and to be honest, at first, I was sceptical. I’d never even thought about doing meditation before. But after having used it for a few weeks I must say that it really helps me turn off the thoughts and worries that keep swirling around in my mind. It also helps me to concentrate and be more productive when working.

Being completely honest I don’t do Headspace every day like I should, I probably do it about 4 times a week. This is something I definitely need to work on because it does help me.

What Makes The Biggest Difference?

For me writing down my goals has made the biggest difference. If you only take one thing away from this article it should be that. Writing down your three main goals will take about 2 minutes a day and it will honestly change your life. It doesn’t have to be business related it can be anything. But writing it down on paper every day makes your subconscious mind focus on it and as a result, you will usually achieve your goals. If nothing else at least do this one thing.

Conclusion

I think if you are currently struggling with motivation in your online business (or any other goals you may have) you owe it to yourself to give this a try. You don’t even have to do it in the morning, you could even do it when you get home from work at night. It was a game changer for me and I’m sure it will be for you as well.

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