Owning the A.M.: How I slay my day

Don’t hit snooze. You’ll totally miss out. You will accomplish more before the sun comes up than most people will accomplish all day.

If I don’t rise before the sun, I’m losing a race, a race to own my morning.  More often than not, I do awake to a chilly and dark house.  A silent house.  And I take full advantage.  My mornings are my sanity, they are my peace, my inspiration, my time to thrive. 

I have learned through various readings, podcasts, conversations, trials and errors, that taking control of this sacred time will not only propel me in the right direction daily, but it has helped me stay sane, at times when most people wouldn’t.  It has helped me reach my goals.  It has helped me get to know myself better and become more tolerant of those things which I cannot control. 

Years ago, I was diagnosed with ADD, I took medication for it for a while, but I decided, after a full-on ‘I know more than all doctors type’ investigation, that I could control my symptoms without taking a pill possessing an unlimited amount of potential short-term and long-term side effects.  I’m not knocking people who take the meds.  Live and let live.  I’m not going to delve into my past here (You can read about that in one of my books, not yet published).  My point is this: owning my morning requires a somewhat strict routine and routines are good for me, contrary to what my rebel side has believed almost my entire life.  I also believe a routine of some degree is good for anyone wanting to level-up.

FIRST THINGS FIRST, I’M GRATEFUL AF

Each and every morning I wake up, the first thing I do is be mindful of how my body feels and I thank an entity (I’m leaving religious beliefs outta here) for the new day.  I’m here, I’ve arrived again, in my body, ready to take on the day, be happy, love people, spread cheer, do some good, laugh a lot, work hard, have fun and eat good food!

EXERCISE MY MIND AND MY BODY

I read.  I read a lot.  At any given time, I’m reading 3-5 books at a time and I finish a few books every couple weeks.  I think I finished 4-5 books in the last 3 weeks.  I like to learn, I’m curious, I’m willing to continue to develop and grow as a person and I also like to read fantasy and fiction, I like to read about people past and present, I like to read about places I’ve been and places I want to go.  Basically, I will read just about anything and if I find it difficult to get through, I’ll just skim it.

I keep a journal and write it in daily.  Some days I get in my feelings and write about what’s on my mind or my heart.  Some days I write about my goals or I copy quotes I love.  Some days I write my books or blogs or poems.  Some days I write lists or complete written activities inspired by or directed by the books I’m reading at the time.  There’s no rhyme or reason to my journaling, I just make sure I’m using it as an outlet.  It really opens me up, creatively.

I meditate, I pray, I practice solitude and being mindful and present or any combination of these.  As I mentioned before, I need routine, but I have this BAD GIRL, REBEL BABE, BREAK ALL THE RULES, side to me as well and I like to switch it up.  I fly by the seat of my pants during my routine and do what feels right and what I want to do, in that moment.  There are mornings I light incense and get into full blown Lotus or Sukhasana.  There are days I lay on the floor, likely looking like I’m dead, just listening to my breathing.  Sometimes I get into child’s pose and worship my body or the Earth or whatever I feel like worshiping at the time.  Some mornings I stretch and give myself a little self-massage (I’m talking feet and legs or arms, perv).

Every single morning, I make sure I move my body.  Ideally, I get on the treadmill or elliptical and have at least 30 minutes for that and then I do other various activities that get me moving.  But as with everything else, I switch it up.  I do yoga, Tabata, Betty Rocker Videos, YouTube or Insta work outs, Step Aerobics, Beach Body, I’ll do anything to move.  This morning I did push-ups and sit-ups.  I must proudly add, I can, actually, really, in real-life, do full-on MAN PUSHUPS now.  Many of them.  A few months ago, I was doing modified push-ups only.  There’s nothing wrong with modified anything, I still do those too but the increase in my strength is 100% due to my consistency in movement and my dedication to my routines.

My body is a temple and I’m here to worship it and guide it the best way I can.

I have a vision board, too.  I have a huge, tangible vision board in my home office area, and I have a Pinterest vision board and depending on the day I look at both or one or the other.  I look at what I want, what I have and where I want to be and DAILY, I envision myself taking the steps necessary to get to where I want to be.  I talk to myself out loud and in my head with love.  Self-talk is so important.  I start every day off with positive self-talk.  If you don’t talk to yourself nicely, how can you expect other people to?  It starts from within.  Project love.  Hey Kelly, girl look at those powerful thighs.  Kelly, you have accomplished so much this past year.  Kelly, you are a Goddess.  It’s really so easy to look at the things you love about yourself and turn your negatives into positives and when you start doing that with yourself, you’ll start doing that with other people.  And when you start doing that with other people, you’ll start to see your life change. 

Food, it really is one of my biggest passions.

If I eat breakfast, which I usually do because I’m hungry, like all the time, I eat something nutritious.  I don’t do cereals (gross) or any other processed junk.  I go for eggs with veggie’s and or meat or a kale smoothie, or unsweetened Greek yogurt with berries, nuts, coconut, seeds, dark chocolate or something similar.  I’m not saying I eat this every day but it’s most days.  There’s an occasional bagel or chocolate breakfast toast (Who wouldn’t try it?! #aldifind).  I try to fuel myself with food each morning.  I usually drink coffee because coffee is life but lately, I’ve been drinking a lot of tea too because tea is also life and I feel so royal when I drink it.

I know, if you’re already not a morning person, it’s so difficult to make a transition into passionately utilizing the morning so that you can start living your best life.  It’s worth it.  I’m 100% an ALL-IN type of person and new endeavors excite me to the core however, many people may want to dip their toes in and gradually start to own their morning and command their day.

I’m not a doctor.  I’m not a Harvard alum, nor am I an English Professor or spelling and grammar buff. I’m not a therapist or a coach.  I’m just passionate about real estate and other stuff!