Be careful of the thoughts you get this time of year. Yes, you worked hard all year. Yes you deserve those things you wished but kept postponing,  yes you have more responsibilities next year and you’re wondering “if not now, then when?”

This is your frantic ego mind, nagging you to take care of yourself  by acquiring more, “come on, this is the last window you have, it’s the end of the year so before you know it you’ll be getting gifts for everybody else!” it says. And you fall for it, as if your wishlist  will disappear by Jan 1st. As if those cravings will not be replaced by new ones sooner than you think possible. “Wow, it would feel really great to start the new year having this notebook and those candles and that outfit. It will match the new me”. At least, this is my internal dialogue every year.

The above was a draft I wrote last year and didn’t publish. Maybe, because -counter to my own advice- I did all the above and got a lot of what was on my wishlist.  However, a reminder I set up last year showed up on my phone at the end of October telling me: “your december expenses are the triple of any other month, so plan accordingly”. Yes, I set reminders one year in advance to avoid going crazy and forget all the commitments I already have without wishlist shopping. It was really helpful to be more mindful about my expenses while enjoying this magical time of year.

Funny, however, how the same thoughts I wrote are running again in my mind so I totally got hooked by a marketing message for a makeup set playing along the same thought lines, “Best year ever, 2018” the tagline stated. Well, yes! I will get the makeup bag that will help my next year be the best ever, thank you very much. I was mindful about how the message resonated with my end-of-year trend but did it anyway. The message and gold packaging indeed closed the sale for me.  Being aware of something is different than acting on it, I admit. So I’m going to read my advice again and take it slow and buy what I really love and  already planned for, like saving on kids’ outfits on black friday.

Getting new calendars and journal for the new year is also one of my favorite pre-planned things to do. I’m already all set up with Ausitn Kleon’s wall calendar and Gretchen Rubin’s page-a-day calendar because they accompanied me in 2017 which is a year I am deeply grateful for. They are now symbols I love to have on my desk to remind me of what matters, but that’s another post.

It is not a challenge anymore. It’s a lifestyle.

I wake up at 4:30 am on weekdays and at 5 am (max) in weekends.

I do this because I can’t afford not to do it. This is the time I feed my mind and spirit and take care of my body to be prepared for the day.

My current routine is as follows, I hope it helps you create your own:

1. Read one lesson from a course in miracles and a year of miracles by Marianne Williamson.
2. Do 3 sets of power breathing, 20 breaths each.
3. Do a 15-minute sitting meditation.
4. Do a 7-minute exercise of yoga stretching (still shy on this part as I believe it could use more focus from me) and jumping jacks if I’m still sleepy.
5. Have my coffee while starting my 20 minutes of journaling which consist of the below:
   1. Read one entry of the daily stoic by Ryan Holiday
   2. Write the morning gratitude entry in “The Five-Minute Journal“
   3. Write a one sentence entry about each of my 2 kids in the one-sentence journal for mothers by Grtechen Rubin (second year to do this, one journal for each kid).
   4. Write a one-page entry about my dominant thoughts and the happenings of the previous day in my Moleskine daily diary.
6. The next 20 minutes are dedicated for making progress in reading. I read one or two books at a time, 10 minutes each. I started recently to rely on number of pages to read per book, so If I want to finish a certain book within a month I need to read x pages a day.
7. The next and final 20 minutes in my routine are dedicated for learning by doing, so I aim at moving forward in some courses I subscribed to. Current focus is The Marketing Seminar by Seth Godin, so I watch the lessons’ videos and do the homework.

I sometimes use the last 20 minutes to read and update my goals and set reminders and the to-do list for the day. I love that I have a longer time during weekends which I usually use to read more and reflect on the past week’s entries and achievements (ideally).

After that I feel so energetic and satisfied and ready to wake up my family to start the routine of leaving the house and facing the day.

When does the morning routine fail?

• It fails if I check my email or social media, I get absorbed by them and minutes get stolen from one of the above steps. Solution? keep the mobile out of reach during all this. I use it to read the morning spiritual entries and to time my mediation and then leave it on the yoga mat usually.
•  It doesn’t feel as good to wake up if I sleep less than 6 hours the night before, therefore I need to prepare for it every night by respecting my bedtime.

 

When does it work best?

• If you have a 5 am club like the one I joined, a group of people who share the same interest and wake up at the same time, so we say good morning to each other through this club (group)  and go about our routine. It makes you feel less alone and less inclined to go back to bed.
• If you believe that all successful people have this in common: they wake up before the world does to work on their personal development goals.