Before Breakfast....
I don't know about you, but I'm getting to be quite good friends with 4:00am.
I travel quite a bit with my "9-5" and that travel includes hitting the road well before sunrise and early morning meetings (the photo above is from a trip into Toronto one morning, for an early meeting...I/we always leave extra early to miss traffic!) . Luckily, I've always been a morning person (I'm also an evening/night person...let's just say sleep and I don't really get along all that well). When I was younger, I would be on the ice for figure skating practice well before 7am and having grown up in the country, you had to be at the end of the lane way nice and early to catch the bus to school...and we were one of the first pick ups of the day.
I'm also quite a breakfast fan (thankfully) because as we all know, it really and truly is the most important meal of the day...for many reasons (we'll get into that in a later post). If you follow me on Instagram, you'll see my Saturday morning breakfast ritual that includes a leisurely start to the day of heading to the Guelph Farmers Market, picking up my favourite Fairly Frosted Vegan Bakery Cupcake(s) and then heading back home to sit on the deck/patio to have my cupcake and latte breakfast (with the odd mimosa, donut and fresh fruit mixed in) and enjoy this somewhat lazy start to the weekend.
IF ONLY this could be every morning!!
In reality, my typical breakfast includes items such as homemade protein-rich smoothies or Greek yogurt with fruit/berries....and OF COURSE a latte (made with skim milk and Truvia...an all natural sweetener).
Now...as important as breakfast is, I read an article in the Globe and Mail a few months ago that talked to the "Twelve Things Successful People Do Before Breakfast".
Yes, that's right, BEFORE breakfast! Around my house, that usually includes walking Charlie and mayyybeee heading to the gym for a workout ( I tend to do my early morning workouts on an empty stomach).
This article lists things/activities/tasks such as:
- Waking up early
- Exercising
- Working on top a priority business project
- Working on a personal passion project
- Spend quality time with family
- Connect with their spouses
- Network over coffee
- Meditate to clear their minds
- Write down things they're grateful for
- Plan and strategize while they're fresh
- Check their email
- Read the news
When I look at this list, I would say that throughout the week, I would actually do most of these, depending on the day. How about you?
I wake up early, exercise by walking the pooch, make lists for the day ahead and most days, before I even get out of bed, I take a few moments to just lay there, clear my head and ease into the day. Once I'm out of bed, I'm checking my phone(s) for emails and to get caught up on the news that occurred while I was sleeping......
I also keep a journal beside my bed to jot down new project ideas, things I'm grateful for and items I want to remember from that day. This is something I generally do before I go to sleep, but I'm going to start adding it to my morning routine too! I'll admit that Monday - Friday, the business projects take priority but the weekends are generally mine to work on my passion projects....and I definitely do find that the first few hours of the morning (ie. 6:30-9:00am) are my most productive.
So...overall, I would say that I do 8-9 of these things on a regular basis.
I'd also add one more item to that list......
- Watch the sunrise......
There's something about witnessing the sun coming up over the horizon that puts a different and extremely positive perspective on things....it's a sign of the new day beginning....and is one of the most beautiful times of day to get outside and enjoy the outdoors!
I hope this post inspires you to add a few more items to your morning routine....items that may only take a few minutes to complete, but that will only add to the goodness....the greatness...of your day!