Last Friday in the Warrior Tribe Facebook group we gave away the Warriors Secret Weapon No.1 ~ A Powerful Morning Routine. (If you haven’t downloaded your gift join the Warrior Tribe today and grab it right away!)
Morning Habits
There is a lot written about good morning habits; you will find hundreds of blogs on the subject; “8 Things To Do Before 8am”, or “3 Morning Habits of Successful People”, or dauntingly “34 Morning Daily Routine Habits for a Healthy Start to Your Day”. Thirty-Four?! Just the thought of it makes me want to pull the covers up and stay in bed!
Freak Out!!!
And here’s the rub really, any of these well-meant posts invite us to step outside of our current comfort zone which our brains (and bodies) do not rush to with glee! The human mind is pre-programmed to stay in its safe zone; an evolutionary trick built in to keep us from doing crazy stuff that may get us killed and terminate the species! So, when a suggestion is made to take on 3 or 33 new morning habits, it is an overwhelming prospect which causes our old evolutionary brains to freak out.
Even if we manage to do some of the recommended tasks for a few days, eventually that old comfort zone starts to kick in and the permission-giving thoughts take over. Before we know it one ‘rest’ day, one extra helping, one little lie-in has become our old life again.
So how do we overcome the pull of inertia, the Call of the Comfort Zone?
Asking for a new routine to be created is tough enough. When the content of the routine also involves, for example, exercising for 30mins every day (when I have not exercised for years), or waking up at 5 am (when my normal waking time is 7 am), then tasks themselves become impossible hurdles.
Enter micro-habits.
Micro habits are tiny incremental adjustments that we make on a regular basis which cumulatively add up to a big result. A simple example of this is my step-son; he is a self-taught acrobat. He doesn’t go to classes nor does he have a coach (other than You-Tube). Yet, he is constantly practising. In the space between changing conversations or moving from dinner to bed-time drill, he will do a handspring or a headstand. He will walk in the door from school and greet me with, “look Auntie Tania. I am so much better at this now” and show me the latest move he is working on. Cumulatively he has done more practice than any kid who goes to a weekly acrobatics class.
You can use this principle with your morning routine.
Instead of setting your alarm for 5 am on Day 1, set it for 6:50 and then get out of bed and do a 5-minute meditation and a little stretch. Increase the time next week, set the alarm for 6:40 and add a little more exercise & meditation time in. Do the same thing next week, and the following week until you are waking up at the desired time and fitting in all the cool things in the Warrior’s Morning Routine. The secret here is to be doing something of what you want to achieve every single day.
Believe it or not, you already practice this.
How many of you have put on unwanted weight? How many of you have thought to yourself that you might do well to cut back on your drinking? It didn’t happen overnight, did it? No Siree, it crept up on you. Yup, you guessed it, you have been using micro-habits. A little extra helping of food, just one more drink in the evening….and before you know it you have extended your old comfort zone of appetite and alcohol consumption (and your waistline).
Now you can employ the same process in reverse. Just one tablespoon less of food, just one drink fewer at sundowners…and before you know it you will have achieved your goal without freaking out that old evolutionary part of your brain!
You can do this!!
So, before you toss out the whole idea of changing your routine because it is too much effort, too overwhelming or too difficult, STOP! The point is the process, not the destination. Cut yourself some slack, commit to the discipline of daily micro-habits and you will find yourself healthy, fit and mentally strong in no time at all! You can do this!!
Much Love,
PS: If you haven’t yet joined our Warrior Tribe Facebook Group head on over there and apply to join today. You will find a community of like-minded Warriors like yourself, some battle-weary and worn out yet committed to the good fight and living their best lives. Together with my Warrior man and hubby Dylan, we are committed to coaching you and growing you into your full power again. We offer support, success tips, tricks and hacks. Best of all every Friday we give away a free resource to add to your Warrior Arsenal. Take Me To My Tribe