Simple Life Habits

At the beginning of this year I started a new habit: waking up early and doing a morning walk. For most of my life I have been a night person. I naturally come alive at 10pm. It can even be difficult for me to fall asleep at night because my mind does not shut off. I know what “silence is deafening” means. I use to find myself battling my mind and the silence in the house in order to fall asleep at night. Once I started an early morning ritual all that began to change.

I was amazed at how many benefits I started enjoying once I made waking up early a habit. Too be honest I have received way more then 5 benefits, but here are a few of the main ones you will experience if you develop the same habit.  There is a lot that I do for my morning success ritual but to keep things short I am going to focus on early morning walking.

1. An Opportunity to Clear Your Mind - When I first started my morning ritual, I started by jogging in the neighborhood as a way to get my exercise in for the day. However, due to some major lower back pain that I was experiencing I had to slow down my pace. At first I was very frustrated because I was focused on heart rate and calories burned, but I ended up getting so much more out of the whole experience. I now call it “My Morning Walkabout” and I use it to clear my mind for the day. It is an opportunity for me to go on a walk with God and just talk with Him.

I now get some of my best ideas and solutions to my problems during my morning walkabout. I come back to the house with a clear mind and ready to go after the day.

2. Ability to Stimulate Your Senses – Slowing down caused me to take in the scenery I was experiencing. I am not naturally a sentimental person, but there is something spiritual about the early morning and a sunrise. We live near the back of the 2nd phase in a subdivision. The 3rd phase in our subdivision has paved roads and street lights but no homes (see pic on home page). It makes a great walking and jogging track as there is nothing back there but nature and the early morning sounds.

Slowing down and taking in the sunrise, the early morning steam off the ponds, and the birds as they start the day is refreshing. It centers your day and helps you take a deep breath before you jump into your hectic paced life.

3. Direct Your Focus for the Day – I also use my morning walkabout as an opportunity to narrow my focus for the day. I am a big believer in focus and momentum. Life today can easily pull you in many directions. One of the best habits I have formed in recent months is to decide on 1-3 tasks that are MUST DO tasks for the day. I start with the first one as early in the morning as possible and try to create some personal momentum for the day. I have even started as early as 4:30 am (I know it sounds crazy) and have had all three must tasks accomplished by 7:00am. I cannot begin to describe the rush and the adrenaline hat you feel for the rest of the day.

4. Meditate on Gratitude – I also like to use the morning walkabout to think about everything that is working in my life at the moment. Aren’t we all guilty at times of sleeping to the last possible moment and then rushing out of the house into our busy, hectic work day? I force myself to rattle off everything that I am grateful for and it always starts my day with a smile.

5. Ability to Fall Right to Sleep at Night – This one was a shocker for me. I know it should be common sense, but by waking up early you actually are tired at night. Like I mentioned earlier I have always had a difficult time falling asleep at night. My mind is always racing and ideas flow continuously. Once I started waking up early I noticed that I began to sleep better and wanted to go to bed.

There are so many more benefits to starting this habit. I would encourage you to try it for 7 days and write down the benefits that you receive from the experience.

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