Sit and Reflect Part II

Morning Rituals.

Today marks the very first day of April — I genuinely can’t believe that it’s ALREADY April. If I had to compare the John last year to the John this year, the difference would be extraordinary. This time last year, I had a whole list of goals that I made for myself and I was determined to hit every single one on that list. Last year April I was heading into my exam season, and I was one month away from my very first half marathon. This time last year, I wasn’t in self-quarantine and I definitely wasn’t thinking about starting a blog.

As I take the time to once again sit and reflect on my life, I personally think that one of the most useful “tips” that I’ve learned about is having a proper morning ritual. I’m not a professional with morning rituals by all means- which means I’m not going to tell you what ritual to follow, but I will talk about my own morning routine and what I choose to do to start my day. I’ve talked to quite a few individuals about their morning routine, and I’ve read quite a few novels on different ways to start your day and started to implement them into my own life. I thank Robin Sharma’s novel “5AM club” for my current morning ritual(s).

Before I do say anything about my own personal morning ritual — please keep in mind that you don’t have to follow everything that I do. I’ve tried numerous ways to start my morning, and I found that waking up early in the morning is what works best for me. Find what works for you and stick to it, consistency is key.

JOHN’S MORNING RITUAL:

1. 5AM Wake up: Most days I do try my best to wake up at 5AM, some days I’m up even earlier, the earliest I’ve waken up to start my days has been 3–3:30AM. The reason behind this is that, I like the silence that the early morning brings. I like the idea of being awake while no one else is awake. Starting my day with no distractions, starting my day the way that I want to. (The hardest part is genuinely waking up and forcing myself to get up) With my job, I do work at 6am some days and I’m out the door by 5:30am in order to make it on time.
2. Meditation: This is probably one of the most important part of my days. This is a time where I slow my thinking and focus solely on my breath. I focus on the inhalation, and exhalation, trying to breathe in as much air as I can and slowly let the air leave my body. I know that meditation has numerous benefits but personally I find that it helps me start off the day with a more calm mindset. (I do my best to meditate anywhere from 5–15 minutes)
3. Affirmations: This is something that I’ve found works quite well for me, I believe that the more you say an affirmation to yourself, the more you believe it. My affirmation is “I win or I learn, but I never lose.” I try to say my affirmation to myself at least 10x after my meditation, this may sound quite trivial, but find one that works for you and give it a try.
4. Journal: This is one of the last things that I find essential in my morning routine — my journal is my project that has been helping me tremendously. All my thoughts, dreams, goals, and deadlines go into this journal. I use it as a way to reflect on the day before, to talk about the issues that I faced the day prior and ways to deal with that problem if I were to face it again later in the future. I know that physically writing out in a journal is very beneficial, but I chose to make a document of my journal. It’s currently 126 pages and counting.

So YEAH!! That’s currently my morning routine, with all that being said and done, it’ll take me roughly around 30 mins to upwards to an hour if I choose to add new things in. Lately I’ve been experimenting and trying out new things, some days I’ll try and listen to a podcast to get some learning in, some days I’ll add some visualization where I imagine myself hitting a PR or doing well on a midterm etc. I sometimes even try a different type of meditation (guided), as long as I’m consistent with my morning that’s truly all that matters to me.

Let me know what your mornings may look like?