I love routines and systems. Did you know we repeat 40% of our day-to-day activities? If we learn to consistently stick with good habits, we can change our lives.

Here’s my morning routine. I make sure to (try very hard!) to go to bed by 10pm the night before so I get a full 8 hours of sleep.

When we’re tired, and especially chronically tired, our bodies can’t tell the difference between hunger in order to stay awake and actual hunger, so we end up overeating. Sleep is super important. My list of sleep aids are on this page.

6am-6:30am Get Ready for the Day

Have you ever heard the phrase “Pretty Bias”? This is something I’ve had to grapple with, because it’s my nature to roll out of bed & head to the coffee shop dressed in sweats. However! As annoying as it is, the world does favor those who look “together”. I know I feel more confident and am open to talking with others (who may have awesome connections, you never know!) if my mascara isn’t running down my cheeks.

Therefore! Here are some very quick things I do to get myself looking presentable in the AM. I typically shower and do my hair later in the day, so these steps are just a little primping for the morning & early afternoon hours.

COFFEE

If you don’t already drink coffee, don’t start! It’s of course better to rely on your body for energy (without the need for caffeine). BUT for those of us coffee drinkers, here’s what I do for consistency and to save $$.

First of all, did you know that coffee actually has some great health benefits?

• Boost metabolism

• Help with going to the bathroom (#2)

• Contains essential nutrients like riboflavin, pantothenic acid, manganese, potassium, magnesium and niacin

I make these K-Cups in the Keurig the night before (or if I’m really on top of things, on Sunday night to have it for the week) and leave it in this small pitcher in the fridge overnight to cool. Did you know coffee can last in the fridge (without milk or anything added) for 2 weeks?? I add 2% milk and cinnamon when I’m ready to drink it!

That’s a super easy way, but here are other ways to make iced coffee.

Makeup

Clean beauty, or using beauty products without harmful chemicals, is really important to me. The products we use are absorbed into our skin, and then into our organs. This is especially important to consider with any products that come into direct contact with our orifices (direct openings into our bodies), i.e. mouths and eyes – so lipstick, lip gloss, mascara, eyeliner, eye shadow, etc.

I first remove any excess eye makeup that I didn’t catch the night before with oil-free makeup wipes. I use these little makeup wipes in the AM

I then add a bit of eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss (fave shade bare glimmer). Finally – I add under eye cream to stop my fine wrinkles in their tracks 🙂 and smooth them out. I’ve LOVED the results of this rejuvenating under eye cream.

I know I’m not a fashion blogger by any means 🙂 but I just wanted to share a few items! I LOVE having well and ethically made essentials (like Everlane), and the minimalist lifestyle, AND I’m a total Marie Kondo convert, so, I stick with only the basics. I Everlane long-sleeve cropped tees and Madewell Tensel jeans – which have this amazing stretch quality AND fit so well – seriously I’ve never found jeans which fit better.

6:30am-7am Take a Walk & Visit the “Spiritual Gym”

I then take an ~30 minute walk & end up at a coffee shop I’ll work at for a few hours. During this walk, I choose one of favorite books to listen to (I love audiobooks).

Self-help books have changed my life more than I can say 🙂 I know you might roll your eyes at this – but in all seriousness, certain books have changed my life and my ladies’ lives in really massive ways.

Did you know that you actually see the world through your perception of circumstances rather than facts? If you change how you think about or perceive any event, you can massively improve your life.

Here’s an example: You wake up late because you forgot to set your alarm. You can react in 1 of 2 ways:

1. Spin out – “I can’t believe I woke up late. My boss is going to hate me even more. I’m such a screw up. I’ll never get my life together”

2. Let yourself finish the sentence: “This is good because…” which forces you to frame to circumstance in your life in a positive way

I’ve had to do this a lot recently with a certain someone I live with 😉 (cough, Zak). When he does something the irks me, like leaving all the cabinet drawers open in the kitchen for the millionth time, for example, I choose to NOT spin out and get angry with him. I could very easily choose to get all annoyed, and think of all the other things that annoy me that he repeatedly does, but I don’t let myself go there. Instead, I’ll approach the situation in a calm way at a later point.

Here are some eye-opening quotes that have been impactful for me from the book You Are a Badass (a must-read).

• “What you focus on, you create more of”

• “Worrying is praying for bad things to happen”

• “It’s the people who make enjoying their lives a priority who enjoy their lives”

Changing your mindset is a skill. That’s why I’m referring to this section as “the spiritual gym”. You have to continue to go to the gym to keep your mindset strong (or you’ll lose it!).

Here are some of my favorite books and podcasts to listen to:

• You Are a Badass

• Psycho-Cybernetics

• The Life Coach School Podcast (about changing your life, not about life coaches 😉)

• Better Than Before

7am-7:05am Meditate on My Vision Board

For the first few minutes where I sit down to work and am sipping on my iced coffee, I minimize everything on my computer screen and take my desktop background in. I truly visualize this series of images as my future self & life and it makes me SO giddy & excited to see it every morning. I even pull it up at other points in the day.

I made this vision board desktop background by walking through what I want my “Day in the Life” to look like. I wake up relaxed & rested, drink my iced coffee, look stellar like @thefoxandshe 👯‍♀️, have professional and thriving business, do some low-intensity exercise like yoga or barre, have a clean open home, and cook delish dinners for Z.

You can make your own vision board for free with Canva.com – create a free account & then search “Desktop Background”. You can also create one for your phone by searching “Instagram Story”.

What’s your morning routine?? Will you adopt any of these practices? Leave me a comment!