Achieving “perfection” is truly an art of subtraction; while we may consider adding more and more items to our morning “to-do list” to prepare ourselves for the day, it’s actually subtracting actions that will simplify, clarify, and focus your morning energy.

What is a Morning Routine?

First, what is the purpose of a morning routine?

Simply, it is to prime our mind and body to achieve our goals for the day, whether those be professional, personal, physical, mental, or otherwise. We must ask ourselves, “What priming activities must I start with now to make sure I get my “work” done?”

If you currently don’t have a structured morning routine, this insight will hopefully be very valuable in creating more intention and purposeful action to begin your day.

Four Morning Routine Insights

#1 – Prepare Your Body

The easiest way to prepare your mind for the day’s tasks is to get into your body. Do something to move around and create blood flow, from a simple 5-minute stretch to a cold shower, 50 squats, a quick yoga flow, or a walk around the block. Move your feet (bonus points: get some light “jumping” or bouncing outside in the sun…shake it out!)

#2 – Prepare Your Mind

Once you’ve moved your body, it’s time to focus your mind. Personally, we love doing the Wordle first thing after a quick stretch. A mental puzzle kick starts your creative thinking, word association, and reasoning skills. We also love reading Morning Brew; it’s a quick, easy email capture of today’s relevant world and financial news. Note: these tasks should NOT be work related…you have all day for that.

#3 – Prepare Your Soul

This activity should be a combination of mind, body, and spirit; it should be something that makes you happy and/or excited. Examples might be listening to your favorite song, closing your eyes and smiling during your first sip of coffee, telling your spouse or partner you love them, sitting with your dog, playing with your kids…something that lights you up inside and makes you feel good.

#4 – Intention & Affirmation

Give direction to your day. You may set an intention broadly (e.g., “Today I will be focus on productivity at work”) or specifically (“I will get all my chores done and spend 3 hours writing today”). Or, try an affirmation. This might sound like, “Today, I am calm.” It is a feeling we are after rather than an outcome. When we (inevitably) get distracted, this brings us back home.

Your new morning routine contains just four items. Prepare your body, mind, and soul, then set an intention or affirmation. Take two minutes or 15 minutes (there is no length to the script) and be purposeful about how you show up to each action item.

Let’s go have the best day ever, team!