Being a morning person
A massive turning point in my life was the shock of my 5.30AM alarm where every morning thought to myself “who in their right mind does this”. My passion for fitness started off working with horses where I would wake up and have my clothes on my bed side table, the room was so cold that I would get changed underneath my duvet and sprint to the kettle to make a cup of tea before I promptly started work.
I will always remember working for a guy called Donal that would mostly make me run everywhere as he wasn’t a fan of my slow teenage attitude. In a very light hearted way I saw him as a slave driver, until now, where I can only thank him for the valuable lessons I learnt in the short time of working for him.
I learnt the value of hard work, biting my teeth and just doing things, working long hours, starting early, cutting back on my massive bowls of pasta… And if I was ungrateful for the poor pay – at least it was a weight loss boot camp!
Since then, there has not been a business or a line of work where ‘getting up early and getting it done’ has not been the best way of reaching success. This doesn’t mean miss out on sleep of course but my 6.30AM alarm is the best routine I have got myself into.
Here are my top 5 Tips to becoming a morning person.
Plan your morning
Before you go to bed, get your notes up on your phone and write down a list of the things that you want to achieve the next day, especially first thing (I love a list, and love to write something down that I have already done). I find when I wake up, this list is on my mind and it drives me to get the coffee machine going.
Get to bed early
Sleep is still important, so get yourself into a routine of going to bed early, 1AM Facebook stalking is not setting anyone up for an early start. I find it so funny that when I was young, there was not a hope in hell you were getting me in bed at bedtime (I was such a terror) but now I’m putting myself to bed before everyone else.
A morning mote
Some days it still doesn’t cut it, you wake up in the ‘worlds most comfy’ position and you want to hold onto it for another hour. I’m fairly short with myself and say ‘Get out of bed’ – And this simple but effective thought gets me out of bed (hardily inspirational I know, I don’t have many intelligent first thoughts)
Stop giving yourself leeway
If you went to bed early, and you give yourself time off at weekends or on another day of the week, I’m afraid it’s a case of stop being so nice to yourself and get a grip. Sometimes I get a bit too soft on myself and think I deserve lots of lie ins, but the reality is I had all weekend off and some easy days ahead. Get a grip and think big!
Coffee
Yes I said it, If I am honest with myself, and I really can’t decide whether this is a good or bad thing, but my morning coffee gets me out of bed and gets me going in the morning. If I’m on the rampage and I’m honest with everyone, I could easily sometimes have two coffees.
