Freedom is awesome, but freedom doesn’t mean living a life without structure or accountability. In fact, the opposite is often true.
Strategic guardrails and structure provide the freedom to live your best life while accomplishing all the amazing goals and objectives on your “life list”.
This is where creating meaningful wellness routines can dramatically improve your quality of life and reduce many of the factors that contribute to stress and burnout.
Three simple ways to create an effective wellness routine
Let’s look at three simple ways an effective personal wellness routine improves function and performance while providing the freedom and happiness so many people seek.
- Kick start your day with positivity and productivity
- Better focus, function, and fun
- Relaxation and Rejuvenation
Kick start your day with positivity and productivity
How you start the day is a key factor in how successful the rest of your day is.
If your first thought when the alarm blares and you slam the snooze button is “F**K, I JUST WANT 10 MORE MINUTES OF SLEEP”, you will see tremendous benefits from this next section.
As a society, we are so busy, stressed, and connected that it’s hard to step back and look at the impact that our most common daily actions have on our wellbeing and performance.
Do you fall asleep with the TV on, or endlessly scroll through social media until exhaustion finally takes over?
Do you wake up to a noxious alarm sound and immediately begin thinking about all the work you have to do that day? Perhaps you even start by checking emails while you are laying in bed.
If these are common behaviours for you, a structured evening and morning routine will dramatically improve your life.
In the morning, mountains of research demonstrate that our health, happiness, performance and productivity are increased when we take even a few minutes to set ourselves up for success. That’s actually the sole purpose of a morning routine.
Whether it’s 1 minute or 1 hour, the goal is to get our brain, body, and spirit “warmed up” and ready to take on all the adventures of the day.
Most important part of morning routine
Each person’s morning routine will be slightly different, but allocating a dedicated block of time for the following items is the most important part.
- Body (Mobility, Activity, Fitness etc.)
- Brain (Mindset, mindfulness/meditation, Learning, Planning)
- Spirit (Goals, Purpose, Affirmations, Journaling)
Keep in mind that not everything needs to be done each day, but it’s advisable to all of them at least a few days per week.
With all the stress and overwhelm, it can be hard to figure out where to fit it in. A tip that’s helped many of my clients is to go to bed 30 minutes earlier, and get up 30 minutes earlier. Invest that first 30 minutes of the day on your morning success routine. Move your body, practice mindfulness, review your top 3 for the day.
Even if you simply breathe and embrace the silence and serenity of the morning for 5 minutes, you will be far ahead of those who hit the snooze button multiple times and have to scramble off to work in a flurry of expletives and grumbling. This morning “Me Time” is pure gold!
Want a detailed breakdown of my morning routine (the FRESH! Start Morning Method™)? Click here to download a free PDF with the steps.
Better focus, function, and fun
A great morning routine tees up your day for success better than anything else I’ve discovered. However, once the day gets started, it’s easy to get off track without success strategies in place.
This is where your Energy Accelerators™, Focus Finders™, and Pattern Interrupts™ come into play.
These are your tools to keep your energy high, stay focussed, and get back on track quickly when you get distracted or interrupted (which is normal and happens on a regular basis).
Examples include everything from listening to your favourite song to boost your mood, taking a 30 second movement break to clear your brain and “de-stress”, or turning off notifications and letting your team know you are in “do not disturb” mode while you focus on a project.
These strategies are VERY unique to each person and the particular role, environment, and circumstance you are in. However, once you know them, these tools are at your disposal 24/7 and are an excellent way to ensure your day is energized, productive, and you finish it with pride in your progress.
At FRESH!, we work with you to identify, customize, and implement the best strategies for your needs. Interested in customizing your personal success routines? Send us a message.
Relaxation and Rejuvenation
You are already kick starting the day on a positive and productive note by having strategies to maintain/boost your energy and stay focussed. This means you will get more done and be able to manage your stress and energy more effectively.
Whether it’s in the evening or at various points in your day, taking time for relaxation and rejuvenation are important. We can only work hard and be focussed for so long and then our brain and body need a break.
Establishing micro-breaks in the day, winding down at a set time each evening, unplugging over the weekend, and taking vacations are common ways to get our R&R in.
However, busy people often say “I’m too busy to take breaks/weekends/holidays”.
Sure, we can do this for a short period, but eventually we need down time.
This faulty “I will sleep when I’m dead” mentality is a recipe for poor performance, stress, burnout, and even disease. The most effective and productive people over the long term are those that use R&R as a strategic tool to perform at their best.
What ways can you improve your rest, recovery, rejuvenation, and performance?
Post in the comments section. I would love to know!
Think, Move, and Be Well
CEO
P.S. Would you benefit from coaching to transform the success habits in your life? Just DM me and we will set up a time to connect.