Wasn’t expecting to write again this soon but jetlag has kicked in full force and I am wide awake as of 3 AM today. Speaking of early mornings, I wanted to introduce you to a new 2019 practice of mine that’s rocking my world. Before I tell you all about it, let me give you a little backstory.
When doing life coaching actively from 2007 – 2016, I didn’t have to consciously make time to do personal development work because I was immersed in it 24-7 via my client work, the content my colleagues were talking about and sharing, and my own natural interest. When I burned out on coaching after a decade and my interests began moving to other areas, I assumed I’d just naturally retain my personal development practices. But that’s not really how it works, is it? To make something a habit, you have to consciously commit to doing it every day. And I wasn’t.
Over time I began to feel ungrounded. I wasn’t being deliberate about how I wanted to show up in the world. I wasn’t taking time for reflection and journaling. And technology had taken a hold on my life, causing me to reach for my phone instead of the latest personal development book. This could’ve gotten real bad (like depression #2) but thankfully I did have good habits in place around health (regular massages, 8 hours of sleep a night, sugar-free eating, and 10,000 steps a day). So while I was functioning, I felt like I was in a relationship with life that was more reactive than proactive. I was determined to create something different.
I decided that 2019 was the year to get intentional about my life again. I started by signing up for life coach Molly Mahar’s Holiday Council, a $49 course that guides you through reflecting on your past year and intentionally planning and creating the upcoming one. I poured all my energy into it, came up with my theme for 2019, did my vision board, identified the “ways of being” I was going to focus on and came up with 3 core goals, one of which was “Developing a Morning Practice”. Yay me!!
What is a morning practice, you ask? Well, in the coaching world it’s a term for carving out purposeful time in the morning to start your day with intention. I had attempted to incorporate this in the past but it never had much staying power. Until I found THIS…
I wasn’t clear on what I wanted my Morning Practice to include but, as usual, the Universe was there guiding me along. I had already discovered my colleague Nova Wightman’s book Awake and Aligned: How to Navigate the Human Experience as a Spiritual Being and knew I was going to incorporate some of her amazing suggestions. But I didn’t have a framework yet. That’s where the 5 AM Club book comes into play. I stumbled upon this book in a local bookstore and I immediately knew it was going to be instrumental in getting me to my goal.
But then it got even better… I saw that the author, Robin Sharma, was coming to Mumbai to promote the book in mid-February of 2019.
So I read the book, got fired up at Robin’s event and was ready to kick off my Morning Practice by March 1st!
This would be a good time to give you a more in-depth description of what the 5 AM Club is. At it’s most basic, it’s a daily morning practice structure that’s broken into 3 core parts: Move, Reflect & Grow. To participate in the 5 AM Club, you get up at 4:45 and change into your exercise clothes so you can MOVE from 5 AM to 5:20 AM. The goal is to work up a sweat such that you affect your brain’s neurochemistry (increase seratonin and dopamine, elevate metabolism) to leave you awake, focused, and energized.
At 5:20 you begin the REFLECT portion of the practice. During this 20 minute chunk of time the key is to experience peace and quiet before the busy-ness of the day begins. This leads to greater positivity, more creativity and less reactivity.
At 5:40 you switch to the GROW portion of the practice. This is a time when you focus on developing yourself, whether that’s by goal-setting, reading books or studying. Benefits of this segment are inspiration, personal growth, and a greater impact due to intentionally planning and achieving your goals.
When I first “joined” the 5 AM Club I could immediately feel the benefits. I was less reactive at work, felt good about how I had spent my time at the end of the day and honestly just felt like I was showing up as a better version of me. And not surprisingly, crappy days usually coincided with the days I had decided to skip my morning practice for one reason or another. I know that sounds crazy, but starting your day with intention has this lasting effect throughout the day which magnifies the benefits. I found that the proposed schedule didn’t work well for me though, so I tweaked it to fit me.
My 5 AM Club Schedule
5:00 – 5:15 AM: WAKE UP & GET DRESSED
Alarm Rings. Put in contacts and work-out clothes.
5:15 – 5:45 AM: MOVE
Either go down to the gym and do weight lifting and the treadmill OR do yoga.
5:45 – 6:00 AM: SHOWER
Return upstairs for a quick shower (because who likes to sit in sweaty clothes??)
6:00 – 6:20 AM: REFLECT
Each day is different for me but includes some of the following: Journaling, Meditating, Praying, Gratitude Exercises, Drawing Oracle Cards, Affirmations.
6:20 – 6:40 AM: GROW
Again, each day varies but might include: reading a personal development book, watching a TED talk, listening to a podcast, or setting/reviewing goals.
6:45 AM: WAKE MY FAMILY UP
Time to wake the sleepy-heads!
7:30 AM: OUT THE DOOR
Time for work!
Robin recommends committing to 66 days of trying the 5 AM Club. I am on Day 50 but am still figuring out how to incorporate it when traveling. I was pleased to find that I DID return to the practice after trips or a bout of sickness, so my sense is that this routine will have staying power. Waking up early was rough at first but then my body got used to it and even began naturally waking before the alarm. 2 things that have definitely helped though: setting out my clothes/shoes the night before and starting my night routine an hour earlier so that it’s lights out at 9 PM.
So there you have it. This morning’s blog post brought to you by the letter J for Jetlag. :)
