People are fond of routines. Especially if we have good emotions linked to it. That's why athletes have superstitions they need to deal with before a game. They might've had a good game because they accidentally on the same day did some weird ritual. Now they don't want to jinx it, so they keep doing it and voila! Superstitious routine born. But does it really guarantee that the athlete will perform to his utmost best?
Of course not. However what it does is put the athlete at ease and gets himself mentally ready for whatever the outcome may be. Also he will feel he did everything in his power to set himself up for success. That is a very powerful attitude to adopt not just with performance arts but also business and daily life. How can we use this effectively for ourselves?
Well I personally have a little routine that I follow pretty much everyday. It pretty much sets me up to have an awesome day. If I don't follow the routine I can end up having a mildly bad day. Which I know is caused by my own brain rewiring and perhaps feeling of letting myself down. It's silly I know.
But this routine works and that's what's important here. So I'll share with you guys my simple routine and hopefully, you can make your own and find out what can help you, get the best out of your day every time!
Music
When I wake up I don't wake up to the horrible beeping sound of my alarm. I'm not waking up from a loud knock on my door(Well rarely). The first thing I hear are the sweet tunes from my favorite rock band The Strokes performing their song " You only live once" from my trusty alarm. This gets me in a good mood the moment I wake up.
It's not just because of the meaningful lyrics that propels you to live every minute as it was your last. But I have many good emotional attachments with this particular song. You might have a song that reminds you of an awesome time you had and you'll feel the surge of positive emotions from it.
The funny thing is our brains remembers not only by images and sound, it's a full audio visual and emotional experience. So when you're listening to your favorite song you will not only remember the sounds and the things you saw on that day. You'll also feel the positive emotions you experienced that day! So you're getting a surge of good positive emotions the moment you wake up, that doesn't sound bad now does it? So why not put on something you enjoy listening to as your alarm, instead of that dreaded beeping noise?
Breakfast
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I can't agree more. I can't function properly if I skip breakfast. I'll get cranky and lack energy during the whole day. I highly advice you to always get some breakfast before work or anything. If you don't have time for it, then make time! Wake up a little earlier than usual so you can prepare a "breakfast for champions" for yourself.
Food is your fuel. Without fuel you can't function at your best. You're practically setting yourself up for failure by not giving your body the necessary fuel it needs. I don't want to go into all the technical stuff on good nutrients etc. and why it's important. Just eat breakfast man!
Don't have a breakfast for champion meal?
Here's an example of my current breakfast:
4 fried eggs /or/ 4 scrambled eggs
3"“4 slices of bacon
1 cup of coffee
1 piece of fruit. Usually Banana.
If I'm short on time, I go with this:
2 scoops of protein powder which contains at least 40g protein. Mix it with water.
1 banana on the go
FYI I'm doing a slight tweaked "Paleo Diet". Which means I avoid any processed food like bread etc. I then eat loads of meat, vegetables and a little fruit.
But I do need my cup of coffee every morning though.
The Diet is pretty much eating like a caveman and a lot of people swear by this diet. I've been on it for a few weeks now since moving from Tim Ferriss's "Slow Carb Diet", and I can definitely recommend it. If you want to learn more about Paleo diets I suggest you head over to Mark Sisson's site for more detail.
Push ups
Yup you read it right. I always do a little push up routine in the morning. It gets the blood pumping and obviously helps improve your push ups and upper body strength. I'm very much into fitness and if I can squeeze any little exercise in my daily calendar, I do it.
I'm currently doing this little routine by SGT. Ken which promises to improve your push ups by at least 20% in 4weeks.
Checking emails and news
I always take at least 10minutes to sit down and check my emails or any morning news. Nothing special here. I just enjoy doing these things with a cup of coffee in my hand.
Writing articles or editing my blog
After I've checked everything I go on my blog and write/edit some content. I either come up with new topics that I plan on writing about, finish articles or edit drafts. I don't spend more than 15minutes max on this. If I spent more time on this I'll never get out of my chair. I usually do the bulk work later.
Gym
Gym time guys! I work out at least 3 times a week and during my off days I do my push up routine and some cardio. As a man working out is very very important. There's countless health benefits from working out and I'm not going into that today. However for a man it's known that from working out you increase your testosterone levels! Which is a good thing if you didn't know that. So start lifting those weights and work a sweat. You'll gain more eneryg, you'll look and feel better.
My workout routine is very basic:
Mon: Legs / Abs
Tues: cardio/pushup
Wed: Arms/Shoulder
Thur: Cardio/pushup
Fri: Chest/ Back
I occasionally flip things around a bit. So on some days I work my arms on Monday etc. But I always workout at least 3 times during a week, no excuses.
So that's pretty much what I do and I'm living proof that the majority of my days are awesome! Except when Liverpool FC loses a game then I'm hopelessly grumpy.
