Breaking Down the Morning Routine – Part 2: Start Small… To Live BIG!

I work in the fitness industry. Every day, I talk to people who desperately want to get into shape. Many of them have tried it all. Home videos, gym memberships, Weight Watchers… You name it.

Nothing. Works.

Sometimes, I even get to talk to someone when they are at their lowest. They want to feel good in their skin, yet with each failure in the past their confidence drops.

As a working mom, I think this failure and lack of confidence effects our home lives too. When we see that we are not successful in reaching our goals or taking control of our health, fitness, finances, house work, relationship, we don’t feel successful. And that feeling is daunting (and perhaps haunting).

Oh, and don’t think your kids don’t notice. They see it all.

So what do we do? We try to overhaul it all at once. We start working out. We go on a diet. We try to organize our bills. We organize and clean the house… and then anywhere between 1-3 weeks, we are exhausted and quit. This results in another drop in confidence, and the pattern repeats.

What if we were to do a different approach. What if instead of a whole life overhaul we started small? What if we developed a new habit around one thing. Over time, that one thing may spread to two. Two spreads to three, and over the course of a year you have so many new, sustainable habits.

So where do you begin?

First, I would have a heart to heart with myself about what I am really looking for to build the life that makes me happy. That would determine what small things I would focus my attention. For some it may be finances, for others it may be spirituality, for others it may be their health or house work.

For me, one of my latest areas of focus was better skin and energy. I know that both of these come with proper hydration. Therefore, I am going start really small and only focus on my water in take.

It is recommended that we drink 64 oz of water a day. In the fitness industry we tell people to drink half of their body weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 160 lbs, 80 ounces of water would be recommended. With enough water, you will begin to lose weight, you will have more energy, you will have better skin, and so much more.

Now that I know where I am going to focus without too much overwhelm, I need to figure out how do I get my water intake in?

Personally, I know I am more likely to find success if I get things moving in the morning and I don’t have to make those exhausting pushes at the end of the day. Therefore, I try to front load my water.

I drink 2 16 oz bottles in the morning. I also try to have another 2 bottles at lunch, another bottle mid day, and a bottle with dinner. After dinner I slow down my water in take drastically and really only drink to take my evening vitamins and supplements. Doing this, I don’t have to be up all night.
*** Please note, this is just what works for me. We are each different with different preferences on how to do things, as well as life schedules. Therefore, you must figure out what works for you.

Once you master one small thing like your water in take, it becomes automatic, second nature. You don’t have to mentally drain yourself to drink your water. Then, because your water intake is part of your daily lifestyle, you can focus and change something else with more of your undivided attention. You literally have the mental and emotional energy and space to tackle something else without stress and overwhelm.

When it comes to health and fitness basics this may be eating more veggies, packing your lunch (which also does wonders for your pocketbook), or working out 2-3 times a week. Once these are habits, you grow into the next phase, all while gaining confidence and creating more mental space and energy to actually focus and sustain what you want to add into your lifestyle. Small changes, done consistently over time, make big changes.

As always, I would love to hear some of your small changes or things you want to finally make stick in order to grow your confidence and lifestyle. My current one is starting this blog and consistently publishing 2 times a week.

Sometimes by writing down and sharing what you are working on, you are more likely to get moving, and stay accountable to it… so share by commenting below!