[00:00:00] James Breese: Strength Matters Media. Video. Print. Podcasts.
[00:00:03] Josh Kennedy: Today we're talking about morning mastery, crafting your unstoppable life in 2024. And basically it's all about having a routine. We were just talking off air about, we all have our little habits, our little routines. And you were saying you actually didn't like a routine if you were, when you're working in an office, but then we were like, it's about having the right routine.
[00:00:26] And this episode has been inspired by a couple of our, a couple of our members, right, Andrew? with their, what their, their issues and what they're attempting, how they're attempting to change their habits and routines at the moment.
[00:00:38] Andrew Wallis: That's it. We were talking within our community. We've got a private community for our strength matters, um, black belt academy members and, um, time management comes up a lot.
[00:00:49] Something that resonates resonate. I'm sure with you, Josh as well, that, you know, I was always trying to
[00:00:57] Josh Kennedy: get the kids out in the morning. Mate is, [00:01:00] uh,
[00:01:00] Andrew Wallis: I was always busy. But I was not productive, you know, and it was, it was finding for me, it was finding some routine as you said, I used to hate routine back in the day, back in the previous career in the office, but becoming a business owner, you've got to have some order, um, some process to follow so that you can, you know, can get momentum moving forwards.
[00:01:28] And, and, and this particular one. Yeah. Uh, that we're going to outline today is something that I, I, I've discovered and it's something I've adapted as we'll explain and something that I figure will be beneficial to not only to our community members, but to anybody listening to this episode.
[00:01:48] Josh Kennedy: So it's all about having a good morning ritual, at least starting your day in the right way.
[00:01:52] Where did this idea just briefly come from initially?
[00:01:57] Andrew Wallis: I was fortunate enough to see, [00:02:00] um, how Elrod on stage, he's the author of a book called The Miracle Morning, and this is what, where this concept, uh, comes from. Um, he'd, I can't remember his full story, but he'd been involved in a car crash, I think, and then he'd, he'd, Looking to get his life back on track and realized he needed some focus, some direction and some plan.
[00:02:23] And he'd studied what sets the successful people apart from those that are perhaps more, um, you'd expect to do more, but you know, they struggle with getting, with getting any traction. And he found that there was particular elements that, uh, the successful people would follow. And that set them apart from from the people that that struggled and he then realized that by blending various elements together, it projected projected [00:03:00] him forward.
[00:03:00] He become even more successful. So his book is called the Miracle Morning. Uh, he being Hal Elrod, you can find it on, in any good bookstore.
[00:03:09] Josh Kennedy: So he came up with the, uh, the morning ritual that he called Life Savers. Can you, which is the, Savers is the acronym. Can you break it down for us what that stands for?
[00:03:19] Yeah,
[00:03:19] Andrew Wallis: basically the first one is silence. Uh, then there's affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading, and scribing. And basically he follows that over, um, over a First thing in the morning, but, um, I'll, I'll, I'll explain how I've adapted it over time. But yeah, they're the, they're the six elements. Okay. So let's,
[00:03:45] Josh Kennedy: yeah, let's, let's talk about how you, you do.
[00:03:47] And so, uh, The start of the routine in the morning is silence. Um, how long do you spend in silence?
[00:03:54] Andrew Wallis: Not very long. I like to talk. Um, but, but it's just really to clear the noise in your [00:04:00] head. So I'll, I'll get up in the morning. Um, I'll make sure that, uh, I'm hydrated. So I'll, I'll, first thing, I'll go downstairs and I'll get a couple of glasses of water.
[00:04:11] in me. And then I'll sit down on the sofa or on a chair, and I'll just sit in silence for whatever feels comfortable. Sometimes it might be two minutes. Sometimes it might be, say, five minutes or so. But no more than five or 10 minutes, really. It's just really to clear my head. And then that gives me greater clarity moving forward.
[00:04:36] So is
[00:04:36] Josh Kennedy: it just a sort of a few minutes of meditation before you get going, I guess, in the morning. Yeah, the
[00:04:42] Andrew Wallis: silence actually moves into the second, um, component, which is meditation. And I've, uh, historically I use the Headspace app. I used to use that, but I've moved over now to, um, God, I've forgotten the name of the one that, uh, calm, [00:05:00] you know, I've been trying different ones.
[00:05:02] Just and just to get a different, um, take on things and so it doesn't matter what you use. You might not even use an app, but I find an app helps me just get into the zone. And and again, back in the day, I used to think our meditation was all woo woo. But now, as I'm older and I've actually experienced it, it does give me greater clarity of mind.
[00:05:29] Josh Kennedy: Yeah, on that point, actually, Andrew, have you found as I've got older, as you've got older, that you have just So much more going on in your head that there's just the cogs are constantly wearing this or just stuff, basically. That's the best way I can describe it. And you, you find it much more difficult to switch off.
[00:05:47] Cause I certainly, I used to be awesome at sleeping, but you know, um, but it's not, it's not just since having kids as I've got older, I find it much more difficult to switch off in the evening. Yeah, it's
[00:05:58] Andrew Wallis: a good point. And I think [00:06:00] these are, these are a lot, uh, a big part to play as well, cause. You know, we've, we've got that much going on in the head and then when that, when your phone vibrates or, or it's, it's close by, you're, you're constantly.
[00:06:13] Switching. I think my mind the thoughts that go through my mind are more than what goes through a goldfish. You know, it's like in your head gone within a couple of seconds. And as you say, it's it's that stuff going on and that's pressure and If there's too much negativity or too much noise in our head, then it pulls us away from what we should be focusing on, be that our business when we're in the business, but perhaps more importantly, focusing on our significant others, our partners, our family, and that, because you know, that's what life's about.
[00:06:48] When you're there, the most important people around us and they deserve all undivided attention at the right times. And so. Yeah. It's a good point. Absolutely.
[00:06:59] Josh Kennedy: Yeah. Like you, I [00:07:00] found Headspace a useful app as well. Um, let's move on to the affirmations and visualizations. Can you, uh, dive into that a little bit more for us?
[00:07:07] Yeah. Again,
[00:07:09] Andrew Wallis: affirmations. I, I get, I always thought was a bit woo woo. Uh, you know, it's like, gee, really? But again, it's like if you've got something written, like any goal, if you, if it's in your head, yes, you might think about it, but it's forgotten. But if it's written down. And it's defined, you know, any SMART goal, don't need to tell fitness professionals all about them or shouldn't have to tell fitness professionals about them.
[00:07:33] Um, but if it's written down an affirmation and we, and we read that out loud, then we're conditioning ourselves to, to feel that that's truth. And it should be written in a, in a future tense. Um, right. So that it's, it's something that we're looking to attain. It's going to strive towards, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
[00:07:55] But visualization, I really, it is, I've seen that [00:08:00] happen, uh, to me. Uh, and the example I can give is way back, uh, Sheena and I, we went backpacking in Australia. We're in Perth. Loved it. Come back home. This this was back 2001. And I always wanted to be back out there. And I said, I had this mantra, this, um, this visualization that I could see myself driving down the West Coast Highway winds blowing in my hair.
[00:08:27] You can tell how long ago that was, um, open top car going down, sun beaming and enjoying life. Fast forward, um, 10 years. I was on the way to from Perth to Fremantle going down the West Coast Highway window wound down in my car. Didn't have the open tough sports car winds blowing in my face. The hair had gone by then.
[00:08:52] Um, but then I realized that visualization Not totally to come true, but it had come true. I was I was [00:09:00] living that that that it was a reality. So visualization then to me, that was a powerful evidence that, hey, this thing works. So always been a big fan of it since.
[00:09:12] Josh Kennedy: Fantastic. Fantastic. So the exercise, I think that's a pretty, uh, pretty easy one to, uh, take care of.
[00:09:20] But does he generally suggest exercising in the morning is the best idea as far as he's concerned?
[00:09:25] Andrew Wallis: He, he found it to be the best because you've got it done. You're not finding an excuse on which as fit pros working with clients or even ourselves, you know, we get that busy in the business. Made the mistake myself, you know, I was focusing on my clients and then I'll, I'll get to my session later when, uh, when I've got a break, but then something happens and we, we just, Oh, I'll do it tomorrow and tomorrow never comes.
[00:09:52] So it makes sense that if we're busy, let's get it done, get the most important thing done. And we've got to look after [00:10:00] number one. To be able to look after others, so getting it done in the morning, uh, does make sense.
[00:10:05] Josh Kennedy: Fantastic. And, uh, we come to R. What's, what are the R and the R and the S? Reading and scribing.
[00:10:13] Andrew Wallis: Reading and scribing. So reading, I'm, um, I'm big on personal development. Again, as fitness pros, we're always looking to enhance our skill set. Um, so reading could be listening to an audio book, but I'm old school. I like to have a physical book. Or magazine or whatever it might be so long as we're learning.
[00:10:32] So that's the reading side. And then the scribing is just writing a journal. Because again, if we're writing things down problems or any successes we've had, it just again, it's just helping us clear the mind. It
[00:10:47] Josh Kennedy: frees up the brain, doesn't it? Just getting some bits down on a piece of paper, quick bit of scribbling, gets it out of your mind.
[00:10:53] That's
[00:10:53] Andrew Wallis: it. That's it. So it's just all of these enhanced together. And Hal recommends, he calls it [00:11:00] his miracle morning. But I found that I didn't, it didn't sit with me doing this all first thing in the morning. So I make it my miracle day. So I'll do elements in the morning. And then I'll do my exercise a little later.
[00:11:13] And I prefer to do my reading when I've finished. Uh, my journey and my scribing at the end. So it's make using the, the, the save as principle, but then adapting it to, to fit your lifestyle. I
[00:11:25] Josh Kennedy: was gonna say, 'cause the Sure there's lots of Fit Pros and Jims, et cetera, listening, thinking, I get up at half past four in the morning to go to clients.
[00:11:31] How on earth can I fit all this in ?
[00:11:33] Andrew Wallis: And that's where, that's when I first, 'cause I, when I first saw him, I was, I was still, uh, working day to day as a pt and I just thought, you know. I'm not getting up at half three to do this. So that's how I was able to adapt it then and saw the results from that. So adapt it to fit your lifestyle.
[00:11:53] But as I say, find a ritual that works for you and you'll have better success and greater clarity of mind. [00:12:00]
[00:12:00] Josh Kennedy: Absolutely. Fantastic. Indeed. Craft your own morning or daily routine, uh, let's say, and, uh, it'll set you up for success long term. That is it for today. Please don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe.
[00:12:11] And if you want to find out what's holding you back from growing your fitness business and get yourself a free website audit, go to strengthmatters. com forward slash audit.