19: How a Morning Routine Can Change How You Feel

What if the first 30 minutes of your day could change everything? In this episode, we dive into the power of a simple, consistent morning routine and how it can shift your energy, mindset, and momentum for the entire day. 

Whether you're a busy mom, a woman navigating your 40s, or someone craving more clarity and peace, this conversation is for you. I’ll walk you through what a morning routine really looks like (hint: it doesn’t have to be perfect), the small habits that make the biggest difference, and why the way you start your day determines how you live it. Ready to reclaim your mornings and feel more like you again? 

Get your FREE HAPPY HABITS GUIDE BOOK

 ✨ Perfect for women on a journey to feel stronger, happier, and more grounded — inside and out. 

Sign up for Laura's weekly email: https://gracious-adventures.myflodesk.com/podcast

Follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graciousadventures/

Subscribe to the podcast so you can get the show right in your favorite podcast provider and never miss an episode! Also, please take a minute to RATE & REVIEW! It would mean the world to me!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hi, I'm Laura Orlando and welcome to the Build Strong Women podcast. I believe as women that we are the role models for the next generation of girls. So how do we become the best role models for these young girls? We work hard to become the best version of ourselves, whatever that means to you. It's not easy. It takes work. It takes learning, trying new things, falling down and getting back up again. But that's what we do on the show. We dive deep into how we can grow on the inside. We will learn from women that are on the same journey as us. Just trying to become the best version of themselves. Let's learn together, build our confidence, learn to love who we are so that we can teach the next generation of girls to grow up to be strong and confident women. Hey guys, before we jump into the episode, I'm excited to share something really close to my heart, my happy habits guide. If you've been craving more clarity, more joy or happiness in your life, this is for you. This guide isn't about fixing yourself or adding more to your already full plate. It's about creating small intentional habits that gently support your mental, emotional and physical well-being. No overwhelm, no hustle, just simple shifts that help you feel more grounded and connected to who you really are. If you're ready to start showing up for yourself in ways that feel good and not forced, the Happy Habits Guide is your invitation. You're not alone in this. I'm right here with you. So make sure you head to the show notes to download this free Happy Habits Guide. Hi guys and welcome back to another episode of the podcast. I'm so happy that you're here with me tuning into this week's episode. And today I'm really excited about this week's episode because it's all about a morning routine and how I think a morning routine can really help you in your goals and just being intentional for the day and feeling better inside yourself. So I want to preface this by saying that I know we don't have these long mornings that we can just have this wonderful grand morning routine where we're meditating and we're working out for two hours and we're journaling for an hour and we're reading. Sometimes I listen to podcasts or I read blogs or I follow people on Instagram and they have this like glamorous, amazing morning routine. And my morning cannot look like that. I work full time. I am a special ed teacher. I have to be to work at 8 o'clock. And even though I get up early at 5 a.m. to go get my movement in and my exercise, I still don't have a lot of time to do the things that I would normally like to do. Like in the summers, I have a lot more time to do the things that I really would like to do in the morning. But what I told myself was I'm not going to sacrifice not having a morning routine because I work full time or because I'm busy. So what I want this episode to be is to really help you create this morning routine that works for you. Maybe you stay at home, maybe you work full time. I have no idea what your situation is, but all I know is that my situation is I have to have a morning routine that's intentional, that's quick and easy for me because I don't have a lot of time. And you can create a morning routine any way you'd like. So I just want to kind of guide you on why a morning routine is a good idea and how you can incorporate it into your own life and how I think it will really help you follow through with the things that you want to do with your life and really help you become the best version of you because that's what we're trying to do every day. We're on this journey to just feel better inside ourselves, to have more confidence, to feel good. And I really think that having a morning routine can change your life because it will help you be intentional for the day. You know, what do I want my day to look like? How do I want to feel? How do I want to show up? Those things that you do in a morning routine and really being intentional about those questions can help you set up for a great day. And a lot of the times we just kind of get up and go and we leave and we rush out the door and we're getting things ready and oh my gosh, it's just like a cluster. And don't get me wrong, some of those days happen to me all the time where I'm just kind of rushing and trying to get out the door because I have to get to work. And I can notice that I'm a little... off like I just don't feel my best I wasn't intentional in the morning so I don't feel my best and that's what I want to try to avoid I want to create these little habits that I can do in the morning that help me feel good that set me up for a great day and I don't care if you work if you are at home full-time as a full-time mom or if you're retired whatever it is you can create this simple routine that can really shift your mood in your mindset and really give you this momentum for the day and just Have you set an intention for the day? That's all it really is. So that you're intentionally going through your day, doing these little things throughout the day that help you feel good. So I feel like having a morning routine, some people might say that they're not morning people and I totally understand that. Some people like to start their day early and some people are night owls and it's completely fine either way. But I still believe that no matter what time you wake up, you don't need to wake up at 5 a.m. You just need to have this intentional time that you are setting aside that really grounds you and helps you have the best day that you can. I want you to start your day having the best day that you can, not waking up and being reactive to everything. I want you to really be intentional about this. And that's what I try to do every morning. And I really want to share some creative ways that you can create a morning routine that helps you feel good inside in every way. Okay, so let's get started. So as we start diving into the morning routine, I really want to remind you that There is a myth out there that says there is a perfect morning routine and you have to follow it. And if you don't follow it, then you are going to be a failure. Absolutely not. Number one, going into this, there is no perfect morning routine. It's all about what feels good to you. So I thought we would talk about a little bit about how I do my morning routine to maybe give you some ideas. It's just what works for me. I'm not saying that this is perfect and anyone has to do this. Absolutely not. But I thought it would be a good way to start us off on our morning routine. So what I do is I get up at 5 a.m. because I go and I work out. And I don't get home from my workout probably until about 6.30. So after my workout, 6.30 to 7.30 is really the only time that I have to get a morning routine in that's after my movement in my workout. So I have to shower, I have to get ready, I have to get my kids out the door and all of that too. But I like to make sure that I am setting my tone for the day as well. So So I literally get ready as fast as I can. So as soon as I come home, I'm showering. I am drinking my protein shake. I'm making sure my kids are ready. And then what I like to do as what I like to call my kind of morning ritual or morning routine is I pray and then I do my gratitude work and my promise journal. And my promise journal is really quick. Honestly, I created this. I was trying these other journals and it was just too much. It was too much time. It wasn't like focusing on the thing. I wanted to do. So I'm like, you know what, I'm going to create my own. I'm pretty creative and I love being creative. So I thought I'm just going to make my own and I'm going to have it printed. So that's what I did. And I really wanted to try it too, because I would love to share this promise journal with anyone that would want to do it. And it's just about gratitude. It's about the habits or the happy habits that I'm going to be intentional about for the day. And just kind of journaling one or two sentences about how I want to feel and the goals that I have in my life. and just being very intentional for the day. But it's really about just grounding myself before I start my day. I really want to get my mindset right because I have to work on my mindset. I don't just wake up, miss positive pants. Absolutely not. I have to work on myself. I have to tell myself, you know what, this is going to be a good day. I have to really start my day with gratitude and feel all the goodness that I have already in my life because I can look for the negative things that are happening around me. And I know a lot of us can be like that and some of you might not be like that at all and that's amazing but gratitude really helps me build my confidence my self-esteem it makes me feel good so after I do my movement and my journaling then I'm off to school as long as I have some type of intention for the day that kind of grounds me and helps me feel good like that journaling that really helps me throughout my day and having my movement done in the day helps me extremely I know a lot of people don't want to wake up and just work out that's totally fine but work Working out, I'm telling you, is going to help with your mindset. I can say that movement is there for my physical body and everything else like that. It helps me with my mind. It helps me with my mindset. If I don't get a movement in in my day, I don't feel good inside. My energy completely shifts. I just don't have good mindset. And so this movement, I know, is a habit that I need in my life to help me feel good. So I really try to focus on the habits that help me to feel good in that framework of my happy habits, which is mindset, movement, something for joy, peace, and connection as well to help me connect with others and to help others feel good inside as well. So all right, now let's dive into what your morning routine can look like. And I want you to start really small and maybe just creating one habit that you can do every single morning and something that you can do that can maybe set your intention for the day. Maybe that is starting a gratitude practice every morning. Just do that. You can just say it in your head. You can write it down on a piece of paper. And after you have that one small habit and it's going really well, maybe you can stack another habit on inside. I think anything that you can do in the morning that helps you to bring peace is very helpful. And that could be maybe just getting your stuff ready the night before. I want you to really shoot for having a morning routine that is calm and peaceful and prepared. And once I started really thinking of it like that, you know what? How can I be more prepared for tomorrow? How can I be more calm tomorrow morning so that I'm not like screaming, trying to find something that I'm missing or my kids are trying to find something that they're missing? I try to be really prepared for all of us so that we can have a nice, peaceful morning because I truly believe that this This morning routine and this morning time sets the tone for the entire day. And I don't care if you don't have to run out the door at 8 o'clock or 7.30 like I do. If you have a restless morning and it's uneasy and you're frantic or you're just not you know you just get up and you just watch tv that's not going to set the tone for your day have a nice morning routine where you're reading something that inspires you or you're journaling or you are praying or doing something that really grounds you and helps you to feel good inside so choose one habit that you can incorporate into your morning that helps you feel good and brings you peace and what i like to do is i like to look at my happy habits and how can I incorporate those into my morning so that I can really ground myself before I start my day so I can really be intentional and so I do something for my body which slash my mind is working out and I also journal do my promise journal in the morning it's not like journaling where I'm writing 30 pages of how I feel in the morning absolutely not like I said it's about gratitude it's about talking about how I'm going to get my happy habits in for the day and how I'm going to really use those habits to keep the promises that I made to myself. So I like to do something for my mindset and something for my body every single morning. So you can think of maybe some of those buckets that we have for our happy habits. Like what's going to bring you peace in the morning? Maybe you really need to focus on your peace in the morning. What can you do? Maybe that is having a cup of coffee in silence and reading a book that you love. Maybe it's over by your chair with a little light on and you have your diffuser going and that is going to help you have peace throughout your morning. and that's going to bring you joy into your life. Think about the little buckets that I talk about for happy habits, the movement, the joy, the mindset, peace, and connection. If you can maybe just pick one of those buckets and do a little happy habit with that in the morning, you are going to set yourself up for a great morning. Just trying to be more intentional about having a positive day, not rushing, not being reactive when things come up. You can really Really ground yourself before your day starts so that you can have a nice, peaceful day, a good mindset. So that is why I really have to incorporate that movement into my life. And that's the thing about finding your happy habits. You have to find the things that help you feel good. I can say, oh, wake up early and work out in the morning for an hour and you'll feel better. That's not a one size fits all. You have to find what's best for you. And that's If it's at 12 o'clock, if it's at three o'clock in the afternoon, if it's at night, okay, great. If it is doing a HIIT class or if it is walking with a vest after work, okay, good. Whatever works for you, you have to find that thing. This shouldn't be hard where it like stresses you out that you have to go work out. I know working out is hard and you have to push yourself and you have to kind of get outside your comfort zone a little bit because you do get a little bit uncomfortable when you're sweating and you're working hard. That's how you change. But at the same time, it shouldn't be this painful process that's what I want to remind you about movement I know I'm getting off in a little bit of a tangent about movement but I just feel like it's so important for our mindset that you have to incorporate it into your life if you want to feel better if you want to have this confidence boost inside of yourself so a part of my morning routine yeah I like to get my movement done in the morning you had to figure out what is best for you if that's not in the morning great do it at another time so doing that morning routine doing that journaling that has helped me a lot So what I want to do is give you some tips for creating your morning routine. So let's start that right now. Okay, so first of all, you have to really understand and take into account what season of life you're in. If you're in a season where it is absolutely crazy, you have little kids running around and newborn babies and anything else that you have going on, you have to understand that you might not have this ideal morning routine that you actually want. It might take a little while to create a routine that works for you. you so what I did when I first started creating my morning routine is I started to really think about why I want to have this morning routine why did I want to have this peace and this calm and this intention before I started my day so what do you want for yourself ask yourself that question why do I want to have this morning routine I want to feel calmer in the morning I want to set my intentions for the day I really want to incorporate gratitude into my day know your why of why you want to create this morning routine and this can be very simple you don't have to like write this out or journal about it just kind of think about okay why do I want to have this morning routine am I always stressed in the morning am I running around am I going crazy think about the reasons why you want to have this morning routine do you want it to help you feel better inside do you want to have a nice peaceful morning how do you want to feel I want you to go with the feeling okay this is why I want to create a morning routine this is why it's not because I want to post it on Instagram and show everyone what my morning routine looks like absolutely not that should be your least reason it should be because this is how I want to feel in the morning. So know your why first. The next thing is that you need to understand that a morning routine starts the night before. I'm not just going to wake up and have a nice peaceful morning if my clothes aren't ready, if my lunch isn't packed, if my kids things aren't ready, if their iPads aren't charged for the day. I'm going to have a stressful morning. So I really believe that if I can prep a little bit the night before, I'm going to have a better morning routine. And I really believe that it starts the night before. Okay, I want to tell my son, is your track stuff ready for the next day? Is it all packed? Those kinds of things because when they're stressed, I get stressed as well. So once you have your why of why you want to create this morning routine, kind of think about your routine the night before as well and how you can create a better morning routine starting the night before by having everything prepped and ready. I know where my stuff is for my prayer and for my promise journal. It is in the drawer. I have a pencil in there. Everything is ready for me to just whip out with my coffee and sit down my island and I can do my journal in the morning before I head to work. So just having everything prepared is super helpful. I know it's not really a grand tip, but that will help you have a calm morning routine. The next thing I want you to do is I want you to really start small. Just add one habit in the morning that you can start incorporating into your morning routine. If you just get up 30 minutes before you have to go to work and you rush out the door, you're not really going to have a lot of time to add that habit in. So create a really small habit that you can add in. And when you create that habit, make sure that you're thinking about, okay, what feeling do I want to have in the morning, I want to feel more positive in the morning, I want to have a more positive day and outlook. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to start with a gratitude practice, you're going to write down three things that you're grateful for, literally, that could take you two minutes, you can add that into any kind of morning routine, adding a gratitude practice so that you can be grateful for the things in your life, you can help build your confidence, you can really start incorporating having a positive outlook on your day you can add that into your morning routine so starting really small and then obviously you can have it stack on there so once you have one habit you can add in something else so what's really important like I talked about knowing the season that you're in in your life obviously is this a busy season do I have little kids do I have older kids I have teenagers so it's easy for them to get ready on their own and I can get myself ready and I don't really have to worry about helping them get ready yeah I can help them I with their breakfast and whatever they need if I want to, but literally they could do everything on their own. So knowing the season that you're in and kind of honoring that and not being hard on yourself if you can't create this amazing morning routine that you would really want. You know, I'd really love to meditate and do all these things. Okay, maybe save that for the weekends. You can have a weekend morning routine and you can have a weekly morning routine. So the next thing I want you to understand is that you have to make time to have these things into your life. So if you want to have a gratitude practice and you really want to journal and maybe you want to read your book or the Bible or something like that, you have to create some time. So maybe you're going to have to get up 30 minutes before you normally do. And yes, that's a sacrifice. Yes, you're going to be uncomfortable, but you will get used to it. And I'm telling you, if you start your morning with this really calming things that help you feel good throughout your day, you're going to continue to want to do it. And yeah, when that alarm goes off, we're going to want to hit snooze 100 times. That's just part of it. But if you really are intentional about, okay, I want to feel good. I want to be positive. I want to have a great day. You're going to just get up and do this morning routine because it's something for you. And I really want to remind you that Our morning routine isn't about being perfect. It isn't about having this perfect morning ritual that I do every single morning and I get it all in. Absolutely not. There are days where I go and work out and I come home and I shower and I'm doing other things and I have to just leave. There is no way that I can get any of my journaling done or gratitude. Absolutely not. There is no time or room for perfection. Absolutely not. You just have to do the best that you can. If I can get my morning routine in a couple days a week, great. If I can get it in on the weekend and I can do a little more on the weekend, that's amazing. As long as I know that I have this kind of thing that makes me feel good in the mornings that I can intentionally do that will set me up for a great day, I'm happy with that. And if I can just get a little bit of it and if I can just get my gratitude in and then I have to go to school, okay, that's all right. As long as I'm being intentional and I created something that makes me feel good, I know that I'm going to have a good day. And some days I'm not going to get it in and that's fine. But I did get my mood I did get my workout in, so I'm good with that. So you just have to be very graceful with yourself and not try to be so perfect all the time. A morning routine is not about being perfect. You know, there's things that I've added into my morning routine. I'm like, oh my gosh, this does not work for me. I can't do this anymore. It's just too much. And I really had to pare it down a little bit because I had to leave at a certain time and I was, you know, just not leaving the house. And then I was getting anxious about it because I didn't get all my stuff done. I Absolutely not. My why for my morning routine is I want my mindset to feel clear. I want to feel peace. I want to have a real positive day. And just knowing my why helps me to make sure that I get my morning routine in as much as I can. And I'm not going to beat myself up if I can't get it in every single day. So what I hope you really take away from this episode is that first of all, there is no perfect morning routine. You have to figure out what works best for you and your season of life and what things bring you joy and light you up if getting up early and doing a hit class makes you want to cry and you don't want to do that then don't do it you have to figure out what works best for you my sister started working out again with me and we don't go together anymore because she understood that you know what i can't get up at 5 a.m and work out i am better at 12 o'clock i'm better at three o'clock i'm better later in the day and she understood understands that now. Before she was like getting physically sick that she had to go do something like that that early in the morning. She didn't like it. It wasn't for her. And just because someone does it doesn't mean you have to do it too. You had to find what's best for you. You had to find what lights you up and brings you joy and gives you peace and just gives you energy for the day. You have to really know your why and really think about, okay, what is going to create a great day for me? What can I do in the mornings to really set me up with intention to be positive what is the best version of me look like in the mornings and write that out and then maybe you incorporate one really small thing to get you there so I hope this episode was helpful and that you can create a morning routine that works for you and if it was helpful I would be so appreciative if you could just share it with one person that you know it would help me grow it would help me reach as many women as I can so as always I want to leave you with a positive affirmation to get you on your day and help hopefully help you through your week. And that affirmation is I honor who I've been and I welcome who I'm becoming. I hope that you have a wonderful day and I will see you on next week's episode.