HEALTHY LIFESTYLE ยท AUGUST 2018
QUIET TIME What fills your soul and makes
you feel like you can handle the day ahead and live
it well? Is it reading Scripture? Sitting still while you
listen to music? Taking in a good book? Meditation?
Find a way to have some guided peaceful time in
your morning. For me, I read my Bible as well as a
short devotional (Streams in the Desert is my all-time
favorite).
POSITIVITY It's really important to give
yourself a strong, positive start to the day because it's
so easy for things to take a negative turn. When we put
ourselves in the right mindset, before the day even gets
going, we up our odds of success and take control of
where our minds will go as the day's events unfold.
I like to take a walk (my husband is at home in case
our kids were to need anything) and read my morning
affirmations out loud. These affirmations have a
powerful effect on me and get my mind right every
time, no matter what's going on. I also give my day to
the Lord in prayer on my morning walk.
A GUIDE TO YOUR
BEST MORNINGS
A
few years ago, I was a night owl who stayed
up well past midnight most nights. I woke
up to my kids asking for breakfast every
morning at whatever time they opened
their eyes and decided my day would start.
I believed that being a night owl was in my DNA - just
the way that I was - and had no idea that this was
actually a very limiting belief that was keeping me from
being a better wife and mom. Over time I got tired
of feeling busy but not productive and decided that
something had to change, so I started waking up early.
Hear me, mama. If you want to change your entire life
with one simple change, start waking up early.
Waking up early has been the
single most transforming thing
I have ever done in my life, right
next to ditching my clutter.
I believe that in order to be productive and fulfilled
in whatever your role is, you need to wake up early. I
think there are seasons of life where it just isn't gonna
happen (a baby who isn't sleeping well yet, pregnancy)
but for most people in most seasons, I think becoming
an early riser is the key to successfully rocking life.
I've heard people say they are actually more productive
late at night when everyone's in bed, and that may be
true, but I found that there was a chance my nighttime
productivity session wouldn't come - life happens, the
day can make you tired, things come up.
You might not get the chance for some quiet, focused
time in your Bible at 2 PM or 10 PM, but you will at 5
AM. I reached a point in my life where I was not living
on purpose, and I was struggling. I needed to take my
days my the horns and pursue discipline, and that
meant waking up early.
I love what Laura Vanderkam says in her eBook What
the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast,
"Seizing your mornings is the equivalent of that sound
financial advice to pay yourself before you pay your
bills. If you wait until the end of the month to save what
you have left, there will be nothing left over.
Likewise, if you wait until the end of the day to do
meaningful but not urgent things like exercise, pray,
read, ponder how to advance your career or truly give
your family your best, it probably won't happen. If it has
to happen, it has to happen first."
It is so much easier to become distracted in the middle
or at the end of the day, especially when you're a busy
mama. Having kids means stuff comes up on a daily
hourly basis. You cannot count on later for doing things
that matter.
There is so much on our to-do lists as moms that it can
be stressful trying to decide how to spend our early
morning time. It's easy to give in to the pull to catch up
on a looming task like laundry, but really, the mornings
need to be for the things you can't do well with kids
awake and life happening.
In the early morning hours, it feels like life is paused.
It's quieter, solitude is so much easier to find, and you
can think clearly (post-coffee, of course). Think about
what you can do in these early hours that is really hard
to get done during the rush of the day - quiet time,
prayer, reading, exercise, stretching, breathing - do
those things.
30 HEALTHY MAGAZINE
MOVEMENT If exercise isn't a part of your
week, it should be. Countless studies show what an
incredible, positive effect movement has on your body
and your mind. You can't take care of yourself without
some kind of exercise.
Take a walk, follow along with a yoga YouTuber, train for
a 5k, get a kickboxing DVD - whatever floats your boat.
Along with my morning walk (which is super mellow
and not really intended to be exercise), I have a gym
membership which I use a few times a week. I'm also
a fan of yoga and am currently on track to become a
licensed instructor because I love it so much. Find what
moves you, inside and out, and make it a part of your
morning rhythm.
WORK What practical things really need to get
done? What are your most pressing tasks for the day
ahead? Get them done before breakfast.
For me, as a writer with four small kids at home all
day with me, it is incredibly difficult for me to create
a quiet space for writing. I am constantly interr