Life laughs in the face of plans, routine, expectations. You have the best of intentions. You’ve figured out all the things you need to do. Get up early, sweat every day, crush it at work, eat greens and take your vitamins, asleep by 10pm. On paper it all works and might even look easy. But then. The demands of The World. It’s a very real thing.

In my life there is no balance. There is full throttle one direction or the other. Like how you can’t be kind of pregnant. No sorta. All in or all out. This is why we need a center. Like if a wheel doesn’t have a fulcrum (had to look that one up), there’s no place to attach the spokes. There’s a whole lotta spokes in our lives - kids, marriage, family, career, passions, faith - if they don’t have a place to anchor, an attachment site, the whole thing falls apart. Doesn’t work.

My Center? My Morning Routine. It’s how I keep my wheel and all its spokes rolling along. When I feel off, cranky, short tempered. When every. single. thing. my kids do grates me. I can always (always) trace it back to a misfire in my before the sun comes up rhythm. No matter what month it is or where I am, I guard these 5 habits with my life. Seriously.

If you wake up every morning and flounder around with a what’s next? or what do I need to do today? energy your day is already owning you. Start your day the same way, every day no matter what, and you own your day. You set the tone. I guarantee it will have a positive domino effect into the rest of your day. I am mentally clearer, more decisive, motivated, calmly productive and happier (so much) when I do these 5 things.

ONE: I wake up at the same time every day. 5:00am. I don’t need an alarm. My body is a freakin’ Swiss clock. But you might and that’s all good. If you do, use it! Like an old school alarm clock (not your phone!). Get into a consistent wake-up rhythm. Same time, every day. This means you might need to alter your night time habits, too. I’m in bed by 9:15pm and read. By 9:30pm-ish my eyes are floating shut and I’m asleep. Couldn’t stay awake if I tried. That’s a full 8 hours of sleep for me. This means I say No to a lot of nighttime things. I do still have a life, it just has to be a H*ll Yes for me to stay out past my bedtime.

Worth Adding: I get dressed for whatever I have going on that morning. If it’s school drop-off followed by a workout, I am pulling on my leggings and sports bra, braiding my hair, right then, at 5am. It signals my brain/body that this workout thing is happening and I am already (subconsciously) making the decision to follow through. If I don't do this, it sends the message that I am open to be persuaded, that I haven’t fully committed. And trust me, 99% of the time, I’m derailed. That is why even though I would love to pull on my matching joggers, I don’t dare. Dress (prepare) for what you want to happen - a meeting, an appointment, a sweat, or jump back in bed! - be intentional and with consistency you don’t need to reply on willpower, the habit becomes just a part of what you do.

TWO: Water. I know, I know, this seems too simple and basic to actually work. But, trust me. Right next to my bathroom sink I have 2 liters of water. Nothing fancy, no squeeze of lemon or Chlorophyll drops, just pure, filtered water. I use these glass bottles (love) and fill them up the night before. I drink one before I even brush my teeth. Sometimes I need more and will down half the other one, too. It wakes up my whole system, instant energy. And I swear being really well hydrated helps me make better food choices throughout the day. And there’s the vanity element, the skin effects are better than anything you pump out of a bottle.

THREE: Meditate. I set my iPhone timer for no less than 5 minutes. If I have more time, 20 minutes is my sweet spot. Sometimes I will light a candle and put on some 528hZ or sound bowls. Mostly I choose silence. I practice Transcendental Meditation and use some of the methods from this book. I focus on my third eye and either say a silent mantra (I am peace) or just follow my inhales and exhales. Sometimes I float. Other times I fight. No matter which one happens, inviting in stillness opens the door to magic and miracles in your life. Swear. If you have no idea what to do or where to start and zero interest in reading/studying the topic, just sit quietly and smile for 1 minute. Start there. I remind myself often: it’s the small, seemingly insignificant things we do consistently, day to day, that compound to make HUGE differences in our lives.

FOUR: Read & Drink. I hit the button on my Miele, while coffee is grinding and brewing I’ll make my way into down dog (in my kitchen, no mat) stretching and breathing deep. If I’m feeling ambitious I’ll do some air squats or leg lifts and I’ll actually be short of breath by the time my coffee is ready. So invigorating. Coffee (black) in hand, I head to my mom den (aka the office). I start with something scripture based (right now it’s this one) and then read a few pages of something else inspiring or life guiding. Right now it’s Mastery by Robert Greene. My goal is at least 20 minutes of reading.

FIVE: Pray. Like God is sitting with there with me, I pour everything out. I do not pray with big words in some fancy way, I just talk. Mostly silent, but sometimes out loud.

SIX (Bonus): Athletic Greens + Vitamins: After all this I head into the kitchen, turn on the lights, raise the blinds, open my world to the day. With my last few minutes before the kids are up, I scoop my Athletic Greens (75 vitamins, minerals, and whole-food sourced nutrients per serving) into a cup, add some lemon juice (optional but I’d add it if I were you) and fill the rest with water. Give it a stir and drink it down while taking a few extra vitamins (adaptogens + probiotics). Then it’s time for breakfast making, snack packing, water bottle preparing, backpack organizing, good morning hugs and kisses, aka: Motherhood. My 1st grader is usually deep into legos or magnet building by 6:45am and I get Aster by 7am.

Worth Adding: my phone is still in airplane mode (unless I played some music to meditate). I do not click on ANYTHING. No texts (it will only take a second!), emails (I’ll just reply to this one thing that is on my mind), apps (did I schedule a workout today?), amazon (the girls need long sleeve shirts for school I’ll just do that real quick), Nothing. It’s an endless rabbit hole, it has no stop sign and we all know it’s never one quick thing. My practice is to keep it in airplane mode until after school drop-off. It stays small and irrelevant all morning.

This early morning ritual is the single most important time of my day.

Every other hour that follows hinges on this routine. It doesn’t always happen, of course, but it’s my North Star. My compass. If you don’t at least have a goal in mind, an idea of how you want things to unfold, then you’re screwed. You are blowing with the wind and handing over the reigns of your life. If you are a momma (or breathing), lots of things can disrupt this routine. Kids wake up early, maybe you were up in the night soothing babies, feeding, changing diapers, calming toddlers or responding to your kids 2am wake up to tell you their foot itched or they had a nightmare about a spider. Real Life. Last week our AC went out in the night. The week before that Sienna was on a “run to our room at 3am” streak (iykyk). Stuff happens.

Stay the course but don’t freak out if you are sometimes derailed by Life. You have your compass. Use it. Tools are only as good as the energy we put into actually using them.