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For years, I have aspired to have a better morning routine. If you’re a long-time listener of the show, you’ve heard me talk about this many times. I am naturally a bit scattered, and consistency and discipline don’t come easily to me–but I know a solid morning routine would make my whole life run more smoothly. So why am I not doing it? If I know how good it would be for me, why does every morning routine I ever start fizzle out after a few weeks?
Well, because it’s hard! It just is…especially for certain personalities. And that’s why I’m grateful to have a morning routines and personal development expert on the podcast today, to remind me–and maybe some of you listening who struggle with this as well--why it is worth it to put in the effort to build a restorative morning routine, as well as give us some tips on how to do this in small and doable ways.
My guest today is Sara Dean, a keynote speaker and business and leadership coach, who is also the creator and host of the Shameless Mom Academy Podcast, a top rated podcast with 5 million downloads. Sara has become a personal friend of mine over the past several years as a colleague in this motherhood podcasting space, and one of the things I love most about her is she truly has an attitude of “collaboration over competition.” She wants all women to succeed, and I have seen that in the way that she generously shares ideas and encouragement with me and other female podcasters and business leaders.
Sara has spoken for Amazon, the City of Seattle, Charles Schwab, Inspired Mama, WE Ignite, Alt Summit, and She Podcasts Live. She has been featured on the Dr Phil Show. When she’s not supporting Shameless Moms, you’ll find Sara with her husband and 10 year old son – trying to keep up on video game jargon and baseball stats.
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3 Takeaways from Sara Dean about
- You’ve got to make that routine desirable, pleasurable, and inviting. Or else you’ll never do it! Create your cozy corner with a favorite blanket, coffee or another warm drink, a candle you love and maybe some soothing music. The first few minutes of your morning routine should be something that you actually want to get out of bed to do, not something that you think you “should” want to do. Do you love reading fiction? Put a novel next to your coziest blanket and give yourself permission to snuggle up and read just for fun for a few minutes before you head into the day. Do you love drawing or journaling or handlettering? Do that first thing. You can truly cater this to your own interests.
- Make your routine reflective and rewarding by setting up your day for success. This might look like doing a quick gratitude practice, action planning for the day ahead (I love Sara’s suggestion to identify your “big three things” you need to get done today), journaling to get out your current stressors and emotions, or doing some quick but impactful exercise. Whatever will help you to feel ready to face the day.
- Make your routine consistent. This will eliminate so much decision fatigue and internal chatter of you trying to decide whether or not you are going to pursue your self-care goals for that day. If you’ve made it easy and rewarding enough, and if you’ve built it into your day at a time that works for you and your season of motherhood, this will become a no-brainer for you that is just second-nature. And a bonus to being consistent is that your kids will get used to it and won’t interrupt you as much! Is there a time when you are less likely to be interrupted or when you can habit stack this with something else that you always do? Think about that as you consider building out a new year morning routine.
>>>Are these tips about How to Create a Morning Routine from Sara Dean helpful? What would you add to the takeaways? Tell us in the comments below.
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-Get in touch with our Guest! –
-Mentioned in the Episode-
- Free Email Mini-Series: 3in30podcast.com/learn
- Free Morning Routine Template: 15 Minute Manifest
-Sponsors-
- BetterHelp: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Use the code 3in30 to get 10% off your first month of online therapy!
- Fabric: Life insurance designed by parents for parents to help you get a high quality surprisingly affordable term life insurance policy in less than 10 minutes.
- Free Email Mini-Series: 3in30podcast.com/learn
