Creating a Sustainable Morning Routine That Works For You

Welcome to The In Between Podcast. I'm Astrid.

And I'm Alexis. And we're 2 best friends on a journey to living a fun, intentional life.

We know it's easier to share on a season of life once it's behind you, but what about when you're in the middle of the growth, confusion, and decision-making?

This lifestyle podcast is for the everyday gal who loves to travel, talk about business, relationships, fashion, and everything in between.

All right, friends, welcome Welcome back to another episode of The In Between Podcast. We are so excited that you're here. I am one of your hosts, Astrid.

And I am the other half of the pod, Alexis. And today on the pod, we're going to be talking about establishing a morning routine that works for you. And I feel like there's so much information out there. There's all these day in the life videos on TikTok and all the social medias. That's like everyone has this morning routine. And I feel like when you're trying to establish a routine that works for you, it can all feel kind of discouraging, overwhelming, honestly kind of annoying. It's like, I don't want to have a morning routine. I don't want to wake up at 5:00 AM.

Okay? Yeah. And have a checklist of 50 things prior to 8:00 AM.

I'm like, golly, my life, my workday already feels like enough. Like, I don't want to add a whole other job before I get to work. So I'm excited to, to talk about this.

Me too. I also think, um, being able to reframe it into, I don't have to do all these things for my morning routine, and rather like, wouldn't it be nice to wake up and not feel rushed and just go straight into work and then get off work and then just go straight, you know, into your nighttime Like routine and just actually being excited for your morning routine, I think is like the biggest element. And then having that consistency is just like the biggest form of self-love truly that we can have.

Yeah, I agree. And I think when things get busy or your mental health takes a hit or like something happens in your life and things aren't going your way, I truly believe that whenever you have a foundational routine, that can really help you. It's almost like your North Star. It's like the thing that kind of helps you get through the difficult season or the difficult thing that you're going through. And so I also think like if you can see a morning routine as like a tool that can help you, it feels less like daunting to try to build one. Definitely, definitely.

I cannot wait to dive more into that for sure. We're like full force. We are excited to talk about it.

Yes.

But before we forget, friends, there is still time to get tickets to our December 20th event. So we are having an event that we are calling In Between Years, and it's really just an intentional time for you to come and hang out with us. And together we will just go ahead and reflect on this past year and then cast out vision for next year. So really breaking down that process, really helping you leave motivated, refreshed, and just excited for what's come. And then of course just get to hang out together actually in person. Everything is so virtual nowadays. Um, so you can go ahead and grab tickets at eventbrite.com.

So it's inbetweenpodcast.eventbrite.com. There we go, there we go. The link is gonna be in the show notes of this episode, so you can go click that and Get your ticket. We do have some tickets left, but the closer we get to the 20th, we did limit tickets because we want it to be a super intimate, like close-knit kind of vibe. So make sure you get your ticket before it's too late. We can't wait to hang out with you. We're going to have snacks. And yeah, I'm just— I'm really excited. It's going to be really, really fun. I'm also like, what are you going to wear?

I was thinking about that this week. I'm like scanning my closet for anything green.

I like, should we do the in-between brand colors? I feel like we accidentally do it anyway.

Like, we both just love the color so much. Like, I'll probably show up all in black, and then you'll probably show up in like something all green.

I probably will. That's fine. Let's go with that. That sounds great.

Okay. Also, I did get a question on DMs about the event when it comes to whether if this was only a girls-only event or if this was both for guys and girls. So absolutely everyone is welcome. This is not just for women. So if you have a partner or a friend Or I know we have quite a few guys that listen to the pod too that have messaged us. Please come and join us and bring your friends as well. And yeah, we cannot wait to hang out with you guys. And well, let's go ahead and kick off with our—

Let's do it. Let's do our in-between. If you're new to the pod, we always start each episode talking about what we're in between right now. Even though we record the podcast weekly on a weekly basis, There's always new things that come up for us, whether it be in career or life or health, relationships that we find ourselves in between. So do you want to go first?

Yes, I can.

Okay, go for it.

Okay. I am in between being very happy where my fitness journey has come and the workouts that I've done, and then also being just so excited to change things up. And so this past week I went to a Lagree class, which is It's not Pilates. It's on a Megaformer and it's harder than Pilates. You add weights to it. It's nonstop, 50 minutes type of thing. And I just felt so challenged, not only physically, but mentally.

Hmm.

And I think I just kind of have gotten in a routine at the gym where it's like, I do push myself and I'm happy that I'm growing and the weight that I'm taking on. But I think the type of just doing the same type of workout every day, my body's like, oh yeah, I can conquer this. And then I walk into a room where the weight is perhaps not as strong as I would squat down and we're doing a leg workout. I'm like, oh, I could totally do this. I was humbled. I was so humbled.

I love it.

But it was just so great. And I think mostly I really want to tap into that side of things because I noticed where my mind was going and I was just gravitating to, oh well, this is just not how I work out, so it's fine. Let me just take a break. Let me just chill here. And I was like, dang, Astrid, we've got some work to do here. We need to be able to shift into different types of workouts. I think it relates to life so much. And then just go full force into it. Embrace not being good at it right away. It's okay to look silly. And also we're getting stronger in a different way. So yeah, so it was a really hard class, but it was amazing. Um, and I, I'm craving it again. Like, I'm, I'm like, I'm gonna master this thing.

I love it, I love it. It's so crazy that you say that because that— I think that was going to be mine as well. So we're both in between the same thing.

Health and wellness, baby. Health and wellness.

I am also like I have been trying to rethink the way— and we've talked about this on the pod before, but like trying to rethink like what are my goals? Because I, I, I feel like with fitness, I think it's important for me to have a goal.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and sometimes that goal is for my mental health. There have been months and seasons where the goal is I go to the gym for my mental health and anything that else that happens is like a byproduct of that. Um, but as I go into the new year, I'm kind of trying to figure out like, is that still my goal? Is there something else I'm working towards? We're going to Paris for my 30th birthday.

Yes. I cannot wait.

So I'm like, you know, that's like, um, a fun trip to look forward to. That's like, okay, but I also don't want to necessarily work out towards a trip. Too, so it's like constantly. Anytime you're on a health journey, I feel like you're constantly coming up with like the old defaults that come up of like oh well we we don't work out for events, we don't work out for vacations. Like this is a part of the lifestyle, not because we're trying to get to a certain place before a certain time. And I don't think that there's anything necessarily wrong with that, but I think it can be used in like a really negative way. So I'm just I'm in the same boat. I'm like trying to figure out what the next goal is. And maybe it's trying to squat a certain, like, amount. Like, I'm not necessarily trying to lose anything. It's not like that. It's more of just like, what am I working towards? I think that Matthew and I are coming up on the new year with that question in a lot of different areas. And so something that we're going to do the second weekend in January is we're going to rent a little cabin and go away for the weekend and like bring Um, our whiteboard. Did I already tell you this?

No.

Okay. We're gonna bring our whiteboard and, um, our journals, and we're gonna go away for the weekend, and we're gonna map out— like, we're feeling a bit visionless. Like, we worked so hard to finish our rental property and get a tenant in there. Then we worked so hard to save money and buy a house. And like, we've been here for 6 months, and so we're trying to figure out What is our big vision? Like, we were driving around neighborhoods yesterday of these gorgeous houses, and I was like, okay, I could see— I could see me like working. I could see us working towards wanting something like this. But he's like, yeah, but do you want to be in Houston in 10 years? And I was like, I don't know where I want to be in 10 years.

It's like it spirals all the questions when you're just like, well, then I don't know, and then where do we go? And you're just like, the possibilities are endless.

Literally.

And that's exciting but also overwhelming. Yeah.

I mean, do you like— exactly. Do you know where you want to live in 5 years?

No. Yeah.

Which I don't think is a bad thing. Um, and I do think that I would love to have some sort of like thing that we are working towards. Like you were working towards full-time employment, you know, um, buying a house. It's like, okay, what are we, what are we, what are we working towards? So those are a couple of things that I'm in between right now trying to figure out. What my goals are on the health side, and then what our goals are financially for, and even like career-wise of like what's next. Not that there is something, not that there needs to be immediacy to it too, but just like what are we strategically and intentionally working towards? And I don't really know right now. It's just life is just kind of happening. So yeah.

I love that though. I love that you guys are in this season where even though there's so much unknown, it's so exciting. And it's like, there's— it's so beautiful to watch you guys come together and be like, what's the life that we want to create? Let's sit down and map this together and intentionally decide what's the life that we want, rather than just being, you know, taken with the wind of just, okay, that we have the job, we have the house, we have the puppy, and then now we just kind of keep on going and that's it.

Mm-hmm.

And just coast along. And so I really admire that about you guys, and I love like The energy that you just pour out whenever you talk about vision casting, it's not exhausting, it's exciting.

And I love that for you.

Thank you.

It's very exciting. I am a visionary and a dreamer. I am not an executor. And this is where having a partner like Matthew really helps because he helps me execute. So the more clear that you can get on where you are, and then you can actually have people in your life support you for the areas that are not your strong points.

So yes, amazing. I love that. Well, should we go ahead and get started on our morning routines?

Let's do it. Morning routines. Where do you want to begin?

I was going to ask you the same thing. I don't know, you tell me. Okay, um, tell me, um, tell me about your morning routine right now.

Okay, yeah, that's a great place to start. Let's do that. I'll share mine, then you share yours.

Done. Okay.

Oh my gosh.

Okay.

So mine is I— so my wake-up time has been influenced by Matthew because he is doing the 5 AM Club. So he is waking up around 5:30 every morning. And so that kind of starts my waking up time earlier. So I start waking up to like His alarm around 5:30. Yay!

Very supportive of his goals.

And then I get up at 6:15. So this is on mornings where I'm working out, and I usually try to work out before work at least 4 out of the 5 workdays of the week. So I get up at 6:15. I always do my skincare. Like, I always wake up and wash my face and do my hyaluronic acid and My sunscreen and then moisturizer. And then I finish it off with a vitamin C serum every single morning. And then I put on my gym clothes, go downstairs. Usually, I would say 2 to 3 times a week, I ice roll my face to wake me up. I'm like, okay.

That's the best.

If washing the face didn't do it, the ice roller is definitely going to wake me the hell up. So then I ice roll my face and literally, Either Matthew or I will take Piper out and then I will make my pre-workout. I am on the pre-workout like camp. Some people are like anti-pre-workout. Some people have never had it. I tried it one time because Matthew was like, I had been really struggling to get through my workouts and I was starting to lift like much heavier weight. And he was like, why don't you just try pre-workout and see if you like it? I like it. I love it. I love it. I don't walk into it thinking I need it though, which is actually really helpful. So I feel like I have a healthy relationship with it. Take my pre-workout and then I drive to the gym. I usually work out for about 50 to 60 minutes. I usually try to keep my workouts under an hour. If it's over an hour, it starts to feel like too much to me personally. So I have like a 50-minute cap on my workouts. And then come home, shower. While I am showering, I always listen to Up First, which is a 10 to 13 minute daily podcast that NPR puts out on what's happening in the world. So I always listen to that when I get ready in the morning, do my— sometimes I wear makeup to work, sometimes I don't. Like if I feel like I'm having breakouts, I just will do my skincare routine again post-gym for some reason. And then, um, Hi, Will. Go downstairs, make a smoothie. And I've been kind of taking a break from coffee, but some sort of warm beverage. I like drinking hot things after taking a shower. And then I have my water. So I sit down at my desk, I have my water, my smoothie, and some sort of hot beverage. And then I do my 5-minute journal. And then I do my regular journal where I just kind of freehand write, check in with my monthly goals. So whatever bubbles I need to fill in for whatever goals I have set for that month, and then I start my workday. That is my morning routine.

I love it. I love it so much. It sounds very efficient. You get a lot done before work time. Really?

I feel like that's— I feel like that's not that much.

I feel like it's a lot.

Okay, thank you.

Yeah, it's great.

Am I enough?

You're like, I need to do more.

Is it enough?

Okay, what about you?

What's, what's your morning routine?

So for me, it's been a very interesting year for morning routine because since I did quit my full-time job, I don't start work at 8:00 AM every single day.

Yeah.

And so I, for a long time, tried to force myself into starting my day at the same time and keeping that consistency, which worked really well for the first 8 months of the year. But then once I jumped into busy season, I realized my body really needed rest. And I just like, I realized that I, in hindsight, need a different routine for busy season than I do for like off season, basically. Yeah. And so for my off season, which was like from February till—

Also tell people what you do just in case they don't know.

Oh yes. Okay. So I'm like, I'm a wedding and commercial photographer and I also do marketing consulting. So a lot of my days are Like the first half of my week is spent a lot of marketing work and behind the screen. And then the last half of the week is like a lot of shooting and editing and sending things out. And so, yeah, so for the first few months, I would wake up and then I would go for about a 2 to 3 mile walk. And then during that walk, I would listen to these specific audios that were pretty much kind of like, um, what do you— how do you say that in English?

Like motivational?

Motivational. Um, but it was very much like reframing, like, what do you think about yourself? Identity. Very much identity-focused audio. Um, and so—

Really quick, where do we find those?

Okay, so the one that I like is by Steven Furtick, but Steven Furtick has his own. So he, he has like a worship Um, like music pretty much, but he has his own Stephen Furtick, which is basically like spoken word, and it's just like a whole 1 minute, and it's all like on identity focus. And that was a huge game changer for me, and I really, really love that. So I am a slow person to wake up in the morning, so I need like someone else to speak into my brain before I start thinking for myself.

Hmm.

So I would go for a walk. I also learned a lot about how important light and having sunlight exposure within the first few hours of your day can really help with your circadian rhythm and having better sleep and a lot of mental health. So that pretty much tackled 2 in 1. So I would go for the walk, listen to that, come back, and then I would make my smoothie. So I've been making the same smoothie since I was in college, which Basically, it's almond milk, protein, chia, flaxseeds, oatmeal, and I think that's pretty much it. No fruit? Oh, and fruit. Yeah, and frozen fruit. You're like, let's go savage.

I was like, that's all just fiber and nutrients.

Yeah, and fruit for sure. Okay. So I would make my smoothie and then I would journal, sit, down, like text certain people that I wanted to like reach out to and be like thankful for, um, for them. And that was actually something that kind of changed my mindset was not just taking time to journal in the morning and be like grateful for where I'm at, but then also taking another step to just randomly send a voice message to people or text them and be like, you know what, I really admire how hard you work. And I just want you to say that you're amazing.

I hope you have a great week.

Awesome. And just each week I would choose someone different. And it's crazy how it's supposed to be for the other person, but it changed my life so much. The amount of— it made me feel extra grateful for the people around me and aware for that. So yeah, so I would make the smoothie, journal, pray, and then I would text people. Then I would go shower. pick my outfit out, get ready for the day. So my ideal start time then was 9 AM for work. And then I would work from 9 all the way to like about 6 or so. So that was most of my year. And then since busy season, it has been very minimal morning routine. Um, I've also been traveling a lot, so I haven't been home as much to upkeep a routine. So full transparency, like that has been very hard.

Mm-hmm.

And so for me, when I am home, it's more wake up, go for a walk, make the smoothie, get to work. But I hadn't been setting an alarm like I did earlier. And I just really felt like my body needed to rest and sleep from all these shoots and travel and everything. And so that's an area I'm still conflicted on because some people recommend, like health experts recommend, you just let your body sleep too well and it needs to. And others are like, you know, 4 AM, 5 AM wake up. So I'm trying to decide what's best for me. For me, I think right now it depends on the season is where that's at.

Yeah.

So yeah, I think that's pretty much what I do. So I think I move my body. I definitely have good solid nutrition that I know is going to help me stay focused and not be hungry for the day or even have a sugar crash. I tap into my spirituality and then just get ready.

I love that. I also, I started going to, whenever you said get ready and pick out your outfit, something that has helped me get excited for the next day too, if I know I'm going to my coworking space, which I go to my coworking space about 2 times a week just to get out of the house and meet other women in the Houston area. And if you live in Houston, this is your opportunity. to hit me up because I would love to take you to coffee. Anyways, um, I like to pick out my outfit the night before. I feel like a little kid before the first day of school. But if I know that I'm going to be wearing a bomb outfit the next day, there is something that that does to my confidence that's just like, all right, we're ready to take on the whole world.

100%. And that's something that is huge about the morning routine too, for me. And it sounds like possibly for you too. It's getting ready in the morning. I show up differently for work, even if no one's going to see me. Like, I'll work at my house. I show up differently and my mindset is different than when I'm just wearing comfy clothes. And I'm all for the comfy clothes, but even put together street style type athletic wear, I show up differently. And so it might just be the way that I'm wired and how everything is kind of an experience for me. And so it's connected in my brain, but I have— my best days are when I actually get ready. And show up to work that way.

Yeah, I agree. I think also knowing, like, being able to review your day the night before can also help with your morning routine as well, because you know what meetings you're going to have. You might know what you might need to get done at work, and then you are able to really focus on your morning routine and not be stressed. Like, if I, if I haven't, let's say, looked at my day before and figured out You know what? What are my big tasks I need to get done? I will feel anxious during my morning routine. I'll feel anxious and stressed at the gym. I'll feel like I'm rushed, and it's like okay, I've got to I got to rush through this instead of okay last night we sat down, we looked at our meetings, we looked at what needed to be done. We know that we absolutely have to be online at this time. So we have all this. We have three and a half hours this morning. To spend however however we need to, and we don't need to feel rushed. And that's a really big part of a morning routine is there were seasons where I would wake up, I would roll out of bed and make my smoothie and my warm and my coffee. Like those were like two things I needed for like substance, and then I would just get online. So I would like be sleeping till eight. This is whenever Matthew was. Was still working abroad and I was really struggling with my mental health, I was just like, I would sleep 10, 11 hours a night and be so exhausted in the morning. And then I would just roll right into work at like 8:30, 9 o'clock, having not done anything besides just sleep. And so I do think like depending on what season you're in and having a morning routine though keeps me from falling into those patterns. Because for me, it's not healthy or sustainable for me to do that for very long. Like, you know, oh, I had a hard night or a hard weekend. Like, okay, but weeks and weeks and weeks of that kind of routine, and I— for me, it feels like a rut, is like really difficult to dig myself back out of. So it's like just being consistent with my morning routine gives me that like Stability, 100%, that I need to like keep going through, you know?

Yeah. And it's also, I think it prepares your mind to be able to tackle the day. So actually, one of the sections of those audios that I listened to, it says like, I know that no matter what comes my way today, I can handle it. So it's a song all about like what you can handle throughout the day. And dang, I I think it was just exactly what I needed to hear this whole year because it was so much change in my life. And I think if I wouldn't have had that solid morning routine that you helped me figure out, and Nicole also helped me figure out earlier in the year, I don't think I would've been able to handle the changes of going from full-time to entrepreneur as well, because there's so much of ourselves in our business that you're exposed to, that you're handling. You're like, oh, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know what's going to happen. And I think just being able to reframe, refocus, what's the bigger vision? Like, yes, I am created for this. I am excited. I have gifts that have been given to me that now I get to pour out into the world. And all of that rather than just rolling into it scared. So you're still doing the same task, but at least for me, my default is being scared. And so same thing goes with what you were saying is, I felt that depression, that mental health kicking in certain days, and that routine helped me so much.

Mm-hmm.

And I think for me also, I tend to have this perfectionistic personality with myself and my routines. And when busy season came along, I wish I could have adjusted my morning routine rather than just be like, okay, we're in survival. And so that's kind of like hindsight. And another in-between that I'm in right now as I've wrapped up this season is I've kicked off my morning routines again. I feel great again. And I'm like, okay, we can't— it's not good for us to just be like, okay, only when we're not producing as much, that's when we deserve a morning routine. It's like, no, we come first.

Right.

Work is second. So I'm still very much learning that. It's hard. It's hard to nail down a good morning routine that works for you. And what works for me won't work for you and vice versa. And it takes time.

It does. I think, so a couple of things as you were talking that popped up for me was I do an exercise with my clients, which I did with you at the beginning of the year, which actually I learned from my business coach as well. His name's Jake. sitting down and writing out your ideal day. So, not like what it has been, not what you think it should be, but like what is your ideal day? What time do you want to wake up? What do you want to be doing in the morning? How do you want to be feeling? What brings you joy in the morning? How do you want to incorporate that? When do you start your workday? Do you take a lunch break? Do you take an afternoon walk break from work? You know, I know some people don't work remote, some people do, but like even those lunch breaks, those getting outside, even if you work in the office, to take a walk around the block for 20 minutes with a podcast, like those kinds of things can really change your mood and just turn your day around. So like thinking through what your ideal day is, how do you want to end the workday? What time do you want to stop work? What do you want to be doing on your commute? Or how do you want to wind down your workday? Do you want to be moving your body in the evening? Like, what time do you want to go to bed? And something that we haven't mentioned yet is that your morning routine is heavily influenced by your evening routine.

Yes.

So we should probably do like another podcast episode maybe just on evening routine. But it's like, oh, well, I want to wake up at 6:00 AM. Okay. Well, that means that like everyone needs different sleep. Sometimes people need 7 hours, 8 hours. Some people run great on 6 hours. You know your body best.

Mm-hmm.

But if you know what time you want to wake up, you need to like know what time you need to go to bed then. So if I want to wake up at— I need— I'm an 8-hour gal, so I can do 7, but it's not sustainable for me. Um, if I want to wake up at 6, I need to be asleep at or around 10. So that means I need to get in bed at like 9:30. And so those kinds of things can really influence the consistency of your morning routine. I think I have a couple of thoughts about what I think morning routines could consist of that I think could help craft. Does anything come to mind for you first?

Of what could consist of the morning routine?

Yeah. Something that comes to mind for me is I think that a morning routine should be focused on sustainability. So is this sustainable? Another one is, is it simple? Is it easy for me to repeat? And then is it fun? Is it something that like actually makes me happy and brings me joy? And so like sustainability, um, what was the other one I just said? Simple and fun. Those are like the things that come to mind for me. What about you?

That's so true. I honestly agree with all 3 of those because I think the sustainability portion is the one that would shift as your life changes and And that's huge. Like, sometimes perhaps you're, you know, people who become a new parent. Now suddenly you have this tiny human that like revolves around you. And so perhaps the routine that you had in your early 20s is not going to be sustainable now. But I think the important thing is not completely letting it go and actually making it sustainable. So if it's now 30 minutes that you get to yourself, okay, well, what are you going to do with those 30 minutes? How is it simple? And then how is it fun for you? Like, okay, you get to go for a walk and see the sunrise and do all these things that excite you. Like, for me, sunrise and sunset just makes my day, but I'm always working around sunset time. So it was nice to have the sunrise to me without work. So that's kind of what got me really excited to go on those morning walks. Now it's freaking freezing, so I'm not doing them.

But It was 81 degrees in Houston today.

Oh my gosh, I'm moving. I will watch the sunrise from my window. Like, this Miami girl cannot hang.

Oh my gosh. Yeah, I agree. Like, the sustainability piece, making sure that it is transferable for seasons and knowing that what worked for you then, like, might not work for you now. But do you remember a time where you had absolutely no routine? Because I do.

Oh, absolutely.

What did that look like? I don't think—

okay, I'm not much of a morning person. I guess I am now, but I used to not be. And I was the kind that was always rushing out the door to get to school, to get to work, anywhere. Nighttime, I like will get so much done at night, but in the morning it just was not it. And I remember once I started implementing morning routines, I'm like, wow, my mornings don't feel anxious anymore. And I realized how much energy I was putting out and using because of the fact that I was being rushed and like, am I going to make it in time? I'm going through traffic, going from one side to the other, speeding to Mattoon, Illinois type of thing. And so I would say honestly, until I was 25, I was pretty much Always rushing and never, never had a routine.

I see the. I see these girls on TikTok. They're like in college and they're doing their like morning routine, and I'm like, wow, amazing!

What was TikTok when we were in college?

So proud of you. And I think that's one of the things that like TikTok has heavily influenced is like people's habits. And like by watching days in the life, they're like, oh wow, okay. I'm gonna like reevaluate my morning routine.

Yes.

But I would say I lived in Nashville from 22 to almost 27, 26. And I had no morning routine. I would wake up and roll out of bed and make some coffee and just work.

Yes.

I'd go to coffee shops, but I lived my life in— I was the epitome of spontaneity when I lived in Nashville. Nothing was planned. It was a very chaotic time for me. I had a blast, would, and I would do it again. But also what I think about a lot of the ways I live my life, spent my money, had routine, like it was just very chaotic. And now, and I think a lot of that was rooted in not having a lot of like stability in my daily life. And so that's one thing now in my late 20s. that I'm like, having my routine has completely shifted my view of what's possible for me.

Mm-hmm.

Like, because I'm keeping promises to myself, I'm building discipline, I'm building a consistent energy and momentum that like I am always beating myself. And I was thinking about this at the gym. I was like, I am my own competition. Like, I am the only one I'm competing with. And I love that. that routines and like the rhythms that we get into life can really like spark that. At least it does for me because I'm a competitive person. Um, but yeah, it like kind of shifts what— okay, like, look what I've mastered now. What's next?

Yes.

And whenever you're constantly living from, uh, meeting to meeting and you're like fighting for the margins of your life and you're absolutely exhausted, it's really difficult to be like, what's next? Because you're You're kind of running based on your calendar, not operating based on the way that you actually want to sustainably live your life.

It's reactive. And I think a lot of people operate in reactive mode of, okay, we have this job now.

I have the family.

I have this. Roll out of bed, go to work. I'm there 8 to 5. Get out, pick up. Do all these things. And then that's why we'll stay up late scrolling on our phones, right? Because it's like suddenly the only time I get for me is 10:00 PM to 11:00 PM or 10:00 PM to midnight. And when we're able to backtrack from that and we're like, okay, what if I went to bed actually at that time and gave myself those 2 hours in the morning and worked on my health and went for a walk and meditated or prayed and did all these things, those 2 same hours, now you're more intentionally living the life that you actually want. And I think it's so beautiful whenever it comes to morning routines and what you said earlier of what is the life that you want? Are you a Pilates girl? You want to wake up every day and you're like, I'm going to go to Pilates. What are you wearing? What do you sleep in? How do you wake up? What are the things that you use in the shower? What are you eating? Like, how much water are you drinking? And whenever you start visualizing all these like tiny questions that seem insignificant, it's really so significant because it's the things that bring you joy. And now you know where to spend your money, and now you know these things matter to you, and now you have a routine that you're excited for. And so ultimately, it's like 10 years down the road, you can look back and be like, wow, I've had so much more life in my same day Because I've had this routine. And I'm truly preaching to myself here because I've gotten off of my routine since October, and I'm like realizing how much I miss it and how much my life changed in the first 8 months by implementing that. I've been really consistent with my nighttime routine during the week, and that is still like pretty much non-negotiable for me. But the morning time, it's, you know, a little bit more off. But in general, just, just not letting Your calendar dictate your life.

I love the proactive versus reactive energy for sure. And, um, something else I was gonna mention, but I totally forgot about that. Oh, okay.

Weekday.

Everything I just said at the beginning of the pod about my morning routine was for weekdays, not weekends.

Mm-hmm.

And so I think that's another thing too, is like Giving yourself permission to have different routines for different days of the week. So everything I just said was my Monday through Friday, but my Saturday and Sunday look different.

Yes.

Like, I like to sleep in a little bit more. I like to still be up before 8 o'clock, but I am not journaling on the weekends actually, because my weekends feel so freeing and like we're cleaning the house, we're trying a new restaurant. We're doing different things that I don't feel like I need to be incredibly reflective. But whenever it's work time for me and I'm like, okay, I have to be creative. I have to be strategic. I have to put on my professional hat.

Mm-hmm.

I find journaling to be a really helpful tool for me during the work week when I have a lot of different feelings and a lot of different things coming up where I don't actually need that tool So I think that's another thing too, is like when you're looking at your morning routine, how does that maybe differ from your weekend routine? And what you need during the week might not be what you need on the weekend, and that's okay too.

Yeah, it kind of sounds like it's finding those things that will support your lifestyle, right? So if you have a job that is very mentally draining in these areas, and I feel like everybody has jobs that are challenging them in different ways, and so being able to create these routines that support your lifestyle, So now, you know, perhaps you need more on the nutrition front. So you spend more of your morning creating a certain type of breakfast because you're an athlete. Like just being able to kind of lean into that. But it's almost like that area of adulthood where we come and we have to parent ourselves and be like, we have to create these routines if this is the lifestyle we're going to create. If you're a lawyer and you're working 12 hours a day, what does your morning routine look like? That's even more essential because you have to, you have to be able to have a really solid routine to have enough energy to expend the entire day, fuel your body enough so you can have the mental sharpness to keep going at it. And so yeah, I think just overall thinking of it as now we are reparenting ourselves and what we want requires that support in our lives. with our daily habits, pretty much.

I love the reparenting element too. It's like, okay, how can I extend myself some grace here? But also, like, the point of a parent— one of the many points of a parent— is to help mold and guide you towards, um, hopefully like a happy and healthy life. And I think that's whenever we can feel ourselves go off track, it's like, okay, we need to like introduce the parent I saw a TikTok today actually of this woman who was— she filmed herself every single morning of November and she woke up at 5 every single morning of November. And she started the TikTok by saying, in order to become a beast, you have to do beastly things.

Hmm.

And she's like, I wanted to unleash a beast mode in myself in November. And so she said, so, okay, well, I love the idea of like, oh yeah, we're like, we're going beast. Like we're like going all in on something. So that requires daily beastly activity. And that was like, you know, I'm using her language here. And she filmed herself every morning at 5:00 AM and like, you know, different outfits, all that stuff. And she said, I did it tired. I did it annoyed. I did it happy. I did it excited. I did it energized. I did it motivated. I did it sad. I did it depressed. And it was like all the different moods that she was feeling. And I think that's the point of a routine is it's like, it's something that helps you regardless of your feelings and your moods because those are so up and down and they can change so quickly. It's like the routine is like the foundation that helps you regardless of how you're feeling about life.

Yeah. 100%. And what I really like about that too is more than the waking up at that time, it's the commitment to yourself. And so on those days where things feel so low and you don't want to wake up at 5:00 AM, that's what we're more prone to self-sabotage. And there's nothing that we like tells us more to ourselves that like we're not worthy of it than like breaking a promise to ourselves.

Yeah.

And so being able to push through those feelings and be like, okay, I might feel sad or depressed, but I committed that like we're going to wake up at 5:00 AM because that's what is required of me for the life that I know I deserve. Then suddenly it's like the most loving thing you can do for yourself because you're like, okay, I deserve the kind of lifestyle that has this morning routine. And it's just like a big hug and also a big mental Toughness breakthrough point, because that's like the easiest time when you can just be like snooze. That's it. But you're what you're really subconsciously telling yourself is I'm not worthy of that lifestyle, and that's really hard to break through.

Okay, she's coming for our necks. She's coming for our necks.

Honestly, though, I'm coming for my own neck. No, no, no.

I feel that very deeply. Like, I— yeah, wow. I need that because I am a snooze gal. Like, I have a window that I give myself instead of I wake up at this time, you know?

I cannot shoot out of bed. My window is up at 4. Yes, I have layers of waking up and I, I budget into my alarm time. Oh my gosh, I love it.

Well, if you are building a morning routine or like stepping into the new year and wanting to try something different, I highly recommend starting with that ideal day exercise and like figure out not just where you are right now, but when you envision who you are and who you're becoming, what does she do? What does he do? And whenever you start to visualize that, it can become more clear of like, oh yeah, I'm the kind of person that does this. Because if I want to become him, I want to become her, this is what feels like the path to getting to that person that I am becoming. So just start there. I know it can feel very overwhelming, but it can be fun. It can be whatever you want. It can have a— you can have a 20-minute dance party in there if you want to.

Yeah.

That's the whole point of a morning routine is that it's yours. And like, even if what happens to your morning routine when you travel, Figure out before you go into that travel, or like, we're going home for 2 weeks, what's gonna happen to Matthew and I's morning routine?

Mm-hmm.

So like, we're having that discussion now of like, okay, we're gonna get a gym membership at our gym for our old gym that we used to work out at for 2 weeks. Okay, so when we're staying at my parents, we're gonna have to leave the house by this time. Whenever we're staying at his parents, we're gonna have to like We're trying to have those conversations so that it feels proactive and that we know we're going to be spending a lot of time with family, a lot of social time. So we need to make sure that we're baking in some structure around our morning routines and movement and things that really feel important to us so that we can show up and be present with our people. Uh, that requires proactive and intentional energy and thought. So if you're in that stage too, like, and you're traveling for the holidays or the new year, Think about some of the ways that you want to continue to incorporate your morning routine while you're traveling or staying with friends or family. Um, it doesn't have to be the whole thing, right? But just certain elements of it that still give you that semblance of like your structure for the day. And I think that's a, a really great place to start.

Definitely. It's not all or nothing. And that's something that I am learning. And I think that that's such a powerful thing to say also right before the holidays. So I hope that you have all enjoyed this podcast on morning routines. We'll definitely be doing one on evening routines coming up, but just start dreaming about what all of that can look like for you. And if this podcast resonated with you, please be sure to screenshot it, share it on social media. You can always DM us as well at inbetween.pod on Instagram, um, or myself at @astrejohannaphoto.

Or me @AlexisTeichmiller.

And we'll catch you next time.