The One Thing I Need To Do Each Night

As most of you know I started participating in the 5am club about a month ago and I really, really love it.

It provides me with time to move my body and stimulate my mind before I begin the day of demanding children and to-do lists.

The schedule looks something like this:

• 20 minutes of morning pages (writing)

• 20 minutes of Yoga

• 20 minutes of reading

I’ve been on a pretty good morning roll and the reason starts long before my alarm goes off.

In fact, it’s because of what I do at night before bed that I’m successful in the morning.

The only way I’ve found, to guarantee my success is to: PREPARE. PREPARE. PREPARE.

Before bed, I lay out my Yoga mat, fill my water bottle, flip my notebook to a fresh page, get my pen ready, put my book pile on the arm of the couch and set my alarm.

When I do all of those things the night before, I get up at 5am.

When I don’t do those things the night before, I “sleep in”.

100% of the time.

Really, when I think about it… anything I’ve ever gotten done that I’ve wanted to do has come from planning and preparing.

So now I ask you this:

What do you want to start? What do you want to accomplish?

How can you make a plan that guarantees your success?

Lastly, I have to make sure I point out that I’m far from perfect. I’ve been choosing to not set an alarm on Sunday because sometimes it just feels good to not. If I’m up late working on something, I’ll set my alarm for 5:15am or even 5:30am. I do the best I can and if I start to veer off track my goal is to always pull myself back on as soon as possible because I’m worth it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on any and all of this!
Comment below or DM me on IG!

MORNING PAGES - A Practice Worth Starting

I’ve been promising a post on morning pages for a good month now. When my pen ran out of ink this morning as I was scribbling away in the faint light coming from my closet, I knew it was time.

I grabbed a new pen, and in my notebook, this post wrote itself.

That’s the magic of Morning Pages.

So what exactly are Morning Pages?

Morning pages, a beloved ritual of creatives all over the world, is from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
Upon waking in the morning, you grab your notebook and pen and you write. And write. And write.
It’s a stream if conciousness filling three whole pages.
You pretty much let whatever you think/feel come to the surface and snatch it up, it and write it down.
It doesn’t need to be poetic or artsy or even mean anything.
You can write about your week, why you’re pissed off or a wild dream you have for the future. You can write a to-do list, a rant on your president or all of the magic that has touched your life to this moment.
As long as your clearing out all of the junk from your mind, you’re doing it right.

Trust me, when the kids were waking me up, fussing, at 4:30am each morning I wasn’t writing anything positive for the entire first page. But it was a good way to get it out and I really did feel better starting the day.

Lately, The boys have been sleeping in a bit and I’m up before the house. With my hubby so cutely sleeping next to me, that half hour of writing is truly one of the most peaceful, productive and creative, parts of my entire day.

Do I need to do them in the morning?

Cameron says that morning is best (because you can access your subconscious right as you wake), however you can do them anytime. I was just listening to a podcast and the host said she did hers midday. I’ve tried it and if you have kids I don’t recommend it. LOL

I have done them at night a couple times and felt really good about them. I’ve even started them in morning and finished at night which is probably not what you’re supposed to do but anything to get them done and keep me going.

What if I can’t think of anything to write?

Well, for me, I never run out of things to write, maybe it’s connected to the fact that I never run out of things to say, either! LOL Sometimes you pause but man, trust me, things come up. Allow them up. Allow them out.
You must fill three pages. If you’ve never done them before, you’re going to be so surprised!

Alright, I think that’s what I have to say about your morning pages so don’t wait! Grab a good notebook, your favorite pen, write the date and place it next to your bed.

If you can somehow make the extra 30 minutes, I promise you it’ll be worth it!!

If I missed anything, drop a question in the comments or better yet, grab The Artist’s Way and make your way through it with me!

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