3 CONFIDENCE BOOSTING MORNING ROUTINES YOU CAN DO IN UNDER 20 MINUTES
When I first became a coach, I forced myself to do elaborate, 2–3 hour morning routines involving journaling, meditating, yoga, visualisation and a whole host of other mindset tools.
This was great for a while but I soon realised I was spending more time prepping for the day than actually living it. I also found it hard to be consistent with such a jam packed ritual.
I even forced myself to become part of the 5am club which didn’t last long when I finally accepted the fact I’m not - and never will be - a morning person.
Now, I like to keep things simple. The first 20 minutes of the day are for me. I don’t check my phone, I don’t scroll on socials, I try not to talk to anyone.
I like to lie in silence for a few minutes, visualising my perfect day or I listen to my morning meditation for confidence. I stretch and think about the things I’m grateful for. I make a cup of herbal tea or a decaf coffee and sit in the kitchen where I read a book, journal, listen to a podcast or, on a Thursday, I catch up on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
It’s very rare I do all the things in one go.
The most important thing for me is allowing myself that time to wake up, to think my own thoughts without being distracted by others and to ensure I start the day gently, in a positive way.
If you know your morning routine needs a refresh, I’ve put together a few ideas to help you. And again, don’t feel like you need to do all the things – just pick one, allow yourself 10–20 minutes and make that time sacred to you.
How we start the day impacts us in a big way
When we kick things off with a gentle awakening, doing something that increases our positive energy and makes us feel good, we’re more productive, we have more energy and we’re more likely to have a good day.
When we suffocate ourselves with social media, the news or negative conversations with our partner, we start our day feeling shitty – this then filters into everything we do.
Our tasks, the conversations we have, our journey – it’s so much easier to fall into the victim mindset of ‘why is it always me’.
The good news is, we have choices. If we do happen to roll out of bed on the wrong side, it’s ok. We can make the choice to move back into a more positive energy.
9 Activities you can include in your morning routine
Before we put together our morning routine, I thought I’d share a selection of my favourite morning activities to help you start the day in a positive way.
Journal as your future self
I love to use journal prompts that encourage me to act as if I’m already the person who has achieved everything I want. Journaling in this way fills me with motivation and inspiration for how I can take action.
For example: Now that I trust myself wholeheartedly and believe in my ability to achieve everything I want, what actions do I take on a daily basis…. I then write in the present tense as if I am already taking those actions.
This type of journaling gives me so much energy and makes me more productive. Stepping into my future self makes me excited to show up in my business, knowing I’m creating the life I want to have.
Journal Your Way to Confidence with my 30 page free workbook. You’ll learn 7 powerful journaling techniques for improved self confidence. Get it here.
Morning Affirmations for Confidence
If you’ve known me for a while, you’ll know how much I love affirmations and how they’ve helped me to transform my life. As well as repeating affirmations throughout the day, I love to listen to my morning affirmations audio that I created to help you feel confident first thing in the morning. Download the audio here and add it to your own morning routine.
Visualise your dream day
It’s common amongst athletes to use visualisation when preparing for big games or in Conor McGregor’s case, a big fight. I like to visualise my perfect day from start to finish — where I wake up, what I do, what I eat, how I dress, who I talk to, etc. Having this vision in my mind helps me to think of ways to bring my dream to life.
Write out an empowerment list
I coined this phrase when I started encouraging my coaching clients to do this exercise. An empowerment list is a list you create of things you’re good at, things you love about yourself — anything that, erm, empowers you.
A few of my favourites include: 30 Things I love about myself, 25 Reasons my dream clients love to work with me, 20 Things I can do today to achieve my goals.
Want to receive a new empowerment list straight to your inbox each morning? Sign up for The Confidence Shift.
Practice gratitude for what you have
The more we appreciate what we already have, the more abundance we attract. Whether you write a gratitude list or just think about all the things you’re grateful for, getting into the habit of being thankful will help you start your day feeling positive and abundant. The key with this is to really feel the feelings of gratitude — not just write a list in a rush so you can get on with your day. Feel those feelings so deeply that you become overcome with the emotion of gratitude.
Listen to a podcast
I love to put on a podcast when I’m in the shower, making breakfast or doing my makeup. If it’s first thing in the morning, I prefer to listen to mindset focused episodes and save the business-y episodes for when I’m in work mode. If you haven’t listened to The Confidence Show yet (my podcast), you can do so here.
Repeat affirmations
I know I touched on affirmations already but they’re the easiest, most powerful tool for increasing your confidence. You can repeat them in your head, write them in your journal or simply read through ones you’ve written out in your journal. The more you repeat these positive phrases, the more they will become your reality.
Want to receive a new affirmation straight to your inbox each morning? Sign up for The Confidence Shift.
Listen to your high vibe playlist
If you don’t already have a high vibe playlist on Spotify (or wherever you listen to your music), go and create one now. Having a playlist full of feel good music that you can dance around to is the perfect way to set you up for a good day. Make sure you include songs you can sing to, songs that remind you of happy moments and songs that you can’t help but move your body to. You’ll access an exclusive confidence boosting playlist when you sign up for The Confidence Kit, my free resource to help you become more confident everyday.
Sit in silence
This is something I’ve only recently started doing and have found it leaves me feeling calm and focused. We’re often so consumed with technology, tv, socials and other people’s problems that our brains are full of noise. Just 5 minutes of silence helps to restore your inner peace and allows you to focus on the most important voice — your own.
Create your morning routine
Each of the activities above can be used as a stand alone routine or you can mix and match, doing each activity for 5 minutes.
Here’s a few examples of how you could put them together:
10 Minute morning routine
5 minutes - Listen to the Morning Affirmations for Confidence audio
5 minutes - Write out 10 things you’re grateful for
15 Minute morning routine
5 minutes - Visualise your dream day
5 minutes - Use a journal prompt to journal as your future self
5 minutes - Listen to a podcast episode
20 Minute morning routine
5 minutes - Sit in silence
5 minutes - Write out an empowerment list
5 minutes - Repeat a confidence-boosting affirmation
5 minutes - Listen to your high vibe playlist
You can stick to the same routine every day or you can mix it up if, like me, you get bored doing the same thing over and over.
The important thing is you make some time for yourself and set yourself up for a positive, confidence-filled day.
Hopefully you’ve found at least one of these suggestions helpful but I want you to remember that if you do slip back into old patterns of checking your phone first thing, scrolling through socials or snoozing your alarm too many times— as I myself have — that’s ok. Ask yourself “Is this really what I want for myself?” and take action to get back into a positive vibe.
No feeling guilty or beating yourself up — we’re all humans.