Creating a morning ritual that WORKS!

I do not claim to have invented any of this, but it is what has worked for me.  Most of what I learned came from Micheal Hyatt's podcast explaining this very topic. (http://michaelhyatt.com/)

For a morning ritual to work, there must first be a nightly ritual.  I cannot get up at 5am if I was up until midnight, because our bodies are not designed to operate on that little sleep.  Getting to bed at 10pm enables me to wake up at 5:00am with 7 hours of sleep, which I personally feel is a good number, and a minimum.  Most people are 8 hour sleepers, and I agree that 8 is preferable, however everybody is different, and I wake up on my own now without an alarm clock most mornings.

I've discussed this with a lot of people, and quite a large majority think I'm crazy for waking  up at 5 o'clock, when in reality there is a significant group of people that wake up before I do, construction workers, hospital workers, etc...  I think 5-6am is a good time to wake up, for me the earlier the better, and the more I can get done.

Moving on, the first thing I do in my morning ritual is to turn the kettle on.  Funny as it sounds, a lot can be done while waiting for the kettle to boil.   Whatever my other goals for the morning are, I appreciate having access to hot water for tea or coffee, for me and for others!

After that, I start to have daily choices.  I'm a neat-freak by nature, so I've been picking a particular room and cleaning it from the time I turn the kettle on until ~7 o'clock.  I will be joining a gym in the next few weeks, so I will be incorporating that into my daily routine.  I'm planning to head to the Gym at 5:30, and be home by 6:30am, giving me ~40 minutes of workout time, 10 minutes each way travel.

At 7o'clock things get serious, now I am starting to prepare for either the day ahead, or get ready to go to work.  I make lunch, eat breafast, etc, all between 7-7:30.  30 minutes should be plenty to throw something together for lunches, and eating breakfast usually takes ~10 minutes.

So my mornings are:

5am - wake up
5:05am - turn kettle on
5:10am - make coffee/tea
5:30am - head to Gym
6:30am - arrive home & tidy household
7am - Prepare lunch & eat breakfast
7:30am - Start work


All of this is easy, sticking with it is the hardest part.  The best and easiest way to get started is to go to bed ridiculously early for a few nights... I'm talking 8:30pm, your body won't allow you to sleep more than what it wants, which is usually 8-10 hours of sleep.  Training your body to operate properly on 7 hours quite often is not an overnight success.  It took me months to get my body alert & ready at 5am... and if I'm up until midnight, I literally throw my morning routine out and just make lunches & breakfast.

I hope this helps somebody, feel free to comment and let me know what you do or don't do in the morning!!

When the music stops

Get out of the truck.



After that, your CD will be unbroken, and I'll be drinking a Ginger by the bedside table.

When will that happen?

October 20th.





Silver.


Songs.


Music!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KAREOKE!!!!!!

Do you have that in flat?

Love!!!

Thoughts, Rants & Epic Ideas: Love thoughts and rants, from Tyler Fuller, or a d...

Thoughts, Rants & Epic Ideas: Love thoughts and rants, from Tyler Fuller, or a d...: Love thoughts and rants, from Tyler Fuller, or a dog named Tweeter.  With his sleeping wife Franki, we both make a duo that proves unstoppab...

Love thoughts and rants, from Tyler Fuller, or a dog named Tweeter.  With his sleeping wife Franki, we both make a duo that proves unstoppable with the drop of a hat.  Please don't lose your marbles or drop the ball on this, it takes some time to have this much fun.  But don't create any drama, the game is almost over., You just lost the game.

Why bad dogs are bad, and good dogs are good, and how to choose which your dog is.

Dog owners are a very divided breed.  Your dog is either young & rambunctious, or old and lazy.... Then there are well behaved, badly behaved, hyperactive, etc etc etc....


At the end of the day, the only thing a dog is.... is a dog.  They are your dog, my dog, his dog, her dog, or our dog.  But they are dogs.... They cannot teach themselves anything except what they can see, hear, taste or feel.

If they cannot see another dog, they don't learn what other dogs do.

If they cannot smell another dog, they want to learn what another dog smells like. 

That is a vital part of being a dog, the willingness to learn.  The old saying goes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but any dog is able to learn if they want to.  Old dogs just don't want to learn sometimes!

If an owner (or master) does not do things that creates a learning environment for a dog, the dog will not learn.  To make a dog learn, you must create an environment that helps them to act the way you, the owner, want them to act.

If you want your dog to come when you call him, call his name, and if does ANYTHING related to looking at you, coming towards you, or even just stopping where they are, praise them a lot!  Every dog loves those simple words... "Good dog!".  If they get a "Good dog!" every-time they come when their name is called, they will come even if they don't get a "Good dog!". 

The popular choice for dog parents is the "Do the right thing, or I scold you" method.  If the dog does not come when he is called, they call the name louder.  Then, the name is YELLED, and a scowling face is created.......  Why would the dog want to come and see that?  Wouldn't he rather come to a happy face saying "Good Boy!"???

This applies to absolutely every part of teaching a dog tricks, or even just basic commands.

Any questions, feel free to ask.