“You will never CHANGE YOUR LIFE until you change something you do daily. The
secret of your success is found in your DAILY
ROUTINE.” —John
Maxwell
I really
believe that statement. That’s why over the years I’ve established the
following routine. It’s critical to my approach to life. Seriously!
1) Rise Early
Getting up
early is not difficult for me, and I really feel like it gives me a head start
on the day.
I love it! I
love the part of the morning when no one else is up, no one is stirring, and
none of the electronics in my house are on… It’s just the lamp, the coffee
maker, my dog, and me.
“It is well to be up before
daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.” —Aristotle
“The sun has not caught me in bed in
fifty years.”
—Thomas Jefferson
2) Time with God
Beginning
every morning with God is a daily goal. This is not a religious routine or
legalistic exercise. If I miss a day, I don’t allow guilt and shame to
overwhelm me. But I’ve discovered that I’m actually desperate for God. I need
Him. Beginning each day with Him establishes God as the number one priority of
my day and my life.
So, I
attempt to begin every morning by spending time with my Father. Here’s what
that looks like for me.
- Reading my Bible
Youversion.com
provides several helpful Bible reading plans. Two of my favorite plans are the
following:
I do my
morning Bible reading on my computer, but do not allow myself to open email,
Slack, Google, etc. during this time. (I
get so easily distracted.) So during this time, I usually open BibleGateway,
which allows me to pull up four translations of the Bible at once (NIV, NLT,
ESV and The Message), the Bible Reading plan I’m working through on
Youversion.com, and my journal.
My primary translation
of choice during my morning routine is the NLT. But if something really speaks
to me, I can easily check out the other translations to get clarity on the passage.
By using my
computer, I can also easily copy and paste a passage that is especially
meaningful to me into my journal.
Every day I
keep a journal that includes my Bible reading, prayers I feel led to pray,
meaningful quotes I may run across during the day, and thoughts that I want to
keep track of… I’ve been keeping these digital logs since 2012.
- Prayer
I’ve never
felt very competent when it comes to prayer. While I love to read the Bible, prayer
has often been challenging for me.
A few years
ago I ran across a recommendation from someone that suggested that we simply
pray the passages of Scripture we’ve read during our personal time with God.
That resonated with me. So, now I usually take portions from my Bible reading
and turn them into prayers to God. Sometimes I write these prayers out. And at
others times I simply pray.
By the way,
prayer lists have also been helpful to me. I’ve been praying over some lists
for years…
- Worship / Express Gratitude
Sometimes I
begin my time with God with worship. At other times worship concludes my time
with God. This involves stuff like singing, writing out prayers or thoughts to
God, meditating on God, meditating on a Scripture I just read and / or just
expressing my love to God using my own words.
Worship and
gratitude are great ways to begin a day!
“Morning is an important time of
day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you
are going to have.” ——Lemony
Snicket
3) Exercise
After
spending time with God, I love to exercise. This can involve a brisk walk, a
jog or a workout in the gym.
Physical
exercise is critically important to me. It clears and refreshes my mind,
energizes my body, elevates my mood and helps me to keep the goals I’ve
established related to physical health. Further, as a guy who has battled with
depression, I’ve discovered that exercise is even critical to my mental and
emotional health.
4) Listen to podcasts or music
During
exercise, I almost always listen to a podcast. I use the 1.5x or 2x speed to increase the rate at which I’m able to
listen. This also helps me to stay focused. Last week I provided a list of some of the podcasts I love to listen
to…
Then, on
some days, like today, I listen to music. I love music! Love it! Today I used a
playlist I created on Spotify and it really accelerated my jogging time and
also encouraged and inspired me!
I’ll just “bullet”
the last three items on my daily routine, because they really speak for
themselves…
5) Get ready for work
6) Eat a healthy breakfast
7)
Take my vitamins
Okay, that’s what my routine looks
like. I’m not perfect at it, by any means… But when this stuff happens, it sets
me up for a great day!
How about you? Have you established
routine that helps set the tone for your day?
“We must all suffer from one of two
pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is
discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” ―Jim Rohn
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