SPEAKER_00
So I ditched my morning routine a couple of months ago and I haven't really been open about why or what sort of changes is brought about in my life and in my business, but honestly, it has been a game changer for me in business and in life. So I feel like it's a really interesting topic for me to share with you guys. And before we dive in, I do just wanna take a quick second to say that if you are ready to move your business towards your goals this year, if I think we have just over three months by the time this episode goes out of 2023, and if you're looking at your goals and you're like, I'm not too sure if we're gonna make it.

I'm not too sure if we stand a chance. Then I wanna remind you that number one, yes, you have a lot more power to drive sales in your business than you probably giving yourself credit for, but if you do want support, if you want us to really deep dive, if you want my eyes on your business to deep dive into what's going on, where those core blocks are, what the core issues are, and you want us to implement the right systems and strategies that are supportive to you and your energy and your goals, and actually make things happen and move your business closer to your goals and potentially hit or surpass those goals for 2023, then the Jory Business Academy is the place to do it. You can head to jorybusinessacademy.

ca to learn more and book a call with my team. My name is Robin Clark, and I'm obsessed with all things business and marketing. I'm a jewelry designer who left the corporate world and grew a successful jewelry business, and now I help women just like you from around the world do the same.

I'm the founder and CEO of the Jory Business Academy, the host of the Jory Business Academy podcast, and I'm here to help you scale your jewelry business to six figures and beyond without burning out. Through my coaching program and podcast, I help you navigate the challenging seasons of business, as well as teach you the secrets to building a sustainable business that makes you feel good. So grab a cup of tea and your notebook, get cozy and let's dive in.

Hello guys and welcome back. I am doing a little bit of a different episode today because I know this is actually something that does impact our business building journey so significantly, and it's something that had me under a bit of a chokehold for many, many years, thinking this is so, so key, and if I don't do this right, I don't stand a chance in business, and I was so hard on myself, and I actually see so many other business owners still doing what I used to do to myself, and I did this for many, many years, and I have had a complete shift in my perspective on this, and if you actually go and listen back to my podcast episodes from when I was getting started, you will pick up that I was very obsessed with this topic, and that is morning routines. And so I'm gonna share today why I've ditched my morning routine and what I'm doing instead, and how it's actually helped me show up in business so much more effectively.

It's helped me show up in life so much more, in a more joyful, more peaceful way as well, and how it's helped my energy levels. So let me start, I guess, by telling you what my morning routine used to be for many, many years. I would wake up at 4.

45 a.m. every single morning, and a couple of mornings a week, I would go to CrossFit so I'd get up, get straight in the car, head to the CrossFit gym, and do the most insane workout for an hour till I was absolutely wiped out on the floor, come home, dive into work, like shower, have breakfast, dive right into work. I had such a structured work routine for the first few years as an entrepreneur, because I was so scared of falling off the rails as an entrepreneur, I was so scared of not showing up for myself and my business that I was very rigid, which is funny, because I left the corporate world because I wanted to leave that behind, but when I had all that time freedom, I was so scared that I was gonna mess around with it.

So I locked myself in for many years into this really strict regime kind of thing, where I was putting my body under an incredible amount of stress, and I never saw it at the time because I thought I was thriving. I was like a really happy morning person, and I was go, go, go all the time, and it was great for a certain period of my life, but it actually led me to burning out. And I had this 10 step process for my morning routine.

I had to read 10 pages. I had to meditate. I had to write in my gratitude journal.

I had to have a green smoothie, and then I had to have lemon water and salt and all this stuff, and oh my gosh, it was a lot. And I even had this checklist at one stage. I was like, okay, do this, do this, do this, do this, and get through it, and then I could start my day and start my work, and honestly, it got to the point where I was like, exhausted by 8 30 a.

m. and like needing a nap. And it's not a great place to be when you're, it's 8 39 in the morning, and you're like, oh my gosh, I need a nap.

I don't know how I'm gonna get through this day. And I didn't listen to my body, so I pushed myself to completely burning out before I made any changes, so don't do that. But I fully pushed myself straight into burnout because I did this so consistently for so many years, and I had no idea that I was actually doing all the things to really elevate cortisol in my body.

So my body was in a constant state of fight or flight, even though I was doing all these yoga meditation stuff on the side as well as all this intense workout stuff. And yeah, it was no joke. And what's tough is I think that the world that we're living in, especially with social media, and that depending on who you follow, you get exposed to content where it's like, this is the key things you need to do to be happy and to be successful and to do well in life.

And I was following all these pages that told me that every day when I consume that content, hey, I'm on track, I'm doing all the things I need to be doing to do well in life, so I can't stop. Like, I can't get off this crazy treadmill I've got myself onto because if I do, it's all gonna fall to pieces, and I really felt that way. And the thought of even missing a CrossFit workout was just like not an option for me because I just knew if I miss one, I will miss the next one, and then it's game over.

And that did actually end up happening a few years in. I did miss one, and then I missed the other, and then I could not go back. I ended up quitting, unfortunately, because I pushed myself way too hard.

And I kept trying up to keep up with my morning routine of journaling and meditation and reading 10 pages and listening to a podcast and doing like all these like 50 million things before I even started my work day. And I kept that up for a long time. I read all the morning productivity books.

I have ingrained in me that I'm a morning person, so I had to be waking up at like five in the morning to be happy each day. And, you know, I get anxious if I wake up later where I feel like everyone's got a head start on their day. But it really took me like hitting burnouts and then going even deeper into burnouts to just not be able to do that anymore and just be forced to sleep and to rest and to cut everything.

So I actually for a while had to cut every component of my morning routine and I just, just waking up was a hell of a challenge to be honest with you. Just getting out of bed was the challenge of the day. And just getting dressed and just showing up was such a challenge for me during that period of several months, actually.

And showing up for my business was so hard during that period as well. And, oh goodness, I didn't think I'd get emotional during a morning routine podcast, but I am. But it was really tough.

And what made it tougher was that I had these expectations that I had put on myself that I should be doing all this stuff. And because I'm not doing it, I'm lazy. And because I'm not doing it, I'm not gonna make it.

And because I'm not doing it, I'm behind everyone. And so not only was I not doing this morning routine, but I was putting myself under so much pressure and so much guilt and I felt very much like a failure because I wasn't able to do that. And I felt very lazy because I wasn't doing that.

And it was really, really challenging for me to put that in perspective. And so I'm just gonna fast forward because that was quite a journey to work myself out of that space. It took a lot of time, it took a lot of support from like outsiders and all of that.

And it was so interesting when I started working with this other coach who was like, it was a life coach. And they were like, Robin, you don't need to do all this. Like, why do you think you need to wake up at 5 a.

m.? Like, what if your body just needs more sleep? And it sounds so simple. And I think, you know, it brings me kind of back to the fact that the way the world is structured, the way the corporate world's structured, even the way our school system is structured, is I'm only realizing now how it forces us to stop listening to our intuition and stop listening to our bodies and push through no matter what.

And the reality is like, I wasn't listening to my body and my body was just needing more sleep. And so I let go of all these routines and I let myself sleep for, I think about two years. I didn't set an alarm most mornings unless I absolutely had to.

And I'd let myself get whatever sleep I needed and then I'd get up and I'd get outside and get some sunlight and just have an easy start to my day. But it was quite a transition, let me tell you. But having somebody who is incredibly successful say to me, they don't even wake up at 5 a.

m. Like why would they wake up at 5 a.m.? What's the point? And having them say to me like, hey, you can still be successful if you're getting up at eight or 7 30 or nine or whatever time. Like you're not behind by doing that was really a game changer for me.

And maybe some people listening to this are gonna be like, Robin, you are crazy. Like this is such a non-issue. But for anyone who's high achieving, type A kind of thing who has really high expectations on themselves or puts these really high expectations on themselves, maybe you will relate to some of this.

I don't know. And so yeah, let me go to my routine right now because this is something that I'm finding really supportive and I actually had a chat to another coach. All my friends are actually coaches.

So that's why I'm in the coaching world right now. And yeah, it's great. All my friends are coaches, life coaches, business coaches, everything.

And so when we're chatting, it's like we're getting little coaching sessions all the time as well. But one of my friends who is this coach for mothers actually, we were chatting about our morning routines and I was saying how, you know, I've just let go of it. And I'm just waking up and diving straight into work.

And it's actually feeling so good for me during like the season. And we were actually chatting about both of our journeys and how we've both kind of got into the same space. And so what I do right now is I have got a very quiet alarm.

It's like, honestly, it's like so quiet. I don't think most people would hear it, but I'm a very light sleeper. So that alarm only goes off at 6.

30, but I wake up before then when I wake up. And I just let myself wake up. If not, I will kind of get up when I need to.

But generally I wake up between six and 6.15 and I feel well rested and I feel like good and I feel ready to start my day. But instead of diving into this list of activities for my morning routine, I get up, I go brush my teeth, and then I go and make myself this hot drink that I'm kind of obsessed with.

I cut coffee about two years ago completely. And that's a whole other podcast, but it really changed my anxiety levels significantly. It's made me so much calmer and more chill and grounded.

And just, it's just been such a game changer for me, but I had to replace it with something because I like the routine of drinking coffee. So I have this like dandelion mushroom drink, which is my coffee replacement. It's so good.

If any of you guys wanna know which brand it is, I can't remember off the top of my head, but you can DM me and I'll send it to you because honestly I'm obsessed. I have it every single morning. So I make, I put my milk on the stove because I don't use microwaves.

And I heat up my milk and I whisk everything in and I make myself this drink, open up the curtains, and then I go and get back into bed. And it's so glorious getting back into bed in the mornings. I can't tell you how much I love it.

And I'll open up my curtains so I can watch the sunrise as it's like coming up in the morning. And I'll sit in bed, I'll put some gentle music on, and I'll cozy up in my blankets and my duvet. And then if I'm feeling up to it, like I do this little check-in, and this is actually something I got from a friend as well, where every morning I ask myself, what do I need today? And the wording of this is actually really important.

I wanna just highlight that I'm not saying to myself, what do I feel like doing today? Because me in the morning, when I'm tired and like waking up, I don't feel like doing anything. But what do I need today? That actually helps me check in to say, okay, today, who I'm feeling tired. I'm feeling low energy.

I'm feeling lethargic. So today, what I'm needing is I need to get outside. I need some gentle sunlight.

I need some gentle movement. Maybe a yoga class, maybe just a gentle walk through nature. And maybe that's all I'm needing today, and then I can do my work.

And on other days, it's like, what am I needing today? Well, I'm needing a meditation today because my mind feels all over the show. Or I'm needing to listen to a podcast that's an uplifting or inspiring today. Because I feel like I have a lot of energy and I'm wanting to do things and I'm wanting to learn and I'm wanting to be inspired.

So that's what I will listen to. Or if I'm having a bad day, I'm waking up and I'm in a negative mindset, then I also need that podcast. So I do these little check-ins with myself.

And it only takes like a minute or two or three. And I decide like, okay, this is what I need today. And then I stay in bed and I drink my warm drinks and I'll listen to gentle music.

And then I post my content to Instagram. Most mornings, not every morning. Some mornings I just don't wanna touch my phone.

I don't wanna see it. I don't wanna know about it. And this is something I felt a lot of issues with for a long time.

And I hit it from a lot of people for a long time because there's that whole thing of, like if you're part of this whole morning routine thing, like I was, don't touch your phone for the first two hours you wake up, blah, blah, blah. And I was so strict with that for a while. And I've realized that that doesn't serve me with where I'm at in my life right now.

It actually serves me to pull up my phone intentionally while I'm in bed in the morning with my warm drink and my cozy music and do my Instagram content. Like it serves me to do that. I enjoy it in the mornings.

I love being cuddled up in my duvet and posting my content. Like I love writing captions while I'm there in that space in the mornings. I have the head space.

I feel cozy. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing. Like it makes that task so enjoyable for me.

And that's why I put out so much content because I genuinely love doing it. Like I've created a space and I've created this routine where I just love it. And then I will get up and I'll go like either for a walk or I'll go get like showered or go to play tennis or I will do whatever I'm feeling like I need to do.

Every day is a bit different, which I honestly do like. But that first like 30 minutes to an hour is always pretty much the same. And then I go into my day.

And what I have done now with all these things that I used to do in my morning routine, all I've done is I've scattered them throughout my day and I don't do all of them every day. I do the ones that serve me as I shared. So if for example, today what would really serve me is getting out in the sun and going for a gentle walk and doing yoga and doing like some stretching.

I don't know. Well then all I'm gonna do is I'm gonna work in 19 minute increments and in between I'm gonna go for a 15 minute walk and I'm gonna go do some stretching and I'm gonna go listen to music and dance around the living room. And so I'm still doing the things that ground me.

I'm still doing the things that bring me joy. I'm still doing the things that help me grow. I'm still listening to my podcasts.

I'm still reading, but I'm not, I don't have this like crazy checklist every day to go through. I'm listening to my body each day and I'm doing what feels good each day and I'm scattering those throughout my work day. So my work day, by the time you start your work day at like 8.

30 or 9 in the morning, you haven't done like 50 tasks of some crazy morning routine list. And so that's my morning routine. I hope you guys have enjoyed this.

I know that's a little bit different. I'm not too sure how this episode's gonna go down. So if you did enjoy it, if you found it helpful, if you resonated with any parts of the story, I would love to hear from you.

And if you have like an epic morning routine that's working for you or a different approach, I'd also love to hear from you. I'm obsessed with people's morning routines. I used to ask all my podcast guests to share because I just love hearing them.

And so yeah, let me know. You can screenshot this episode, add a few sentences or share a little video and tag me on Instagram. It's Robin Clark coaching.

And I will connect with you over there. I'm excited to hear a little bit more about your morning routines and how it's been working for you and what's been serving you the best in showing up each day in your business and in life as your best self. So this has been such a fun episode.

Thanks for joining me guys and I'll see you next week.