We generally can’t control what happens in the middle of the day, but if we have solid morning and evening routines, we can create a great day. Having a routine can eliminate decision fatigue and free up energy. It’s good to adopt your routine based on your goals.

The Power of Habit

When we set out to create new habits, there is a wonderful structure in our brain that allows this to happen. This structure is called myelin. Myelin is a fatty sheath that coats our nerves. It builds up anytime we repeat tasks. Myelin allows for faster signal transduction, making you better, and better at that thing. There is something called the habit loop. It consists of the trigger, routine, and the reward. The trigger is a behavior that lets a behavior take place, and let the brain go on automatic. The routine is the actual habit that your implementing. The reward is the anchor at the end that lets you know that the activity you did was worth while. This makes you look forward to the habit.

The Practices

1. Meditation/ visualization is an important practice to do in the evening. Doing this in the evening will help you keep a still mind, and set your intention for the next day. Having clarity throughout the day so you can focus on your mission is what it’s all about. Having lower cortisol levels at night will help you sleep better at night because cortisol is the antithesis of melatonin. During the meditation, you can focus on your grateful for, focus on your goals, or how you want to show up. You also can do a simple mindfulness meditation, where you focus on the breath, and the thoughts that arise. While doing the visualization, focus on what you want as if it’s already happened. Feel like you already have it now. After that, visualize the necessary steps you need to get there, and executing them.

2. Journaling Is a powerful practice to help get you focused for the next day. There is something about putting pen to paper that anchors what your writing about in your mind. It’s not the same as typing. There are a variety of ways to do it. You can right down your goals, gratitude, or how you want to serve. Many people have made some done for you journals with a given format to use.

3. Reading, or some form of learning is necessary for success. Most of the worlds most successful people are readers. They feed their mind to get better at their craft, health wealth, relationships, and more. If you don’t want to read, then you can do audiobooks, or podcasts. These are also great. If your not able to do this for an hour, then can you do 30 minutes? Can you do 10 minutes? Do what you can, and you will see great dividends.

4. Socialize

Communicating with a family member, or significant other is very important. Having a conversation about your day, what went well, and what didn’t is a great way to wind down. Having a peace of mind before you go to bed will help you sleep.

5. Sex

Orgasm releases a lot of hormones, most notably, serotonin, oxytocin, prolactin, vasopressin, and norepinephrine. These hormones make it much easier to fall asleep and get better sleep quality.

6. Have a consistent sleep-wake time

Social jet lag is a phenomenon that consists of having a sleep-wake time. Going to bed one day at 10, then 12, then 11 has been proven to jet lag you as if you’ve flown across the country. Having a consistent sleep-wake cycle will improve your circadian rhythm and balance hormones.

Customizing Your Routine

1. Customize your routine in a way that works for you. Take this practices as you see fit. Whether your routine is 1 hour, or 30 minutes, find what works, and stick to it.
2. Schedule your routine, so you make sure you get it done. If you wind down at 9:00 PM, then that’s when you start.
3. Combine the practices for faster time. An example would be journaling with your partner.
4. One point I want to make about electronics before bed. Our electronics, be it a phone, laptop, or TV emit high amounts of blue light. This is the type of light that is most disruptive to our circadian rhythm. What it can do is suppress melatonin and increase cortisol. For most people, this is going to set you up for a day of distraction. Whether your checking the news first thing, someone needing you to do something, a stressing email. Doing this will put you in a state of stress when you wake up. In the mean while your putting your goals on the back burner. The most important thing is to show up the greatest version of ourselves everyday, so then we can show up for others. To do that, we must focus on our routine first.