“It is time to get a purposeful routine in place (or back in place)”
-Nathan Jamail, Keynote Speaker, Bestselling Author
Where did it go?
Did you have a morning routine before the pandemic that you religiously did everyday to ensure you started your day off on the right foot? Me too! Since March, and the craziness of Pandemic- home schooling, canceled meetings and everything else- has your routine been just completely jacked up? Ya, a bit over here too. But NO more! It is time to get back to a routine.
My routine mattered
Everyday for the past 5 years, I had the same routine, no matter what city or state I woke up in. I would get up at 5:30am and workout, which varied each day- just something to get the blood flowing. Then at 6:30am I would take a shower and listen to my high energy spiritual music, where I sing so loud the whole house, or hotel, can hear me and wished I invested in music lessons (or just sung quieter). Once dressed, and 2 cups of coffee consumed, it was time to listen to my audio book while driving or walking or whatever activity I did to get to my desk that day. I usually spent about 30 minutes a day with an audiobook or podcast that focused on business building or motivation. As soon as I hit my ‘desk,’ I’d start my prospecting/follow up calls, coaching sessions and/or writing. As you can see, before my first order of ‘business’ I would make sure my body was right, my mind was right, my spirit was right and my energy/mindset was right.
Do you (or did you) have a routine that matters?
Then pandemic craziness
Like most of you, when the pandemic hit, our work, and really our lives, changed. Let’s be clear: we still worked and did that part of our jobs that we could, and in fact during this time we sold our home in California and moved to our ranch in Marble Falls TX, the future home of “Retreat Ranch”, where Mind & Body Complete events and a full executive retreat center is in the process of being built. But even though we were getting a lot done, we were still not fully effective because we lost our routine that got us moving. We started sleeping in. Staying up later. Skipping the work outs. You know how it can go.
NO excuses
I have plenty of excuses for this happening; a global pandemic, home school joys, selling/packing a house, temporality living in our 40ft RV (we still are), building home and business structures, and 200 more- but none of this is a good excuse to lose a routine (no, really, they aren’t). A routine isn’t dependent on external circumstances, though it may fluctuate due to them. A routine is dependent on my choices, and is my responsibility.
NO MORE!
I started my routine back, with some small adjustments because I live in the country with no gym, and all our equipment/goods are in a storage container. But a purposeful routine is back. Today I got up, made my coffee, turned on my spiritual music, listened to my audiobook, and for my exercise I will head out the door shortly and go dig some holes to install the new 40ft gate entrance to Retreat Ranch. Remember when I said external circumstances don’t influence whether we have a routine, though they can impact how it looks? We make adjustments and keep focusing on purposeful routines that matter.
Back to work
No matter your job title, or even if you are furloughed at this point, we can always get back to work. Whether it is to the virtual computer to make a sales call, or to online classes for self improvement and development, it is time to get back to work! For me, my work looks just the same, except now I take my crazy high energy and I deliver keynotes and workshops through clients computer screens to thousands around the globe. I am finding that I can make an even bigger impact, a larger one, as we are not limited by travel or time issues. There are some hidden gems from this devastating situation.
Don’t wait
School starts very soon for many of us, even if that is another home school situation. There are plenty of things to cause us distractions whether it be inside our homes or from the news delivered to us from media outlets. Yet none of those distractions get to choose if we have a routine our not. Don’t wait for whatever you think you need to start a routine. Start a routine NOW and let’s kick some ass, even if it is our own.
Final thought
We cannot control what happens in this world and how the government or economy will go this year. The only thing we can control is how we react, and even more importantly, how we prepare. No matter if you are a leader, a sales person, an accountant, a wife, a husband, a dad, a mom or an aspiring teen looking to the future. Our main job is to stay focused on what we can control, and to start, and stick to, a purposeful routine that matters.
