It’s the day after Christmas. You know what that’s like. You’re basically throwing out all the torn wrapping paper, running the last load of dishes used to host your guests and thinking about the next few days ahead before the New Year.
It’s A LOT. There’s so much excitement around the holidays and leading up to Christmas that we forget about everything post-holidays. Especially the act of getting our life back in order and stabilized. Is there even time for goal setting? I did a little of that myself in early December but really need to finish my list. It has to be more than just a mental list. If you don’t write it down (or type it out), well…you know how that goes.
I find that gaining my balance post-holidays starts with establishing my morning routine for the year. Believe it or not, there was a time when I didn’t make my own coffee or my bed. I was a mess. I would throw all my sheets and pillows on top of my bed in a pile and just pick up my coffee on-the-go at a shop while rushing to my first commitment of the day. In the end, that didn’t work for me. I was always running late, never polished and felt like a hot mess. I didn’t have any order at the start of my day, a tone which unfortunately characterized the rest of it.
For the last few years, I’ve been brewing my own coffee—obviously from Café Bustelo, a brand that I represent as their social media ambassador for 2 years now. Café Bustelo has a few varieties of their coffee, and I love them all because of their strong Latin-flavor, which reminds me of the coffee I grew up with (my family owns a coffee farm in Honduras). Drinking coffee I love tied to my roots made it easy to start a morning ritual.
I carve an hour into my morning schedule every day to calmly make coffee, have a small bite and do a few things like make my bed and tidy up my apartment between answering emails and watering my plants. It sets a precedent for my day. I think more clearly because of it.
Many of you may know that I have a BA in Psychology, so I’m all about self-awareness and nurturing myself with tasks/challenges to be a better, wiser person. It’s not easy to catch yourself doing something wrong, though, because it’s hard for your ego to swallow. However, it’s important to identify the behaviors that aren’t serving you.
As these few days linger before 2019, here’s what I am striving to improve about my morning routine:
- I want to cut out sugar and carbs. This is hard for me because I love a big croissant that’s crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle. Giving this up is a huge deal for me but I’d like to see where it can take me in terms of my diet. I’ll be blogging more about that soon!
- My mom has always taken her coffee black, and it’s something I want to try as well. While I don’t use a lot of Splenda, I know it’s not exactly healthy and it would be a nice challenge to see if I can live without it.
- SPAM! I get so much of it in my inbox and it takes about 15 minutes of my day every day to delete these messages. I have a goal to find a better spam blocker or set up my Gmail better to spare me from wasting my time with this in the AM.
- Gratitude is something I feel but do not verbalize as much as I like. I was thinking of creating a gratitude practice or board where I thank the universe and my life for 1 blessing each day. I believe it’ll keep me from getting hung up about little things (or big things) in my life that I’m not pleased with.
- Vitamins in the morning! I started doing this about a month ago and need to keep it up. I just find that it’s easiest to take them in the AM with my Café Bustelo coffee and some food.
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Cost cutting is my last morning goal. The end of 2018 has definitely brought to my attention that I spend way too much dinero on clothes and eating out. I need to come up with ways I can take my expenses down and save more. My brain is most alive and creative in the AM, especially with a cup of coffee in hand. So I'll be brainstorming ideas for this as part of my morning routine.
Do you guys have a morning routine? I assume coffee or some kind of beverage that perks you up is part of it. Why not use this time to do your best brain work and focus on balancing your life. It will propel you into a very productive day. The grind is REAL. Work, family obligations, appointments and bills will always be ahead of us. Prepare for that grind by giving yourself the time to fuel up and mentally prepare.
To experience my favorite coffee, it’s really easy, just CLICK HERE!
What I love about Café Bustelo varieties is that they’re affordable and have a wonderful espresso-style taste. It opens up my senses for the day and awakens me in the morning. I share a lot of my favorite “coffee break” moments on MY INSTAGRAM, and I’d love for you to check them out and follow along. Like this one…
And this one….
Comment below with your thoughts on having a morning ritual. Got one? Changing it up in 2019 like me? Let me know. You might inspire me to tweak mine a little more than I’ve written about here :)
This post was written in partnership with Café Bustelo, however all opinions and ideas expressed are my own.