I Didn’t Know I needed a Morning Routine Until I Lost It!
Show Notes
Does your morning feel like a total gong show? For a long time, Rhonda felt the same way.
In the first episode of The Rhonda Lavoie Podcast, Rhonda shares the relatable origin story of her belief in routines, explaining how she only realized their true value after experiencing the chaos of not having one. Learn why your brain might be fighting against you in the morning and the simple systems you can use to start your day with intention.
In This Episode:
(00:01) - The "Gong Show" Morning: Are You Starting Your Day in Chaos?
(00:20) - The Story: My "Intentional" Routine & The Miracle Morning
(01:55) - The Turning Point: What Happened When I Lost My Routine in Mexico
(03:07) - The "Aha!" Moment on the Patio
(04:24) - The "Unfancy" System: My Routine & Simple Ideas to Start
(07:51) - The Science Behind It: What is Priming?
(09:39) - Recap & Your Weekly Challenge
Resources Mentioned:
Concept: Priming
Book: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
Book: The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
This Week's Challenge:
Your challenge for this week isn't to create a whole new routine. It's to pick just ONE simple thing from the episode that you can do consistently every morning.
🔗 CONNECT WITH RHONDA
Website: rhondalavoie.com
Instagram: @rhonda.lavoie
Facebook: Rhonda Lavoie
TikTok:@ rhonda.lavoie
Music for The Rhonda Lavoie Podcast: "Sunny Days" by Jimmy Gunnarsson via Descript.
Transcript
Let me ask you something. Does your morning routine feel like a total gong show, 📍 like you've already lost the day before you even get outta bed? I know that feeling. I used to live there. Today I'm going to tell you the story of how I got a morning routine and how it was only after I lost it that I realized how important it was.
All right, let's get into it. This is the very first episode of the Rhonda Lavoie podcast, and I'm so excited and grateful that you're here to join me. This is a show where we focus on two things, getting it done and keeping it real.
Today we're talking about morning routines. First off, I need to be honest.
I never thought I was a morning routine person. I figured that stuff was for other people, not for regular un fancy people like me. My mornings used to be a mess, hitting snooze, grabbing my phone first thing, and starting the day already reacting to everyone else's emergencies. Sound familiar?
Then a couple of years ago, I read the book, the Miracle Morning, by Hal l Rodd. Like most things, when I read a book, I like to try and implement something from it. So I decided to give hi, give his savers method a try. That silence, affirmations, visualizations, exercise, reading and scribing or journaling.
And with time I really started to enjoy it and noticed it was making a positive impact, but I didn't realize how much of an impact act that is. Until we went on vacation, we were at this beautiful resort in Mexico. It was warm and lush with lots of walking pass, and there were animals everywhere, which is really important to us.
It was the perfect setting, and I thought, to heck with my routine, I'm on vacation, so I decided to just sleep in, but I quickly realized. Something was off. I was agitated. Normal noises of people around me at the resort just bothered me more than they should. The morning conversations in a room between my wife and my daughter, which I normally love, suddenly felt overwhelming and seemed loud.
I started noticing things I normally wouldn't like. People being rude. My patience was just gone.
By the morning of day three, I knew what I had to do. I woke up early. I walked down to the lobby and got one of their delicious americanos. I brought it back to the room, which was at the back of the resort, so it was quite quiet.
I sat on our little patio and just listen to the world, come to life. I could hear the birds singing and the monkeys making noises in the distance, and that was it. Just sitting there with my coffee and the calmness, that was my aha moment. I realized this was the anchor I had been missing. This was why the routine was so important.
And look, this isn't just some woo woo concept. There's real science behind it. It's called priming. Basically, it means you can set your brain up to win before the day even starts. But's a noble prize winner, Daniel Kahneman, who wrote a great book about it, called "Thinking Fast and Slow". For me, my morning routine is just a practical way to prime my brain.
When I write down my affirmation, 'I achieve anything I set my mind to'. I'm not just writing words. I'm telling my brain, Hey, look for opportunities today. Be ready to feel confident. It's a simple system to point your own mind in the right direction before the world's chaos has a chance to.
So at this point you're thinking, okay, Rhonda, that's great for you. But what does a morning routine for a normal person look like? I don't have an hour to meditate journal. And that's exactly the question we need to answer. It looks simple. So let me walk you through what my routine looks like now after I do the morning, the normal morning, get up stuff, I grab my coffee and if it's nice, I'll go sit outside.
The first thing I do is write out my affirmations. I used to just say them, but I find that writing them connects better with a different part of my brain. After that, I'll journal for a few minutes. Sometimes it's a brain dump of things I need to do it. Sometimes it's just random thoughts or dreaming about a big goal.
The point is just getting it kind of out of my head. Then I'll either meditate to clear my mind or do some visualizations. It just depends on the day. And lastly, I'll read for about five to 10 minutes from a personal development book. That's it. That's the whole thing. And let me be clear, the routine I have today is something I've worked up to over time.
Your routine does not need to look like mine, especially when you're just starting out. The goal is to start small. The intent is to start your day on purpose. So what could you do? Here are some ideas. Don't do all of them. Pick one. A moment of stillness. Just take three deep breaths. Hydration. Drink a glass of water, an affirmation.
Write or say one powerful statement. Gratitude. Write down one thing you're grateful for. Do some simple stretches. Read just one page from a book planning. Identify your number one task for the day, or no tech. I love this one. Don't look at your phone for the first 15 minutes. So the main takeaway is this, stop trying to build the perfect routine.
Just start with one small, consistent thing and your challenge for this week. Look at that list and pick one unfancy thing you can do consistently every morning. Next episode we're talking about what happens when you inevitably mess up. I'll get a rule. I have a rule for that. It's called bounce back faster.
Alright, that's what I've got for you for now. Thanks for hanging out with me. Remember, this is the Rhonda Lavoie podcast and this is where we focus on getting it done and keeping it real. If today's conversation was helpful, the easiest way to make sure you don't miss the next one is to hit follow or subscribe wherever you listen.
And a new episode drops every Tuesday.
You can find the show notes and a full transcript for this episode over at rhondalavoie.com. And hey, if you're interested in my journey for of building the Paste app to help people get out of their own way, you can follow along at getpaced.app. Until next time, get it done and keep it real.
