I used to hate mornings. And Mondays. (I even used to have a shirt that said “Meh. Mondays.”)

Snoozing 5 times, dragging myself out of bed already feeling exhausted, no time for breakfast, just running through the door and hoping I make it to the bus on time.

As I near 40 years of age, I realise more and more that time is our most valuable currency.

One rule I’ve started to live by in recent years is "never wish time away". Time is so scarce, life is so short, and I don’t want to hate big chunks of it or wish any of it to go faster.

It always makes me a little sad when I hear people say they hate Mondays or they hate mornings. Both of these are such big parts of our lives.

Of course I understand where it comes from but today’s email is meant to help you find new perspectives, so that you don’t write off entire parts of your life.

Self-fulfilling prophecies

The first point I want to address is the fact that we should all be wary of self-fulfilling prophecies. The nocebo effect is real, and we can trick ourselves into having a bad time just by expecting the time to be bad.

If you think Mondays or mornings are awful, chances are you’re not going to wake up on a monday morning with the best of attitude and mindset, and you are going to filter your reality to match this expectation that Mondays are terrible.

Just like if you’re convinced one of your colleagues hates you, you are going to act accordingly, maybe a bit standoffish, defensive or even aggressive towards this person and then of course the relationship isn’t going to be great.

So let’s be aware of our expectations and see if we can approach Mondays and mornings with at least a neutral mindset.

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The zero-hour method

Changing your mindset is great. Changing your habits is even better. Here’s how I managed to transform my mornings.

I started to like them when I decided to take ownership of them. Before that I had more of a victim mentality: "mornings suck and that’s how it’s gonna be".

I started to think about what it would take for them to suck less. I could, for example, be in less of a rush in the morning. Or more rested because I didn’t drag my bedtime until I passed out of exhaustion. I could do something I like in the morning, so I would look forward to them.

I paid attention to how my mornings look when I don’t work. I realised that I love a slow morning, so I started to change my morning and my evening routine to fit that.

I woke up earlier so that I could have a "zero hour", time just for myself, before the day starts.

Now you might say: "I can't wake up any earlier, I need to sleep”, and yeah, I agree: you really need to sleep. And the good news is that going to bed earlier will actually give you MORE quality time for yourself, not less.

I know you like to stay up late because you feel like it’s the only time you have for yourself. But check that out: you could have this time for yourself in the morning, when you’re feeling rested, your mind is fresh, you have enough energy to fill your own cup before it is sapped by work and the demands of others.

Do you want your "me-time" to be when you feel the best or when you’re drained by your day and only have enough energy to scroll on your phone?

So here’s the choice I made: I go to bed fairly early, and I get up early so I can basically do what I want: yoga, quality time with my pets, writing, studying, reading, slowly getting ready when the world is still calm and quiet…

And honestly, mornings are now the best part of my day.

And what about Mondays? Same principle, different approach. I start the day with my slow morning ritual, and I end it with a Zoom yoga class with some of my favourite people. It’s the only group class I teach and I always look forward to it! Suddenly, Mondays aren’t the enemies anymore.

The point is, most of us have some leeway with our mornings, even if just a little. And they don’t have to suck.

Your little challenge for this week is to build your own "zero-hour"

(which doesn’t have to be a full hour by the way).

Here’s how it could look like:

• Level 1: 5 min of breathing practice before leaving the bed
• Level 2: 10 min of morning yoga
• Level 3: 30 min of zero-hour (pick 2-3 self-care activities: yoga, reading, your favourite hobbies, a walk in nature, meditation, breakfast sans phone…)
• Level 4: a full 60 min zero-hour

Try that for 5 days. And then tell me if your outlook on mornings has changed a little :)

Om, peace 🧡

Clem

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P.S.: Do you want help building a routine that's 100% tailored to YOU? I'm opening a few spots for 1:1 Zero-Hour Kickstart sessions next week. But I'll tell you more about it after your 5-day challenge 🌅