Good Morning….Good Night….Great Day!
By Master Coach Marilou Butcher Roth
Do you ever find yourself dragging your nearly comatose body out of bed, immediately jumping onto one of your devices, because of course, you have SO much to do? How do you think that impacts the rest of your day? Perhaps you are forced to get it together by noon, or perhaps not. Let’s go backwards and look at your previous night’s bedtime. How you prepare for sleep is critical as well as how you begin your morning will dictate the condition you will experience throughout your oh so busy day.
Let’s break these down and look at your bedtime rituals first. I hear on a regular basis how some of my clients work right up until the last moment that they fall into bed, which is typically quite late as well. This plan is not working to your full advantage. Our bodies need down time to operate as fully as we need them to. So, let’s make a plan to prepare yourself for peaceful slumber. At least one hour before bedtime (this needs to be a reasonable hour), get off of your devices - no computers or iPads and hopefully no phones. Unwind from your day with reading, meditating, having a lovely cup of tea or whatever brings you down from the busyness of your day. Many of my clients have an appreciation journal in which they recount all of the events, etc. from their day they can appreciate. If you are a television fan, choose your viewing carefully, nothing heavy or scary.
You may be screaming at me by now and that’s okay. You may also find that an hour feels like too much to start with. That’s fine, begin with 15 minutes and move towards longer periods of time. When you delightfully ease your relaxed body into your welcoming bed, make an intention that you sleep soundly and wake up energized. I realize there will be some of you finding this idea to be nonsense. Come on, just try it, what do you have to lose?
Ah, we can move now to our morning time. You awaken from a sound nights sleep due to your individually crafted night time preparations. You gently open your eyes, rather than having to pry them open, stretching your limbs, taking full deep breaths, gently bringing energy into your relaxed body. Your move at a comfortable pace towards your morning as you think of what food would most support your body. You ease into your day, setting the tone for the remainder of your waking time. Perhaps you sit for a few minutes breathing deeply or going into meditation. The key is to be easy with this fresh new day without jumping onto your computer to see what awaits you. You deserve to have some time to yourself before you give your time to others, finding that filling yourself first allows you to have even more for others!
Good nights = good mornings = great days!!!
Marilou Butcher Roth
Marilou Butcher Roth is the owner of The MBR Group, a coaching and training company working primarily with REALTORS who have a desire to work and live from a more inspired place. She is also the Broker/Owner of Group REALTORS in Cincinnati.
Marilou is a member of the Ohio REALTORS Board of Directors and past chairman of the organization’s Communications Committee.
