Progress Not Perfection

I've tried a lot of morning routine variations, and my biggest hurdle has always been fitting in all the stuff that helps me "human" before the work day.

Six years ago, I sat across from someone who'd agreed to grab a networking coffee with me. I'd been living in Jackson, Wyoming at the time. After years of trying to piece together a life I could sustain in a mountain town, I felt I'd reached a crossroads. I pictured what my life would look like in 5, 10, 15 years if I didn't change a thing. I figured it would probably look the exact same as it did in that moment, despite my exhaustive efforts to get ahead rather than to just get by.

The person sitting across from me worked in the same industry as I did, but they were a lot further ahead in their career. They'd started out much like I had. So I'd asked them, pretty much word for word, "how the hell did you do it?" We were sitting at their office—a company which they owned—with an unobstructed view of the Tetons as the backdrop for our conversation. I'll never forget it, because the first thing they asked me was if I loved it there... and when I said yes, they nodded knowingly, looked me in the eye, and told me to leave.

huh?

"Come back in ten years" they'd said.

I did end up leaving. At first, getting ahead was the plan so I could return. It's not anymore, but some of the ingredients are the same. My actual plan has been to sculpt a life with the highest possible agency by finding the most effective leverage. And for the last six years, that's exactly what I've been doing. I went all in on sharpening my skills and moving my career forward to increase my earning potential. Deprioritizing my health is the cost I've knowingly been paying.

And it's time to change that.

For the last five years, or so, I'd rationalized the idea of taking shortcuts with my health so that I could get ahead in my career. It sounds silly, but I reasoned the time saved each day seemed worth it. By not commuting to the gym and working out, or to the grocery store and cooking healthy meals, I figured I could buy myself a few extra hours of working, learning, and doing. The worst part is that it worked. I say that even though I've spent the last couple years in and out of doctor's offices dealing with health issues.

So when it comes to overhauling my morning routine, my biggest goals are three-fold: better sleep, consistent exercise, healthier diet.

1. Right off the bat, I know that means cutting down on my caffeine consumption... but, you know, without eliminating it entirely. As someone who's sober, depriving myself of coffee too just seems cruel. It's my only vice (besides dark chocolate). So I'm choosing to limit my coffee intake to 2-3 cups, and no sooner than 90 minutes after getting up. Couple my current coffee intake and medications with a persistent lack of sleep, and it's not all that hard to understand why my nervous system's been red-lining for years; even after removing toxic environmental stressors and increasing my mental-health toolbox.

2. When it comes to exercise, I know from my extensive training as a former competitive athlete that my optimal mix looks something like high intensity workouts (popularized by CrossFit) 2x3 per week, and cardio (running or biking) on the days in between, with one or two days off out of seven.

3. Diet's the biggie. Unfortunately, it's become the most daunting of the three.

The goal here is to "pay myself first" by prioritizing healthy habits first thing in the morning while still being ready to start my work day around 8:00am-8:30am. The hard part is that I don't want to let go of the positive stuff—like the mental maintenance I've built up through meditating and journaling. Which is why I put together a modified morning routine from bits and pieces of ones I've tried, refined, ditched, and come back to.

• 5:00am — wake up.
• 5:05am — stretch.
• 5:30am — meditate.
• 5:50am — morning pages.
• 6:30am — run/workout.
• 8:00am — breakfast (and coffee, finally).

Will I hit everything to the minute? Absolutely not. But that's not the goal, anyway. To change things sustainably, I'm focusing on progress not perfection.

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Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
182/365

Do you have a morning routine? What are your non-negotiables?

onward.

For more on this daily column and The MAP Year Project, read the backstory here. And if you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along.