Begin your Day Mindfully and Create Structure to Avoid Anxiety and to Feel Free

In my corporate job in Human Resources, most of my admin tasks were defined by different checklists and workflows, I had a daily schedule on how each day more or less looked like.

When I became self-employed one of the first things I ditched was living after a schedule. I felt, now I had the power to choose to live day by day, in a flow. I associated it with freedom. Little did I know then that this schedule-less, goal-less, routine-less lifestyle would add so much to my anxiety and to be honest it took me many years to realise that structure, a schedule and a plan actually brings freedom and peace of mind.

In this blog post I would like to share a few ideas with you. Still loving some flexibility, I usually have a toolbox with different habits, rituals that I use. Oh, and I keep changing some of those rituals. As I like to try new things, my routine is continuously shifting, adapting as I would call it.

I learnt that starting the day doing something for myself is what really works, now that is not always a 60 minutes yoga practice or going for a run or meditating for 30 minutes. No, sometimes it is less time, knowing that it is the thought, the intention that goes with it. Then I have days, for example my Sundays which currently start at 6am and end at 9pm. Needless to say that I won’t be getting up even earlier for a routine but I will add it during my longer break over lunch, allowing me to recharge my battery and do something for my soul too.

I love tools such as journaling to reflect, to be mindful and to practice gratitude as well as planning my day ahead, meditating to go within, to nurture my mind, my essential oils in a diffuser to tend to my emotions, yoga and movement for my holistic wellbeing and things such as my delicious decaf coffee, flowers on my desk and a delicious breakfast to nurture my soul.

Not only what you do but how you do it makes a real difference for me. Bringing mindfulness to what I do allows me to be completely present. That’s what I do mostly for me – being mindful.

I also noticed that when I follow my needs rather than a fixed structure, I feel much more in tune with my emotions and the day ahead, even though I know successful people follow a set routine every morning. My partner is really good with that, I am not, still more to learn and I gave up feeling guilty and beating myself up for it. I am more loving and kinder towards me, my body and my choices, knowing that I am continuously growing, and that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Throughout the years and all the personal development, I got inspired by successful people like Tony Robbins, Jim Kwik or books such as The Miracle Morning to only mention a few.

Let me share in this document a few great ways to start your day as recommend by successful leaders – and no, I am not doing them all one after the other, often I pick two or three and that’s it. Some days I have more time and add more other days less.

When in doubt always remember: there is no such thing like too much self-care – that doesn’t exist, so never worry about looking after your own wellbeing.