a look into my day - part 1 - the morning

​I wanted to write a two part blog about how my day usually runs.  I am nobody special, I am not any more successful than anyone who reads this post.  I simply want to document how I am living today, so in 5 years I can look back and be astonished.  I have ambitious goals for how I want my life to run in 5 years.  I won’t share those specifics now, but I have the path established.  Alright, let’s start from the beginning.

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My morning

I have one simple goal in the morning, keep consistent.  I believe in the power of establishing a healthy and proactive morning habit.  It needs to be something that can be completed without a ton of cognitive activity.  It needs to be something that warms your mind and body.  The first thing I do is roll out of bed, grab my phone (which is on airplane mode).  I then shuffle to the bathroom, to empty the tank, followed by a stroll to the kitchen.  I turn on the stove top to warm up the kettle.  While the kettle is heating up I will grind some coffee and place it in to my huge red French press.  Honestly, French press coffee is a game changer.  Limited investment of effort for huge return in flavor and health benefits. 
                Since the water takes about 3-4 minutes to heat up, I’ll head over to the TV and turn on NBC news or some other streaming news source.  After that I pull out my lacrosse ball and start working on some spinal mobility.  I have had some chronic low back pain and finally found a routine that drastically reduces pain.  So I will roll out with the lax ball, digging into the erector spinae, serratus posterior, and the thoracolumbar fascia.  Once the kettle starts to scream I’ll start the brewing process.  The French Press takes about 4-5 minutes to steep.  While the coffee is steeping, a deep earthy aroma fills the apartment, awaking the nose.  I continue on with my lumbar relief program.  My program consists of 3-4 strength and stretching movements.  It depends on how motivated I am in the morning.  If you are interested in this program leave a comment or send me an email!
                Finally, it is time to sip on that oh so glorious first cup of coffee.  My two dogs have finally woken up by this point and decide it is time to play.  Daddy (aka Colin) is not ready to play at this time so I get barraged with balls and whining.  After a minute they get the picture and decide to lay down.  I enjoy my coffee and watch the news for a while before it is time to get dressed.  I walk into my clothes covered bedroom and dig through the pile by the wall.  I don’t have a ton of work clothing options so it doesn’t take me more than a minute to determine what I will wear.  Typically, the pants need to be ironed.  Ironing only takes two minutes and makes me feel better about my appearance.  After I get dressed it is dog walking time.  My black lab starts bouncing around the apartment in excitement.  I put the leash on the dogs and they bolt out of the door.

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               The goal is to get in a short walk, give them exercise and get the “dookie” out.  The walk also serves another purpose.  Walking around the deserted apartment complex and adjacent business park provides me serene time to focus on the day ahead.  It gives me time to formulate a game plan for the day.  After the walk, I return to the apartment, grab my keys and out the door.  On the way to work I enjoy some podcasts.  If you are interested in what I listen to I will release a list of podcasts I consume in the coming days!
                After a short commute, I pull into work, sign in and head to the bland cube.  The first hour of work is usually the same; check and respond to emails followed by my routine breakfast.  Breakfast is prepared whenever I am hungry and consists of oatmeal, cacao powder, and a heaping scoop of peanut butter.  This combination provides me the energy I need to work hard as well as the satiation needed to last until lunch.  At this point, after breakfast it is just work, work, work.

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 My next post will dive into my afternoon habits.  How do I refocus after a lunch?  Do I avoid the run down feeling of the mid-afternoon crash?  When do I workout???