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How much energy does a rocket need to thrustpast the earth's gravitational pull and launch into space?
According to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, a rocket has to produce 7.2 million pounds of thrust in order to get to escape velocity (the level of thrust needed to escape the earth's gravitational pull).
Have you ever felt like a sluggish rocket, lying on your launch pad, wondering where you're going to get the energy to get up and face the day?
Now suppose that you, as the rocket, have one thousand steel cables holding you to the launching platform. On top of the 7.2 million pounds, you now need to also break free of those cables!
Living with autism, as a neurodiverse person in a neurotypical society, can be stressful.
An autistic adult recently posted this quote on Facebook:
I struggle daily with things that you take for granted.
Today, I'm sharing a solution to help you break through the gravitational pull of stress and inertia that keeps you and me stuck on the launching pad, unwilling to face our day.
The one secret that will change your life is an effective powerful morning routine.
Everyone needs a powerful morning routine to buffer stress and maximize their days.
Why A Morning Routine?
Millionaires Have A Morning Routine
Jaimy Tardy, from Eventual Millionaire, has interviewed hundreds of millionaires. Over and over, one of the key personal success habits they shared was their devotion and commitment to their morning routine.
Check out this Entrepreneur magazine resource to read up on some of the interesting morning routines of successful business people.
You and I can harness this simple millionaire habit of laying out the golden hours of the day to launch a productive day.
The Power of the Compound Effect
Our daily habits have a compounding effect, either for better or for worse.
Leadership expert John C. Maxwell said, “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”
Get in the habit of doing significant things in the morning, and the rest of your day will flourish. As your days improve, so will your weeks, months, and years.
A Morning Routine Reduces Stress
Remember Linus and his security blanket, from Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang?
My morning routine is like my security blanket. It structures my first morning hour and helps me focus on my most important values.
If, like other Asperger adults, you struggle with executive function, you may have a hard time trying to get everything done before you leave the house each day.
The morning routine lays out your step by step process for going from wake up, to face the day.
How To Design Your Morning Routine
Here's the morning routine I use, courtesy Hal Elrod:
The wake up time will depend on your particular life situation.
I wake up at 630 am.
- 630 - 635 am Yawn, stretch, etc. I now take a cold shower, followed by hot water, to jolt my nervous system awake. (If you have sensory issues with water and temperature, this may not work for you, but it's working for me)
- 635 - 640 am 5 minutes of meditation. I use Calm.com to guide me during meditation.
- 640 - 645 am Recite, out loud, my Zig Ziglar affirmation. (You can choose something different, of course. This is just what I use.)
- 645 - 650 am Visualize, think about, and review my most important goals. (I used Brian Tracy's free goal setting app to set my 2015 goals).
- 650 - 655 am Write in my 5 minute journal. You can purchase the 5 minute journal. Better yet, if you use Evernote, set up an IFTTT account, and use this recipe to get a recipe shipped to your Evernote account each day, and you'll have a template waiting for you each morning.
- 655 - 710 am Read uplifting literature. I read the Bible.
- 710 - 725 am Yoga or the 7 minute workout. I use Yoga.com and the 7 minute workout app for my early morning excercise.
- 725 - 730 am Make my green smoothie, drink it, and get dressed.
Now that you've seen my morning routine, think about what you'd like to have in your morning routine.
Here are some additional morning routine suggestions for AS (autistic/Aspergers) adults.
Add a stim session.
In my article, 7 Quick Coping Skills to Change Your Life Now, I shared the following:
Alex Lowery, in his article, Why Stimming is a Big Part of My Life, talks about how stimming helps him.
It helps people with autism have the gifts they do, it helps cope with stress and anxiety for a lot of people on the spectrum and it’s also (speaking for me personally) just a part of my life.
Simple Action:
Go to Cynthia Kim's (author of Musings of an Aspie website and founder of Stimtastic) site, Stimtastic.co, and read the blog for 5 minutes. Then spend 10 minutes looking at the Stim Jewelry or Stim Toys, and order one or two for yourself.
Add a sensory diet to your morning routine.
Brian King, LCSW, an Asperger adult who coaches others, shares six simple sensory solutions to help you regulate sensory overload.
You can read about more sensory resources in my article about coping skills to change your life now.
Use a picture schedule.
Before you think that picture schedules are for kids only, consider me. My wife put together a written step by step morning schedule for my son to follow when he gets up in the morning. Guess who used it more than he did? Me! It took the thinking out of the morning, and made sure I got everything that needed to be done accomplished.
Here's a video that illustrates how picture schedules can reduce stress.
Action: Go to AutiPlan and set up your own free acount. Then plug your morning routine into it to create your own morning routine picture schedule.
Additional Articles To Help You
Here's a WikiHow you can adapt to create your morning routine. It's illustrated, with step by step instructions.
Listen to Hal Elrod describe the miracle morning for Jaimy Tarde.
Listen to Tony Robbins talk about his morning ritual on the Tim Ferris Show.
Conclusion:
When I stare up into the sky at the moon, I find it hard to believe that rockets generate 7.2 million pounds of thrust to jet through gravity's restraining grip.
And sometimes, when I wake up and figuratively stare into the day ahead, I find it hard to believe that I'm going to be able to get out of bed and launch into my day.
But then I remember my morning routine, and I grin, get up out of bed, and am eager to face the day.
What about you? What is your morning routine? What additional tips can you offer?
photo credit: Sunset Girl
