Creative Status is a podcast about using creativity as a vehicle for improving your life by deconstructing ego, integrating the shadow self, and designing and manifesting a real life through the power of TRUST.
Every episode explores how the creative process can help you GROW REAL by moving towards wholeness in yourself by making the unconscious conscious.
In this solo episode, we dive into the transformative power of morning routines and how they can set the tone for a productive and fulfilling day.
To do this we break down the essential elements of a morning routine that can help you wake up your body, quiet your mind, and set a clear direction for your day.
Waking Up the Body: We discuss the importance of physical activity in the morning, whether it’s yoga, stretching, or high-intensity interval training. These activities can boost your energy levels, improve circulation, and enhance your overall well-being.
Quieting the Mind and Emotions: Learn how meditation, deep breathing, and journaling can help regulate your nervous system, reduce stress, and bring you into a state of presence. I share techniques like the 4-7-8 breathing method to help you start your day with mental clarity and emotional balance.
Setting the Tone for Action: Discover how to plan your day by setting goals, prioritising tasks, and aligning your actions with your long-term vision. The emphasis here is on the importance of consistency and how a well-structured morning routine can make you more productive and focused.
Creative Status: Designing Your REAL Morning Routine
Join me in this practical episode as we explore the benefits of a morning routine and how to create one that works for you. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to enhance their daily life and move towards a more REAL and purposeful existence.
Stay real out there,
Oli
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Creative Status Links:
Book a call with Oli and grow more REAL (coaching): olianderson.co.uk/talk
Yoga flow I made (Vinyasa to Yin flow): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNVsITXyy9c
Follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/olijanderson
My YouTube channel: youtube.com/olianderson
Get my books on Amazon: amazon.com/author/oli
7-Day Personality Transplant System Shock for Realness and Life Purpose: olianderson.co.uk/systemshock
Free one hour creative workshop to take your creative brand or project to the next level: olianderson.co.uk/creativeworkshop
Free 90-Day Journal Challenge: olianderson.co.uk/journal
The Law of Attraction for Realness (mini-course): olianderson.co.uk/lawofattraction
The Creative Performance Transformation Lab: olianderson.co.uk/creativeperformance
#97: Energise Your Day: The Power of a Purposeful Morning Routine (Edited Transcript)
This podcast is about creating a real version of ourselves
Oh, hi there. Oli Anderson here, and you’re listening to Creative Status. This is a podcast about creativity, but more importantly, it’s about creating a real version of ourselves. That means we’re looking at the ways we hold ourselves back from the truth about who we are, through our conditioning and habits that don’t move us forward. We start replacing these patterns with something that helps us build momentum, moving in a direction that’s real, true, and positive, ultimately leading us toward wholeness—wholeness in ourselves, in our relationships with others, and in our relationship with life itself.
If this is your first time finding the podcast, welcome! My name is Oli Anderson, and as I mentioned, I’m a transformational coach, which means I help people go from point A to point B, ensuring that point B is as real as possible. Traditionally, this podcast has been an interview format, but I’ve started bringing in some solo episodes. This episode is another solo one, where it’s just me talking about something that can help you with all the things I’m currently rambling about.
Today, I want to talk about morning routines. This is something I’ve been discussing quite a lot this week, and I actually got the inspiration for this episode from my email list. The email I sent out this week was a pick-and-mix breakdown of morning routines—different things you can choose and start implementing if you want to wake up your body, find presence, and set a direction for your day and life as a whole. I want to go over that in this podcast and break down that little system so that, by the end of it, you’ll understand exactly what you need to create a great morning routine to get your day started.
By the time we’re done, you’ll also be equipped to sit down and figure out your own morning routine so that you can start implementing this stuff and moving forward in your own life. So let’s get right into it. It’s going to be a short episode, hopefully, but it’s going to be very practical, very real, and you’ll be able to start building something that will take you toward wholeness.
If you choose the REAL morning routine for you, it can have multiple benefits and change your life.
Let’s quickly start by discussing some of the benefits of having a morning routine in the first place. For many people, the word “routine” sounds boring. There’s often resistance, with some thinking it might kill their creativity. But if you choose the right morning routine for you, and ensure that it’s enjoyable so you’ll actually stick to it, it can offer multiple benefits that will compound over time, steadily moving you in the direction you want to go.
If you make sure that the elements of your morning routine are things you see as an investment of your time—activities that allow you to keep growing and moving forward from one day to the next while bringing you a sense of peace and setting the tone for your day—then you’ll have a powerful tool for making the most of every day. There’s an old saying—maybe something from the wisdom of housewives—that what you do first thing in the morning sets the tone for your entire day. In my experience, and from what I’ve seen with my clients, this is absolutely true.
A morning routine has really helped me, and I’ll break down mine in a second. It’s also something I’ve seen work wonders for many of my clients who have struggled with discipline, consistency, or achieving the results they want. When they implement and stick to a morning routine, not only does it positively affect the external results they get—whether it’s working out, meditating, or whatever else they’re focused on—but it also helps them start growing into the person they want to be. If you’re on a transformational journey and have a clear understanding of who you’re trying to become, designing your morning routine around that vision means you start every day as the best possible version of yourself.
Now, you don’t have to create a morning routine that’s rigid or sucks the life out of everything, making it feel like a chore. If you design the routine in the right way, you’ll actually be excited to do it. As I always say, “If it ain’t fun, you ain’t getting it done.” So, keep that in mind as you build your routine.
My morning routine, just to give you an idea, is really simple but very effective. I do it every morning without fail. Some parts are just about waking myself up and getting into my body, while others are more about investing time in things that will compound over time, leading to increased results day by day. For example, part of my morning routine is writing. Every day, after I’ve done the other parts of my routine (which I’ll share in a second), I sit down and write until I feel like stopping. This habit has allowed me to make significant progress on a book I’m working on called Trust, which is about trusting life, trusting ourselves, and trusting the process of being alive. I started writing it at the beginning of the year, and I’ve just passed 420 pages. That progress is purely because I’ve sat down and written every morning. Some days I haven’t written for long, to be honest, but because it’s part of my routine, I’ve kept at it, and now I’m close to completing a book that I’ll probably be able to share with the world in a few months.
So, my morning routine is simple: I wake up, come downstairs, and do some yoga stretches. I love yoga, but I don’t follow a specific routine every morning. I roll out my yoga mat and sometimes do a bit of foam rolling, but mostly I just let my body move where it needs to go with the stretches. Some days I work on my back if it’s stiff after sleeping; other days, I focus on my hamstrings. Sometimes, I’ll do something like the Superman move—lying on my stomach and lifting my arms and legs in the air. It varies, but the basic principle is to get into my body, wake it up, and then do some sun salutations. I do Surya Namaskar B, which is a set of sun salutations from yoga. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a simple flow that engages your whole body—you do some planks, some push-ups, lower into a plank or chaturanga. I do five rounds of that.
After that, I meditate. Then, I do some Om chanting—not for any religious reasons, but because it supposedly gives you a kind of internal massage. It seems to work for me. After that, I do five minutes of cardio or high-intensity interval training. Once that’s done, I make some coffee and sit down to write.
That’s my morning routine. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but by doing it every morning, I wake up my body, become present through meditation, and set a clear direction for the day ahead. One thing I forgot to mention: After all the physical stuff and meditation, I sit down and set my goals for the day. I use a journal I created called the Flow Builder, which I designed for my coaching clients and myself. This isn’t an advertisement, but basically, the Flow Builder has you do a mood check, set your intentions for the day—whether it’s health, wealth, relationships, or any other area you want to focus on. Then, you set a theme for the day, go over your to-do list, set your goals, and review your overall life vision to remind yourself of the key things you want to stay focused on.
This whole process takes about 30 to 35 minutes. By doing these things, I wake up my body, bring myself to presence, and establish clarity and direction for the day ahead. These three things—energizing your body, rooting yourself in presence, and setting clear goals—are incredibly powerful when brought together in a routine. You’re energized for the day ahead, you’ve quieted your mind so emotions don’t take you places you don’t want to go, and you know where you’re headed because you’ve set goals that align with your vision.
Another great thing about the Flow Builder is that I can look back at the previous day to see what goals I focused on or didn’t complete, and carry them over to today. This adds consistency between days, which is why this routine is so powerful. Of course, you don’t need the Flow Builder; you can simply write your goals down. But if you’re interested, you can find it on Amazon—just search for Oli Anderson Flow Builder.
Now, let’s move on to the next part of the podcast…
I’m going to quickly break down these three key elements: waking up the body, quieting the mind and emotions, and setting clarity and direction. I’ll give you some examples of what you can do for each, explain why they’re important, and hopefully inspire you to sit down and figure out how to integrate these three things into a routine that works for you. Once you have your routine in place, you’ll be able to energize yourself, move forward, and take consistent action every day, which will get you where you need to be and in tune with the vibe you want to live by. Essentially, you’ll be riding your own wave.
I always aim to provide three key takeaways in these solo episodes. So, the three takeaways for today are the three points in this system for creating a morning routine: waking up the body, quieting the mind and emotions, and planning the direction for the day ahead.
Physical exercise and waking up the body also brings mental clarity
Let’s talk about waking up the body. Why would you even want to do this? It might seem obvious to some, but it’s worth thinking about because it’s going to improve your physical health. Engaging in physical activities like stretching, yoga, qigong, high-intensity interval training, or even just light exercise will improve your circulation, increase flexibility, and boost your energy levels. If you stay consistent with it, these activities will also help your cardiovascular health, tone your muscles, and enhance your overall well-being.
Physical exercise and waking up the body also bring mental clarity. By increasing blood flow to your brain, you’ll clear mental fog, which helps with cognitive functioning throughout the day. This means better focus and sharper decision-making as you go about your tasks. So, while waking up the body impacts you physically, it also enhances your mood. The endorphins released are natural mood lifters, which can help minimize stress, anxiety, and depression, setting a solid tone for the day.
It’s simple: having the foundational habit of waking up your body in the morning puts you in the best possible position to face the day. The beauty of a consistent morning routine is that it compounds results over time. I often reflect on all the workouts I’ve done over the years—I’ve been working out for a long time. Each one was an investment, and I’m still reaping the benefits from workouts I did ten years ago. These accumulated benefits enhance my current experiences, like when I’m out hiking on the weekends.
Ultimately, waking up your body in the morning brings numerous benefits. So, what kind of activities can you do? It’s simple—you can exercise, stretch, jump up and down, do some cardio, grab a skipping rope, practice qigong or tai chi, or do yoga. I won’t spend too much time listing all the options, but there’s something out there that suits your interest and willingness to engage in physical activity. Like I always say, it should be something fun. All the activities I do—yoga, sun salutations, high-intensity interval training—I love them, so it’s not a chore for me.
Ultimately, you need to find a physical activity that’s fun for you, gets your blood flowing, and makes you feel good. If you do that every day, even on weekends, you’re going to see the benefits.
The second element of designing a morning routine is quieting the mind and emotions
The second element of this system for designing a morning routine is quieting the mind and emotions. This comes down to doing something that will calm your mind and regulate your nervous system. Most of the time, when we wake up in the morning, we’re in our sympathetic nervous system, which is the part of our nervous system that prepares us for action. Our bodies inject a ton of cortisol and other hormones into us first thing in the morning as part of our circadian rhythm, to wake us up, get us out of bed, and ready for action. But if you can quiet the mind and emotions, you’ll regulate your nervous system by waking up your parasympathetic nervous system and balancing out that sympathetic dominance most of us experience during the early stages of the morning.
This can be done through activities like meditation, journaling, or deep breathing. Deep breathing, in particular, is one of the best ways to regulate your nervous system. A technique I often share is called 4-7-8 breathing: inhale for 4 seconds, retain the breath for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds. Then, repeat the process. Like with physical activity, there are countless methods to quiet the mind and emotions, but the benefits are significant and build on the physical activity you’ve done.
The benefits include better emotional regulation. Mindfulness practices like meditation, deep breathing, and journaling can help you manage your emotions and make you less reactive throughout the day. You’ll have a rooted sense of who you are and what you’re capable of, enabling you to respond to life rather than just reacting to it. Without a morning routine to set the tone for your day, you increase the odds of going through life on autopilot, reacting out of old patterns and conditioning. By setting the tone in the morning, you’ll achieve better emotional balance and resilience to stress.
The main point of quieting the mind and emotions is to help you become more present. Presence is the best place to operate from as you go through the day. When we talk about setting the tone, we’re really talking about finding that place of presence within ourselves so that we can carry it into our day. This presence will alleviate stress by balancing the nervous system and give you mastery over the thoughts and emotions that might otherwise increase your stress levels, adding friction, frustration, and misery to your experience of the day. If you don’t achieve presence in the morning, you might find yourself overwhelmed by stress and negativity as the day progresses.
Another major benefit of quieting the mind and emotions is that it enhances self-awareness. These practices help you understand what’s going on inside you, ultimately putting you on the path of awareness, acceptance, and action—something we talk about a lot on this podcast, as well as in my coaching and books. If you’re present, you become more aware of what’s happening inside you, allowing you to accept it and take better actions as you move through the day.
This leads us to the third takeaway and the third part of this system for building a morning routine. It’s simple and something we’ve already touched on: incorporating activities into your morning that allow you to plan your direction for the day within the context of your broader vision for your life. This includes goal-setting, prioritizing, setting intentions, and reminding yourself of your vision. You can also review things you didn’t accomplish the day before and plan how to tackle them today.
This approach helps you gain clarity about what you’re going to do now that you’ve woken up your body and set the tone for the day. By finding clarity of action, you’ll be more productive because you’ve set intentions and priorities. You’ll have a better focus on how you spend your time, energy, and attention—the most important assets you have. If you know what to focus on and ensure it aligns with your real vision, goals, and supporting habits, you’ll eventually achieve the results you’re aiming for. What we focus on grows. Where we direct our energy is what increases in our lives. If you take just 5-10 minutes to think about this each morning, you’ll be able to stay focused and move yourself in the direction you want to go.
By planning your day in advance, you’ll improve productivity, align yourself with your goals, and ensure that your goals align with what you truly want to do in life and who you want to become. You’ll also reduce decision fatigue throughout the day. By planning ahead, you reduce the number of decisions you need to make, saving mental energy and preventing analysis paralysis, where you become stuck in indecision.
You might find yourself unsure of what to do simply because you haven’t taken the time to think about it. There are so many options out there, and without clarity, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But when you sit down and remind yourself of your vision, who you’re trying to become, and how you want to show up each day, you’ll start to feel motivated. As you take action and see the results compound day after day, you’ll keep growing and evolving.
The three pillars of waking up the body, quieting the mind and emotions, finding presence, and then setting the tone for your day through clarity and prioritization, all work together to create a powerful foundation. If you can commit to this morning routine daily, it will bring immense benefits to your life. It will help you cultivate discipline, a valuable quality that consistently moves you in the direction you want to go. Additionally, this routine fosters a balanced sense of well-being because you’re addressing your body, mind, and daily direction every day. It’s a holistic approach, yet simple in its execution—focusing on physical health, mental clarity, emotional balance, and purposeful living.
By sticking to this routine, you’ll develop a sense of consistency, something many people struggle with. I often see this in the early stages of coaching when people aren’t consistent with what they want to achieve. But by building a morning routine and conditioning yourself to stay disciplined, you’ll find that these habits spill over into other areas of your life, supporting you in becoming the person you want to be. It’s like the saying in yoga, “Take your yoga off the mat.” This morning routine becomes a microcosm for your life as a whole. As you continue to cultivate these qualities and live with purpose and presence, it will have positive effects across every area of your life.
Moreover, this kind of routine will help you regulate your nervous system, be more mindful and present, and give you a sense of purpose. It will make you more resilient and adaptable, enabling you to handle challenges and obstacles with ease. When you face difficulties, you can always return to your purpose and vision, knowing where you’re headed. By building strength, discipline, and presence each morning, you’ll find yourself moving deeper into a state of wholeness.
To make this practical, you simply need to sit down and design a morning routine around these three points: waking up the body, quieting the mind and emotions, and finding presence. Then, set the tone for your day by ensuring you have clarity of action and know what you’re doing. If you can wake up the body, quiet the mind, and plan your actions every single day—and enjoy the process—your life will change. It’s a simple practice, but it sets the foundation for everything else.
I’ve seen how a solid morning routine has transformed lives, including my own. It’s about designing the life you want to live and becoming the person you want to be. So, that’s my advice: sit down, build your morning routine, start doing it, and begin reaping the rewards as you grow day by day. It’s one of the most powerful things you can do.
If you’d like to discuss this further, you can book a call through my website. If you’re interested in coaching or anything like that, visit olianderson.co.uk/talk. There’s a link in the show notes if you want to click it. I also have a free guide on my website about transformational journeys, titled Ego, Shadow, Trust. It’s about awareness, acceptance, and action, and you can download it at olianderson.co.uk/egoshadowtrust.
Stay real out there, life is amazing. Keep it up, whatever you’re doing. Peace to you.
Personal Revolutions: A Short Course in Realness is a book designed to help you look at your life from the inside-out so that you can stop holding yourself back and go get what you really want.
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