My mornings were different three years ago. I wasn’t at the gym. To be fair, I was climbing a lot so that was my workout and exercise. I wasn’t writing either. My mornings were about YouTube learning. Well, that’s what I thought.
I’d get up, have a glass of water, head outside, jump rope for two minutes, and then walk around the block. Getting in the sunlight nice and early. I can’t remember what the jump rope had to do with it. That reason is long forgotten. Then I’d make a coffee, sit in the couch, load up YouTube, and watch a video conversation for an hour or longer.
I loved it.
I’d listen to health experts talking about the best exercises to do. Discussions on politics and geopolitics. Cultural breakdowns and modern life advice. I’d nod my head during most statements. Yes. Absolutely. What an insight! Why can’t I think of that!? (With the accompanying though – if I keep consuming this, I’ll be able to have these types of conversations).
So I must be a fountain of knowledge then?
I couldn’t really tell you what I watched now, looking back. Those glorious insights are long forgotten. They were interesting discussions to frame current events. Now that they aren’t so current (or even interesting for me to look back on), they are in the areas of my brain I’m not access. Or perhaps they weren’t even stored in long term memory to begin with. A downfall of watching video after video in my YouTube learning binge phase.
What is the information that I want to hear?
It’s the fitness tips. Dad advice. Listening to other people talk about their lives. What they have done. What they have sacrificed. These I can recall much better. It brings forward prompts with things now. Do I really want that promotion? Remember the hidden price that everyone pays. Do you want this?
I also think about how the time could have been better used. That informs my day to day too. Three extra years at the gym. I’d have more muscle. I would have found out which exercises my body responded well to. What splits work. Not that it’s all doom and gloom. Not at all. I genuinely loved my mornings. So I’m not going to drop a giant turd on it. But did they get me to where I wanted to go? That’s the piece we need to ask ourselves and reflect on.
And it’s not just about consuming the right information. You have to do and go things. Apply the insight. That means going to the gym and training. Going for walks. Taking your wife on a date night. Fulfilling your various duties. Sitting down to engage in YouTube learning just doesn’t cut it.
My morning routines are much different now. It’s waking up, having an early breakfast, going to the gym and lifting hard. Going to work and writing on the bus if it’s an office day or on the patio on WFH days. Lunch is used to plan out things and complete tasks. I read in the evening. It’s a rhythm and it changes based on what else is on. Some days are shorter gym sessions. Others are longer. It adapts and changes. I get sunlight automatically walking from the car to the gym, or from the bus to the office. It all comes together throughout the course of the day.
What’s your current routine? What information do you like to consume? How can I help you? Let me know.
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