“Either you run the day or the day runs you,” said Jim Rohn, back in the day. And says me, every time the day runs me. “Running the day” isn’t a natural strength of mine. “Go with the flow” is more my nature. “See where the day takes me” works too. But, alas, that doesn’t really work when you have a job and 4 kids and shit to do. After too many days feeling like I got run over by a Mack truck, I started thinking this Jim Rohn was onto something…I knew I might actually have to start trying to run the day.
I have a hard time running the day without a plan in place. And oddly enough, running the day started with me exercising in the morning. You’d think running the day would come first, but it didn’t. It was making exercise a priority and having to find a way to stick with it, that forced me into running my days.
I was never a “morning person” (ask my college roommates)
When I tell you I’m not a morning person, I’m not lying. Well, I might kinda be a morning person now, but it came grudgingly.
In the days before this whole exercise-in-the-morning thing happened my mornings were hectic. Pre-motherhood my husband used to tease me because when we both came home at the end of the day the place looked like a crime scene.
When I worked in the city my commute had an A, B, and C plan. A, being optimal, meant getting up on time, showering and getting ready, making the best train, walking to work and stopping for coffee on the way, getting there a few minutes early. B meant showering, getting ready, making the cutting-it-close train, speedwalking to work, screeching into the office just in the nick of time, waiting until break to get coffee. C meant extra deodorant, making the oh-crap-I’m-gonna-be-late train, racing past my favorite coffee place, and praying in the elevator that my lateness wouldn’t be noticed as I collapsed breathlessly into my chair somewhere between 9:05 and 9:20. Most days were B days.
When I had kids my B days meant lots of yelling for lost shoes, some tears (mostly mine), and a house that looked like a crime scene in a toy store.
By the time I started exercising I had 4 children and I exercised at night after they were in bed. But eventually, that got too hard to maintain and I found myself skipping it more and more often. One day I realized if I really wanted to commit to exercising every day I’d have to figure out the morning thing. I even remember telling two of my friends what I was thinking of trying – getting up early to exercise – and saying it like it was something outlandish and practically impossible. (I’m pretty sure we giggled about it.)
It wasn’t easy, and it took time to stick, but eventually, it happened. I spawned into an exercise-in-the-morning person.
Yesterday the day ran me…
Yesterday, I had a plan for how the day would unfold. I really did. But…
⇐I got called into work which derailed my food shopping and dinner plans
⇒My daughter left her phone on the bus which led to an hour-and-a-half wild goose chase after school
⇔The same daughter had an overload of schoolwork to do and the angst that went with it
⇓Dinner happened but instead of an easy crockpot dinner ready at 5, it was a stressful holy-pile-of-dishes dinner that didn’t happen until 6:45…
among other things.
My cute little PUSH Journal sat untouched and neglected most of the day. And the lists inside it went undone.
But- at least I ran the morning.
Start your day strong…
Before the unraveling started at 9:05, I had exercised, meditated, journaled, wrote in my planner, and read a little something inspiring.
My point isn’t that you have to get up early to run the day (or your life). It’s more about having a plan that allows you to do the things you value most each day.
However, (or BUT) making time for those things in the morning will probably result in you doing them more often. (Whatever those things are) Which means, I guess, my point is that you probably have to get up early to run the day and your life. Unless you don’t work for someone else or have to be somewhere on time or have people in your life that might get involved in the unfolding of your days.
Take charge while you can. Make hay while the sun shines. Run the day before the day runs you.
Days have a way of taking over. It will happen, for some of us more often than others. Allow for that by doing what you can when you can. Have systems in place so that when things come up, get busy, go sideways, you still have some control over your priorities.
Getting up early is a great way to do this. Having a written plan (to-do lists, a calendar, etc.) is another way.
Most importantly, honor your priorities.
Your priorities will look different than mine.
You don’t have to start with waking up an hour earlier than usual and having an elaborate morning routine. A good starting place is sticking to a wake-up time. Don’t hit snooze. Once you nail that down, try getting up 5 minutes earlier and doing something in those 5 minutes to make the rest of your day better.
You might feel tired in the morning…but there’s a good chance if the day runs you, you’ll feel tired when you finally have time to ______________ (fill-in-the-blank with your priority) and it will go undone that day.
How do you make sure the day doesn’t run you? Or what do you do when it does? I’d love to hear from you! Comment here, email me at mary@stayathomefit.com, or connect with me on Facebook and Instagram!
Did you like this post? Please share it!
Leave a Reply