What’s your morning routine like? It’s a question we hear more and more in contemporary conversations, with good reason. Morning routines have become one of the most easy to incorporate life-hacks that actually have a big impact and influence on how the rest of our day flows. A regular morning routine has the power to help you face the day with flexibly and grace. It can help you to be more positive, productive, and above all it puts you in the driver seat of your day, an empowering place to be.

So what makes a good morning routine? Well, the truth is, there is no one size fits-all morning routine out there. While this means it make take a few tries for you to find yours, it also means that once you find it, it will be something that fits you and your needs. So to begin with, a morning routine needs to be something you can fairly easily incorporate into your morning. I’m talking small shifts and changes until you begin to build up the habit(s). One of the easiest ways to do this is to start small with a new habit that takes only 3-5 minutes. Virtually everyone can find 3-5 minutes in his or her morning even if it means waking up 5 minutes earlier. Another approach to this is to tack on new habits to existing habits, for instance, every morning you get up and brew coffee, perhaps during the time your coffee is brewing you do 3-5 minutes of exercise. This may not feel like much, but doing 3-5 minutes of exercise every morning will, over time actually yield several things. While it may not give you rock-hard abs, it will give you a rock-hard resolution to committing time to your wellbeing, as well as help to tone your body, increases your will-power, and strengthen your trust in yourself for following through with a goal you made. Which, means the number one thing that makes a morning routine successful is sustainability. It has to be something you can do, and eventually will want to do when you start to see the benefits.

So now that you know the most important aspect of a morning routine, is sustainability, lets discuss some possible activities to create a morning routine with.

• Meditation is probably one of the biggest and most impactful positive morning routines a person can have. For the average person who has never meditated the key to success in meditation is to start small. If you can tack this new action onto an existing habit so it feels less “extra” it will be easier to incorporate. Start with a few minutes and adjust your body to this activity by gradually sitting for longer and longer. The benefits of regular meditation have become more and more well known in virtually all aspects of life including an over-all more positive day and life experience.

• Exercise is also a really big morning routine that continues to have an impact on your day, long after the activity itself is done. Exercise in the morning is one of the best things you can do for your physical body to increase circulation after waking from a night sleep. This exercise does not have to be hard or for a long period of time. Yoga is a great way to get movement that is good for the body and the mind. That can look like a few rounds of sun salutations while you make your morning beverage. Simple squats or push-ups are another choice. In the short term it many not seem like much, but in the long term these activities will start to show themselves by you feeling stronger and/or more flexible.

• Writing is yet another way to cultivate a positive day. One of the hands down easiest ways to do this is by starting a gratitude journal. Starting the day being thankful is a powerful act that has a trickle-effect throughout the rest of your day. Taking the time to recognize what you have to be grateful for helps to keep life’s annoyances in perspective. By keeping a journal next to your bed or using a phone app starting a gratitude journal is easier then ever. Additionally, you can also just write, write whatever comes to mind to clear your thoughts as the day begins.

Meditation, exercise, and journaling are some of the many things you can do to create your morning routine. But before I let you go there are a few more ideas around having a positive morning I’d like to share.

• Morning hydration is so incredibly important for clear thinking and to flush the metabolic waste generated during your sleep. Aim to start each morning with a large glass of water as a starting point for your morning routine.

• Make an effort to go to sleep with a light heart. I personally have found that when I go to sleep and I am emotionally upset or out of sorts that I tend to wake up that way as well. While this may or may not be true for you there is a certain amount of free-ness in going to sleep with a light heart that makes the next day a true new start. Some ways to help lighten your heart before you sleep can be to begin a practice of forgiving yourself and others for anything that might of happened during the day or if that is not something your ready for you can also do a gratitude journal before bed and recap all your wins for the day, no matter how small.

Take charge of your day by cultivating practices that are sustainable and bring a positive influence to your day with an empowering morning routine.