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July 8, 2024 14 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Having a morning routine will naturally begin to build and
strengthen your self confidence. Hey, I'm Brianna Aponte, your host
of the Self Life CEO podcast. I dropped out of
college at the age of nineteen to start my first business.
I worked seven days a week, wore way too many hats,
and was the true definition of a hustler. Years later,
I'm finally living the dream that I worked so hard

(00:22):
to make my reality. I've transitioned from a hustler to
a soft life CEO, working only two days a week
to maintain and run a high earning business that gives
me the freedom to live a life I love. Now,
it's my mission to help as many entrepreneurs as I
can elevate their brand, increase their income, and reclaim their time.
Join me and guest experts as we share our transparent journeys,
work smart and not hard, strategies, and the behind the

(00:43):
scenes of running a successful brand in business. You're tuned
in to the Self Life Ceo. Wake Up, Get up,
it is time to start your day Today. We are
talking about something that I've learned to love in its
morning routines. Of you. Hear your morning alarm and hit
the snooze button a couple of times before rolling out

(01:04):
of bed, often dashing out the door with a quick snack,
checking your email and messages as you rush off to work.
Starting your day like this will often lead to your
entire day feeling rushed, with your schedule controlling you versus
you controlling it. Many of us are busy. We have
a lot of responsibilities and obligations, and often feel strapped

(01:25):
for time, So having a great morning routine can make
all the difference in being productive, achieving goals, feeling organized,
and doing all of this with confidence. Now, I'll admit
I used to be terrible at waking up early. I
also used to say that I'm just not a morning person.
I would stay up all hours of the night, and

(01:46):
because I'm an entrepreneur and have the freedom to wake
up when I want, I took full advantage of that.
But I realized that my days started to feel really short.
By the time I started my day and really got
in the swing of things, the sun was going down,
and I always felt a shift of productivity. After doing
some research and learning how the millionaires and billionaires of

(02:07):
the world have set morning routines and often wake up
before the sun even rises. I challenged myself to learn
the benefits of it and define something that worked for
me in order to be better and accomplish more each day.
Having a morning routine helps us set the tone for
the day. As we start each day fresh, we can
be better focused on what is in front of us.

(02:29):
A morning routine helps us determine where to prioritize our
time and ultimately increase our productivity. My goal is to
better serve my community of women, to be the best friend,
the best daughter, and the best partner I can be,
and that means that I have to make the necessary
investments and sacrifices to be my best. I'll break down

(02:52):
my full morning routine a little bit later, but right now,
let's just talk about the benefits of having one. One
study show that the most successful people wake up early
and have strict morning routines. Our brains function at their
best first thing in the morning, which means that we
should take full advantage of the first couple of hours

(03:12):
of our day. Before you begin serving others their agendas, emotions,
and nonsense, serve yourself. What is it that you need,
What are your current goals, what are you focused on
accomplishing short term Who should you be dedicating time to
and what are your areas of improvement. Successful people are

(03:33):
successful because each and every day they start their days
by giving their most valuable time to themselves, really honing
in on where they are, where they want to be,
and what they're going to do to get there. They
also have a different type of mindset, a glass half
full versus half empty type of mindset that's not a

(03:53):
born trait, that is something that is skillfully developed through
consistent patterns and behaviors over time time. Successful people attack
life differently. There's always a solution, there's always a way.
Imagine if every morning you woke up and told yourself that,
sooner or later, you will begin to believe it and
allow the stress and worry of the day to day

(04:15):
things to slowly drift away. Get my free training from
Hustler to Soft Life CEO which includes my untold entrepreneurial Journey,
the Soft Life CEO Roadmap, and my winning recipe for
elevating your brand, increasing your income, and reclaiming your time.
Head over to the Soft Life ceo dot com backslash
free training which brings me to the next benefit Number two.

(04:36):
Confidence having a morning routine will naturally begin to build
and strengthen your self confidence. Why because each and every
day you are choosing to love yourself by giving you
the mean time, the personal care, and pep talk that
you deserve. All of the daily rituals that you put
in place will make you feel better about yourself as

(04:57):
you go into your day. Think about it. When you
se start your day with a goal oriented mindset, your
confidence grows each and every time you accomplish those small
goals that you've set for yourself. Confidence comes from observing
and experiencing ourselves doing the things that we set our
minds to do. Every time we accomplish something that we

(05:17):
said we would, our confidence grows a little bit more
because we prove to ourselves that we could do it.
When you start to realize how capable you are of
achieving your goals, you will begin to think of yourself
in a more positive light. You will have more faith
than your abilities and see the potential that you haven't
really tapped into yet. Number three productivity. A huge benefit

(05:40):
that naturally comes with a morning routine is productivity. Giving
yourselves intentional times to start your day properly will provide
you with the opportunity to be more productive throughout the
entire day. You're simply going into the day with a
more focused and calm mindset, not rushing, not filling behind
or stressed out. Now, let's dive into my personal experience

(06:04):
with morning routines, and then I'll break down what works
best for me. During college, my sleep schedule and routines
were all out of whack. I was a cheerleader, so
I had some really early mornings, but then other days
I took full advantage of sleeping in. The inconsistency in
my schedule made it really hard to be my best.
Some days I got too much rest and other days

(06:25):
I didn't get enough. But hey, I was young, so
it was fine. As I stepped into being an entrepreneur,
I was so excited to do my own thing and
be on my own schedule, so much so that I
honestly didn't have one. I was doing things as they
came and juggling so much at one time that I
never really realized how much I was working against myself.

(06:45):
I was super forgetful, always late, rushing, and procrastinating until
I got to the point of hitting rock bottom when
things started to fall apart. I had to look at
how I was living and moving and realize that I
needed a change. It started to slowly make changes as
I saw the benefits that came with those changes, and
I continued to do this more and more. When Dre

(07:07):
left his nine to five job and joined me in
running our business full time, we had a period of Yay,
you don't have to wake up early anymore, and that
phase quickly became a problem for us. We were up
all hours of the night and woke up whenever we
felt like it, but we saw how it had a
negative effect on our motivation and us reaching our business goals.

(07:28):
It took us a couple of months to get into
a routine that felt right for us, and even now
we have some days where we step outside of that
routine and we stay up a little later, or we
wake up a little later, but we always get right
back on track and hold each other accountable. We also
have different seasons of life where there's some months where
we have a very strict schedule and maybe some months

(07:49):
where we're a little bit more flexible. But in order
to have a great morning routine, you also have to
have a great nighttime routine. How you end your day
is almost as important as how you start it. For example,
I don't bring my phone into the bedroom. I let
it charge overnight at our kitchen island, so that as
I lay down, I am not tempted to open it

(08:10):
up look at my email, social media or text messages.
I completely unplug. I keep my phone on do not disturb,
and only the people I have listed on favorites can
reach me after a certain time. I also have a
set skincare routine with soothing oils that help me get
into my sleep mode. If for whatever reason I'm not
feeling very tired, I make a large glass of lemon

(08:32):
tea and that usually helps. Without my phone to distract me,
I snuggle up next to Drey and I peacefully fall
asleep after giving God my last thoughts in prayers. So
here's my morning routine. I wake up Monday through Friday
at six thirty am. I hate the sound of alarms,
and so first thing in the morning, I like to
be reminded of God's love and for me, that means

(08:54):
starting my day with gratitude and thanks. So my Google
Home wakes me up to one of my favorite gospels,
and right now it's Reckless Love of God by Corey Asbury.
I immediately wake up in just such better spirits. It
allows me to start my day where I feel like
I'm excited to wake up and yay, the sun is
shining another day to be productive. My bedroom has a

(09:18):
large floor to ceiling window and we sleep with our
shades up so that when the sun rises, our room
is bright and we are introduced to our day with
a beautiful view versus being in a dark room. Are
you ready to go from hustler to soft life ceo?
I'm here to help. I've created the Soft Life Society,
a membership based community where I provide weekly events such
as group coaching calls, brand and social media audits, masterclasses

(09:41):
and featured guest speakers. Get access to members only in
person events and discounts on soft Life CEO services. And
here's the best part. You can join today for free.
Visit the soft Lifeceo dot com backslash Society and use
code free trial for thirty days free access. I do
a little stretch in the bed, get out, brush my teeth,

(10:02):
wash my face, and get in a nice little workout.
Normally I would walk to Orange Theory and get it
in there, but thanks to Corona, I am forced to
work out in our spare room or go outside, and honestly,
it has not been the same. I'm seriously struggling with it.
I really need orange theory to open back up. But AnyWho,
after my workout, I would shower. I do my morning

(10:23):
skincare routine, which is just cleanser, toner, moisturizer. During my shower,
I also listen to gospel and this is when I
have my one on one time with God, simply thinking
of Him, thinking of the things that I can do
to be a better person, and reflecting on, you know,
just things that are happening in my life in that moment.
If it's a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, I might study

(10:44):
the Bible, watch a sermon, or journal. But if it's
a Tuesday or Thursday, I prep for my call schedule.
I pour up iced coffee and a sip while I
create my plan for the day. I focus on my
immediate to do list, which depending on the day, looks
a little different, and I have a secondary list of
things that I do if I get the primary list done.

(11:05):
Drey and I like to end our work day by
five pm so that we can spend quality time with
each other. So whatever I don't get done by five
pm ends up moving to the next days to do list.
If I work like I anticipated during the week, my
Friday is free and we get to enjoy three full
days of no work. But if I wasn't able to
complete everything, Friday could end up being a full workday.

(11:27):
After I plan my day, I cook breakfast, which is
always one of five meals, my protein banana and egg,
chocolate chip pancake with strawberries, my apples and oatmeal egg bake,
or a breakfast pizza omelet, or a breakfast mix. And
I will be doing videos on all of these recipes
because they are super yummy but really healthy, and I

(11:48):
get a lot of questions about them. After coffee and breakfast,
I start my work day. By this time, it's no
later than nine am, and I have a full day
to be productive. By five pm, I accomplish so much
that I feel super proud of my day. So if
you're ready to create a strong morning routine, here's my tips.
One throw away the traditional alarm. If that's not your thing,

(12:12):
wake up peacefully. Choose your favorite song or sound over
the traditional beat. Beat beep and let up your window curtains.
This will help your body naturally wake up in the morning.
Number two create space for a moment of clarity. Realize
that it's time to start your day, but have enough
time so that you don't have to rush out of bed.

(12:34):
Start off with gratitude. Think of all the amazing things
in people that you have in your life. Think of
the things that you're going to do to start your
day off right. Take a couple of deep breaths and stretches,
and then get the heck up. Number three self care.
Have a consistent routine to take care of your body
and skin, whether it's facial mass, deem treatments, workouts, exercises,

(12:58):
whatever you feel works for you and helps you reach
the goals of just feeling good and pampered. Number four.
Have a glass of water, especially if you don't drink
a ton of water throughout the day. Your body needs
to be hydrated to function at its best, so take
the morning time to just drink that glass of water.

(13:19):
Number five coffee, tea, shake, or breakfast while you read
the Bible journal, listen to a sermon or podcast. Just
take time to think, clear your mind, or prepare for
the day. Each of your routines will look a little
different because you all have different needs and schedules, so
find what works best for you. This may mean that

(13:40):
you need to test some things out and see how
you like them. Just like with anything I ever say
or give you guidance on, the key is progressed, not perfection.
Take the baby steps needed, and soon you will have
mastered a morning routine that sets you up for success.
Thanks for tuning in to Soft Life CEO. I hope
that today's episode gets you a little bit closer to

(14:01):
achieving your definition of a soft life. If you're ready
to start the journey from hustler to soft life CEO,
go to the Soft Life ceo dot com backslash society
for a thirty day free trial in my coaching community.
If you found this episode helpful, share it with a friend,
leave a review, and don't forget to subscribe.
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