As human beings, what separates us out from other species is our our
complex brain system. Meaning we process information and respond to this information that is similar to all other species with a brain, but we do it specifically to how we as humans do it. We are pretty good with sequencing information to derive how to's and what abouts. Behind the how and what, is our main emotional drivers which are centered in our why.
Meaning, we don't by what people do, we buy why people do it. Simon Sinek has a wonderful talk titled How Great Leaders Inspire Action, which his pretty incredible. You can check it out on YouTube, its about 18 min TED Talk and has over 53 million views. I've watched it about 10 times and find it to be a foundational talk. Check it out HERE.
So more on how this translates to establishing and maintaining a morning routine...
It’s not necessarily how we meditate or what we meditate on that drives our meditation, it’s why we meditate. Perhaps we are motivated to seek peace or be free from suffering. Perhaps it’s to maintain focus or to cultivate our ability to be present. Why we meditate is the foundation to our meditation practice.
This is a key understanding to grasp.
As you later move along into the hows and whats to build out a solid morning routine, let’s understand your why regadring this morning practice and why it is so critical in the first place.
This reason(s) why will be your anchor in challenging times or the motivation to get back in program when you've noticed yourself drifting away from your morning routine.
If you’ve lost your why, you’ve lost your way.
At the root of practice is the desire to grow, to be all that you can be. A deep primal longing for something greater than ourselves. A universal belonging of expansion, casting wider and deeper circles into our spheres of influence.
My why began with an inspiration to change my life. I was in excruciating pain from breaking my leg, my life had fallen apart in the months following. It was complete chaos, full of disruption and loss and I realized I had to do something about it to improve my life. Only I could do it. It was wholly and exclusively my responsibility. I had to improve my situation and learn to embrace the discomfort while learning to move out and away from chronic pain: be it emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual.
For me, my why was my main motivation to embrace this period of crisis (and all its difficulties) to set up foundations to work with it in a skillful way. Each time I fell off my practice, I would slowly regress into being consumed by the crises. Each time I drifted, I would at some point recall my why. Each time I recalled my why, I would drift back onto my program and keep pressing onward to less pain, less unnecessary suffering.
Wherever you are on the spectrum from crisis to innocence, I want you to take a moment to consider your why as it relates to your motivation.
Why do you feel motivated to establish a morning routine? And why must you stick with it?
Consider why you practice and why you want to practice. In other words, what do you intend to get out of it? Perhaps writing it down for the time being will be beneficial to you. Do that. Write down your why and keep it in a visible location so you can revisit and reconnect to your why whenever you need to.
I hope you've enjoyed this article and found value as it applies to your everyday life.
Stay tuned for more articles and insights.
Cheers,
Brian Spear