In an industry dominated by a hardcore cadre of male #menswear bloggers, there's one site that stands out from the rest and provides a different point of view: Style Girlfriend. Megan originally started Style Girlfriend as a favour to a friend but it quickly evolved into a national newspaper column and eventually a menswear blog. These days, it's THE site for real guys seeking real advice from a friendly, female perspective on food, fitness, travel, and home, in addition to personal style. If you're not familiar with the site, the Style Girlfriend Manifesto is a great place to start.
Here's how Megan gets her day started:
"There are plenty of ways to start your morning, not all of them healthy or productive. As many studies - and even more Medium articles - note, there’s hard evidence that successful people adhere to specific (some might say rigidly anal-retentive?) morning routines. Maybe that’s why I like the idea of having my own - it makes me feel I’m starting my day out in good company. Obviously you have to find what works for you, but in the meantime, feel free to steal mine:
HYDRATE
When I go to bed at night, I leave a big glass of water by the sink in the kitchen, where I also leave my phone plugged in. While the latter is more a function of my apartment having a pitifully small amount of wall outlets, it’s also because when the alarm goes off at 5:30am, I’m forced to rise from my bed and stumble into the kitchen (not a far distance in my studio apartment, but still, I’m up) to turn it off.
I immediately chug the room-temperature water, and there may or may not be a loud, “Ahhhh” as I set that empty glass back down on the counter.
But that’s not where step 1 ends. While I’m chugging, I turn the stove on to heat the tea kettle. I let that water get warm - not hot - then pour it into my now-empty glass. I squeeze in half a lemon and a few teaspoons of apple cider vinegar.
Why? Well, the lemon and vinegar are said to have detoxifying properties, which may be true or may not. What I do know is that before 6am, I’ve had 1/4 of the recommended water intake for the day; what have you done? (Whoops, this whole routine is supposed to be about self-improvement, which probably doesn’t jive with braggy one-upmanship, huh? That’s why I’m bad at yoga, too…)
This not-unpleasant drink gets consumed over the next two steps. I also leave the tea kettle on so that by the time I’m done with my lemon water, the water is boiling and I’m ready to make tea, bringing my morning H20 consumption tally even higher.
EDUCATE
I bring my lukewarm vinegar lemon water over to my desk and pull out my latest self-improvement book. Wow, I’m really selling this routine right now, right?? Currently I’m reading “You Are A Badass” by Jen Sincero. I read a chapter, then out comes the journal. I hesitate to even use the word “journal” because journal makes me think of diaries, and I’d like to think I’ve moved past keeping a diary. I see writing more as a mechanism for pulling thoughts and feelings out of my head so they don’t have to knock around in there anymore. Like when Dumbledore would take his magic wand and draw magical threads of memories out of his head and drop them into that birdbath in his office (that’s how it always looked to me, anyway). What I’m saying is, my journal is exactly like a famous fictional wizard’s magical birdbath.
MEDITATE
Here’s the one I’m still working on, and will probably always be working on, if the pros are to be believed.
I’ve had a bumpy road with meditation, or mindfulness. I’ve started and stopped a meditation practice at least ten times, with new excuses every time I quit. My back hurts. It’s not working. I just think the whole time through. I need someone to teach me.
And it’s not that any of those things aren’t true now; I’ve just lowered my expectations. I set the timer on my phone and meditate for a piddling six minutes. Next week it will be seven. And so on. I can meditate for six minutes. Or at least, I can clear my mind, have everything from the to do’s I failed to write down before going to bed last night that now I can’t remember to being hungry for breakfast, while also thinking about what to have for lunch all flood back in; acknowledge it all, clear it again, have them flood back in, and - what do you know - the buzzer’s going off.
As with any strength training, I find it totally worthwhile to practice flexing this muscle - my brain, my consciousness, my thoughts. Tacking on one more minute to my meditation practice is the same as committing to one more pushup this week than last. This week I even had a mini-breakthrough where I did clear my mind for about fifteen seconds before the world swooped back in. Progress!
MOTIVATE
There’s plenty in your day to get sidetracked by, and ways to let yourself off the hook. “I can’t X because Y.” “I’ll never A because B.” I’ve sold myself on plenty of stupid excuses like these in the past. Motivating myself with written statements read out loud helps me tell myself a new story, so that X doesn’t have to lead to Y, and my current reality doesn’t have to be my future.
Because we’re all friends here, I’ll let you in on a few of mine. They’re cheesy, and I bet yours would be too if you were honest with yourself about what you needed a cheerleader for.
“I deserve to go after my goals and do what makes me happy.”
“There is a smart, successful businesswoman inside me and today she runs the show.”
“Today and every day, I will do my best.”
You get the idea.
Say these over and over to yourself, like a mantra, like a chant, like a One Direction song you can’t get out of your head, until they start to feel - if not true - at least inevitable. In time, these will be the reactions you have to less-than-ideal situations, not the negative “Things never work out for me..” and “Must be nice for them, but I can’t because…” unhelpful stories we tell ourselves, excuses we make. I’m not in favor of book banning or burning, but I’d be happy to set those self-defeating, negative stories on top of some smoking kindling.
GYRATE
Yep, that’s right. Waking up with me means, at the end of all this solemn, somber self-awakening, improvement, and awareness, comes some serious booty shaking. Choose an uptempo song and dance to it the whole time. Watch me whip (in my pajamas). Watch me nae-nae (while brushing my teeth)…
I know what you’re thinking: “But Megan, we’ve already heard this advice from Warren Buffett and Richard Branson.”
Just kidding.
And even if you had, I bet their playlist isn’t as fire as mine. If you need some ideas to get you started, might I suggest 1990s hip hop and pop? TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Ma$e’s “Feel So Good” work great, as does anything by No Doubt, Destiny’s Child, NSync, or pre-head shaving Britney Spears.
I should mention - I am not, nor have I ever been, a dancer. When I was younger, the coach on my gymnastics team suggested to my parents that I take a dance class to work on my “gracefulness.” I said, “No way losers, I’m gonna go play kickball in the backyard with my older brother and his friends, and also cut my hair into a bowl cut so I don’t even have to worry about a ponytail.”All that to say, I was not much of a girly-girl. Jazz shoes, tutus, slicked-back buns..not for me. Looking back, I wish I’d taken my coach up on his less-than-subtle suggestion that some dance training might tone down my Tornado Rex tendencies.
As an adult, I can’t dance, but I want to. I take “cardio dance” classes that are like Zumba for millennials (I took a class just last month called “Ratchet Zumba” and I loved every second of it. I also looked like an idiot the whole time but I’m prettttty much past the point of caring. So sure, I don’t have shades up in my new apartment yet, and yes, I think my neighbor can see into my apartment when the sun comes up, but that’s not going to stop my getting down to Juvenal’s “Back That Thang Up.” It makes me happy, it kicks my day into gear with a more vibrant, energetic sendoff than a few sun salutations, and it shakes offf the otherwise reverential tone of my milt-step morning.
The whole thing takes about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how much I write, and it’s worth every minute. I don’t do it every day, but as a whole, it feels good to have a routine I can stick to and that feels like me. I’d like to think as the CEO of my company, I’m setting a good leadership example. Helped along by Desitny’s Child and a little bit of lemon."
Thanks for taking the time to share your morning routine, Megan!
Say these over and over to yourself, like a mantra, like a chant, like a One Direction song you can’t get out of your head, until they start to feel - if not true - at least inevitable. In time, these will be the reactions you have to less-than-ideal situations, not the negative “Things never work out for me..” and “Must be nice for them, but I can’t because…” unhelpful stories we tell ourselves, excuses we make. I’m not in favor of book banning or burning, but I’d be happy to set those self-defeating, negative stories on top of some smoking kindling.
GYRATE
Yep, that’s right. Waking up with me means, at the end of all this solemn, somber self-awakening, improvement, and awareness, comes some serious booty shaking. Choose an uptempo song and dance to it the whole time. Watch me whip (in my pajamas). Watch me nae-nae (while brushing my teeth)…
I know what you’re thinking: “But Megan, we’ve already heard this advice from Warren Buffett and Richard Branson.”
Just kidding.
And even if you had, I bet their playlist isn’t as fire as mine. If you need some ideas to get you started, might I suggest 1990s hip hop and pop? TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Ma$e’s “Feel So Good” work great, as does anything by No Doubt, Destiny’s Child, NSync, or pre-head shaving Britney Spears.
I should mention - I am not, nor have I ever been, a dancer. When I was younger, the coach on my gymnastics team suggested to my parents that I take a dance class to work on my “gracefulness.” I said, “No way losers, I’m gonna go play kickball in the backyard with my older brother and his friends, and also cut my hair into a bowl cut so I don’t even have to worry about a ponytail.”All that to say, I was not much of a girly-girl. Jazz shoes, tutus, slicked-back buns..not for me. Looking back, I wish I’d taken my coach up on his less-than-subtle suggestion that some dance training might tone down my Tornado Rex tendencies.
As an adult, I can’t dance, but I want to. I take “cardio dance” classes that are like Zumba for millennials (I took a class just last month called “Ratchet Zumba” and I loved every second of it. I also looked like an idiot the whole time but I’m prettttty much past the point of caring. So sure, I don’t have shades up in my new apartment yet, and yes, I think my neighbor can see into my apartment when the sun comes up, but that’s not going to stop my getting down to Juvenal’s “Back That Thang Up.” It makes me happy, it kicks my day into gear with a more vibrant, energetic sendoff than a few sun salutations, and it shakes offf the otherwise reverential tone of my milt-step morning.
The whole thing takes about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how much I write, and it’s worth every minute. I don’t do it every day, but as a whole, it feels good to have a routine I can stick to and that feels like me. I’d like to think as the CEO of my company, I’m setting a good leadership example. Helped along by Desitny’s Child and a little bit of lemon."
Thanks for taking the time to share your morning routine, Megan!
Connect with Megan:
Instagram: @styleGF
Blog: Style Girlfriend
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