69. No Morning Routine Club šš¼āāļø
How I used a daily reminders list to reshape my consistency
I certainly donāt FEEL like I have a morning routine.
At least, not like the ones I see online. I donāt wash my face with a specific product or drink a specific smoothie or go to a specific workout class.
These beautiful, curated morning routines I see online honestly look great! Iām sure if I ice rolled my face and drank hot lemon water and cold plunged every morning, I would feel amazing!
But I donāt. And I still feel pretty good. So thereās that.
And while I donāt FEEL like I have a morning routine, I definitely do. We all do in some way, shape, or form, even without trying to.
I wake up. Avoid checking my phone (most days) and make the bed and put on a hoodie and stumble downstairs to make my coffee (or have husband hand me one, on good days) and I fill up my water bottle, etc. etc. etc.
The consistent daily actions we do every morning (and every DAY) are there even when we donāt try. We default into certain rhythms or patterns because, well, thatās just what we do!
And no, this edition of Belleās Book Club is not about optimizing your morning routines or creating beautiful, curated habits. So donāt worry.
If youāre like me, youāve probably heard a lot (maybe too much) about routines, habit stacking, morning affirmations, and optimizing your day. All great things if they work for you! Just not what Iām here to share today.
Iām here to share my daily reminders list and how it shifted my concept of consistency.
My daily reminders list sits on my Notion dashboard so I see it every time I look at my daily to-do list, any of my client projects, and my overall calendar.
The list started a few years ago when I realized I did the same things every morning to kick off my work day but I didnāt get to check them off anywhere. So yes, this list started because I wanted the little dopamine hit of checking off tasks I was already doing š
Every morning to start my work day, I would read my Bible for a few minutes, check my email, comment on some LinkedIn posts, and share to my Pinterest.
I was ALREADY doing these things whenever I sat down at my laptop each morning, so I created the daily reminders list simply to have somewhere to check off these already-existing tasks.
Somehow, this idea of NOTICING the habits that already existed in my day radically transformed my perception of consistency.
It made me think about other habits that I wanted to put in place (vitamins are the latest addition to my daily reminders list), and it helped me notice the power of doing the same small actions over and over and over.
For YEARS now, I have engaged on LinkedIn for 5-10 minutes every weekday morning. This small daily action doesnāt feel very impactful most days. But when I think about how different my business looks today vs several years ago, and about the role LinkedIn has played in my journey, I see how massive this daily action is in my life.
For YEARS now, I have filled up my YETI water bottle 3x a day. Hydration has become such a solid part of my days that I genuinely notice if I donāt hydrate properly.
I heard a quote on an episode of The Life You Love podcast where one of the gals shared how she started shifting this idea of accomplishing things through hard work to accomplishing things through consistent work.
Consistent actions have always been the most transformative actions. Sending these newsletters every week for more than a year, for example, has given me confidence in my writing, my voice, and created connections with some amazing people.
Do I miss some of them occasionally? Of course! But because theyāre just āremindersā, thereās no real pressure or reason to feel bad if they donāt get done one day.
They are just a reminder of the small actions each day that help me feel my best and work towards my goals slowly but surely.
Youāre likely already doing consistent daily actions, but maybe youāre not noticing them. Which can lead to either thinking theyāre not working, or not changing them when they no longer align well with your life and goals.
By recognizing the small, daily actions in our lives, we get to notice and reflect on how they transform us. How they help us. And might even make it easier to evolve them or add more.
And by having a little ādaily reminders listā on your notes app or as your phone screensaver or on Notion or even as a sticky note on your desk, youāre constantly reminding yourself that youāre putting in the work every day.
š¤ Whatās Coolā¦
Okay, I just talked a lot about the value of consistency so this āWhatās Coolā might sound kind of funny. But whatās cool this week is not sweating the small stuff. Or, being honest about whatās important.
This newsletter is being written VERY late this week. You may have noticed I USUALLY try to be in your inbox quite a bit earlier.
But who cares? Iām here now.
I wrote this on Wednesday morning, after it has usually been in your inbox for several hours ā and that is OKAY.
No one cares about (almost) anything you do as much as, well, YOU.
Consistency is important, as I just talked about, and it is transformative to our lives. But I think thereās a balance between taking consistency seriously vs letting it cause more stress in our lives.
Consistency is not perfect. Itās just diligent. I still sent this email, even though itās late. I still moved my body today, even though it was a walk instead of a run.
Diligent means āhaving or showing care and conscientiousness in one's work or dutiesā. Meaning every time we show up with diligence, it means showing care and intention behind our actions.
THAT is what consistency is about. Not about fretting over things that donāt ultimately matter that much. Like missing your vitamin one day, or sending an email late, or taking a few days off from posting to social media.
Consistency and diligence are about approaching our daily lives with care, intention, and repeated actions that build the life YOU want. Not about adding unnecessary stress or pressure to your life.
š Currently Readingā¦
Are you a āseriesā reader? Like, once you read one book in a series, do you read all the following books in that series pretty quickly after? Or do you take a break and read other books in between?
I always thought I was a series reader who would tear through an entire series without stopping, but Iāve discovered that I like hopping around a bit between each book.
So after reading The Silkworm mystery in the Cormoran Strike series, I took a break with the light beach read I talked about last week, The Vacationers, before diving into another Strike novel, Troubled Blood.
Troubled Blood is probably tied for my favorite novel in this mystery series so far, along with Lethal White. I am LOVING how chewy these stories are. I love the characters. I love the complexities of the mysteries. I just love them.
I have to say I really understand why getting into a book series (I see you fantasy readers) is so appealing. You donāt have to worry about what to read next because you can just start the next one in the series.
With that said, I did take another break, and Iām reading a new romance/contemporary fiction novel now that Iām excited to finish and recap for you next week!
š Working Onā¦
Things I am working on this week (in no particular order)ā¦
After a week off, I need to build up my endurance again after losing ALL fitness ability (my run yesterday was a wake-up call) and my 10K race creeping up quick.
Getting my new website template listed for sale on Etsy! Iāve been putting this off but I just need to DO IT. I know Iāll feel such a breakthrough when I do.
Add my new brand photos to my website! This mighttt take a bit more like two weeks if Iām honest, but Iām so excited to refresh the visuals on my website.
Cook dinner. This is something thatās constantly on the list (every day, weirdly enough), but I want to get back into the habit of having meals prepared.
I hope your week is full of goodness, health, wealth, healing, reading, baking, movement, laughs, and consistency ā¤ļø
Thank you for being here and chat next Wednesday,
xo ā Belle