A Breakfast Community Bulletin

We’ve all heard of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, written by Steven R. Covey, first published in 1989. It sold over 15 million copies.

But have you heard of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Morning Creatures?

Probably not. But you should because these seven habits can transform your mornings from drab to dramatic.

What are Morning Creatures?

  • Morning Creatures embrace the hours following the sunrise.
  • Morning Creatures love life too much to waste it moaning and groaning.
  • Morning Creatures attack each day and live it to the fullest, starting the second they roll out of bed.

Not everyone is a Morning Creature – that’s okay. Even if you’re a diehard Night Hawk, you can still use the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Morning Creatures to get your day started off right.

Covey’s Seven Habits show us how – with a few Morning Creature adaptations.

Wake Up Phase

1.  Be Proactive

Don’t wait for the morning to slap you upside the head and call you ugly. Get in that shower – dare your eyes not to open. Belt out the chorus of your favourite song (Bohemian Rhapsody is tad overdone, but it’s still acceptable)

 

2. Begin with the End in Mind

The morning is your friend. Without the morning, you’d never get up and have a great day. You’d never take that romantic walk on the beach, savour that delicious meal, or trek to Nepal and climb the massive heights of K2.

Say yes to the morning, because the morning is the start of your potentially great day.

3. Put First Things First

Morning can be overwhelming. The Effective Morning Creature understands the value of prioritizing. First thing is to focus on yourself. This is your time. Take advantage of it. Give yourself permission to have 10 minutes to shower, dress, and even gaze out a window for a moment of quiet reflection – and that’s even true for parents.

Don’t leave the bedroom until you make that bed, either – with hospital corners. Sets the tone.

Get clean, get dressed, and get psyched for a fab day. The positive energy comes from feeling ready to go. Feel it!

 Home Departure Phase

4. Think Win-Win

You’re about to have a great day; you’re clean and pressed; the bed is made and the hospital corners could slice open a tin can. Yet, this great start can all be undone by some bad decisions when you’re about to leave home. Two factors must be taken into account: the mind and the body. Both of them together, equally. No cheating.

Ignore the mind, and you’ll be out of sorts all day. Ignore the body, and you’ll feel like you want to go back to bed.

You need to go win-win – a mind-and-body double shot.

One morning you may want to work out – just do it! The next morning you might want to relax to some great music and zone out – zone out, my friend. You may even want to compose a new symphony – so grind out a few bars.

Just don’t get fixated on any one thing. Balance is the key. Mind and body.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

The answers come from within.

Ask yourself: Am I hungry?

If yes – eat.

Am I a lazy slob who needs to exercise?

If yes – do a deep knee bend (or workout)

Listen to yourself. Listen to the answers (this is sorta a significant point). Pay attention to what your body and mind are telling you. Body and mind usually speak to us indirectly, however, so you have to be open to their messages.

Breakfast Phase

6. Synthesize

Here’s where it all comes together – the breakfast. Huge moment. Cereal, eggs, granola, toast – all good. No right or wrong answers.

Except for one key rule:

 Always Eat Breakfast

Break the rule and you’ll have wasted all that hard work getting to this point in your day – may as well rip those hospital corners out! Whether you share a meal with someone or go solo, whether you eat at home or at a restaurant, the important thing is to be in the breakfast moment – and let the world slow down while your body fuels up.

Try it. Seriously (…and we’re being serious here).

7. Sharpen the Saw

We don’t want to preach – but we’re going to. Sorry. Morning Creatures don’t stop in their quest for the perfect morning. Everything can be improved.

  • The shampoo may smell too much like a mango – so investigate something with a kiwi orientation.
  • The bathroom towel’s thread count may need supplementing to deliver the necessary comfort.
  • Your coffee ritual could be compromised by inferior beans.
  • Your favourite breakfast spot may have fresh OJ and you haven’t jumped on that.

 

Effective Morning Creatures succeed because they understand the morning – how nothing happens without it; how it can refresh and invigorate; how it gives them an advantage that carries on throughout the day. So take a page out of Covey’s book – and develop those Morning Creature habits.

BOOM Breakfast & Co has been feeding Morning Creatures for over a decade. Our four locations are open 7 days a week, from 7 to 4. Come in and let us help you become a more Effective Morning Creature – it’ll become a habit you’ll find hard to break!