Free shipping with code "R4GDFREE"
Free shipping with code "R4GDFREE"
by Tony Gjokaj May 22, 2020 3 min read
Some people just aren't morning people. We get it, late-night work shifts or other obligations get in the way. That doesn't mean you cannot build the best "your morning" ritual or rise ritual to go out and do things to improve you.
In this article, we will go over five simple habits you can implement to reforge yourself.
These morning habits consist of things that have been personally used, and things that have been proven to work through scientific research.
Wake up 2-3 hours before you are obligated to do anything, whether it is getting ready for work, getting your kids ready for school, and more.
This allows you to get rid of "sleep inertia". According to one study, sleep inertia is the period between brain fog and wakefulness. Rising earlier allows you to either eliminate sleep inertia completely or give you time to eliminate it.
Depending on what your goals are, the trade-off might be that you may need to sleep earlier. However, we believe this will allow you to have the opportunity to take care of your wellbeing before work.
When I used to work 10-12 hour days, I would wake up around 4-5 am to go to the gym in the morning so that I can be energized for work. Accomplishing my personal obligations made it feel like I achieved so much in a day before work even started.
This improved my mood dramatically as a result. According to the Journal of Psychiatric Research, women who got up earlier typically did not have anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders.
We recommend to start by sleeping earlier (by at least an hour) to wake up an hour earlier. As we are typically less productive in the evenings (we are home and we unwind), this is the perfect opportunity to give yourself more productive time.
Go get you some.
If you prefer exercising in the morning, we recommend using the previous "morning habit" to give yourself the prime opportunity to work out.
If you prefer to exercise after work, we recommend reading or doing some mindfulness exercises like meditation, yoga, or spiritual readings.
While some of these may not interest you, your mindfulness exercise can be as simple as deep breaths or stretching. According to one article from Entrepreneur, deep breathing or stretching exercises in the morning brought clarity and mood to the mind.
You can also exercise your mind by reading, studying philosophy, or other spiritual activities that you enjoy.
Find something that allows you to practice gratefulness and appreciation.
Set goals. Define them and consistently change them. Goals are just stepping stones and milestones that you want to execute on, then move onto the next step.
Just because you hit one milestone... you don't rest on those laurels. You move to the next one. This will propel you to even greater heights.
I covered my goal-setting philosophy in my more recent Building the Brand episode. You can watch it below:
As mentioned in our previous sleep article, sunlight helps produce serotonin which eventually becomes the catalyst to sleep by indirectly helping melatonin. As a result, sleep quality is improved when both these hormones are "working together".
If you can't get sun, Vitamin D3 supplementation will benefit you drastically. The sun's rays also give us Vitamin D, which helps with immune health, cognition, bone health, and more. It has even shown to reduce the risk of some forms of cancer.
We cover more about Melatonin and Serotonin here.
Recall that you can typically improve habits in two ways: small incremental steps, or influencing change in your environment.
Consistent action of executing your specific Morning or Rise Ritual will easily transform you. If you have to start small by implementing these habits one at a time, do so.
One of the things I learned in developing a brand is that small actions build desired results. We tend to worry about the end goal, so much so that it brings inaction. Entrepreneurs know that building from the first step is how to build the entire staircase to success.
1% a day.
With these five morning habits, we hope that you can use one or all of them to truly improve your lifestyle.
If there are any questions or insights that have directly helped you become a morning person, comment below, or message me.
You can email me at tony@reforgedperformance.com, or direct message me @ibtonyg.
Thank you for reading Reforged Legion!
Until next time!
Tony is the Owner of Reforged. He is a PN1 Certified Nutrition Coach and has been in the fitness space for over a decade. His goal is to help millions exercise their way out of depression and anxiety.
by Tony Gjokaj April 25, 2023 3 min read
Exercise can feel like a chore, and even if you know it’s good for your health, the motivation to get moving sometimes just isn’t there.
But it doesn’t have to be a burden - by making exercise meaningful to you, it can become something fun and rewarding!
Here are five ways to make exercise more meaningful!
by Tony Gjokaj October 07, 2022 4 min read
Men, I know what it is like to be overweight and depressed.
Not having the energy to do anything but relax and sleep.
While relaxation and sleep are incredibly important, they can make us feel like we are not making progress in our lives.
And when depression hits, it’s very difficult to push through with exercise and weight loss.
But did you know that even though it takes time and some effort, you don’t need to get obsessively crazy over it?
In fact, with just a few small adjustments, you can lose weight, fight back against depression, and take your life back.
If you're serious about shedding pounds and pushing away those depression demons, here are five tips that can help get you started.
by Tony Gjokaj September 05, 2022 4 min read
A few weeks ago, my buddy Grant and I talked about nutrition.
We talked about how he's lost over 120 pounds so far with the weight loss progress he's been making.
This is all because he has been making healthier decisions over time.
One of the newest challenges he's facing right now is he's got a new job. He's working 10 to 12 hour days with physical demanding labor.
And what's been happening for him is that he's been super exhausted, he's not motivated to meal prep, he's having trouble trying to sit down and cook foods doesn't have the energy doesn't have the time.
So what I propose is five tips that you can use to live a more on the go fast food healthy eating lifestyle.
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