For a long time folks have been asking me about my morning routine. Well the day has finally come, the day that I have got around to putting it in writing for you! It’s New Years Day that I am writing this blog post that will guide you steps closer to self actualization. Without a morning routine, potential gets pissed away. I say this because time is the most valued commodity, and in my opinion; we waste a lot of it.
How you start your day often sets the stage for your entire day, possibly the week, and even your life. If your Rising Ritual (or lack thereof) has become something consistent for you, routine even, it could be fundamental or detrimental to your growth. You can be consistently drinking water every morning…or consistently not. But if it’s the latter, now you’re low energy because you’re dehydrated! If you are letting your rising hours pass you by, come put the pieces together with me as I share the foundations of a consistent Rising Ritual in 4 simple steps…
- Time is Money
I am American so trust, CREAM (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) seems to be law. This message has been normalized in our society from various influencers, whether it be music or social media. It wasn’t until I started traveling to third world countries/the world that I started to realize what bullshit that saying was. I saw the “poorest” of people, living vibrant and luxurious lives. It was then that I realized, time is the true number one currency. There have been times in my life where I spent 3 months digging myself into a hole; drinking, smoking, laying in bed till 11 am just to wake and piss the day away watching netflix and scrolling in depression. There were also seasons where I woke up at 5am, did my Rising Ritual, and knocked tasks out hour by hour. I went to bed feeling accomplished, like I had a productive day. I saw my short term and long term goals get accomplished.
We all get caught up in our daydreams, our wants and needs. We may want a big mansion house with 10 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, and 2 levels. Yet, it is only when we ask ourselves,
“What am I doing today to get what I want for tomorrow?” that we are able to start being aware of the time we are wasting.
When I find myself feeling stuck and stagnant, I lay down and meditate in my laziness. The interrogation goes as follows.
How much time do I spend thinking critically?
How much time do I spend planning?
How much time do I spend working?
How much time do I spend resting?
How much time do I spend doing nothing?
How much time am I spending holding myself accountable?
How much time am I spending with people who value their time?
How much time am I spending with people who don’t value time?
For added transparency, it’s good to write down the answers to these questions. However, that can be a bit much for someone coming out of depression or fatigue so the first step is just pondering, reflecting, and accepting one’s actions.
*VENUS PRO TIP : Plan your days out hour by hour, to be clear with yourself on daily expectations and aspirations. Visit our contact page and type “RISING RITUAL” in the subject line of the contact form for your free rising ritual template.
2. Intentions Manifest
After you have a good idea of how much time you spend and on what, you can get into planning to spend your time more intentionally. You go full circle, going back to what you want in life, you are reminded of the luxury mansion in a major city and your desire to travel often.
Well, all of your wishes can be true if you make your intentions known. First and foremost, you must be aware of what it is that you want in life. There are multiple ways to do this in an orderly fashion. When I am feeling low energy & have writer’s block, I sit with my eyes closed and visualize what my dream house looks like. It is important to be very specific in the visualization of what you’re aiming to obtain. Do you want an indoor greenhouse pool with a glass exterior in the middle of Rio Grande or a sustainable remote bamboo mansion in the Amazon? Do daydream of vivid colors and the process that will take place to attain these goals. You see yourself painting the gate, who will be the fetcher of the berries, roots, and leaves that produce the natural dyes? You do not have to have all the answers, but doing this practice will help you get further in the puzzle that is life.
Sometimes society decides for us what we should be working for. That is an ill scheme to fall into. We as a people must keep our individuality about ourselves. That is not to say that you don’t genuinely like certain things that are advertised. I will drop a bag on some designer, Dior and Coach specifically…but that is not to say that I won’t have an eco community where the running water is from the stream; no, it doesn’t warm up and nobody believes in commercial deodorant! I wanted to remind you that YOU define what your lifestyle looks like and money isn’t the only luxurious thing in the world.
3. Hard Work Pays Off
You’ve identified what you want in life. Yup, it happens to be sitting pretty in Maroontown Jamaica with a few imported tesla toys in the backyard. Now how are you going to get that? What’s your plan?
You’ve done your research, looked into how to buy out the country, took a few trips to connect with locals and find the best handy folks around… You want to do this sustainably but you also want it to be luxurious. You’ve browsed around for the right building material and ultimately end up going with a boho wicker style home made out of thick straw because it is aesthetically pleasing.
That’s a lot of work right there but it doesn’t stop now. You’re just getting started on building the budgets, buying the materials, and learning carpentry. One could say you’re really chopping wood! You make the measurements, lay the foundation, and feel like you’ve learned a lot. You feel invigorated because you see your vision coming together.
This is no different when we apply hard work to our Rising Ritual tasks that help us reach our bigger goals. It won’t always be easy to wake up at 5am, to make that cup of tea, to stretch; but if you do see it through, you will reap the harvest of the seeds you have sown. Oh and it will be a rich and plentiful harvest indeed!
4. Embrace Your Failure(s)
Somewhere along the line we all get down, sometimes down bad. Know that suffering is temporary, and victory is forever. Lol, I kid. Also, know that you hold dominion over yourself; you get to decide if something affects you majorly or minorly. You get to choose how you respond to everything. My advice is to look at your mistakes through a “practice makes perfect” lens.
Say you are building a house, out of straw. It takes you a full eight hours to build, night comes and the house is blown away by dawn. You wake up and say, “Hmmmm, what went wrong?” It’s true you are upset, you have wasted time and energy. You take some time to reflect and do research on how you can do it better next time. After thinking long and hard, you’ve concluded that the cost effective straw is too fragile for you to build with. However, you did see a house built out of bamboo in the next town over.
You’ve embraced your failure and decided to invest into working smarter opposed to harder. So you make your way to the bamboo house and ask the owner about her process; who helped her, how she delegated tasks, and so on. She is happy to share her strategy with you and even introduces you to the people who helped her build the house. Within a few months you, too, are sitting in a sustainably built bamboo villa– just like you intended, planned, and worked to.
I’m excited that you have the blueprint to building your best life! Remember, first you must value your time, spend it wisely, and define your life’s path/purpose; knowing that some days work will be harder than others. Lastly, a special thanks to you for taking the time to self care with me today. Let’s keep the link, I can’t wait to hear about the results of your Rising Ritual!
With love from Jamaica, Venus Raquel.