My Daily Routine (Morning) Wintertime 2024

My Daily Routine is a 3 part series where I break down my current daily routine beginning with the morning.

Developing your ideal daily routine is vital for being consistent, and successful. I find that a daily routine grounds me, gives me things to look forward to during the day, and helps to ensure I stay balanced with my mind, body, and spirit so I can tackle anything that comes my way.

Before I get into the dirty details of my Current morning routine, I just want to remind you that this routine is built off of my personal needs, and what works best for my mind, body, and spirit during the 2024 winter here in southwest florida. Some of the components of my routine may or may not work for you, so use your best judgement when decided whether to emulate my routines or not.

Wake: 5-6am

I've always been an earlier riser and I love to produce in the AM hours. I wake with a lot of energy, and creativity. I also like to prioritize early rising because it allows me some very intentional time for myself, which I need to plan my day and nourish my mind and spirit before the day begins.

Bathroom Time

I was fortunate enough to work with an amazing functional medicine doc who taught me how to train my body to go to the bathroom (yes, #2) at the same time everyday. So, this process usually occurs just after I wake up or within 10 minutes. I might have a glass of mineralized water just prior but needless to say, my body knows when to go.

Prayer/meditation/breathwork(15-30 min)

My spiritual health and fitness is actually my top priority and why its so high up on my routine list. I learned through my autoimmune healing journey that being aligned with myself, my values, my Creator, and taking time to reflect upon all that I've been blessed with is paramount to my health and longevity. I also use this time to allow God to teach me and speak to me. I usually include a form of gratitude practice, contemplating who I can serve that day (or allowing God to lead me to that person), as well as breathwork. I like to include breathwork in this spiritual practice because anytime I can get my body involved, it only enhances and better entrains Gods love, grace, and plan for my day and life. Some of the tools I use during this time would include: my bible, spiritual meditation apps, gratitude journal, journal, and I prefer to use a guided breathwork app.

Coffee

Coffee is an interesting topic for me, as I have quite a history with it. See, after my college football career ended, I was a bit of a fish out of water. I didn't have a lot of hobbies because I had devoted literally every waking hour to football. During my freshman year, while struggling with what to do with my time, besides lifting and studying, my RA in the dorms took me to a local coffee shop. I had no real prior coffee shop experience and I was really taken back by the vibes. In a matter of months I was a full fledged barista. I was very fortunate to get into the coffee game as the craft coffee movement was beginning to take off in the midwest because it really opened my world up. Long story short, I love well crafted, intentionally roasted coffee. I worked for that coffee shop through my entire undergrad, managing the shop during my senior year, and even worked part-time at a different coffee shop while I was in grad school (partly for some extra money, and partly for free coffee).

Yes, I'm a bit of a coffee snob. My preference and what I make my wife and I every morning is a double shot americano ( 2-3 oz of espresso with 2 oz of hot water...like a cortado but water instead of milk). I prefer south african or south american beans, lightly roasted to retain their flavor and complexity, and yes, I may even drink my coffee with my pinky pointed upwards on occasion.

I've learned over the years, mostly the hard way, that caffeine is a heck of a drug and should be used judiciously. Its impact on the central nervous system is under appreciated and using caffeine too much or simply drinking too much coffee, tea, etc. can be absolutely detrimental to your health. I have taken my year+ long breaks from coffee and caffeine, though fortunately there are some excellent decaf options out there now.

My advice to my clients and those of you who drink coffee regularly is this: Be wise about your consumption. It's very easy to exercise too hard the day before or work too long, wake up exhausted and go to your cup of joe to try to give you a boost to get through the day. You know who pays the ultimate price for these kinds of mistakes? YOU DO! So, be wise with caffeine, it is the most consumed drug in the world and one of the most potent ones at that. It's a good idea to take a break from caffeine for 1 week a month, each month.

Creative work (60-90 min)

Once I've had my morning BM, fed my spirit with meditation, prayer, and breathwork, and topped it off with an amazing double espresso with hot water, I am chomping at the bit to create. I've just found that I'm at my most creative state in the morning, and many times before anyone else gets up. During the wintertime I have found I have to fill my morning up with more activities because I'm up much earlier than the sunrise (this changes dramatically once we hit spring, I'm out on the porch soaking up the morning sun rays).

My creative time can vary a lot from day to day. Some days I'm pouring myself into editing some video parts for a reel or short film (one of my new loves right now), writing down some new insights and revelations as my mind puts the puzzle pieces of all kinds of topics together, reading a new book, designing a new website or program to help others to optimize their health and longevity, or I may be chatting with a friend who's down in australia on the opposite time zone.

One of my favorite and most pleasurable things in life is noticing and observing life, collecting all these individual puzzle pieces in the recesses of my mind, and then slowing down for a bit and allowing them to connect like magnets. It's one of the pure joys of life, to put together the puzzle of life, sometimes at a 5 foot view and other times at a 30,000 foot view, they are all joy to me. My creative work time in the morning always involves this process.

I should also note that most of this creative time is usually related to my business, coaching clients, program development, and also personal development. I consider this part of my work day.

Sunrise & wake the dog (10-20 min)

Typically around sunrise I will stop my creative work time, wake the dog (her name is Daisy, she's a German Shorthaired Pointer) and take her out. We head to the small dog park every morning so she can do her business and I can do mine. Sun gazing that is. While she runs around, I ground myself barefoot and sun gaze. Whether it's sunny or cloudy, its always important to get REAL sunshine into your eyes EVERY SINGLE MORNING. I hope to write more about the valuable effects of sunlight (hormone and circadian benefits as an example) and especially morning sun gazing, but for now, lets just say...I NEVER MISS.

Breakfast & family time (30-45 min)

By now, everyone is awake and I'm ready to fuel. I eat breakfast within 2 hours of waking every morning unless I'm fasting. I have some core components of my breakfast but its usually one of these 3 approaches.

A large balanced breakfast consisting of 40-50 grams of protein, 40-50 grams of complex carbs and fruits, and 15-20 grams of healthy fat. This might look like a bowl of hot porridge with berries mixed in, scrambled eggs with greens and feta, along with some turkey sausage or whey. The focus here is nourishment, and satiety.
Immunity Code Day 1 Breakfast: A Lot of berries, a lot of walnuts, 30 grams of protein from whey, turkey sausage, eggs, or yogurt and usually some juice or green juice. The focus here is feeding the gut microbiome and optimizing insulin sensitivity among other benefits you'll learn more about with 2-day core in up coming blogs.
Immunity Code Day 2 Amplified Fast: Because it's a fast (from dinner the night before until usually noon the next day), there isn't any food. However, there is a very specific protocol that I follow that includes specific supplements, exercise, and cold exposure, before I break the fast at lunch. Oh yeah, in this approach I'll typically have some exogenous ketones which really get the gears in the brain turning! The focus on this approach to breakfast for me is to spin down inflammation, amplify the cellular housekeeping and cleaning that occurs with fasting, optimizing fat burning, and giving the GI tract a rest. Right now, I usually reserve this approach for sundays.

Walk or weight lifting (30-60 min)

After everyone is well fed and we've discussed our plans for the day, well either split up and do our own thing or go for a family walk. The wife and I usually rotate between walking the dog one day and working out the other day. These walks are always around a pond, in the woods, or over to the large dog park near our place.

I use this time for more AM sun exposure, as well as listening to podcasts, sermons, music, or just talking with my wife or daisy dog. We typically solve all of life's problems during these walks, contemplate how we are going to conquer the world, or work out what's been weighing on our hearts and minds lately. Between the sun light, fresh air, nature bath, and my beloved wife and dog, this time is as nourishing as my entire morning routine combined and I'm so grateful for the time to connect with them.

Life is about relationship and connection, make it a priority in your life and you'll understand what I mean. My wife and I often will share with each other on deeper and deeper levels during these walks because we both understand the value of someone else on this planet getting to know the REAL YOU. It's heartbreaking to imagine how many people are born on this earth, live a uniquely valuable life but have no one to share it with and no one ever gets to know who they truly are. So, we don't take this for granted and encourage each other to be open, honest, vulnerable, and brave so we can see and hear one another. That's what relationship and connection is all about in my opinion.

Work (90 min-3 hrs)

If you haven't caught on yet, I chunk my workday. The first part, as mentioned above, is my first block and is mainly creative focused unless something urgent comes up. The second block of my work day (this one) is typically a catch all of coaching clients, outreach, follow-ups, and general day to day tasks. My final block of work is in the afternoons which I will write about in part 2 of this series.

I like to use lists to organize and create an optimal flow of what needs to take place that day. I like to block different days of the week for different types of coaching and tasks. Certain days I may be coaching throughout the entire block whereas other days I may be writing, editing websites, reaching out to folks I've been visiting with about their health issues, etc.

I found through my previous coaching career with the US Army and a large financial institution that I enjoy a variety of activities as part of my job. Writing, educating, coaching, creating content, interacting with folks on their healing journeys, and so many more. So, its important for me to keep my schedule varied so i don't get burnt out on a specific type of work task.

So, this brings me to my final point, balance. The most important part of my work is creating balance for myself and conditioning a habit of balance in my work. See, balance is something that is central to my coaching services and philosophy and as a professional, I practice what I preach. The best way to impact those around you is to model what you want the world to be.

This brings us to the end of part 1 - feel free to ask questions or leave comments.

Stay well,

William Malcolm

IntuitiveWellnessNow