I took my mum away to Somerset last week with her hounds and mine – 2 humans, 4 dogs ALL fun and games! – we stayed at a gorgeous cottage called the Quantock Hide which is literally in the Quantock Hills and is so beautiful!
The views from up there are just stunning.
I love being high up, looking down, out, and across; I find it gives my mind a better perspective on things. And I think it’s a great way to start any day.
I used to do quite a few early morning breakfast meetings at The Shard or Duck and Waffle in London, but then to better suit my health and nutrition goals, I instead opted to bundle the dogs in the car at dawn and go and watch the sunrise above London at Parliament Hill.
Some days our minds feel extra heavy, and staying home makes us feel even more boxed in with our thinking, even wandering around the local park can’t shift it either.
If that’s ever the case for you then I highly recommend going someplace high, where you can look out at the view, take some deep breaths, and get some space and better clarity of thought.
We totally lucked out with the weather while we were there, because my goodness have the temperatures dropped considerably now!
I pushed out on a run yesterday morning, planning for a 10K but I didn’t realise how cold it was (-4 degrees!) and ended up cutting it short to 5K as I couldn’t feel my toes or fingertips…. and I honestly thought if I went any longer then my face might fall off!
So it’ll be short runs for us for now with the sub-zero temperatures.. or maybe not many outdoor runs at all (I’m not going to lie I couldn’t face it this morning!)
I feel the stairmaster calling for morning cardio instead actially. I definitely need to replace it with something as it’s a morning habit which forms part of my morning ritual, wich are so important for us all to ground ourselces when we wake and get the day off to a good start.
Speaking of habits, if you are struggling to adopt some good ones and make them stick, here are 3 things that might help you 👇
- Set up an obvious cue for it – ie. if you want to read more often then place a book on your bed in the morning so you have to pick it up to get into bed at night. Or if you want to drink more water, fill multiple bottles up and put them everywhere to remind you – in the office, living room, car, bedside table etc.
- Start small and be consistent – Just tell yourself you’re doing it for the next 7 days. Start small ie. 5 minutes of exercise or reading or 1 litre of water and stick to it for 7 days. Then increase for the next 7 days to 10 minutes or 1.5 litres, then 15 minutes and 2 litres the 7 days after this. And so on. This makes it challenging, fun, and far more interesting for you to do. After a few weeks you’ll embed the habit with minimal effort all while enjoying the process.
- Create a rule and attach it to another habit that you already do. ie. “I cannot brush my teeth until I’ve done 3 minutes of breathing exercises” or “I won’t eat breakfast until I’ve done 30 minutes of exercise” or “If I want to check my phone I have to drink 5 sips of water before I can pick it up”
Wishing you a wonderful day (or evening, depending on what time you’re read this!) as always! 😃
Love Cam x
