10 The Power of a Great Morning Routine

Hey up folks! Welcome back to Creative Journeys. This episode is a bit of a special one because Lucy and I actually got to record it in person while I was over in the UK! And let’s just say, it involved great conversations, business insights, and… sirloin steak and chips. Priorities, right? 😆

But back to business – today, we’re diving into morning routines and how they can set you up for success. Trust me, how you start your day has a massive impact on how the rest of it unfolds. I’ve had times in my life when my morning routine was on point (walking 10K steps before 9 AM when I was a CEO!) and times when I’ve had to reset and find what works. So, Lucy and I are sharing what we do, what works for us, and how you can craft a routine that sets you up for success too.

In this episode, we chat about:

✅ Why starting your day with intention changes everything (no doom scrolling!)
✅ How movement – whether it’s a walk, a stretch, or a full workout – boosts energy and focus
✅ The importance of fueling your mind with something that sparks creativity and clarity
✅ Why protecting your focus first thing in the morning helps you get the important stuff done

We also dive into meditation, mindset, and even hypnosis (yep, I’m trained in that too!) – all the good stuff that helps you show up as your best self in business and in life.

💬 What’s your go-to morning routine? Do you have one, or are you looking to create one? Let’s chat – drop me a message or tag me on social!

🎧 Listen now and get ready to transform your mornings!

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Connect with Jo Day:

• Hey Up Folks! 👋🏻 Website - https://www.heyupfolks.com
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• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-day-a5b409321/

Connect with Lucy Rennie:

• Website: https://www.iamlucyrennie.com/
• Lucy on Instagram: http://instagram.com/iamlucyrennie
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucyrennie1/

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Catching Up
• 3:44 The Power of In-Person Collaboration
• 6:14 The Importance of a Morning Routine
• 9:29 Jo’s Walk to the Wall Story
• 11:44 How Walking & Movement Boost Productivity
• 14:59 Meditation, Mindfulness & Resetting Your Day
• 18:34 Creating a Routine That Works for You
• 22:14 Protecting Your Focus & Avoiding Distractions
• 23:14 Quickfire Tips for a Solid Morning Routine

Transcript

[00:00:00] Jo Day: Hey up folks, welcome to Creative Journeys. So this week, you might think I'm flying solo, but I actually aren't. Myself and Lucy met up in person a few weeks back when I was over in the UK. For those of you that don't know, I live in Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands in Spain. And Lucy lives in the UK,.

[00:00:22] Jo Day: So I managed to catch up with Lucy whilst I was there and 

[00:00:25] Jo Day: we were having a chat about our morning routine and what I would say is we'd ordered lunch and we'd ordered sirloin steak and chips and that came just as we were in the middle of the chat so it got abandoned. That's why I'm doing this recording now. If you just bear that in mind that, yeah. Food got in the way, you have to tackle the important things first and foremost. Hope you enjoy the episode.

[00:00:56] Jo Day: Hey up folks. 

[00:00:57] Lucy Rennie: Cheers. Happy birthday. Happy New Year. 

[00:01:00] Jo Day: Happy New Year. Cheers. 

[00:01:02] Jo Day: How are we all? I'm here with Lucy, and we're in person. As you can probably tell, this is not a VR screen.

[00:01:10] Lucy Rennie: It's just so good to be in real life together. . 

[00:01:13] Jo Day: Yeah. We do live two and a half thousand miles apart, so there'll be a lot of remote recording, but I certainly plan to spend a lot more time in the UK this year, out and about with Lucy.

[00:01:27] Jo Day: Doing in person days, masterclasses, and various different things.

[00:01:32] Lucy Rennie: And I think this year, obviously with the plans that we've got and the fact that we work so well together, and we've just been saying, haven't we, how we really love getting under the skin of businesses and really helping people to move forward and Think creatively or think outside the box and that's really what we want to be doing this year.

[00:01:48] Lucy Rennie: So yeah, it's working out what that looks like but again doing it in our way which is step by step and not making it all coming up with a massive big plan straight away. 

[00:01:57] Lucy Rennie: And I think that's the thing that

[00:01:58] Lucy Rennie: we, I think, anyway, I know, is we both love business, don't we? Yeah. And it's that's the thing, is, yeah, so I think between us and what we're doing It's about helping as many people as we can to create good, brilliant businesses.

[00:02:14] Lucy Rennie: Not so that make money, but also we're doing good stuff and it's delivering value and quality and things into it and doing it right. So I think that's what's exciting about this year. 

[00:02:24] Jo Day: Yeah, I love it. 

[00:02:26] Jo Day: Anyway, what a lovely view, looking out there, recording a podcast, but why not get out and do a little bit more?

[00:02:35] Jo Day: From Lanzarote, I've committed to doing some walking. Those of you who know me well will know that. from 2018 through till 2021. and walk every morning. By nine in the morning, I'd already done 10k plus steps. I was averaging about 20, 000, 22, 000 steps a day and I felt fit as a fiddle. But before I sat down, this is when I was the CEO of an energy company, before I sat down at my desk at nine in the morning, I'd already been up and I'd walked 10k and but I know that when we get to the wall, I've got a funny story about the wall, but when we get to the wall. It's 5, 000 steps, you turn around and come back. It was approximately 45 minutes to get to the wall, 45 minutes back, half an hour for a quick shower, whatever. Coffee, a bit of breakfast bite to eat. And then I was at my desk, but I felt so good.

[00:03:32] Jo Day: So good. And then I worked probably nine till six, sometimes later. But through choice, not through have to. It was through choice. And I loved it. I absolutely loved it. And I was, I felt good. I felt healthy and I slept really well. But I've always had a good morning routine, but that was part of my good morning routine.

[00:03:54] Jo Day: The story about the wall. So we used to get to the wall, me and Shaz, every morning. And there's people that fish, fishermen, all along the coastline. And they're the cliffs. 

[00:04:07] Lucy Rennie: People that fish. 

[00:04:09] Jo Day: Fishermen. All along the coastline. And Right, and we get to the wall, and I could see this bloke fishing. I used to shout.

[00:04:20] Jo Day: I think every morning he's in the same spot. so I used to shout, Good morning! dead loud, but he'd never wave back. Anyway, after three or four mornings of shouting good morning to this guy and waving to him, we realised it was a sign saying, keep off the cliffs. It was a post. It wasn't even a man. So I still, every time we go to the wall, I still shout good morning to the post.

[00:04:51] Lucy Rennie: To the statue. To the post. Love it. I love it. Now there's something so good about walking, like just getting out isn't there? 

[00:04:57] Jo Day: Walking and talking, yeah. 

[00:04:59] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, same. I'm the opposite, I do it at night. So that's my time. 

[00:05:02] Jo Day: Yeah, you do it , in Whaley Bridge. 

[00:05:04] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, that's it. Not far from here actually, is it?

[00:05:06] Lucy Rennie: Yeah. It's but it's just getting out and having that space. It's interesting because I actually managed to get for a run yesterday in the morning. And again, I think it does set you up for. They've been in a good place. 

[00:05:19] Jo Day: So what is your, do 

[00:05:21] Jo Day: you have a morning routine?

[00:05:24] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, except this morning.

[00:05:26] Jo Day: Except this morning. Tell me about your morning routine. Because there is a book, isn't there, about the what's it called, the something minute morning. 

[00:05:35] Lucy Rennie: The Miracle Morning. 

[00:05:36] Jo Day: You see how it's made such an impression on me.

[00:05:41] Jo Day: My miracle morning is this. I wake up, go and make myself a brew and get back in bed and then I meditate with me brew. Some people could call it snoozing and having another five minutes sleep. I call it meditating because I'm thinking about the day, and there is 

[00:05:59] Lucy Rennie: It's that in between moment, isn't it?

[00:06:00] Jo Day: It's that in between, I'm not properly getting up. I'm just preparing for the day, so it's five, ten minutes preparing. When I finish my coffee, I make the bed. Because then I know I've got a real nice And that's the first job. And then I grab my Gratitude Rock, and Off I go. And there's a lot of people that I like, surely.

[00:06:26] Jo Day: I don't believe she's always got it. I've always, this is my gratitude rock, and I've always got it with me. This one, I picked up on a beach in, Wales, in Port Maddox. Near Port Maddox. Back in 2016, 2015, 2016. I've had it for a very long time and you can see on it because I've even painted it with nail varnish.

[00:06:51] Jo Day: Make it shiny because I'm rubbing it all the time, but it's Full of energy, this rock. 

[00:06:59] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, and I'm with you. I've got one. 

[00:07:00] Jo Day: You've got one. So Lucy's got hers. We have these rituals of little things that when we talk about it's difficult to demonstrate your morning routine. I perhaps could record it, but then it just looks as if it's staged for a reel.

[00:07:17] Jo Day: Yeah. That's my morning routine. 

[00:07:19] Lucy Rennie: And I think part of it is, because sometimes, for me, I know sometimes that if it's too rigid and structured, then it actually has the opposite effect. 

[00:07:27] Jo Day: Yeah. 

[00:07:27] Lucy Rennie: And I think that's the point, isn't it? With all of this, it's like finding the strategies that make you feel good and help you show up in the right way.

[00:07:34] Lucy Rennie: So for me, Because I'm not a morning person whatsoever. Paul, my husband, gets up at the alarm goes off about quarter past, half past six. He gets up and takes the dog out for a walk.

[00:07:44] Jo Day: Yeah. 

[00:07:44] Lucy Rennie: For about an hour. But before he goes out, he brings me a coffee in bed. So I'll sit and come to in, in bed.

[00:07:51] Lucy Rennie: And then I go and I have. Whether it's 10 minutes, depending on how much time I've got, about 10, half an hour where I'll go and I'll just check in and light a candle, wash my face and just have a moment. I might even pull a card or listen to some music and just it's that me time. And then from about half seven onwards, it's breakfast for everybody.

[00:08:12] Lucy Rennie: It's doing the packed lunches, it's getting the kids ready for school and it's all that. But I know that if I don't get that time for me, even if it is just five minutes. My day isn't right, it doesn't go well, so it is about helping 

[00:08:24] Lucy Rennie: me set up. 

[00:08:24] Jo Day: Just on that point, your day doesn't go well, do you have a reset routine?

[00:08:30] Jo Day: Do you know how to if your day's not going well, do you know how to reset the day? 

[00:08:34] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, so interesting, because I used to be a nightmare it's a bit like, you know when you stub your toe and then you stub your and then you spill a glass of water in your foot? Yeah. And it is so important, isn't it, to stop?

[00:08:44] Lucy Rennie: And actually then, yeah, take a few minutes, I'll, I'll go, I'll just go and I'll listen to either. I've realised meditating doesn't have to be dead serious. You can actually put a piece of music on for three minutes and just check in with yourself and just have that moment. It doesn't have to, again, no rules.

[00:08:58] Jo Day: So I wrote an article for Thrive magazine years ago, 2018. I'd just qualified as a meditation teacher. Spent 18 months learning. Mindfulness and meditation, and there was so many hours of training that you had to go through, and with students as well, and I passed the exam, and I'd just qualified, and that's when I wrote this article, and it was for busy people, busy mums in particular, and it was a 60 second meditation, and it focuses 20 seconds on breathing, 20 seconds on body posture, and letting all of the energy go, and then 20 seconds basically of, Just that relaxing thought, whatever thought pops in your head, allow it to.

[00:09:47] Jo Day: Yeah. Because if you think about your mind as a filing cabinet. But your filing cabinet is not organised, so your mind's just got a load of papers whizzing round, emails that need answering, tasks that need, it's your to do list, unstructured to do list whizzing round in your mind. Now usually, when you do the 20 seconds of relaxating breathing in through your nose, out through your mouth, 20 seconds is all it should take if you do it right to get you in a relaxed state.

[00:10:17] Jo Day: Then Notice after 20 seconds where you're holding tension in your body and let that go whilst you're still breathing. So it shouldn't take any more than 20 seconds to notice where the tension's been held, let that go. But then allow the thought, whatever thought needs to come through, allow that to come through.

[00:10:40] Jo Day: And that's usually the most pressing thing that you need to deal with. That's your procrastination. Yeah. That's your most pressing task. 

[00:10:47] Lucy Rennie: Your frog. 

[00:10:48] Jo Day: Your frog. Yeah. Deal with that. Notice that. Don't try and suppress that as a thought. Notice it and deal with it. 

[00:10:56] Lucy Rennie: Yeah. 

[00:10:57] Jo Day: Prioritise that to get off your list first of all.

[00:11:01] Jo Day: So that was just a 60 second meditation that you can do while you stood at the till in ASDA you can do it while you're waiting at traffic lights if the lights have just gone on red. You don't have to close your eyes, you can do it in the shower, you can do it whilst out walking. There's all kinds of meditations that you can do.

[00:11:19] Jo Day: My favorite meditation is TM meditation, the funny thing is, I met Lucy at this hotel today, at this spa beautiful place, and she had a meeting before we were coming here, so I got here really early, because I dropped my daughter off at work and then thought, it's on the way, I'm just going to carry on driving, and when I got here, I thought, I'm just going to do a TM meditation. And I fell asleep in the car, and Lucy's been wandering around the hotel 20 minutes looking for me, and I'm fast asleep in the car.

[00:11:55] Lucy Rennie: There's no signal whatsoever, so if you're not on the Wi Fi, you can't know if oh my god, I'm going to 

[00:12:00] Jo Day: This is how relaxed I go when I do my meditation. This is, I go into a real submersive meditation, and I'm normally aware. of surroundings were in this situation. I think I did. I woke up and thought, oh my god, it's twenty past eleven.

[00:12:17] Jo Day: She said she'd only be an hour and that was it. Off nine. Where's Lucy? 

[00:12:22] Lucy Rennie: I've been going round and round, up and down, out and around. Oh my god. 

[00:12:27] Jo Day: Yeah. But meditation is just a natural part of my life. I don't very often share with people that I am qualified in meditation and mindfulness.

[00:12:41] Jo Day: I also trained in all the corporate. Corporate, love a bit of and NLP, don't they? I'm NLP'd throughout my corporate career I was always going on one NLP course or another. I'm a Master Practitioner in NLP. I did a refresher course on it back in 2017. I've not really touched it since then, maybe a little bit in 2018.

[00:13:06] Jo Day: I had 

[00:13:07] Jo Day: Hey! How are you having your steaks today? 

[00:13:09] Jo Day: Oh rare for me. However they come. 

[00:13:12] Jo Day: That's what 

[00:13:15] Jo Day: Jane said, it's not normally on specifically, it normally has a quote. However the chef recommends, however it goes. I'm easy, but yeah, more rare than anything, yeah. I've lost, where was I? NLP. NLP. But I also trained in Hypnosis.

[00:13:36] Jo Day: I don't tell people, I don't use it on people too much. Sometimes, if it helps, I will use it as part of, if I'm coaching somebody, and it's normally people bring me in as a business coach, but actually, it's not the business that needs support, it's the person. And that's usually with mindset, it's their mindset, as you touched on in episode seven.

[00:14:03] Jo Day: Your, what held you back in business for the first 10 years wasn't processes and systems. It was your mindset. 

[00:14:10] Jo Day: 100%. 

[00:14:11] Jo Day: And that's where I found us. So having NLP is a backdrop, and mindfulness and meditation. When I'm using the meditation, I do tend to, I ask permission first of all, but would it be okay if I use a hypnosis technique to help get you across?

[00:14:32] Jo Day: The line on some of these things that are holding you back. 

[00:14:34] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, and she doesn't mean you don't have them walking around like a chicken, do you? 

[00:14:37] Jo Day: No, not at all. So I first, come across hypnosis, I had a massive fear of flying. I never let it stop me going anywhere in the world. But I used to have, Valium before I got on the plane.

[00:14:52] Jo Day: And usually with a red wine. I'd be unconscious practically getting on the plane. Never awake for take off because I just couldn't cope and then the same for landing as well. When I was in the sky, not too bad, but I used to be terrified of flying. And I had three, two, three hypnosis sessions and I actually video now.

[00:15:14] Jo Day: I can sit in, I always have the window seat and I can video take off and landing. I'm really confident about the noises and it's a state of mind. That when you know how things work, and yes, accidents do still happen, but more at risk being on a plane than you are in a car. 

[00:15:35] Lucy Rennie: If anything, you're less at risk, aren't you?

[00:15:36] Jo Day: Less at risk, yeah. 

[00:15:37] Lucy Rennie: Because of the probability, so yeah. 

[00:15:39] Jo Day: Statistically less at risk. But yeah, it helps. 

[00:15:43] Lucy Rennie: Fear's a horrible thing though, isn't it? 

[00:15:45] Jo Day: I use Meditation, hypnosis, mindfulness on myself, rather than selling it out to bus I mean if you're working with me, you get it as a given. If I think it would be helpful to you, you get it, but with permission, do you know what I mean? We give it a go. 

[00:16:05] Lucy Rennie: Yeah. And that's part of though, the fact, it's like what we were talking about, isn't it? It's all the when you, I think we're a perfect example of this, is all the different bits and pieces that make you. And what you offer and all the value is you bring in to NLP and all this hypnosis and all the meditation stuff is another sort of bit to the package, 

[00:16:22] Lucy Rennie: isn't 

[00:16:22] Lucy Rennie: it?

[00:16:22] Jo Day: It's another branch. That you've got there. It's another 

[00:16:24] Jo Day: branch or another tool in the toolkit.

[00:16:27] Lucy Rennie: Yeah. 

[00:16:27] Lucy Rennie: Yeah. I had I've used a lot of hypnotherapy, which is the same kind of thing, isn't it but from After giving birth to Ellia, I actually went for therapy with that because I had PTSD from it. And it is really powerful, isn't it?

[00:16:40] Lucy Rennie: Yeah. But again, I think there's no rules to it. It's almost, I think, with all of these things, sometimes you think, Oh, I've got to do it this way, or like meditation, it's where you've got to not think of anything and all. Yeah, It's not, is it? So I think there's proper stuff where we can delve deeper into it.

[00:16:54] Lucy Rennie: Finding the things that work for you. So part of it walking and go back to how we started this is walking is almost like a meditation, isn't it? In itself, it's just getting out there and having that time to think or to be and just to take it all in and get that fresh air and breathe. Yeah. 

[00:17:10] Jo Day: I remember, I was in Bali at the time and not long since qualified and I was on a, it was called the ultimate human experience and it was a retreat for women from all over the world and it was with Alex Tripod.

[00:17:28] Jo Day: I don't know if you follow Alex or whatever. She, I love Alex to bits, I follow her and I think she's absolutely phenomenal what she's gone on to create and so anybody that isn't following Alex, go follow Alex, she's fantastic in terms of manifesting and she's just on a whole new level. And she does all of this stuff herself.

[00:17:50] Jo Day: So her trade originally, I think, was something to do with graphic design and whatever. So her reels are just on point. Everything that she does, her slides, videos, they just have next level good, like next level. She just oozes this confidence and she's just brilliant anyway. I feel like a mum. I feel like a proud mum watching it over the years.

[00:18:16] Jo Day: Like no relation whatsoever, but Alex was running the retreat. 

[00:18:19] Jo Day: Yeah. 

[00:18:20] Jo Day: And that's where I first came across TM meditation. Okay. And then went off to training TM meditation as well and qualified in that. I've not long since qualified in this meditation, and there was this A lady having, who was on a retreat from Australia, I'd not met her before, I'd known her for a few days on the retreat.

[00:18:43] Jo Day: And she was having a full blown panic attack, don't know where it came from. We were walking down the street towards a restaurant and just, she stopped dead in the middle of the street. Couldn't breathe, full on, full blown. And other people were oblivious to her. And I literally brought her down from this.

[00:19:03] Jo Day: But I brought her down from it by using meditation and by using Hypnosis. 

[00:19:08] Lucy Rennie: The steaks are coming. 

[00:19:09] Jo Day: Are they coming? 

[00:19:09] Lucy Rennie: Yeah, here now. 

[00:19:10] Jo Day: Amazing. Guys, food's come. Check out that. You're not gonna video us eating, are you? No,

[00:19:17] Jo Day: how good do those steaks look? How good do they I'll tell you, they were the best steaks. They were so delicious. And then we had some kind of Lemon meringue type pie afterwards as well. It was fantastic. We really enjoyed the day. Okay, so before we wrap up, I really wanted to just recap on how you can create yourself a solid morning routine.

[00:19:42] Jo Day: How you start your day, as me and Lucy were discussing, it really does set the tone for everything that follows. Here's a few pointers for you, just really quick, so number one for me is start with intention. Don't dive straight into emails or social media. Don't be tempted to just go straight to picking your phone up and start doom scrolling or doom checking and checking your emails and social media.

[00:20:09] Jo Day: Take a few minutes every morning to plan what your top priorities are for the day. Now, as I explained in the video, mine was, I make myself a cup of coffee, I get back into bed and I just take a few moments to do a meditation. You might just want to take a few moments just to think through your to do list, but just be quiet with no screens.

[00:20:31] Jo Day: Just however you find the best. Starting your day with intention, whatever works for you, do that, but keep off emails and social media just for the very first few minutes that you start your day. Tip number two, which I touched on about walking, so tip number two would be to Move your body. Whether it's a workout, a quick stretch, or if you go for a walk like I've started walking again, get your body moving will fire up your energy levels and you'll be ready to get through that to do list and face the day so really converting your to do list into a task list that is ticked off. Number three, fuel your mind. Read, listen to a podcast, do some journaling. Feeding your brain first thing in the morning will help you to stay focused and creative. It doesn't have to be anything work related.

[00:21:35] Jo Day: Do some gratitude journaling. Do, some self development of some kind. I really love listening to podcasts. I really do. But I watch A lot of news media as well on YouTube. I try to stay up to date with global affairs. At the moment, I'm finding it fascinating watching everything that's going on with the US presidential election.

[00:21:59] Jo Day: Since Trump's been in, in the White House. And the tariffs and everything that's going on, how quickly he's making decisions and moving on things. So I'm watching that at the moment amongst other things, but global affairs is, one of the things that I go to first thing in the morning to just stop me.

[00:22:22] Jo Day: From going straight into work mode. So that's how I feed my brain first thing in the morning. And number four, finally, protect your focus. So avoid checking emails or messages first thing. Instead, give yourself time to work on your most important tasks before the world starts demanding your attention.

[00:22:44] Jo Day: Now I don't know about you, what time your work day Starts, mine's usually around 8, 8. 30, something like that. And the emails start pinging anytime from 8 o'clock onwards, right the way throughout the day. Now, my working week is a 7 day week. I know that's not for everybody, but I am running 3 very different businesses.

[00:23:08] Jo Day: I work seven days a week and that is through choice. I could work five days a week if I wanted to but I can tell you just from my own personality I would be very twitchy and fidgety and I need to be doing something all the time so I choose to work. Your morning routine, it doesn't have to be complicated, just consistent.

[00:23:28] Jo Day: So just to summarise, start your day with intention, don't go straight into emails and social media. Number two, move your body, get yourself to the gym or go for a quick stretch or a quick walk or a few star jumps, whatever it is. Number three, fuel your mind. Read, listen to a podcast or do some journaling, but feed your brain first thing in the morning, but not with your business stuff.

[00:23:55] Jo Day: Feed your brain with something else and then protect your focus. So first thing in the morning, your clients might not be emailing, they might not be messaging first thing. So take that time to give yourself time to work on your most important tasks. Get that ticked off first. Eat that frog first thing in the morning.

[00:24:17] Jo Day: So I hope you found that episode enjoyable and useful.

[00:24:21] Jo Day: I'll see you next time.