You forgot to set your alarm.

As you slowly wake up on your own, you see that the sun is already shining brightly and it’s much later than you anticipated.

Panic sets in as you realize you’re late for everything. You throw on your cleanest outfit, brush your teeth and rush out the door un-showered, hungry and stressed.

While this may be a downright miserable way for anyone to start their day, it’s all too familiar to many of us.

We’ve all experienced the difference between an unintentional morning of stress and chaos, and an intentional morning of tranquility and efficiency.

Your morning routine has the power to set the mood for your entire day.

Studies show that people who start their mornings calm and happy finish the day in the same upbeat, energized state… whereas people who begin their day in a bad mood end their day feeling the same, or worse.

Furthermore, those who have elevated moods demonstrate high productivity, while those who experience low moods demonstrate low productivity.

The bottom line?

If you want to feel happier, more energized, more successful, and more fulfilled, you absolutely must create a morning ritual that nourishes you.

Morning rituals really come down to self-care. You care for yourself first and foremost, so you can carry out into your day and your life from an internal space of wholeness, tranquility and ease – as opposed to a place of depletion, exhaustion and overwhelm.

What this means will be different for each of us, but here are some universally powerful morning routines to get you started…

Transform Your Life With These 14 Morning Rituals

1. Wake Up Intentionally

Set your alarm the night before for a time that’s early enough to allow you to do all the things you’d like to before you set off for your day’s work. When the alarm goes off, wake up! It’s a temporary price to pay for the glory of a beautiful morning.

2. Make Your Bed

If you haven’t yet seen the YouTube video, “Change the World by Making Your Bed,” we highly recommend it. Basically this is your first job from the universe, and how well you do it will often determine how well you do everything else throughout your day.

3. Exercise

This is an obvious one that makes its way onto every personal care list, and we can’t overlook its positive impact as part of a powerful morning ritual. Whether you complete a full hour-long yoga session, a 5-mile run, a quick stretch or brisk walk outside, you will immediately feel the energizing, emotionally- and mentally-stimulating effect of moving your body in the morning.

4. Meditate

Meditation is particularly powerful in the morning, because it primes your nervous system (which is in a highly receptive state just after waking) for the day. Meditation helps stimulate the parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system, and calm the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system, so you can start your day from a place of grounded, peaceful clarity.

5. Take a Refreshing Shower

Showering isn’t only important for personal hygiene, but perhaps more importantly, it’s a wake up call for your mind and body, and it’s scientifically proven to stimulate creativity. If you want to take your showers to the next level, try cold shower therapy for its countless mental, physical and emotional benefits.

6. Load up on plant foods

For post-workout fuel, there’s nothing better than a fresh, nutrient-dense, alkalizing breakfast. Try green smoothies with plant-based protein powder, or eggs with leafy greens mixed in. The sky’s the limit! Give your body the nourishment it needs to carry on with happy cells for the whole rest of the day.

7. Drink plenty of water

Drinking water in the morning (especially warm water with lemon!) has countless benefits, such as firing up your metabolism, flushing out toxins, fueling your brain and body, and hydrating you for the entire day.

 8. Step outside

Taking a quick 10-minute walk outside in the morning can stimulate your being on so many levels – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Just a few minutes in nature can make you more grounded, alert, calm and focused. Sometimes nature itself, even in the smallest doses, can be the biggest game-changer.

9. Turn on some tunes

Once you’re ready to sit down and start planning the rest of your day, turn on some inspiring music to get you in the right mindset. Whether it’s relaxing Native American flute music, or your favorite rock band, let your music put you in a positive and uplifted state.

10. Plan your day

Now it’s time to prioritize, so you can ensure that the most important things are taken care of! Create a to-do list that will hit your sweet spot of potential – not so much that you’ll be scrambling miserably into the midnight hour to check everything off, and not so little that you’ll feel unaccomplished and unsatisfied at the end of the day (and overwhelmed again the next morning). Aim to complete all critical items, and then some.

11. Review your Lifebook

Perhaps now is a good time to put your Life Vision in the forefront of your mind, and review the most important goals you’ve set out to accomplish! Ask yourself… Will today’s tasks help you embody your life vision even more? If not, adjust your task list until you feel that your day is moving you one step closer to your vision. And don’t forget to adjust your goals as needed along the journey!

12. Read morning affirmations

Starting your day off with these small but powerful positivity-boosting words can literally rewire your brain for positivity, and alter the trajectory of your entire day. Tune yourself to the frequency of your dreams, so you can become a magnet for all the things you want out of life. For a list of powerful morning affirmations, check out this month’s post.

13. Give yourself ample time to get around

There’s no surer way to ruin a day than to leave late and spend your morning rushing around. Give yourself plenty of extra time to arrive where you need to be, perhaps arriving early so you can take your time parking, walking, and enjoying a slow and easy pace.

14. Show some love

Be sure to express your love in as many ways as possible to your nearest and dearest before you take off in the morning. Whether it be your partner, children, or pets, make time for the most valuable people in your life by expressing your love out loud, on paper, in hugs and kisses, and any other way you know how. Make your love palpable so you can all carry it with you for the rest of the day.