How Making My Bed And Going To The Gym Before Sun Rise Changed My Life

It started about six months ago...

I started making my bed every morning. Some of you are thinking Wow. You're such an adult! (As you roll your eyes).

For real though... I never made my bed before because I used to think What's the point? I'm going to mess it up again later anyways.

The odd time, I would make my bed just to add the final touch on a clean room, but it certainly was not an everyday habit that most people on the planet have.

Although I am in a fufilling and loving relationship, I sleep alone. When people find this out, they often give me this look of concern as if my relationship is on the rocks or something.

Rest assured, it's not. Independent sleeping is by far one of the best choices we made in our relationship.

1. I can steal all the blankets.

2. I can snore without judgement.

3. I can move around like the octopus that I am without waking up my partner.

4. I can set my alarm super early without waking anybody up.

5. I get to decorate my room with all the femininity I want.

This is a topic for another day because there's so much more I could touch on with this subject.

I was going to say that Scott makes his bed every morning and always has. I knew that it would raise the eyebrows of those reading, so I thought I'd give a little background information.

Back to my point...

When I started to make my bed six months ago, I realized that it set a new tone to my day.

The tone: I am an adult and it feels good.

Who knew that making your bed everyday could make you feel more organized, responsible and accomplished? It has also encouraged me to keep the rest of my room clean too.

I was always the girl with OCD cleaning tendencies (when I got around to cleaning), but I could mess my room faster than you can walk down the hallway and back. My mindset was I'll clean it later because I was always rushing.

That was one of my biggest problems in life. I put way too much on my plate. I thought that wearing a metaphorical super woman cape made me a better person, when in fact, it held me back from being the best version of myself.

Having a million things to do led me to being forgetful, notoriously late and noticeably scatter brained.

This was not the person I wanted to be for the rest of my life. Part of these qualities I exude come from my ADHD, but that's not an excuse.

I have learned that ADHD can be managed with habitual routines. Excuses that come in the form of "I am too busy", "I don't have time" or "I'll get to it later" are the excuses that hold you back from being a responsible adult.

Making my bed was the first step to realizing that the little things really do matter.

I want to be a responsible adult for my children. Showing up late to every event taught my oldest son that I do not value other peoples time.

I would use every excuse in the book as to why I was late, but the truth is... I was not respecting other peoples time nor my own.

Being late sets a tone in itself. It raises anxiety and stress levels which show themselves in ways that no longer align with who I want to be.

Being organized feels so good.

Making my bed gives me a sense of organization.

As I age and continue to learn what makes my spirit feel good, I walk closer and closer to a peaceful and fufilling state of mind.

It's a place that I have not known for very long, but what I do know is that I love being there.

I love being there so much that I am eager to keep growing and aligning myself with that person I know I can be.

Let's be honest... When you are doing work on yourself, it is not linear. You will not be able to figure it out all at once. Working on yourself is a practise.

I sometimes revert back into my old habits, but because I am so conscious of my goals, I quickly stop myself and say Is this the person you want to be?

Last week I was late picking my niece up. I told her I would be there at precisely 8:35pm. Traffic was slow and the green lights were not on my side. I ended up getting there at 8:40pm. She got in the car and laughed. She's like, "You've always been late."

In this case, I had no control over traffic. My GPS said 8:35pm and the red lights I kept hitting downtown made me think they were out to get me.

But the simple fact is that my niece grew up knowing I was notoriously late. That's the part that made me cringe.

I wish I could go back and be a better role model, but I can't. So I will show my nieces and nephews the new version of me, and I may even get a little shock value from the older ones when they see the new me.

I continue to feel proud of myself each time I add a new habit to my life that never existed before.

For those who haven't known me long, I was a personal trainer at local fitness clubs from 2012-2018. I worked for Premier Fitness, Five Star, Tapout, Vision Quest MMA, Steeltown Boxing Club, Goodlife and Hamilton Fitness Academy.

I was apart of the team that opened with the GoodLife on Stonechurch back in 2016. This gym holds a special place in my heart.

Ask any one of my clients... I am not a morning person. If a client asked for morning sessions, it was always "no". The odd time I would take a morning client, but I dreaded it and it never lasted more than a few months.

NOTHING BEFORE 9AM!

Guess who moved home from Nova Scotia and got a gym membership at GoodLife? Me. Guess who wakes up everyday at 5:35am to go to the gym for 6ish? ME!

My friends are currently picking their jaws up off the floor because they know how against mornings I am.

I have become that person!

I don't want to get ahead of myself because it's only been three weeks, but I am going to get ahead of myself because this major lifestyle habit has changed my life already.

Going to the gym at 6am feels just as good as making my bed.

I feel so accomplished before the sun even comes up. That's a pretty strong feeling my friends.

Do you want to know how this change came about?

It started with priorities.

My partner Scott is such a gift from God (he would disagree and roll his eyes).

I want to give this man the credit he deserves. He has really helped me grow into a responsible adult.

When we had our son back in 2021, Scott reiterated the importance of priorities.

I struggled deeply with letting go of my boxing career after having our son. Being a boxer was my identity, but after many discussions before pregnancy, during and after, I knew I'd be hanging the gloves up. We had decided together that it was the right decision for our family.

When I would get the itch to box (because I did and still do), Scott would remind me that our priorities have changed. Did I pout? Yes. But when my gut, heart and soul know that he's right, I have to believe that it's right.

ALWAYS follow your gut.

My priorities shifted from boxing, family and work - to - family, work and overall health.

Yup. You're reading that right. As a high level athlete, I was extremely selfish. Family came after boxing.

Living in Nova Scotia gave me the quality time with family that I never had. I put my family before anything while living out there.

I would only workout while Thai was sleeping because I promised myself (with the help of Scott reiterating priorities) that I would only train if it didn't interfere with family time.

Over time, I started to see the value in spending time with my family, and being away from my family back in Ontario only brought out more realizations of how important family really is.

I began to have regular chats with my closest friends and family. My brothers became my best friends (even though they always were). But we became even closer with distance.

When we moved home, it wasn't long before I was back at Canada Post. My shifts are in the afternoon which means mornings are spent with Thai. Afternoons are spent at work. Evenings are for dinner, Landon's hockey games and quality time with Scott.

The gym is WITHOUT A DOUBT a priority for me.

I had two choices:

1. Go to the gym before anybody is awake.

2. Go the gym when Thai goes to bed (taking away my time with Scott).

The answer was obvious. I was going to suffer and go in the morning at a time I swore I'd never be at the gym.

Here's what I have learned about going to the gym at 6am.

• The hardest part is the first ten minutes of the alarm going off.

• After my first set, I feel the happy endorphins dancing.

• I love the morning people at the gym. I am quickly finding new friends (suprise, suprise).

• Lots of really old guys go to the gym at that time and I love chatting with old men. It's like talking to my dad or something... Weird? Whatever. Old people are the best.

• Working out that early sets a great mood for the day.

• I get home early enough to sometimes start breakfast before the boys get up. Sometimes I just sit around and enjoy a coffee.

• I love going to the gym in the morning and I never thought I'd say that.

Here's the point to this blog...

When you make major lifestyle changes, you will feel major rewards. Life changing rewards!

Looking back on the young woman I was to the young woman I am now is surreal. I sometimes can't believe I have changed so much.

My mindset toward my bad habits in the past was always It's who I am. Deal with it.

I went from being unorganized, forgetful, messy, unreliable and had poor time management skills to practising being more oganized, less forgetful, cleaner, more reliable and better time management skills.

Am I completely changed? No.

This is something I work hard at everyday. Some days I am messy and forgetful. Other days I feel scatter brained and unorganized. But those days become fewer and further between.

It's easy to catch myself because I recognize the icky feeling I get when I fall back into one of those patterns.

It's important to be kind to yourself when you are working on change.

I will stop and say "Is this who you want to be?" And I know the answer is "no." And then I remind myself that change is not linear and it is okay to have off days.

The key is to get back on the horse and practise those habits that better who I am as a person.

It all starts with making your bed.

Seven years later, and this is still my gym (even though I left for a couple years to live in NS). I'm back baby!