Pre-Game Warm-Up Routine

This is not a blog about sports which might make today’s title a bit misleading.  Although, as often happens in life the inspiration for the post came from watching a sporting event.  

On Friday night I had a chance to watch the beginning of the Miami Heat basketball game.  This is not typical for me but while channel surfing I saw that the Heat game was about to begin so I stopped on the channel.  While sitting there watching I watched LeBron James during the pre-game warm-ups.  I observed him smiling, taking shots and generally having a relaxing time on the court.  As I continued to watch it appeared that several players decided to practice dunking the ball.  In the short few minutes that followed I watched a number of spectacular dunks executed by LeBron that made me wonder why he does not participate in the NBA dunk competition.  Admittedly it was fun to watch and caused me to stay tuned to the game longer than I might otherwise have done.

The thought of watching the players in their pre-game routine stayed with me for much of the weekend.  I know that for athletes pre-game activities are an important part of the game itself.  You can see them stretching, throwing the ball, running the bases or running routes.  All of this activity is designed to help them perform better during the game.  While I am not much of an athlete, this caused me to think about my own routines and I realized that in many ways I have a pre-game routine.  While the game I play in is far different from a sports competition, the game requires me to be “on” and at my best.  My routine starts when I wake up which more often than not happens around 5:00am.  I don’t normally wake to an alarm clock but find myself naturally becoming aware that I am awake.  When I am on my regular schedule I am fairly guaranteed that this will happen around the same time every day, even on weekends.  Once awake I lay in bed for a while just processing my thoughts and observing where my mind is.  I think about my dreams from the prior night and I begin to think through my day.  This typically lasts for about 10 to 15 minutes but I usually do not fall back to sleep as I wake up feeling rested.  Once up I go through the typical morning routines that we all have around personal hygiene and then I start my morning exercise which is followed by my shower then a light breakfast.  I do this routine no less than four days each week and I strive to make it six.  I find on the days that I follow my routine I feel best and my energy level and focus is highest.  I am working to make morning meditation a part of this routine as I think it would help my overall outlook and performance during the day.  

You might note in this that I did not mention email.  That is not part of my morning routine.  Most days I do not look at email prior to at least 7:00am and sometimes slightly longer.  Email is just not the best way to start a productive day.

The question that I am asking my readers to ponder today is this.  Do you have a pre-game routine that you follow?  Does your routine boost your energy and improve your outlook?  And finally, what changes do you need to make to start your day off with a smile and bounce in your step?