3 PAGES EVERY SINGLE DAY: WHY I STARTED ‘THE MORNING PAGES’

{ pink paper holder found here }

Wake up. Tongue scrape. Water with lemon. Sip mint tea off coffee warmer. Meditate. More water with lemon. Add some apple cider vinegar. Diffuse oils. Morning Pages. Make bed. Listen to a podcast.

Things are therapeutic over here in the mornings lately.

They have to be.

I realized with all of life’s chaos, I NEEDED MY MORNINGS TO BE TRANQUIL.

My life is go, go, go. 230948209384 questions every day. I am putting out fires, returning e-mails, DM’s, on conference calls, editing, writing & making decisions SO I NEED MY MORNINGS TO START OFF SOFT.

( HINTS TO MICHAEL HERE! PLEASE DON’T ASK ME ABOUT BUSINESS BEFORE 9 AM BABE! ).

ANYWAY. I love the book The Artist’s Way– if you haven’t read it, I recommend it. I know I recommend a lot of books on here but I love books. THIS ONE happens to be a perennial seller. However, maybe you can’t get around to reading this one. So I pulled one of the most valuable tips ( my opinion of course ) from the book for YOU.

Enter: ‘Morning Pages’

Known as one of the most profound and empowering tools for cultivating creativity, personal growth, & change are the Morning Pages- this is a stream-of-consciousness style of writing that helps you basically purge your thoughts before you start your day.

Think of it as getting all your thoughts on paper before you need to tackle your to-do list.

I’m the type of person that will be legit distracted if I don’t do this in the morning. My thoughts are so chaotic & I want to get everything done that I literally can’t form sentences if I don’t write them down in the morning.

When I first started a business I did this thing ( which I still do in my Morning Pages ) called TOP 7. TOP 7 is your top 7 priorities that NEED to get done for the day. Again, I still do my TOP 7, I just do them within my Morning Pages.

You can really write whatever you want in your Morning Pages- the only catch is this: YOU HAVE TO WRITE THREE PAGES AND YOU CANNOT STOP. My pages include my to-do list, TOP 7, what’s bugging me, where I want to take my business, what I am grateful for ( I do this one everyday! ), ideas, visions, dreams, quotes, funny sayings, things my husband says to me, etc. You can have your three pages be anything you want really.

Just write three.

As this source states: “Morning Pages is a practice introduced by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way, a book designed to help blocked creatives get unblocked.

Although it’s disguised as a book for “artists”—  it’s really a guide for anyone who’s feeling stuck, unfulfilled in their work, or believe that their best music is left unsung ( even if they don’t know what song they’re meant to be singing ).

It’s a book to help people deal with that sonofabitch Steven Pressfield calls out by name in The War of Art: “The Resistance”: 

“Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.” – Steven Pressfield

Cameron’s The Artist’s Way is meant for anyone who wants to tap back into their creative selves. Which frankly could be any of us. Because, if we’re honest, we’re all creative. Even if we’ve managed to forget that somewhere along the way.” { via }

YOU, YES YOU, ARE CREATIVE.

And Morning Pages will showcase your creativity in ways you can never imagine.

Here’s the catch: there’s no stressing, no exceptions, no erasing- JUST WRITING. PEN TO PAPER. WRITE, WRITE, WRITE. It can be about NOTHING or it can be about SOMETHING- get rid of all judgement. Write whatever is on your mind whether it’s stupid or not- JUST WRITE.

THIS IS FOR YOU. Not even to re-read really. It’s more of a mind-dump. Write for no one. Do not become attached to the outcome, become attached to the mind-dump.

You can use the rest of the day to be chaotic & crazed & hard on yourself- just do not do it during MORNING PAGES!

IT’S KIND OF LIKE A WRITTEN MEDITATION.

The author & creator of Morning Pages, Julia Cameron says: “Morning pages bring our hopes, dreams, fears, & confusions into focus. They point us toward areas that need attention. While some people may use the pages to face an addiction, others may find the pages leading them toward dreams they had never articulated. As we come into focus, our size and shape are often surprisingly large.”

“There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages,” Cameron writes.

After a bunch of reading & researching & interviewing hundreds of successful people, I have found that successful people form daily habits. They know that success does not happen overnight, it happens in your daily habits. SO- what are you doing daily that’s contributing to your overall success?

For me, doing Morning Pages represents something I do daily, call it a ritual that has become a healthy habit. I believe this habit will open doors for me that would not be available had I not picked up this new routine. It’s also one that relaxes me, sets the tone of the day, keeps my mind sharp, & comes with a reward. I feel accomplished early in the morning with clear thoughts while I make the bed. In fact, I feel peaceful.

I share this with you all not to preach but to showcase how much these pages have helped me- I have more clarity than ever. For a while ( this is another post ) I was feeling overwhelmed. This is one of the things that has brought me back to crystal clear thoughts. My vision is stronger than ever.

Honestly I would go as far to say that Morning Pages shifted my focus.

Anyway! You have to try it, k? Trust me here!

OH AND OF COURSE YOU KNOW I AM VERY SPECIFIC about the type of notebook I write in ( it has to be spiral- I don’t want to have to hold it open BUT it also needs to be cute- SEE HERE ), the pen I use ( this white one is the ONLY pen I can ever write long form content with- SOMETHING ABOUT IT, I have 10 of them everywhere ), & music I listen to while writing ( Bossanova jazz or smooth jazz PLEASE, volume low but not too low ). Also, I keep mine private- they’re very personal.

( Side note: some of you have asked what App I use for meditations I use HEADSPACE & I love it. I do 10 minutes in the morning ).

OK SO- remember: 3 pages, every morning, everyday with no expectations or stress. It’s that easy. Small healthy habits daily, create great success.

If you decide to do MORNING PAGES, tag me on your IG Stories so I can check it out.

Hope you all had a very productive Tuesday- I am literally falling asleep at the computer because I was up until 3 AM working on the MASTER LIST! Time to go to bed so I can be up in time to do my Morning Pages before Pilates.

Love you all- lauryn x

+ for more tips & tricks like this, stalk the BUSINESS SECTION on the blog.

++ be sure to listen to the latest podcast where I breakdown TSC MASTER LIST. 

YOUR MORNING ROUTINE: