“What is a pre-day shower?”
The question caught me off guard. It came out of left field one day – right in the middle of a completely different conversation with a completely random person.
My genuine response: “Huh?”
I had no clue what they were talking about.
Here’s the preface to this obscure story: In a recent blog post, I shared my goal of doing 1,000 push-ups in one day. I laid out my game plan to accomplish this goal, walking my readers through my plan of attack. I documented my entire day, which included … a “pre-day shower.”
Real quick … before that blog post, I had never used that terminology – “pre-day shower.” But I didn’t know what else to call it. Oh, and when I say “my readers,” I mean the three people who normally read my blog.
Here is a preface to the preface (I think it’s called a forward or maybe a prologue): I take two showers every morning. One as soon as I get out of bed. Then, another one after I go through #myonething.
Wait!
So much to explain … #myonething …
For those who haven’t read Tacos and Chocolate, #myonething is how I attack the day and win my mornings. I have a handful of things that I like to do that feed my soul, and if I’m intentional about doing just one of these things every morning, it lays a solid foundation for the rest of my day.
Those things include:
– Prayer
– Affirmations
– Working out
– Journaling
– Meditation
– Visualization (vision board)
– Reading
Again, everyday I pick just one of those things to do. Zero excuses. If I have time to do two or three things, that’s just a bonus. But without a doubt, no questions asked, I do one of those things. (And maybe the most important piece to my morning puzzle … I also choose to be happy.)
It’s powerful, and it has been a legitimate game-changer in my life.
So … back to my “pre-day shower.” Yes, I take a shower as soon as I wake up, then I feed my soul with #myonething, choose to be happy and then I take another shower. (And yes … all of this usually happens before 8 o’clock in the morning.)
Even though “pre-day shower” is a working title for my inaugural shower of the day, I wanted to use this blog post to explain its evolution. Where did this come from? Why do I do this?
It started before #myonething was even conceived. I simply asked myself: “What is my all-time favorite thing to do first thing in the morning?”
At this point in my life, I wasn’t looking for those soul-feeding tasks that I mentioned before. I just wanted to figure out what I loved to do after my feet hit the floor. What felt good? What excited me to get me out of bed?
After a little thought, there were three definitive answers to those paramount questions:
Drink a cup of coffee
Go for a run
Take a shower
But which one was my best-loved?(Insert the thinking emoji.)
I quickly removed coffee from the list. I love drinking a hot cup of java first thing in the morning, but it’s not the healthiest thing for me to do. So, I started drinking a large glass of water in the morning before racing down that expressway of brewed deliciousness.
Real quick … once I start drinking coffee, I’m all in. All day. It’s probably my biggest vice, and I’m definitely addicted. But drinking that glass of water, before I start swimming in all that roasted goodness, lays a solid foundation and off-sets all the caffeine that I’ll be consuming the rest of the day. I started doing this a few years ago, and I saw an immediate impact in my health and physiology.
Anyway … with coffee off the table, I had two morning prize fighters, standing toe-to-toe, battling for my love and attention as soon as I got out of bed – Running vs. Shower.
In my mind, I had to pick one! For some reason, there had to be a winner.
I could still do both every morning. Hell, I was still going to drink coffee, too. But I wanted to crown a champion and anoint that favorite activity as my “Opening Day starter” on a daily basis.
Now, as I was working through this internal dialogue, I knew there was a rational solution to this conundrum. It made all the sense in the world to run before taking a shower, but there is just something magical about that hot water hitting my naked body. I can’t even begin to accurately capture how much I love it.
So … the decision was made, right?
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s my honor and privilege to announce the winner of the Drew Myers Favorite Morning Routine Invitational. Put your hands together for … a hot shower!”
Hold on, over-the-top cheesy announcer guy. Not so fast.
Confession: I had some head trash. Actually, I kept hearing my mother’s voice: “For gawd sakes, Drew! Two showers before 8 a.m!?!? You’re just wasting water!”
She’s not wrong, but I’m a grown man.
I remember when I finally acknowledged that truth.
I said out loud: “I’m a grown man! If I want to take two showers before some people even get out of bed … I’m going to do it, damn it!”
I felt empowered. I felt like I was in control. I felt alive.
Now you can cue that cheesy announcer … “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s my honor and privilege to announce … blah, blah, blah.”
So that’s how the “pre-day shower” was born. It was about embracing that non-extravagant indulgence and putting self-care and self-love in the spotlight. Make the important things important, right? In the craziest of ways … that foundational shower was important.
So, I started doing it every day.
Real quick … I do have two “rules” about this first shower of the day. Here they are:
No more than three minutes (I may have turned down the volume on my mom’s narrative about this morning ritual, but I’ll never be able to mute her; I didn’t want to waste water either);
No using soap (I save that for my “real shower” later in the morning).
I’ve also added a new twist in the last couple of weeks. After two minutes of the steaming hot water gloriously running over my awakening naked body, I turn the shower to cold for the last 60 seconds. (Stay tuned. That cold-water practice, which was inspired by Wim Hoff, deserves its own blog post.)
So … there it is. Eleven hundred words explaining how I start to win my morning, specifically my dual showers.
But I still haven’t appropriately branded Shower No. 1. Again, “pre-day shower” just isn’t sexy enough for me (and definitely doesn’t look good on a t-shirt).
Let’s brainstorm:
Day break shower? No. Sounds like a morning news program.
Morning glory? No. Sounds sexual.
Conscious stream? No. That will get confused with my morning trip to the bathroom.
Does it need a name? Can I live with “Shower No. 1” or “first shower of the day”?
Waterworld? No. I immediately think of Kevin Costner.
Morning infiltration? No. Too scientific or militaristic.
Inspiration precipitation? No. Too sing-songy.
Maybe I’m thinking about this the wrong way. I need to refocus on my why.
Again, this shower is simply how I love to start the day. It’s an indulgence. It feels good. It wakes me up. It makes me feel like I’m in control. To be honest, if I’m not able to take that initial shower … I feel out of sorts. It catapults me into my day …
Hold on … catapult …
Propel.
Blast.
Sling.
Hurtle.
LAUNCH!
That’s it! My first shower of the day is my launchpad. It’s not what it is – a three-minute shower – it’s what that shower represents. And the most beautiful part of this narrative … everyone’s “launchpad” is going to be different.
Maybe for you it is that cup of coffee. Maybe it’s brushing your teeth. Maybe it’s making your bed or folding one load of laundry.
Maybe it’s splashing water on your face, taking a shit or petting your dog. Maybe it’s writing out your To Do List for the day.
Maybe it’s turning on High Steppin’ by The Avett Brothers or sitting on your back porch and watching the sunrise.
Clarification: This is not #myonething. Your Launchpad doesn’t necessarily feed your soul. It simply gets you ready to attack the day. It makes getting out of your warm and cozy bed less sucky.
So what is your Launchpad?
I encourage you to figure it out by simply asking yourself these three questions:
What is my all-time favorite thing to do in the morning?
What makes me feel good in the morning?
If I don’t do ____________, I feel totally out of sorts until lunchtime.
After you figure it out, the next step in the process … DO IT! Tomorrow morning, wake up and step on that Launchpad. No excuses!
In the iconic words of astronaut Alan Shepard…“Let’s light this candle!”
NOTE: I would love to hear about your Launchpad. You can leave a comment below or leave a comment on social media. If you have my cell, shoot me a text.