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5 Easeful Habits To Add To Your New Year Morning Routine
Truth is: optimizing our mornings isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially if being a “morning person” doesn’t come as second nature. While being a part of the coveted "5 a.m. Club" may be an aspiration for many, it can feel unfeasible depending on our lifestyle and routines.
As the new year takes off, the desire to make the most of our day is palpable. Our collective allure of 10-step morning routines and productivity hacks can make forming a solid routine feel daunting. And with the added pressure to hit an immediate stride with our new year practices, it’s easy to fall into the trap of creating false momentum that can fade as the year progresses.
Lucky for us, building the calm morning routine of rising before the sun and resisting the urge to get just ten more minutes of sleep can start with one small habit at a time. And you don’t necessarily have to be a “morning person” to make the most out of your day.
That’s why it’s important to choose habits that not only fit your lifestyle but can be sustained and built upon over time. In fact, all it takes is a little bit of planning, small goals, and consistency to stay committed to your goals in the new year. To help, we’re sharing the top morning micro habits to add to your daily routine and set the foundation you need to embrace calm in your mornings.
Micro Habits, Major Peace: Crafting Your Ideal Morning Routine
1. If You Want a Distraction-Free Morning, Try: The No-Phone Rule
Let’s be honest, sometimes our phones get the better part of our morning before we ever get a chance to roll out of bed. With that in mind, it may be time to adopt a new habit that deprioritizes your screen time and allows you to stop the mindless scrolling before it starts. Social media and work emails all have a way of sucking us into a time-draining rabbit hole that’s hard to get out of. But when we create the micro habit (read: boundary) with our media consumption and personal time, we can make space for a more mindful morning.
2. If You Want To Be More Organized, Try: Making Your Bed
Making your bed in the morning may seem like a small thing to look over, but there are great benefits to marking this task off. Bed-making in the morning is often associated with a sense of order, discipline, and accomplishment. With this habit being small and within your control, the sense of self-management can create order and structure in your immediate environment. Completing a simple task like making your bed is a quick win, and, with such an accomplishment early in the day, it can set a positive tone and motivate you to tackle more tasks ahead.
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3. If You Want Less Morning Jitters, Try: Hydrating Before Caffeine
We all love making coffee in the morning or stopping by our local coffee shop before heading to work, but when it comes to our overall wellness, we may forget to give our body the hydration it needs at sunrise. Since we tend to go hours without water while we’re sleeping, it’s important to refuel upon waking up to avoid dehydration and fatigue. As a coffee-lover, it feels nice to start the day off with a warm or iced caffeinated treat, but when we sip on a glass of water (with lemon or cucumbers added), it can reduce brain fog and cleanse us from the inside out.
4. If You Want To Be More Health-Conscious, Try: Taking Your Vitamins/Supplements
What we give our bodies on the inside is just as important as how we look on the outside. Prioritizing our vitamin and supplement intake is a great habit to form for the betterment of our overall well-being. When we take our supplements in the morning, we’re creating a routine and commitment to ourselves to replenish our bodies with the minerals and vitamins that we may be deficient in. Taking your vitamins every day at the same time also allows you to create a system that you can rely on and create a sense of predictability for the tasks to follow within your morning routine.
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5. If You Want To Be More Mindful, Try: Setting Your Intentions
No matter how far we get into a digital, AI-focused world, nothing beats the power of putting pen to paper. Taking a moment to pause before the noise of the world creeps in allows us to approach the day with a preview of the goals and aims we hope to see come about. Sometimes, it’s hard to wrap our heads around all the responsibilities that beg for our attention, but when we set smaller, achievable intentions, we can set our own pace and raise our awareness of what matters the most that day — and what can wait until tomorrow.
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Aley Arion is a writer and digital storyteller from the South, currently living in sunny Los Angeles. Her site, yagirlaley.com, serves as a digital diary to document personal essays, cultural commentary, and her insights into the Black Millennial experience. Follow her at @yagirlaley on all platforms!
This article is sponsored by Hulu.
UnPrisonedhas returned for its highly anticipated second season, delving deeper into the complex dynamics of the Alexander family.
The series premiere comes a year after its debut season garnered rave reviews from fans and critics and earned record-breaking ratings for Hulu's Onyx Collective brand. UnPrisoned's success can be attributed to its raw, relatable themes and comedic appeal.
Inspired by creator Tracy McMillan's life, the show follows Paige (Kerry Washington), a therapist and single mother whose life takes an unexpected turn when her father, Edwin (Delroy Lindo) --who was released from prison-- moves in with her and her teenage son, Finn (Faly Rakotohavana).
Throughout UnPrisoned's first season, viewers witnessed how Edwin's incarceration deeply affected Paige's life and relationships. In the series, Paige unpacks her trauma through interactions with her inner child and her online followers. Meanwhile, Edwin is overcoming specific struggles with his own past that led to his life of crime, including a dysfunctional upbringing and his mother's arrest. As the Alexanders attempt to reconcile, new challenges arise.
This new season promises to further explore their unconventional family dynamic. Here are several compelling reasons why season two of UnPrisoned should be on everyone's watchlist.
The Alexander Family Life Is Still In Shambles
UnPrisoned's second season resumes where the series left off, with Paige grappling with the fallout from her troubled therapy practice and Edwin navigating life independently after moving out. Meanwhile, Finn faces his own challenges. The teenager is battling anxiety and seeking information about his father—a topic Paige avoids discussing.
The Alexander Family Are Attending Therapy To Resolve Their Underlying Issues
Amid the chaos in their lives, the Alexander family decides to mend their bond by confronting their past traumas. They seek professional help and attend therapy sessions with a “family radical healing coach,” played by John Stamos, a new cast member. This collective effort aims to unravel the complexities of their shared history and strengthen their relationships.
The process of unraveling each character's internal conflicts and their potential impact on future relationships may clash with Paige's textbook therapy approach. While Paige is used to being in the therapist's seat in both career and family, this forces her into the unfamiliar role of a patient during therapy sessions. This shift would compel her to look in the mirror and try a radically different approach.
The Alexander Family Learned A Big Lesson During A Therapy Session
In therapy, the Alexanders are tasked with addressing their individual traumas to salvage their remaining relationships. One of the family therapist’s eccentric suggestions was an exercise involving a family wrestling match. During this session, Paige faces tough questions about her refusal to share information about Finn's father.
While it's unclear whether this scene is reality or fantasy, the image of the family duking it out in the ring certainly makes for hilarious yet compelling television.
Paige Tries Dating Again Following Failed Relationships
Amid her life's chaos, Paige decides to step back into the dating field. However, her many attempts have left her with mixed results. The dating apps have turned out to be a fail, and an outing with her ex Mal (Marque Richardson), who is also her father's parole officer, doesn’t go quite as expected after he brings an unexpected guest – his new girlfriend.
The situation takes an awkward turn when Mal's new partner learns why the former couple split, partly due to Paige's self-sabotage.
UnPrisoned Is A Perfect Balance Of Comedy And Drama
As a dramedy, UnPrisoned takes a comedic approach to its heavy subjects. The show takes us on a ride with Paige's dating misadventures and navigating a friendship with her ex.
Other lighthearted moments include Edwin's attempts at CPR based on online videos and, of course, the antics of the Alexander family's unconventional new healing coach.
The second season of UnPrisoned is now available on Hulu.
UnPrisoned | Season 2 Trailer | Hulu
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Mariee Revere On Her History-Making Million-Dollar Sales And The Future Of MoonXCosmetics
If the name Mariee Revere sounds familiar, it's probably because you heard of her beauty and skincare brand, MoonXCosmetics, or you may have heard about her history-making achievement of making $1.8 million in less than eight minutes. But before starting her million-dollar brand, Mariee was just a teenager trying to cure her acne.
While she grew up in the skincare capital of the world, South Korea, Mariee didn't really experience breakouts until her senior year of high school. Like many people who get their first breakout, she didn't know what to do, and there weren't many products out there at that time. So she decided to experiment. What she didn't know was that what she came up with would ultimately be her ticket to success.
"When I graduated high school, I moved back to America, Georgia, and I ended up making, like, the oil, the Rose Galore oil, which is like the staple product of my brand. I don't know what made me make it, but I did, and it literally cleared my face up," she tells xoNecole in an exclusive interview.
"I end up selling it as a body oil first because, obviously, I'm 17, [and] don't have any background as an esthetician or anything like that. I just made a product that worked for me, but people bought it and was using it, and I reformulated it, and then it just stuck like with me."
While MoonXCosmetics is known for its facial products, it wants to expand to body care and home. It just released its new product, Moon-Gel body wash, and it's only up from there. As Mariee continues to grow the brand, it's more than likely that she will see more history-making moments. And so far she has.
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When asked if she feels pressure to obtain more of those milestones, she says yes and no. "I did $1.8 [million] again, and then I did $2 million but I feel like now, currently, I don't look at that as one of my goals anymore because [of] the headache and just everything that came with it, but I was thankful and blessed to have that milestone, but now I'm looking for more," she says.
"I want to say more reach than more like fast-paced sales. I do want that. Obviously, every girl wants that, but I do want to have a better overall reach for my brand because I did take two years off so I was able to learn, [and] study a lot of different things. See how things have changed from 2020 to now."
"I did $1.8 [million] again, and then I did $2 million but I feel like now, currently, I don't look at that as one of my goals anymore because [of] the headache and just everything that came with it, but I was thankful and blessed to have that milestone, but now I'm looking for more."
Another part of expanding for any company is hiring people. Finding the right person to help you can be a hassle, especially for business owners who are used to doing all the work themselves. Mariee can relate to this, and she touched on this topic in her documentaryThe Million Dollar Story. She recommends having someone be your "right-hand man" who you trust to handle the ins and outs of the company.
"I could say, definitely get, like a right-hand man to help you within the process because that really was what helped me. I never had a job. I literally was 18 now, being like, you know, the boss of over 30+ employees at one point in time, and I didn't know anything. I didn't know anything about no W-2s, no taxes, no clock in, clock out because all I [have] ever known was my brand," she explains.
"So I definitely partner with people who are very skewed and versed in those areas, and they helped me get through it. Even to this day, I still have my same person helping me with hiring, firing, [and] doing everything that I can right now because I'm still learning. But obviously people get jobs young, so they have way more experience than me, but still learning."
And though she is still learning, one thing she makes sure to stay on top of is being consistent. Consistency is what trips many people up when it comes to achieving goals, but Mariee says it's all about scheduling. Whether it's when to post on social media or email marketing, scheduling it out can make a world of difference. That same practice also works when planning out her future goals for the company.
"Right now, future goals would be to drop at least five more products before the end of the year. We always do outreach, where we do drives and all that, but definitely do way more this year, she says. "Then really dive into body [care], and then hopefully open up MoonXBody underneath MoonXCosmetics to let that branch out and be open and definitely get back consistent."
For more information, visit moonxco.com.
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