Mimi Ikonn
Mimi Ikonn is co-founder of Luxy Hair, a clip-in hair extensions boutique with over 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube. Born in Azerbaijan, Mimi met her husband, Alex, in Toronto, Canada, before moving to London.
What is your morning routine?
My husband Alex and I wake up at 7:00am. Sometimes we snooze and cuddle for the next ten minutes. While we’re still in bed, we fill out our Five Minute Journals. They’re like a positive toothbrush for the mind and they always sets our day off to a great start.
Next, we spend 10-15 minutes meditating, followed by either yoga or a 7-Minute Workout, which gets us jumping and our hearts pumping.
I spend the next fifteen minutes doing my makeup and listening to an audiobook (right now I’m listening to The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz, which is one of my all time favourite books), or one of my favourite podcasts (Tara Brach’s and Tim Ferriss’ are some of my favourites). In the meantime my husband Alex usually makes breakfast (yes, he is amazing!) Then, we have breakfast together and chat about our plans for the day. Once we’ve finished with breakfast, I wash the dishes and we head out to the office.
You can watch my weekday morning routine below:
How long have you stuck with this routine so far?
I have been consistent with this morning routine for almost a year now.
How has your morning routine changed over recent years?
My morning routine has changed quite a lot over recent years. Most of my work is related to the online world, so the first thing I would do upon waking up before is go on my phone.
I used to waste so much time in bed scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and email, feeling anxious about all I wanted to accomplish for the day. I feel amazing now that I keep my phone on airplane mode and don’t touch it until I’m finished with my morning routine.
Alex and I are doing our best to wake up earlier now and add gratefulness walks to our morning routine. It’s not always easy as we travel a lot and change time zones. It’s something we used to do in the past and believe to be a very powerful mind exercise. It’s something we learnt from Tony Robbins’ Get the Edge program, and we recommend it to all of our family and friends. It’s a game changer in making your dreams a reality.
What time do you go to sleep?
As much as I do my best to be in bed by 10:00pm, I’m usually in bed at 11 or 11:30pm.
Do you do anything before going to bed to make your morning easier?
Yes, putting my phone on airplane mode. It ensures that I actually get an adequate amount of sleep and wake up full of energy. It definitely makes the mornings easier for me.
Do you use an alarm to wake you up in the morning, and if so do you ever hit the snooze button?
Yes, I do use an alarm to wake up in the morning and I’m definitely guilty of snoozing every once in a while. On days I don’t snooze I actually feel a lot more empowered and energetic.
How soon after waking up do you have breakfast, and what do you typically have?
Breakfast is the last step of our morning routine, so we usually eat about an hour after we wake up, once we’ve finished with our morning workout and are ready for the day.
On weekdays we prefer to have something easy and simple, such as boiled eggs with some sliced veggies and gluten free chestnut crips, or a vegetable omelette with sliced avocado on the side. Alex usually cooks breakfast while I do my makeup. On the weekends I make breakfast and since I have more time I usually make something more complex and savory, such as my favourite gluten-free baked banana pancakes.
The recipe is so simple: it’s a spoon of almond butter, one banana, one egg, and a pinch of baking soda. Once you mix it all, you bake it for about 10-15 minutes. I’ll then drizzle some organic maple syrup over it and top the pancakes with organic berries.
Do you have a morning workout routine?
I usually do a mini yoga routine or use the The 7-Minute Workout app.
Do you have a morning meditation routine, and if so what kind of meditation do you practice?
I practice Vipassana meditation and spend 10-15 minutes every morning meditating.
Do you answer email first thing in the morning or leave it until later in the day?
I leave email until I get to the office. In general I keep my phone on airplane mode while I’m doing my morning routine so to avoid distractions. It’s an amazing habit that I implemented a year ago.
What and when is your first drink in the morning?
I start sipping some water as soon as I wake up. I do my best to have at least a glass or two of water before breakfast.
Do you also follow this routine on weekends, or do you change some steps?
I allow myself to sleep in on at least one day every weekend, usually Saturday, so I’ll usually wake up at 8:30-9:00am instead of 7:00.
I skip the workout on Saturdays to give my body a break. Aside from that, the rest of my morning routine is pretty consistent.
On days you’re not settled in your home, are you able to adapt your routine to fit in with a different environment?
Alex and I travel a lot, which can sometimes make it a bit difficult to stick to our morning routine.
With that said, there are three things that we do upon waking up no matter where we are in the world: We start our day with our Five Minute Journals (yes, we usually travel with it, or if it’s a short trip we use a the Five Minute Journal app), then we do a ten minute meditation followed by a ten minute workout that consists of push-ups, sit ups, and squats.
These are our most important morning activities; we do them pretty much religiously.
Our recommended book this week is The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin. We only recommend three things a week that we believe will be of interest to our readers. Please take a moment to check it out.
