A mentor once told me, “Your morning routine starts with your nighttime routine,” words that have stuck with me to this day.
My family has grown from just my wife and I, to a family of five, and with that our lives have become much more complex. We tried several morning routines, but nothing worked, and we felt like we were never prepared for the morning.
But then we decided to take that advice and create a place to experience our own gathering every evening. More specifically, we decided to build a dinner table.
The table we had was the kind passed down to us – it wobbled and creaked. It was a facade made to look fancy, but everyone knew it was delicately made, and we never used it as a dinner table so not to damage it. I don’t like admitting it, but we just ate in the living room in front of the TV and didn’t really interact much at dinner.
We were determined to resolve this. We looked at table designs, sizes, colors, and decided on a chunky but elegant trestle design that would be perfect for our family. I had built tables for customers before, but the true value of our own table didn’t sink in until I had completed it and we experienced our first family gathering.
The kids climbed up on the bench and were thrilled to have enough space to spread out and see all their food in front of them. In fact, they loved it so much that they filled up and went to bed early. – It had worked!
Every morning, my wife and I get to sit and drink coffee together while enjoying each other’s company. And I get to wake up prepared and ready to win the next day.
All because we built a table.
