Turia's day

5:00am Wake up with my daily gratitude practice. This isn’t as full-on as it sounds! I just take 30 seconds to think of three things I’m grateful for. It’s so simple, but it really helps me to start my day in the right frame of mind. Today I’m grateful for my morning coffee, Michael (especially for taking my car to get serviced – what a legend!) and for a sunny forecast after a few weeks of rain.

After that, it’s straight to the kitchen for a STRONG shot of coffee and then straight off for a quick 40 minute run. I always get my training done first thing in the morning because I’ve learnt that getting the most challenging or important tasks done first gives me a massive energy boost. I call it doing the worst first! It’s a technique I learned in hospital during my recovery. In hospital, having my dressings changed every day was really painful and it took hours. I’d lie awake at night dreading it, and in the morning while I waited for my turn, I’d have to listen to everyone else in pain while they had their dressings changed. To take back some control, I volunteered to go first. By getting the hardest thing over and done with early in the day, it made the rest of the day easier and easier.

Back from my run and after a quick shower I knuckle down and smash out some project work. I like working while the morning is still quiet – it’s my chance to do things that need a lot of headspace, and I relish this time when the phone isn’t ringing and emails aren’t pinging around. This morning I’m working on some new content for a few upcoming newsletters and making some finishing touches on a speech I’m giving in Brisbane tomorrow.

7:30am Quick breakfast of mango, yoghurt and Special K while I check my emails and tick a few little tasks off my to-do list. I also check in with the people in my goal-getting program, School of Champions. Today I’m so proud of one student who has achieved a massive milestone!

8:00am Grab my board and head out for a surf. Not the best swell at the moment but I’m just enjoying getting out there as much I can, and really trying to improve my surfing technique now that I’m not actively training for any triathlon events.

9:30am Quick snack of banana and peanut butter toast and another coffee before I jump on a Skype session with my voice coach.

10:00am Spend a few hours at my desk. I’ve gotta jump on a conference call with my team and then answer some emails. After that I check in with the team publishing my new book, Unmasked, to see how things are tracking.

1:00pm Grab a sweet potato cottage pie for lunch and then jump in the car to drive to the airport in Sydney. Listen to a few podcasts on the way up – I love Richard Fidler’s ‘Conversations’.

5:00pm Check in for flight and spend the time in the air checking through my speech for tomorrow.

7:30pm Get to hotel room, order steak and steamed veggies and a glass of red wine through room service. Spend 30 minutes doing my daily physio exercises while I wait for it to arrive.

8:00pm Eat dinner while I check in with my School of Champions team again. Help one member troubleshoot solutions to a challenge she’s facing.

8:30pm Shower and then jump into bed with a book.

9:30pm Lights out and not a moment too soon!