Ask anyone who’s successful: “What’s your morning routine?” and they almost always have a very specific answer.
Whether it’s going for a jog, hitting the gym, reading the paper, or meditating, every single successful person has some form of a morning ritual. This is not coincidental, it’s for a reason.
A good morning routine will get you started on the right foot; it will prime your mind to focus on what’s important, get you into a good mood, and fill your body with energy. For any man trying to change his life, I recommend you start by simply implementing a morning routine.
Why is it that Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Benjamin Franklin, and Richard Branson all have a very specific, perfect morning routine, that they hardly ever deviate from?
Why is it that EVERY successful person, from Steve Jobs to Tim Ferris, avoids checking email and social media first thing in the day?
In short, it’s because your first waking hour determines what your entire day will be like—the time you spend here dictates your entire day.
Have you ever stubbed your toe first thing in the morning? Or gotten in a traffic jam on the way to work? It’s not a coincidence that the rest of the day was probably miserable.
In psychology there’s a very powerful concept known as momentum, or the tendency of the human mind to stay in whatever state it’s in.
It’s why your entire day can be absolutely horrible if you start it off the wrong way. Have you ever spilled a glass of milk first thing in the morning?
By triggering certain negative emotions when you first wake up, your mind becomes primed to interpret everything negatively; to see the bad side of everything.
On the flip side, you can use momentum to your advantage. Just taking 10 to 15 minutes each day to meditate in the morning can drastically improve your life, and leave you feeling great all day.
If you spend the first 60 minutes of each day implementing a strict morning routine, meant to align your mind, body, and emotions, into a single powerhouse of focus, energy, and motivation, how could you NOT feel good each day?
So, why not take advantage of your mind’s tendency to prolong a state and engineer the first hour of your morning? This way, you can be happy and motivated all day long.
There’s plenty of things that you can add to your morning routine, from meditating to lifting weighs, to reading one of my “Best Books for Men,” to doing some yoga, but they all have a few things in common.
A good morning routine does three main things: it relieves stress, enhances focus, and increases productivity, just from taking a little time each day.
Upon waking, your level of cortisol extremely high. For those of you who don’t know, cortisol is a hormone that enhances alertness and suppresses appetite, so it’s a good thing in moderation.
Too much cortisol, however, has been linked to depression, anxiety, and a lowered immune system, among other things. This is why it’s crucial to keep cortisol levels relatively low.
One of the ways that you can do this is with a morning routine. Why not lower your cortisol level first thing in the morning when it’s highest?
This is why morning routines typically include things like jogging, lifting weights, or doing yoga—these things all lower cortisol.
Focus is absolutely crucial to succeed at anything—the more that you can tune out nagging thoughts and irrelevant information, the more that you can use all of your mental resources on accomplishing your goals. If you cannot focus, you will succumb to every little distraction that presents itself.
In short, your ability to focus is one of your most precious assets. Without it, you will accomplish nothing.
If you have poor focus, don’t worry—it’s very possible to improve it. In fact, someone who makes an effort to improve their focus can expect to surpass 99% of human beings’ ability to focus. Because most human beings are just operating at mediocre, simply making an attempt to improve your focus (or anything for that matter) will get you ahead!
That’s what a good morning routine does—it enhances your focus. It’s why Warren Buffett reads first thing in the morning, and it’s why Russell Simmons meditates 20 minutes first thing in the morning.
Adding an activity that cultivates focus to your morning routine will prime your mind to use all of its energy towards accomplishing your goals.
All of the intelligence and potential in the world won’t amount to anything without motivation. Without motivation, you’ll just sit around and think all day without actually taking action.
Motivation is your reason for pushing yourself. It’s your reason for doing what you do. Without it, you become a shell of a man. Motivation can come from your family, it can come from a desire to change the world, or from a burning passion for your craft. Motivation is different for every individual.
Steve Jobs was motivated to humanize the realm of technology through developing user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing computers and handheld devices.
Tony Robins is motivated to help others improve their lives—he accomplishes this by teaching seminars, coaching individual clients, and writing books.
Jordan Belfort was motivated to make obscene amounts of money—he accomplished this by scamming countless people.
Motivation can come from a negative place or a positive place, and it can manifest in an almost unlimited number of forms. But one thing is for sure: if you aren’t motivated, you won’t achieve what you want in life.
That’s why cultivating motivation first thing in the morning is so important. If you kickstart your day with a surge of motivation, it’ll be way easier to slug things out until the end.
Before I delve into how you can make your own perfect morning routine, I want to offer you a gift: my very own morning routine.
I firmly believe that, had I not utilized this morning routine earlier in my life, I would still be depressed and lonely.
This morning routine works, and it works like a damn charm—every time one of my readers follows it, their life totally transforms.
I started to develop this morning routine when I was 18 years old—I was extremely depressed, and was desperate to find a way out.
One of the first things that I decided to do was to make a morning routine. I knew that if you want to transform your life, the best place to start, is to start your day right each morning.
I knew it wasn’t a coincidence that every single billionaire, best selling author, and serial entrepreneur started their day with the perfect morning routine, so I figured that it would be a good place to start.
I’ve refined this morning routine over the years and still continue to use it (albeit intermittently) to this day. I hope that you choose to try it out for a mere 4 weeks—you’ll be shocked at how much it will transform your life.
A brief summary:
I designed this step by step routine to be as effective as humanly possible at cultivating motivation, enhancing focus, and rewiring your mind for success.
It’s the result of years of research and refinement—I’ve packed it full of every single possible advantage that exists. It’s meant to sharpen your edge to an almost unnatural level.
Consequently, there’s a lot of things here that might seem strange, pointless, or esoteric. Believe me, they’re not. Everything in this routine serves a purpose. This is why, if you choose to try it, you must follow it to a tee.
Without this routine, I don’t know if I would have ever climbed out of the dark, deep hole of depression that I was in for so long. This routine works, plain and simple.
Here’s a more in depth elaboration:
Activity
Benefits
Activity
Benefits
Notes
Activity
Benefits
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Activity
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I highly recommend that you try this routine for just 30 days—I realize that an hour may seem like a big deal, but the rewards you reap will be incredibly worth it your time.
I was able to push myself to the next level using this customized, comprehensive morning routine, and I hope that you choose to do the same.
Don’t think that you have to adhere to mine—I’d definitely recommend it, but it’s also great to make your own.
Some people don’t need more confidence, but they need more focus. Some people don’t need more flexibility, they need to be more productive.
I get it. Different people have different needs. I can’t help you with this, because I don’t know what your specific needs are. My morning routine is a phenomenal, overall routine, but maybe you want to focus on something specifically.
Do you usually get stiff in the upper back? Maybe you should consider having a yoga focused morning routine. Do you get depressed often? Maybe you should incorporate more activities shown to improve your level of happiness.
Or, maybe you liked my routine and want to give it a go.
Either way, I’ve created a small list (by no means comprehensive) of some things that you can add to my morning routine or use to create your own:
Most morning routines involve some form of reading. Why? Because when you take the time to read a good book, you’re getting wisdom from others.
You’re getting valuable, precious insight, that took others YEARS to learn, all in just a few minutes from reading a book. That’s how you 10x your life.
In fact, out of all the habits out there, reading is one of the most important ones. Reading will help you learn new things, expand your horizons, and become far more successful than you ever thought possible.
This is one of my favorite fat loss hacks that you can easily use to get shredded faster. Just chug one ice cold glass of water each day.
It’s great for fat loss. The idea is that your body has to jack up its metabolism in order to heat the water up to 98 degrees. Bonus points if you chew on the ice.
This can burn an extra 100-300 calories a day depending on how much water you drink and how much ice you have.
This is a great way to save time with your diet, and boost your productivity and focus at the same time—it’s one of my favorite health hacks, and it only takes a few minutes each day.
My personal greens smoothie includes:
I use a Vitamix Pro Series 750 Blender for this. It makes shakes as smooth as butter, which actually increases the bioavailability of the nutrients.
Most successful people will tell you that exercise is important, and for good reason—according to studies, it’s one of the best things you can do.
So, if you’re looking for some good morning routine ideas, then look no further. Just start by jogging an extra 10-15 minutes each day, and go from there.
Personally I workout each day (after my morning routine), so if you want some guidance on that, make sure to check out the best workout routines for men.
Cold showers are something that I take almost every day, I just don’t do them as a part of my morning routine (I usually take them after I come home from the gym to speed up recovery).
In fact, according to research, cold showers are one of the best daily routine hacks you can use to build discipline, will power, and improve health.
They also train you to overcome fear. If every day you force yourself to turn that knob and jump into freezing cold water, pretty soon you’ll have a high level of discipline and control over your body.
Oh, and also—when I say “cold” I don’t mean a little bit chilly. I mean as cold as fucking ice, so that you build the god damn discipline of a Spartan.
Yoga is a fantastic way to combat stress and improve flexibility, but watch out for pseudo-yoga studios. They’ve been popping up all over the urbanized US and are basically doing to yoga what Panda Express did to Chinese food (making it watered down and lower quality).
An issue with this may be finding a practitioner who teaches classes at the exact time you want to take them, but if you can find one that’s great. If you can’t, you can always teach yourself some basic poses (do Vinyasa Yoga for exercise, and Restorative Yoga for relaxation).
Having a morning routine that works is absolutely crucial to success – it’s the cornerstone of nearly every billionaire’s, business owner’s, and athlete’s day. It adds order to your life, minimizes stress, and primes your mind to kick ass at whatever you do.
It’s okay to only do one or two things every morning when you first start off – sometimes we don’t have the time to do a whole bunch of activities, and sometimes the benefit we gain from them isn’t worth the effort required. Don’t be afraid to “mix and match” until you find what works for you.
Once you’ve integrated this morning routine into your life, I’d recommend taking a stab at my Nighttime Routine For Deep Sleep, Subconscious Reprogramming, and Introspection.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, let me know. I’ve gotten tons of emails from guys saying that this routine has helped them MASSIVELY, so I urge you to try it!
The best way to start a morning routine is to learn some time management skills, and set aside just 10 minutes or so in the early morning for your routine. It doesn't matter what you do, but just that you do something; read a book, meditate for a few minutes, or just take a moment to practice some gratitude journaling.
The best morning routine is a morning routine that works for YOU, so start small, by doing a routine that works for your own time budget and goals. One great way to start, is to just spend 10 minutes each day meditating or reading a book, first thing in the morning.
Your morning routine doesn't need to be super long, although it can be. Sometimes, all you need is 10 minutes to start your day right, with a book on business, some quick meditation, or doing some stretching to prime your body and mind for success.
There's no best time to wake up for everyone. If you're a morning person, earlier is better, but according to research, there's something called a sleep chronotype, which explains why some people prefer to wake up later.
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