Creating a solid morning routine is one of the best ways to sustain your long-term motivation.
It gives you something to wake up to. You’re excited to start the day, even if it means waking up a little earlier.
When done correctly, morning routines should be quick and efficient. It’s not about waking up at 3 a.m. on 4 hours of sleep to run half a marathon and levitate to work. I’m talking about real, sustainable habits that you can easily incorporate.
You’re going to see why setting a strong morning routine is the foundation for success, and something you should definitely consider doing if you’re looking to enrich your life.
After all, being happy is your responsibility.
The Purpose Of Morning Routines
Of course it feels good to say you got in an early morning workout and meditation. But besides being proud, what purpose do morning routines serve?
Ultimately, the morning routine must be viewed as a return on investment. Something that when done in the long run, is going to improve who you are as a person.
In the business world, a business is only successful if it brings in more money than it spends. This is exactly how you should view your morning routine – don’t be spending more than you can afford.
But at the same time, realize that an investment into yourself is the best investment you can make. Don’t be frugal, because you will miss opportunities to grow.
How To Create The Perfect Morning Routine
The morning is a dance between time and energy.
One day you may get lost in a waltz of bacon and eggs, only to realize how late you will be for work. The next day you decide to wake up 90 minutes early, telling yourself, “Now I have time.” But, with no energy to enjoy.
Creating an effective, sustainable morning routine is all about balance. You have to play with the variables, mix and match your options, and take some bold risks to best optimize your results and see what works.
While there is no specific set of rules your morning should abide by, it’s clear that some routines simply have a higher ROI than others.
After examining the morning routines of dozens of the world’s top performers, I came to the conclusion that there are three underlying variables that persist throughout each and every one of them.
In theory, the routines are quite simple. The true test is your ability to remain consistent.
Here are the three fundamentals you should always incorporate into your mornings.
1) Energy
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
Even if this catchphrase was a phony marketing incentive invented by Kellogg’s, there is truth to starting your day with the right foods.
Here’s the bottom line: you need some sort of energy in the morning. No energy, no bueno.
Some choose the morning smoothie. For others, it’s a protein-fuelled plate of eggs served with a cup of Joe. And for the freaks, it’s some sort of 16:8 fasting regimen. But you know what? They’re all okay.
The divide between the breakfast eaters and the fasters is comparable to the political arena. There are benefits and downfalls to both, and I recommend you try both before dissing the other.
What’s important is to gauge how your body feels. My rule of thumb is that if you are not hungry, you probably don’t need to eat. BUT you better make sure you’re following a true intermittent fasting regime, and not skipping it for time benefits. When in doubt, a small breakfast is safest.
Try a few different breakfast variations, and record how you feel and how productive you are after each one. Once you have found your rhythm, stick to it religiously. This will save you time and energy in the long run.
Food and coffee don’t have to be your only sources of energy, either. Here are some other crazy things you can try:
- Butter coffee
- Hot Lemon Water
- Tea
- Cold Shower
- Breathwork
- Stretching
2) Exercise
Whether it’s in the morning or not, you should always make time to exercise. It’s a guaranteed ROI. This isn’t about getting your dream physique – it’s about feeling good. Damn good.
Should you make the decision to work out (a wise choice), consider doing it in the morning. Research suggests that working out in the morning is more beneficial than night training. Here’s why:
If your goal is to lose body fat, it’s recommended to exercise before eating breakfast. This is because it’s easier to burn fat when your body is in a fasted state (1).
Exercise is one of the best natural remedies for stress. Working out in the morning can help regulate your emotions for the rest of the day (2).
Cortisol typically hits its peak around 8 a.m. Given this hormone makes your body feel awake and alert, you’re naturally going to get more out of your workout at this time (3, 4).
Morning exercise was also found to improve attention span, visual learning, and decision-making skills throughout the rest of the day (5). Get it done early and take advantage of the residual effects.
Physical activity stimulates the release of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin – neurotransmitters that make you feel great. By working out in the morning, you have the opportunity to feel these prolonged effects throughout the rest of the day, and your mood will rise significantly (6).
Exercise doesn’t need to be long, and it doesn’t have to be every day. 20 minutes 3 times a week is the bare minimum. So long as you are consistent, the results will come.
Some morning exercises you should consider:
- Weight lifting
- Calisthenics
- Jogging
- Bodyweight movements
- Yoga
- Martial Arts
3) Direction
The first two elements optimize your energy and vitality. But true growth lies in your direction.
This is where you will come to water your garden and plant your seeds every morning. It’s a time you can knowingly reserve for yourself to work on your purpose, passion, and mission without restrictions.
For a bare minimum of 5-10 minutes a morning, spend some time by yourself doing something that will improve your odds of success. Whatever success means to you.
Your purpose will not come to you automatically. It will only appear after several periods of trial and error, consistent action, and the gift of time. If you are not acting or thinking it out every single day – in some form or another – you might just lose it.
Here are a couple of practices to consider:
- Meditation
- Journaling
- Reading
- Podcasts/audiobooks
- Walking in nature
You deserve to be excited – to have something that pulls you out of bed in the morning, and fall asleep dreaming about at night. This is what happens when you have a clearly defined vision of your future.
Putting It All Together
Ideally, you should practice one thing from each category every single morning. This will improve your odds of success tenfold, as each practice is carefully orchestrated to increase your long-term ROI.
In the event that you “don’t have time” or are feeling sore/tired, don’t let that discourage you from setting up a routine. There are many ways you can get creative.
You can schedule your rest days on your busiest workdays; listen to an audiobook while you are making breakfast; or listen to a relevant podcast while you are exercising.
Don’t stress about waking up super early. You should be able to accomplish all three of these in less than an hour if you plan your schedule accordingly. Eventually, it will come second nature.
But don’t be surprised if you naturally start to wake up a little earlier… Excitement is a by-product of taking care of yourself.
Famous Morning Routines of Top Performers
Tony Robbins
- Energy: Adrenal Support Cocktail composed of vitamin C, B vitamins, and antioxidants, followed by a sauna to cold-water plunge on just 3-5 hours of sleep.
- Exercise: Highly intense 15-minute workout.
- Direction: Famous “priming” meditation, which involves breathwork, gratitude, and visualization (7).
Barack Obama
- Energy: Simple breakfast at 7 am, with green tea or orange juice.
- Exercise: Strength training or cardio.
- Direction: Always reads the newspaper at breakfast (8).
Jennifer Anniston
- Energy: Wake up at 4:30 am with a collagen peptide protein shake, served alongside hot lemon water. She’s an avid intermittent faster.
- Exercise: 30 minutes of spin, 40 minutes of Yoga, and lightweight training every morning.
- Direction: 20 minutes of meditation (9).
Oprah Winfrey
- Energy: Half caffeinated/decaffeinated espresso, served with milk and a little hazelnut, around 6-6:20 am.
- Exercise: An hour of low-impact strength training, followed by a 30-minute run.
- Direction: Read “Bowl of Saki’” newsletter, followed by 20 minutes of meditation. She also makes a point of spending a lot of time in nature in her backyard (10).
Mark Zuckerberg
- Energy: Quick breakfast at 8 am, and wears the same clothes every day to save energy for more important tasks.
- Exercise: Short workout or run.
- Direction: Checks Facebook (warranted) and spends quality time with his family (11).
Richard Branson
- Energy: Drinks a lot of tea, and enjoys egg sandwiches in the morning.
- Exercise: 6 am singles game of Tennis, followed by 40 minutes of weight lifting or kite surfing on his private island.
- Direction: Spends a lot of time with his family to keep him grounded before starting his day (12).
Elon Musk
- Energy: Coffee at 7 am on 6 hours of sleep, and occasionally eats breakfast if he has time.
- Exercise: He admits he hasn’t seen his trainer in a while.
- Direction: Answers “critical emails” immediately upon waking up, or while tending his 5 children (13, 14).
Elon was the only exception I found of a top-performer that did not have a structured morning, which was surprising given he runs several billion-dollar businesses.
My theory is that he cares so much about his work, that he doesn’t concern himself much with personal health and wellbeing.
But while he does not structure his mornings, he most definitely structures his life. He uses the first-principles method, which is based on first-order priorities. In his eyes, the health of his businesses is more important than his own (15).
Conclusion
Morning routines serve one dominant purpose: to increase your odds of future success, whatever your definition of success may be.
After examining dozens of the world’s top performer’s, it’s clear that there are three fundamental habits to every successful morning:
- Energy to keep you balanced
- Exercise to make you feel good, strong, and confident
- Direction to cultivate your purpose
We don’t all own Oprah’s backyard or Richard Branson’s Necker Island, but the idea of improving yourself starts with what you already have. You can’t put a price on exercise, nutrition, and mission.
Whatever practices you choose, it’s important you actually enjoy doing them.
- Eat healthy meals you have no problem eating every day
- Pick exercises that turn you on
- Practice one thing each morning that will genuinely enrich your life
Remember, you don’t want to just wake up – you want to be pulled out of your covers and jump into the day.
Doing these three practices every morning will give you the momentum you need to make a positive difference in your life.
And you can start by making your bed.