How you start your day is extremely important. It sets the tone for the rest of the day and can determine how successful you are.
If you want to be high achiever, you need to start by adopting specific morning habits.
Rolling out of bed and wandering aimlessly won’t cut it.
I’ve been optimizing my morning routine for a decade and want to share my thoughts on what’s worked best.
Ahead, I dive into morning habits you can start adopting, why they’re important, and steps you can start taking today.
Let’s get into it!
Do successful people have a morning routine?
Yes! The morning routine of a successful person is important because it sets the tone for the rest of the day.
Look at Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or any other high achiever.
What do they have in common?
A morning regimen.
Typically they wake up early, exercise, and start their day with positive affirmations or visualization. But, more on those later.
By starting their day off on the right foot, they are more likely to be productive and positive.
Here’s a look into my six-figure morning routine:
Morning habits of high achievers
These are morning habits you should adopt if you want to be healthier and more successful.
1. Wake up early and consistent
I’m a huge fan of waking up early. I love getting up at 5:00am and working for several hours on my business before starting my job.
It feels awesome.
It’s very peaceful, and I’m able to get a lot of work done before most people even wake up!
In fact, the average person is up by 6:30am.
Now, here’s the thing…
Although I’m an early riser, not everyone is.
At the end of the day, we all have the same amount of time in a day. What matters the most is what you do with it. Not necessarily when you wake up and sleep.
So, if you’re not a morning person, that’s perfectly fine. Just wake up at the same time every day and be consistent with it.
By having a consistent wake-up time, you’ll train your body and mind to be more productive and consistent.
2. Plan the day the night before
One of my favourite things to do is plan my day the night before.
I’ll sit down and map out a list of things I need to get done the next day. This way, when I wake up, I know exactly what I need to do and can hit the ground running.
Try planning out:
- Your work and business schedule.
- When you will exercise.
- When you will have breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
- When you will wake up and sleep.
- Client calls and phone calls.
- Errands.
- Etc.
Not only does this save me time, but it also reduces stress because I don’t have to worry about forgetting anything important.
I remember reading Getting Things Done (I’ve mentioned that book a million times), and the concept of “open loops” always stuck with me.
How many times have you thought about something you needed to do over and over again?
We’ve all been there.
By simply choosing when you will do that thing or address it clears it from your mind.
That’s how I look at scheduling my days the evening before.
I personally use Google Calendar to time block (set aside certain hours for specific tasks) and Asana to stay on top of project management.
Doing this is also a nice way to end the day, which benefits your mornings.
3. Say positive affirmations
The more I learned about the power of our thoughts, the more I realized how important it is to speak kindly to ourselves.
Every morning when I wake up, I say a few positive affirmations. Things like “I am grateful for today” or “I am happy and healthy.”
Studies have found that positive affirmations have many scientific benefits, including improving our ability to solve problems.
It might sound silly, but it really does make a difference in how you feel throughout the day. If you start your day off with positive thoughts, it will snowball.
I’ve personally found that they make me more positive, happy, peaceful, and confident.
Write down a list and read them every morning aloud or in your head. I swear you’ll feel better!
4. Visualize your goals and success
Similar to affirmations, a morning habit of successful people is visualization.
I like to take a few minutes every morning to close my eyes and visualize my goals. I see myself achieving them and what it feels like.
This helps me stay focused on what’s important and motivated throughout the day. It also allows me to get creative and come up with new ideas on how to achieve my goals.
If you’re not sure how to visualize, here’s a quick exercise:
- Sit down in a comfortable position.
- Close your eyes.
- Take a few deep breaths in and out.
- Now, imagine yourself achieving your goal. What does it feel like? Who is there with you? What do you see? Smell? Hear? Taste? Touch?
Eventually, you become so good at visualizing it becomes fun, and you can’t stop doing it.
Here’s a good tidbit from one of Joe Rogan’s podcast episode’s on this topic:
5. Start a meditation practice
I know, I know. Meditation can seem woo-woo, especially if you’ve never done it before.
But trust me, it’s worth it.
Meditation has so many benefits like reducing stress, improving sleep, and increasing focus and productivity.
23% of people that meditate say it has cognitive benefits, and 24% say it has emotional benefits.
If you’re not sure where to start, there are tons of free meditation apps like Calm that will guide you through the process.
Even just a few minutes of meditation in the morning can make a huge difference in how you feel throughout the day.
So give it a try! You might be surprised at how much you enjoy it.
6. Do a form of exercise
Health and fitness are some of my biggest passions.
So, it’s no surprise that I make time for exercise every day.
While I enjoy working out in the evening, 50% of people prefer it in the morning.
I’m not saying you need to wake up at the crack of dawn and go for a run. But even just a 20-minute walk or some simple stretching can do wonders for your energy levels and mood.
Exercise is also a great way to start your day because it gets your blood flowing and gets you out of any potential morning grogginess.
The key is to find a form of exercise you like.
Maybe it’s weightlifting … yoga … callisthenics. You get my point.
Plus, it sets the tone for making healthy choices throughout the day. So if you can, try to squeeze in a quick workout in the morning.
7. Read a book or consume good content
One of my favourite morning habits is reading.
I love starting the day with a good book or article. It helps me learn something new and set a positive tone for the day.
Believe it or not, Warren Buffett reads 500 pages per day.
Yeah, you heard that right…
If you’re not a reader, that’s perfectly fine! You can consume content in other ways like listening to podcasts or watching videos.
The important thing is that you’re filling your mind with good information that will help you grow and improve.
We’re all guilty of waking up and reaching for our phones.
Instead of scrolling through Instagram or TikTok (my guilty pleasure), consume something more positive and productive.
Wrapping up morning habits of high achievers and successful people
How you start your day is how you end it.
I’m a huge believer in that.
And, if you want to be a high achiever and successful, you must have a good morning routine down pat.
Some of the things you can do include reading, exercising, doing affirmations, meditating, and time blocking.
Experiment with different activities at different times. There’s no cookie-cutter routine. You have to find one that suits your lifestyle and goals.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your success!
