My 6 part morning routine… most important hour of my day.

It seriously took me a few years to figure this out… but I truly can’t imagine life any other way now.

What is it that has made this huge difference in my life and my successes so far?

Just a simple measly little hour.

You know how your mom always told you that you need a good breakfast to start the day off right? And how the “health gurus” say that breakfast is the most important meal?

Man… I do. If you know me… you know I’m a sports guy. Played baseball all my life (up through college anyway… not anymore , love golf now, and work out almost everyday. When I don’t eat a good meal in the morning the rest of my day is plain shot.

Is that the secret I couldn’t imagine living without?

Lol, nope. But…

Very similar.

The thing I couldn’t live without (or at least function like a productive and creative human being) is my morning routine.

Some people call it fancy names like “the hour of power” (cough… cough… Tony Robbins), “morning mind ritual”… but for me it’s just a routine that I’ve noticed when I do it… I’m productive, clear minded, positive, and get a ton of stuff done.

When I don’t do it… I stray off course easily, have a tough time getting focused in the first place, and have a plain ol’ attitude that isn’t really all that positive.

So, for me… this simple hour I call my morning routine is really just like that “eat a good breakfast” saying (actually, eating a good breakfast is part of my routine too). It starts the day off right and really sets the stage for what the rest of the day will be like.

So, what’s a part of my morning routine?

For a few years I would go in and out of having a steady morning routine. Sometimes I would get up early thinking that was the key (it really isn’t for me)… sometimes I would try to meditate for a while… sometimes I would just write out a little plan for the day.

None of these things really worked for me so I could stick with it every single day.

But, a little while back I simplified it. Before then I was trying to be too rigid with my routine and it just wasn’t working well for me.

So, I sat down and started to log the things that produced GOOD results for me… and the things that produced BAD results for me in the mornings to make me more productive and happy.

The Good:

• Meditating for 5-10 minutes – Nothing too heavy. Just clearing the mind for a few minutes really got me so I could think clearly and focus right away.
• Exercise – Once again… nothing too heavy. Get the blood pumping a bit and get some oxygen in the blood. This is where I come up with some of my best thoughts.
• Eat a good breakfast - This is huge for me… really gives my body the fuel it needs to start things off right. When I don’t eat a good breakfast I’m toast for the rest of the day.
• Drink a glass of cold water and pop the vitamins
• Read for 10-15 minutes… usually something that inspires me to start the day
• Write out my top priorities for the day

The Bad:

• Getting more than 8 hours of sleep – I love my sleep… but when I get more than 8 hours it just seems like I’m tired the whole day. 7 hours is great… but right at 8 hours is perfect for me… no more.
• Reading my email before 9am – The first thing I used to do was get up, turn on the computer… and read the email as I was eating a bowl of cereal. Man, I found out that this really shot to hell my morning… and made me extremely unproductive.
• Getting on twitter before 9am - I love my twitter… but it’s so addictive that it is a huge productivity killer that I just can’t check it until after I’ve done my morning routine anymore. (hey, if you’re not following me… do it… you know you should!)
• Not creating a plan for the day and making priorities – If you’d ask my wife… I’m not a guy who normally likes to plan things to the hilt. But… when it comes to business and being productive… I’ve found out that not planning out things really is a killer to getting stuff done. Not planning = wasting away the day (only takes 5 minutes… if you’re not… DO IT!).

So, I basically kept the things that are GOOD for my productivity, happiness, and sanity… and got rid of the things that are BAD for my productivity, happiness, and sanity.

Sounds simple huh?

Here’s my morning routine

1. Wake up, shake off the cob webs and go have a glass of clean, cold water... and pop some multi-vitamins. The water helps to wake me up and hydrates my body for the rest of the day.
2. Do about 20 minutes of light exercise just to get my blood pumping. This one is huge for me. When I don’t do this… my productivity is crap for the rest of the day. Nothing fancy… do some sit ups, push ups, walk outside/run in place inside, jumping jacks… whatever. Just something to get my blood pumping… not necessarily to sweat. This exercise is more to get my mind working right… not to build muscles.
3. Eat a good breakfast. Whether it be a bowl of raisin bran with a banana, scrambled eggs, omlet, oatmeal, etc. I just need something healthy in my gut or I’m a slug for the rest of the day.
4. A bit of meditation… like 5-10 minutes. I know, I know… meditation huh? Man, I used to be weirded out by that word too and thought it was only for people who wore purple robes and had shaved heads. But, when I started to do it… I realized that this stuff really works. You don’t have to do anything fancy… just sit in a quiet place… close your eyes… relax… and try to think about nothing for a while. Clear your mind. Maybe visualize your goals and the awesome stuff you’ll be doing that day. Works like a charm.
5. Read for 10-15 minutes. After I clear my mind I like to read for a few minutes. Usually it’s the latest book I bought from Borders (business, motivation, marketing, etc.). For me, this little time of reading helps me to get my brain to focus on things and to get my creativity juices flowing.
6. Write out a quick snapshot of how I’d like the day to go w/ priorities. This is key for me. I look through my journal and see what projects I have on my plate, what I accomplished and didn’t accomplish the day before, what I need to do today to accomplish my goals… and what things are highest on my list of priorities. Simple. Now I know what I’m going to do today and have something to measure my actual results against. Without measurement you can never get better.

That’s it. Simple stuff huh?

But, once I started to do this little hour (give or take a few minutes) morning routine… my productivity and happiness shot up.

I can almost guarantee you that your morning ritual is probably a bit different than mine… and it should be. But, the key is to figure out what you do when you have a very productive and happy day… what you do when you don’t have a productive and happy day…

… and get rid of the stuff that drags you down and fit the things that help you start the day off right into a morning ritual.

The key to making your morning ritual stick

Really, your morning ritual will stick only when you have truly banished the things that drag you down in the morning out of your routine. Until then, it will be tough to stick to it because your results will be inconsistent.

So, every single day you should write down what has a positive effect on your productivity and happiness… and what has a negative effect. Then, every day… work on replacing a bad activity with a good activity… and do this every single day until your morning routine is second nature… and you wonder what the heck you would do if you didn’t have this routine in place.

Try it out… let me know how it goes.

Hey, do you have a morning routine that works for you? What is it? Leave a comment below.