Yes, you need a morning routine

The path to success starts with mastering yourself

If you neglect your morning, you will neglect the rest of your day.

If your first decision each day is to give in and not prioritize yourself in the ways that really matter, the ways that are hard to do, the ways that build you up to become the person you want to become… you deprive yourself of the momentum necessary to accomplish your goals.

I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times.

But have you done something about it?

Because if you already have a morning routine that’s setting you up for success.

One that has you feeling like you can take on the world every single morning.

Then that’s great.

Click away.

This isn’t for you.

But if you keep clicking on these headlines, and you’re still doing NOTHING about it.

If you’re still metaphorically and literally hitting the snooze button every single morning.

If you’re rushing out the door or into your first morning zoom call with barely enough time to brush your teeth and chug your first cup of coffee.

I guess we both know you need to read about it again.

I know I do.

And I’m the one freaking writing about it.

Dear founder,

You’ve got big dreams and goals.

You’re trying to take on a monumental challenge most won’t even dare to think about.

Those goals and dreams won’t become a reality unless you make them happen.

And there’s no other way to face this, than to first of all, master yourself.

Every single morning you have the chance to start fresh.

To treat your body and mind the way they deserve.

And receive the reward of energy and clarity to go through the day with the laser-focused intention needed to thrive.

This isn’t easy.

It isn’t necessarily fun.

But it will make your life much better.

It will give you the chance to transform yourself.

The chance to become who you need to be to triumph.

Because if you can’t take on that stupid snooze button.

How can you expect to navigate the immense uncertainty of entrepreneurship?

How can you expect to face the many hardships of making something that doesn’t exist?

How can you expect to make the really hard and necessary decisions you will very surely face?

How about you, we, start by making sure our best version shows up every morning.

So that that best version can then face the many battles ahead of each day?

I write this to you as a big reminder to myself, because I have experienced the high of mastering myself before.

I have experienced the ongoing success of a balanced morning routine for months at a time in the past.

And I have bore witness to what that level of self-discipline allowed me to achieve.

How it got me to lose 20kg.

Reach my highest peak in career success.

And eventually led to me gaining the confidence and trust in myself to quit my job and become a founder.

Despite the uncertainty.

Despite the risks.

Despite the fear.

Knowing that I could sustain a high level of discipline over a long period of time showed me that I would be able to navigate any challenge I would face in my entrepreneur journey.

Because I knew this journey, is above all, a fight against oneself.

Now I write to you while I struggle to maintain my routine.

But determined to get it back.

And I want to take you with me.

Change your mindset

First things first; let go of your limiting beliefs.

Most people I talk to about my routine tell me they ‘are not morning people’.

Ok. So what?

You’re not set for life.

You can learn new ways.

You can transform yourself.

You can evolve no matter how old you are.

You are the owner of your mind and your body.

And you can be whatever you set your mind to.

You’re not a morning person?

Then become one.

You’re not a successful founder yet either.

And you’re trying, aren’t you?

Why is this any different?

I assure you, most successful people are very serious and intentional about their mornings.

Learning to get a grip over yourself every morning will prove to you every single day that you are capable of doing whatever you need to do.

And that’s a feeling that will have you absolutely smashing your goals.

The basic structure of the ‘perfect’ morning routine

Now that you are in.

Let’s get down to business.

However you structure your morning routine is up to you.

There are plenty of already set routines out there.

Some crazier than others.

Whatever floats your boat is fine as long as you follow some basics.

Do not hit the snooze button ⏰

As soon as the alarm goes off. Get out of bed. Wake up. If you try to postpone the moment you’re only going to make the first hours of your day worse.

And this is science.

Your brain will try to go back to sleep asap. And when the alarm goes off again in 5 or 10 minutes, you will be stoping your newly started sleep cycle and have a high chance to suffer sleep inertia, which is a temporary state of impaired cognitive and sensory-motor performance.

Basically you will feel drowsy and disoriented.

I am sure you’ve experienced this before.

Do not check your phone first thing 📵

I know. We are glued to our little screens and it’s become second nature to check it first thing in the morning. But when you do that, you’re immediately giving away your most precious resource away: your attention.

Instead, focus on yourself.

Try to delay checking your phone as much as possible.

Preferably, until you’re finished with your routine.

Move your body 🏃‍♂️

Just 10 minutes is enough.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a power walk, a light workout, or some yoga or stretching.

The more intense, the better.

But any movement will do.

Exercising will energize you and add to the momentum of your morning.

Move your mind 🧘

Another minimum of 10 minutes.

My preferred method is journaling.

Writing your thoughts and intentions down will help you achieve great clarity to move throughout the day in a concrete direction.

But meditation, mindfulness, or even praying will do.

Whatever gets you to do some introspection and helps you find clarity, do it.

Now it’s your turn 🫵

These are the 4 steps I find non-negotiable.

The 4 things that will ensure that your morning routine works as it has to.

But how you actually execute these 4 steps is completely up to you.

In my case, my ‘perfect’ morning looks like this:

1. Wake up early

2. Brush my teeth and wash my face

3. Workout followed by some yoga for stretching

4. Journaling

5. Reading

6. Showering

If I manage to do all of those things I know for sure that my day will go incredibly well.

Now, notice the ‘if I manage’.

I’m not perfect.

I’m human.

And so are you.

If I was ever able to sustain my routine for months at a time it was because I didn’t expect to do it all perfectly the first time.

I had that mindset before.

And it only led to a lot of planning followed by the disappointment of falling short on my promises to myself.

What I do now when I start anything new is applying the mindset I call ‘consistent imperfection’.

I start by making sure that I show up everyday.

Somedays all I will manage to do will be waking up at the set time.

Others I will manage to do absolutely everything.

Over time, however, I will build my habit back up again.

And my routine will start to feel natural.

It will still be challenging.

But once I push past that first struggle of waking up without snoozing.

Everything else will follow suit.

I know it because I’ve experienced it before.

And now it’s your turn 🫵