Morning Routines of Productive Leaders

How do you begin your day? Are you intentional about the steps to success you take each morning? Have you thought about how to begin your day well?

From Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning to Robin Sharma’s 5 AM Club, there are a lot of perspectives on the best way to start your day. Rather than tell you what your morning routine should look like, we just encourage you to have one!

Here are some elements to consider when creatng your routine:

• Start – what time will you get up? There is a lot of science that advocates getting up early. There is also a lot written about the importance of sleep, and the fact that most people are sleep deprived. Consider when you will wake up in tandem with when you will get to sleep the night before.
   
• Inspire – meditation, gratitude, reading and journaling are all practices that many incorporate into their morning routine. What works for you to begin your day well? 
   
• Hydrate – Your body is made up of mostly water. Hydration is essential to peak performance. Drink some water when you wake up. Then you can add whatever nutritional elements work for you. Some people do smoothies, some eat a healthy breakfast, others drink Bulletproof coffee. The key is to start with H2O.
   
• Move – Jim Citrin at Yahoo! Finance studied the daily routine of 20 CEOs. More than 70% exercise in the morning. Determine your best approach to movement. Whether it’s walking, yoga, stretching, HIIT or weightlifting, adding movement in the morning provides benefits all day. As Nike says, “Just do it!”
   
• Focus – Most leaders dedicate about 25 minutes of their morning to strategizing and planning. They are intentional about where they focus their time and energy. Some leaders end each day writing down the top three things they want to accomplish the next day. Whether you end the day or begin the day clarifying your most important tasks, do the hardest thing first and accomplish something for the day.  For most people, their brainpower is greatest and willpower is highest in the morning. 

If you win the morning, you win the day. Consider one thing you want to begin doing on a consistent basis to start your day right. Then habit stack by adding other elements into your routine until you’ve created something that is just right for you.

We’re curious about your morning routine. What’s working? What have you changed or added over the years? How consistent are you in your daily practices? Email us at newsletter@brightonleadership.com and let us know!