Why You Need a Morning Routine - And How to Start One
As a longtime believer — and perhaps even, evangelist — of the power of the compound effect, I speak often about the role that habit formation can play in cultivating a healthy, productive, and consistently improving life. Books like The Power of Habit and Atomic Habits have spurred positive changes in my own life, as they’ve helped me create and maintain a consistency to some of the behaviors that over time have reaped demonstrable rewards.
When I traveled to Costa Rica for the Surf and Sales retreat a few months ago, however, I realized that there was an area of my life that where I could use a habit brush up and refinement. The morning.
Several of the other attendees spoke about their morning routines, explaining how they structured the first part of their days to set themselves up for success. For years, I have had an intermittent and rather sporadic morning meditation practice. And over the past year, a pretty consistent habit of drinking 16oz of celery juice every morning.
But overall, my mornings were a little free-wheeling - a few too many hits of the snooze button, a struggle to get moving, and a race out the door.
With this in mind, I decided to dive into the many possibilities of a morning routine and find one that really fits me, my lifestyle and my goals.
Do you want to learn how to own your story, build routines and grow into the leader you’ve always dreamt of? I know you can so let me help. Click below and access my FREE personal brand guide.
First off…What is a morning routine?
A morning routine is a sequence of habits that you undertake every single morning — without fail. Sure, some of us are a little less stringent on the weekends, but a true morning routine helps you start every day. Rain or shine. Weekday or Weekend. At home or on the road. You name it. You do it.
The whole idea is to create a habit - or series of them - that you don’t have to think about, but that starts your day with positivity, energy, and intention.
Why do you need a morning routine?
A morning routine helps you create a process and a structure that lets you set yourself up for success every day. All too often, we lie in bed, hitting the snooze button, and then looking at email or social media on our phone. Before we’re even out of bed, we feel behind and then find ourselves in reactive mode.
These few simple steps can make us feel like the day isn’t really ours and that we are at the whims of everyone and everything around us.
What a stressful way to lead your day!
Instead, a morning routine gets us centered and focused, so we can go about our day with intention — creating an environment and an experience that serves our goals and furthers our vision for what how we want to feel in our lives.
How do you create a morning routine
that works for you?
It can be extremely helpful to conduct some research into the morning routines that others have created. When this is a new endeavor, it can be hard to know where to begin, so taking a look at what others have done can give you a great starting point.
One of the most famous morning routines is what is known as The Miracle Morning, shared in a book by the same name by Hal Elrod. His routines one of the more comprehensive, as it includes six key elements that are commonly used in morning routines. He even created a catchy little acronym for remembering each component.
S.A.V.E.R.S.
Silence
This is your morning meditation. A chance to sit in silence and get grounded before your day begins.
Affirmation
Repeat your affirmations aloud.
Visualization
Visualize the life you want, the future you are working to create.
Exercise
Get your body moving and blood pumping.
Read
Read at least a few pages of a book or article that you find interesting.
Scribe
Write for at least a few minutes - either journaling or something more structured.
When I first revisited the concept of a morning routine, it was the Miracle Morning that I adopted. I liked the structure and I felt it was important to test out each of these 6 key elements.
I quickly learned that there were some parts that worked very well for me and others that needed some adjusting. Over the last three months, I’ve refined my routine and created one that I now feel very good about.
A few things I’ve learned:
A good routine needs a few elements - something to center your mind, something to help you set your intention for the day, and something to get your blood pumping and energy flowing.
You can adjust your routine to fit your schedule and your commute. Feel free to read, listen to books, or even write while you commute into work.
I started asking a ton of people about their routines and it gave me tons of ideas of how I could create my own.
Be consistent but be flexible. If the mood strikes to try something new, go for it! But don’t give up on your routine.
In that spirit, let me share my own routine, so you can get some ideas of how to craft your own kickass morning routine. Note: on weekends I do most of the below, but not all.
Here is my morning routine:
- When the alarm goes off, I have a really hard time getting out of bed right away, so I read one news article on my phone - either something I’ve saved in Pocket or something on the NYTimes app.
- Then I get up, brush my teeth, drink a big glass of water, and put on work out clothes.
- I go downstairs, sit on my white furry chair and meditate for 15 minutes. I’ve been particularly loving the Journey Meditation app. Their live sessions really make me feel grounded and connected to my self and the universe.
- Then I pull out my deck of affirmation cards, ask the universe what message I need to receive today and pull out a card. I write about that affirmation and my perspective on its role in my life and share 5 things I’m grateful for and 3 ways I’ll make today great in my Day One app.
- Once that’s done, I go back upstairs, pull out my yoga mat and do light yoga and stretching for at least 10 minutes.
- Then I get dressed, pack my bag, and start my mile walk to catch the train into work. While I walk, I listen to a non-fiction audiobook. Once I’m on the train, I pull out my kindle or a book and read along my ride.
- Once I’m in the office, I sit down to write for at least 10m, while I drink 16oz of celery juice.
This routine makes me feel AMAZING. I cannot overstate this.
Ah-May-Zing!
I start each day filled with hope and optimism and energized for an amazing day. Beginning each day focused on feeding my mind, soul, and body has helped me shake off a depression I had been struggling with and it has left me seeing the world and all the people in it in a far more positive light.
I know the above routine can seem like there’s a lot to it and maybe it takes up too much time, but all in, it only adds about 30m to my morning and those are 30m that are paid back time and time again throughout the day.
I am more productive.
I’m a better leader.
And I’m just a better person, friend, and partner to the people in my life.
Pick a few things you’re going to do every morning for 30 days. Just stick to it for one month and see what happens. I promise it will change you - for the better.
Give it a shot and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear what you learned.