5 Morning Rituals I Do to Win the Day
I am not a morning person. All of my friends will tell you I am the last one to show up for brunch and to never plan anything before 12pm with me. Think of IST on steroids. For those who are not aware, IST = Indian Standard Time, Indians are habitually late to everything, and I am even more! I used to just shrug it off and say, “It’s not in my DNA, I’m just not a morning person.”
But time and time again, it seemed like every biography I read, or every interview I watched of highly successful people – they started their day 3-4 hours before I did. This got me thinking, is there really a correlation between ‘success’ and ‘early risers?’ So, I went to bed that night and did something I hadn’t done since high school.
I set my alarm to 6:30 am.
Well, I woke up, now what? I really didn’t feel like doing anything, I was so groggy and tired, my body was tight, and my mind was foggy - I honestly went back to sleep.
I woke up the next morning with much higher determination, I have to try this “morning ritual” thing, I have to feel it, see its impact – does it really work?
In this blog, I'll tell you about five powerful morning rituals - which sets me up for positive momentum and less distraction, eventually helping me “win the day." I can honestly say the results have been incredible, I’ve noticed an increase in my overall mood and productivity.
After researching 50+ leaders, CEOs, celebrities, athletes, billionaires, politicians, and holistic medicine studies regarding their morning routines, I made up my list and then tested it for few months in 1-month increments.
Here are the five routines I like to do within the first 60 minutes of an ideal day. To be honest, I mention ‘ideal day’ because as much as I want to, there are times I can’t do all five. So, I believe you have ‘won the day’ if you can hit at least three of these things:
1 | Make Your Bed (2 Min)
It is hard to overstate how important this ritual has become for me. Ever since I started making my bed every morning, it has made me understand that it is the little things that matter in life. Ultimately, the way you organize and set your room is a manifestation of where your mental space is at the moment. By making your bed, you are quite literally de-cluttering your mind and encouraging a healthier environment. Starting the day with making your bed is a very positive way and indicative of how the rest of my day would unfold. However, I’m not the only one who claims that you should straighten the sheets once you're out of bed.
High-performing military personnel like Admiral William H. McRaven, commander of the Navy SEAL, also believes this rather simple act is very necessary. In his address to the students at the University of Texas in 2014, McRaven shared this very idea. Watch his speech on YouTube here:
The explanation as to why making your bed right after waking up is so strong is because - it gives you a feeling of satisfaction first thing in the morning. It also allows you to perform even more activities, helping you to do more. If you're working from home, it will have an even greater impact due to a disorganized external environment, which can be very distracting and affect your productivity.
2 | Meditate (10-20 Min)
The second activity in my successful morning routine is meditation, which allows me to get a lot more done that day with higher focus and less stress.
If you're new to meditation, I recommend you, “start the game tiny, rig it so you can win it.” Don't worry about instantly attempting to meditate for 20 minutes. Simply start. To learn more about meditation, read my popular article - 3 Habits That Will Change Your Life.
Here is my suggestion for what I do some days when I’m not feeling it. If you’re super busy a particular morning or simply not in the mood to meditate - while waking up just listen to a song that usually puts you in a good mood. This will provide great headspace and allow you to work your way up to longer relaxation times gradually until meditation becomes a habit.
3 | Hang (10 Min)
As soon as I started incorporating this habit into my morning routine, I noticed the boost of energy it gives me. Plus, it really improves my posture and forces me to stand taller as I start my day. I really encourage everyone to try to implement this simple ritual to see immediate results in productivity and energy throughout your day.
Here is how I do it. It is so simple. I hang for one minute at a time with my hands on a pull-up bar.
This helps reverse the effects of spinal compression, which can have many negative effects on your neck, back, or any of your extremities, including pain, stiffness, burning, numbness, or weakness.
If you don't have the strength to "hang," you can do exercises that reinforce your heart, providing better support for your spinal column and all its nerves. So, add this to your morning routine, and you'll probably feel better, ensuring you're going to get more done.
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4 | Drink Tea & Visualize (5-10 Min)
This has honestly become the favorite part of my day. I make myself green tea with some honey. Any generic green tea bag will do, (I personally use Mighty Leaf since it is full-leaf and tastes better in my opinion) and put a bit of honey in there to kickstart your taste buds. I use these 5-10min while drinking tea to visualize what my day will look like.
Visualization is a very powerful tool most athletes and CEOs do every morning to operate at their peak performance. By visualizing your day in the morning, you create a visual ‘to-do’ list and mentally prepare yourself for any obstacles you might encounter. This small ritual has truly reshaped the way I go about my day.
5 | Check Your Gratitude Journal (5 Min)
Now, no personal development journey would be complete without a ‘Gratitude Journal.’ :) The final part of my morning routine involves journaling. It is a morning ritual you can do one of two ways:
The very popular Morning Pages method is a great choice for many. Writing these three pages helps people to take up their emotions and "bury it on the paper" so that, with a calm and optimistic mind, you can go about your day. If you are in a creative field, I highly recommend this option.
Or, you can do what I do which is write in my Five-Minute Journal. Each page is split up into two halves - Morning & Night. Every morning, you are asked to write three things you are grateful for, three things that would make today great, and lastly a daily affirmation. Every night you write three amazing things that happened that day and how could you have made your day even better.
This is such an incredible ritual because gratitude is one of the most amazing ways you can begin to prime your brain for a happier ‘you’. Beginning your day thinking of all you are grateful for has impacted the lens through which I view my day.
You feel empathetic and powerful at the same time.
Even if I am having an awful day, I manage to be optimistic without even realizing my mind was primed for it from my daily ritual. You overall become a healthier, happier person.
By ensuring every morning you write your thoughts down, I tell you no matter how you do it, you will have started to start your day on a more positive note.
By doing this morning routine for the last three months, I have seen a significant change in my life. You may have heard the saying, "Win your morning - win the day." I have to say that - Yes! It's absolutely true. Here is what I learned:
Why Is Morning Ritual Important?
There are simple reasons why a morning ritual - or something you do every morning, engages your attitude and emotions at its core. Our morning is the most precious moment of our day - no one is bothering us, the outside world is quiet, it is just you and your mind. With this environment, your brain is more receptive to be primed for the day.
When constructing a morning routine it is important to not feel like you’re just adopting a certain chain of events. Instead, you do it but because you want to do it and aren’t going through the motions on auto-pilot. Here are some of the benefits of having a morning ritual:
1) PROMOTES PRODUCTIVITY
Morning rituals help us set the tone for the day, better enabling us to manage our routines rather than our schedule. When we start fresh every day, we will focus more on what's before us, where to spend our time, and eventually increase our productivity.
Productivity is about how much can get done, but it can also refer to the level of quality and purpose that we bring to the tasks. Completing the day with six tasks and being confident of your work's performance feels a lot better than ten half-completed tasks.
If we are continually just responding to other people's tasks, stressors, or needs, we will find it very difficult to plan and follow up effectively with our own priorities.
2) PROMOTES CONFIDENCE
Being confident means more than just saying, "I like myself." Authentic trust is earned through interactions. Self-efficacy is a term referring to our belief in achieving goals and completing tasks— a belief in our abilities.
Unlike self-esteem, which is an overview of our self-worth feelings, self-efficacy is more important to help build trust and resilience.
It helps to reinforce our sense of self-efficacy by walking through experiences in our day and actually watching ourselves complete tasks and feeling a sense of achievement. When you have a morning routine, this helps set the stage for better prioritization, more effective time, and productivity management. In turn, all of this is likely to have a positive effect on our self-efficacy and confidence.
3) PROMOTES PEACE
Stress can cause us a lot of trouble in our jobs and relationships. Furthermore, take a toll on us mentally and physically. There is a lot of added pressure in feeling as though we were not able to accomplish things, and feeling as though we were always behind. Our self-efficacy is low; we can start experiencing negative self-talk and end up feeling overwhelmed and distressed.
A strong, regular morning routine can provide us with a time to practice mindful attentiveness and/or prayer, contributing to feelings of greater peace as we go through our day. Feeling successful in our day could lead to a more relaxed evening and in effect, the next day to a good night's sleep and a refreshing day.
If sleep is something you struggle with, check out my popular article 10 Ways to Get Better Sleep, or my book notes on Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, PhD. so you are getting the most out of every snore!
To Wrap Up
These five-morning rituals are what I do to help me win the day. The reason I’ve stuck with them is because of how practical they are and how they really impact the rest of how my day goes.
More so, it starts the day with a positive note, "I've done something good for me today," not a reactive note, "What I've got to do today." It's a quick change of mind, but super rewarding when you know that you've done something good, checked an item off your to-do list, and exercised a little self-care before you even left the house.
Doing something as simple as looking at something that makes you happy, talking about things you're grateful for, and appreciating something that gives you pleasure will reinforce the fact that regardless of how bad your day gets, you are still in control of your attitude. Like the previous point, it helps you to do something better and feel good about it, rather than subjecting your way to anything that comes along.
Let your most strong habits be combined. Maybe it's a little meditation and a hot cup of tea, along with some journaling of gratitude, or maybe it's just a few minutes of light and deep breathing. Whatever you want to make a habit of, it can be extremely helpful to turn it— or them— into a morning ritual.
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