1-Sentence-Summary: My Morning Routine is the ultimate guide to building healthy habits in the hours right after you wake up with tips backed up by the experiences of some of the most successful people in the world, including Ryan Holiday, Chris Guillebeau, Nir Eyal, and many more.
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All across the internet you’ll find articles detailing the top 10 things that successful people do. Many of these posts follow the lives of just one or a small handful of these outstanding individuals, telling you that because they do it, you should too.
Adopting the habits of just one accomplished person might improve your life a little. But what if you had 64 of the most productive people on the planet all agreeing on one thing? Can you imagine how your life would change then?
These were the questions on the minds of Benjamin Spall and Michael Xander that led them to survey some of the top minds in the world to find what they had in common. The answer, and the universal key to their success? Their morning rituals.
My Morning Routine: How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired is the result of Spall and Xander’s research on what routines at the beginning of the day have to do with winning. And by sharing tips from these 64 inspiring examples, they’ll show you just what you need to do to find similar results!
Here are 3 lessons in the book that have helped me have better mornings:
- Exercise and meditation are just two components of a healthy morning ritual.
- To be efficient right after you wake up, it’s vital that you prepare before you go to bed.
- Being able to ditch your alarm is just one of the many benefits of getting enough sleep.
Let’s dive right in and see what we can learn from this exciting book!
Lesson 1: If you want to be happy and productive throughout the day, include exercise and mediation in your morning routine.
Of the many similarities among the 64 case studies in the book, the authors found that most of the people they surveyed exercised or meditated right after waking up.
These individuals understand that it’s not just about getting fit or looking good. They know that movement boosts your brain and sets you up to win the rest of the day.
That’s how the former president of Twentieth Century Fox, Sherry Lansing, feels about her workout regimen. She says it gets her pumped up for the entire day whenever she exercises first thing.
You don’t have to make it difficult to reap the benefits, either. Start small, and do what you enjoy. I recently bought Ring Fit Adventure on the Nintendo Switch and now I exercise almost every morning!
Let’s talk about meditation now. Similar to working out, this practice will accelerate your mind and body in dozens of ways.
Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, spends up to 60 minutes every morning meditating and has done so for years. Doing so, he says, gets him ready to respond to unexpected situations with calmness and intelligence.
To start this practice, simply focus on being present in whatever you’re doing. Whether it’s exercise or reading, pay attention to the process. And check out our summary of Unplug for more meditation tips!
Lesson 2: Preparation before you go to sleep is vital to being efficient in the hours right after you wake up.
You could really do any number of activities to have a successful morning. Whether it’s reading, journaling, or whatever else you can think of, just do what’s best for you! It’s important that you’re prepared though, and that starts in the evening.
One of the biggest keys to a successful start to your day is to get enough rest. Focus on disconnecting before you go to bed. Especially stay away from technology as it will make your sleep less efficient, which will kill your morning productivity!
Nir Eyal, for example, has his router set up to shut the internet off at 10 pm every night. That makes it so he’s almost always in bed around 11 and gets quality sleep because he’s off devices before bedtime.
If you struggle to disconnect from work, look to the example of Jenny Blake, who is a public speaker and author of Pivot. She’s made the rule that, to help her disconnect, she won’t check email after 5 pm.
She also thinks about what she’s grateful for and considers improvement areas to help her clear her head and unwind each evening.
For me, I love planning, journaling, reading, and meditating each evening to get disconnect and prepare for a good night’s rest!
Lesson 3: When you get enough sleep you may be able to say goodbye to alarms forever, among other benefits.
The founder of the Huffington Post, Arianna Huffington, knows the importance of a good night’s sleep a little too well. Her exhaustion once got so bad that she passed out at work, falling face-first into her desk and breaking her cheekbone!
She’s got it firmly planted in her mind that a productive morning can only happen when you’ve had a restful night.
After her accident, Huffington committed to change, including getting a full eight hours of sleep. She now gets to bed around 11 pm every evening. And she’s got so good at sleep hygiene that she doesn’t use an alarm anymore!
Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, is another who values rest and reaps the rewards. He knows he’s the most productive in the morning, so he heads to bed at 11 pm as well. Adams feels that not prioritizing shuteye can take roughly 10 points off your IQ!
If you want better sleep, one of the best ways is to stop using an alarm clock. Venture capitalist Brad Feld knows the power of this. He used to try catching up on sleep on weekends after 5 am mornings throughout the week, which didn’t work.
After his poor sleep habits contributed to a major depressive episode, he stopped using an alarm clock and feels better than ever!
My Morning Routine Review
I couldn’t help but relate to that meme where Leonardo Dicaprio is pointing at the TV while reading this. It’s like the book has an all-star cast whose books I’ve read! The extensive research really makes My Morning Routine stand above other books on this subject!
Who would I recommend the My Morning Routine summary to?
The 51-year-old business owner that feels stressed out at the beginning of every workday, the 32-year-old new parents who are struggling to get into a good routine, and anyone who feels like they don’t get enough sleep.
Last Updated on July 23, 2023
