There are two types of people in the world. Those who wake up and get on with their day, and those who hit the snooze button several times before jumping out of bed in a frenzied panic, rushing to their car with a half-buttoned shirt. You may not think your morning routine has any impact on your overall success, but you’d be mistaken. A morning routine can greatly impact the productivity and success of the rest of your day. In fact, a study by the American Psychological Association found that those who followed a morning routine had lower levels of stress, depression and anxiety, and were more motivated to undertake their tasks for the day.
Hal Erod, author of The Miracle Morning, believes you can transform your life simply by transforming your mornings. “How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) dramatically affects your levels of success in every single area of your life,” he writes. “Focused, productive, successful mornings generate focused, productive, successful days—which inevitably create a successful life—in the same way that unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre mornings generate unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre days, and ultimately a mediocre quality of life.By simply changing the way you wake up in the morning, you can transform any area of your life, faster than you ever thought possible.”
A testament to the merit of a good morning routine is highly-successful entrepreneur Douglas James, who has made a name for himself as a marketing expert and business coach specializing in helping businesses grow. Known as “The High-Ticket Client Guy”, James continues to be the go-to expert for business looking to maximize their potential. His secret to success? Starting the day right. “I believe your morning ritual is going to set up your entire day,” he says. “When I was in the military, the very first thing that you do when you wake up is you make your bed. If you start with success, you end with success.”
There are 3 things James does every morning. First, he writes down 3 things that he’s grateful for in a journal he keeps next to his bed. “It doesn’t matter what they are. I choose three things that I’m grateful for that if I didn’t have, I would be devastated over,” he says. “I write about my daughter, our ability to work from home, our ability to have the freedoms that we have, that we dont have to worry about food or shelter.”
The second thing he does is write down 3 non-negotiable tasks that he has to accomplish that day. “They could be things for me personally or they could be for my business,” he says. “But typically they are three things that are going to help me grow, either as a husband, father or as an entrepreneur.”
And lasty, he goes outside to his grass-filled patio to meditate. “I take 15 minutes and I meditate. I focus on nature. I focus on my senses with my eyes closed. I take my shoes off,” he says. “I get into a positive mental state where I’m clear headed, focused on my day and ready to show up for myself, for my business, and for my family.”
