The One Thing You Can Do In The Morning That Will Change Your Entire Day, Possibly Your Life
A great day doesn’t start with a morning routine; it begins with this.
There are thousands of articles on morning routines. Push-ups. Journaling. Lemon elixir. Coffee enemas.
It’s all dog shit advice by itself.
Don’t get me wrong, morning routines are essential. I have one. But I have a routine before my morning routine.
Here’s what I do.
I prepare my luscious sleep sanctuary. My sleep cave. No light. Little sound. A cool 70 degrees. And then I sleep for a solid 7–8 hours a night.
A morning routine is useless without the essential restorative sleep your body needs.
Please don’t brag about how little sleep you get. Stop! Either you’re a genetic God, like Jocko Willink, or you’re severally malrested (my version of malnourished).
As a hard-charging, type A, ADD CEO, my mornings used to start at 4 am. I would jump up and get right into my most important activities. My A & B level projects.
I would get 6 hours of sleep, eat a big meal the night before, and down some wine/tequila and “unwind.”
I’d hop onto my computer to finish the blow-your-brains-out administrative tasks and head to bed.
The next morning. It would be hard to get up. I would struggle. I would ache. My brain wouldn’t fire.
I’d enter the day grumpy before I could even think of a morning routine. Before I could even get my feet on the floor.
My point is, it’s not about what you do in the morning that will make your day better. That’s not where it starts.
It’s how you sleep the night before that will have a HUGE impact on your morning.
This is why sleep is so vital to your success and six simple tips to start sleeping better tonight.
Forget your morning routine. One in three adults doesn’t get enough sleep. Little sleep will directly impact your career, your relationships, and your future.
Do you want to succeed? Of course, you do. Money isn’t just a barometer of success. It’s your happiness. The quality of your relationships. How you feel, inside and out.
To achieve success, you need to sleep.
Your body craves it.
Your mind demands it.
And the news has you fooled. The wealthiest people sleep.
Bill Gates, instead of bragging about how late he works and how sleep-deprived he is, Gates makes sure to get seven hours a night, because he says he can’t be creative otherwise.
There’s a direct correlation between how well rested you are and the quality of your decision making.
And this impacts your health. Less sleep means you’ll head for the easy, feel-good junk food, further accelerating you down a deep dark hole.
Don’t put your success in the hands of less sleep.
Follow the habits of the healthy, wealthy and wise.
Start with creating a nightly routine to help you get deep restorative sleep. Get it in your sleep sanctuary. It’s simple.
I’ve built myself a sleep sanctuary. No light. No wifi (EMFs). Little sound.
This is what my room looks at night.
Not my room. Keeping that private. But you get the point.
It’s amazing.
I sleep like I’m hibernating for the next three months.
It’s simple. Here’s what you need to do.
Before you go to bed, you’re going to do a few things to start the process. You decide the time.
Ideally, the time you go to bed and wake up should feel natural to you. Listen to your circadian rhythm.
First, turn off all your lights. I don’t care if you have children or a spouse. Get your chores done sooner. They’ll benefit from this.
Sure, you don’t want to be walking in a dark dungeon all night, but if you can, great. There’s an easy, cheap fix with other benefits.
Buy yourself a few salt lamps and put them wherever you’ll need light.
They have a beautiful yellow/orange tone that won’t impact your melatonin production.
Salt lamp.
Two, take some high-quality magnesium a couple of hours before bed.
Magnesium Glycinate is perfect. Just consult with your shopping expert Amazon, and they’ll have the right product for you.
Or drink Natural Calm. I’ve heard great things about it, but I’ve never tried it.
Magnesium helps you wind down. It also adds much-needed magnesium into your life. Most people are deficient in it.
Third, turn your brain off. Plan your day for tomorrow and brain dump all your thoughts on paper.
You don’t want a persistent thought to keep you up. Nor do you want to forget it. Address it tomorrow.
Here are a few ideas to get your brain dumping:
Do a 5-minute brain dump journal session. Anything on your mind write about it on paper. Just write. Don’t overthink it.
Review your notes and schedule a time for tomorrow to address them.
Make a list of everything you need to do. Preferably your A and B level activities are taking up the most significant mind share.
Write your thoughts in an Evernote note.
Write on a sticky note for each thought.
Keep a notebook by your bed in case something pops in your head. Get it on paper.
Go to bed with a clear head.
And never go to bed mad. Kiss your spouse. Give your children or pets a big hug. Smile. Life is good.
Fourth, turn off all electronics and put black tape over anything that emits light.
No light emits in my room. I’ve even put black electric tape over the light on my smoke detectors.
I throw on a sleep mask, close my blackout shades, and it’s game on.
Your bedroom should be pitch black.
Fifth, your room should be cold. Schedule the AC to crank down before you sleep.
I prefer a cool room with the fan on medium.
Get comfortable under the sheets. Snuggle up and pass out.
Sixth, turn all your electronics into airplane mode.
There’s plenty of articles on EMF and how it disturbs your sleep. But for this article, turn off your electronics.
It’s simple.
The only thing you have to lose is your sleep.
If you want to notch it up, turn your Wi-Fi off until the morning.
Do those six things and you’ll immediately start sleeping better. Your brain and body need it. Give them what they deserve and watch it work wonders in your life.
Start your morning routine with good night sleep. That’s step one.
Thanks for reading!
Be safe. Be humble. Be you!
Your wings,
