Summary

The author shares their transformation from a struggling individual to a highly productive person by adopting a disciplined morning routine influenced by Stephen Covey, Craig Ballantyne, and James Clear.

Abstract

The article titled "From Struggling to Thriving: How I Transformed My Days with a Powerful Morning Routine" details the author's journey to increased productivity and personal growth through the establishment of a structured morning routine. The author wakes up between 3:15am and 4:30am on weekdays and weekends, respectively, and follows a regimen that includes hydration with Kangen Water®, consumption of Shilajit, and execution of a targeted marketing strategy for their business. They emphasize the importance of proactive planning, leveraging AI tools like Bard and ChatGPT for content creation, and maintaining consistency in their routine. The author also credits the influence of self-help literature, such as "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," "The Perfect Day Formula," and "Atomic Habits," in shaping their approach to daily productivity. The article concludes with actionable advice for readers, encouraging them to identify their goals, prepare the night before, and utilize the provided resources to enhance their own morning routines.

Opinions

The author values proactive planning and preparation, as evidenced by their adherence to the principles from Stephen R. Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."
They believe in the power of a consistent morning routine to set the tone for a successful day, drawing on Craig Ballantyne's "The Perfect Day Formula."
The author advocates for the use of AI tools to assist in content creation and marketing efforts, indicating a blend of technology and traditional productivity methods.
They emphasize the significance of small, atomic habits, as discussed in James Clear's book, in building momentum and maintaining productivity.
The author practices what they preach by preparing for the next day in advance, which includes setting up their kitchen for breakfast and packing their bag for work.
They suggest that a structured routine, although potentially monotonous, is key to managing one's time effectively and achieving goals.
The author acknowledges the use of affiliate marketing and includes affiliate links in the post, suggesting a belief in the mutual benefit of such practices for content creators and consumers.
They express a personal commitment to their routine, noting that they rarely deviate from it and quickly return to it to avoid developing negative habits.

From Struggling to Thriving: How I Transformed My Days with a Powerful Morning Routine

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Want to know how some people get so much done while you may struggle every day?

Let me introduce you to the concepts I have learned since 2016. Then, I was struggling with everything. And I did not have a very active social life. So what was my problem? I did not prepare. Ever.

So I began learning from Stephen Covey and Craig Ballantyne on how to get after my day. Stephen Covey taught me to be proactive. Craig taught me to create my perfect day.

In this blog post, I will share my routine and the principles I learn from Stephen and Craig.

My Morning Routine

I wake up at 3:15am Monday through Friday. I sleep in on Saturday and Sunday until 4:30am. Upon rising, I drink Kangen Water® to rehydrate. Kangen Water® rehydrates and awakens my body with hydrogen-rich water. Then, I prepare a glass of Shilajit. And yes, all the ads convinced me to give it a try.

Then I go to work on email and social media marketing. I email 9,000 people using My LeadGen Secret. This is a website that has already screened and received consent from people to send them emails. The content that interest these people is business opportunities and e-commerce. So I use affiliate marketing offers related to e-commerce in these emails. I use CopeCart and ClickBank as my main affiliate marketplaces. There are others out there, though.

I leverage the power of AI to help me craft the email or the email itself. I use Bard and ChatGPT. I like Bard for trends and all things current. I prefer ChatGPT for content ideas. I write my email and hit send. That’s it for email marketing.

Then I move to social media marketing with Facebook. I repurpose the email into a Facebook post. I run Monty Income Streams on Facebook. I share tips and offer income opportunities with my audience. This include your articles on Medium.

I am done working by 4:30am, Monday through Friday. I start getting ready for work then. I head downstairs to cook breakfast and prepare coffee. My breakfast option at home is steak and eggs. I have been eating that over 10 years. Yes, I do eat other things. Not Monday through Friday, though.

I am done eating, cleaning the kitchen, and preparing my meals for the day by 5:15am. I head upstairs to shower and roll out. I like to hit the road between 5:45am and 6am due to heavy traffic where I live. My commute takes about 45min. I listen to books most of the time on my way to work. I may also use this time to talk to my wife or mom.

When I get to work, I am ready to roll with my tasks for the day. It’s that simple and boring. The latter is what you have to learn how to manage. Boring strategies are super effective. They are hard to follow and stick to, though.

But how do I do it?

I had to be proactive. I learn that from the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey. I identified the things that I needed to do to get ahead. Started thinking with the end in mind, which Stephen’s second habit. What did I wanted my day to look like at the end of it? Then I would backplan from there. This led to Craig’s principles.
I prepare the night before. I learn that from the book “The Perfect Day Formula” by Craig Ballantyne. I plan my day the night before. I set the time that I want to wake up . Then I backplan 8 hours before that and becomes my bedtime. I put in place a couple of rules. I don’t eat or drink alcohol 2–3 hours before bed.
I do it every day. Of course, I am not perfect here. I will miss a day or two. But, I do not miss more than 2 days in a row. That’s because I break the momentum I built. Besides, it starts to feed negative habits instead. As James Clear puts it in his book “Atomic Habits”, you want to keep the chain going.

For example, I prepare my bag for the next day before going to bed. My bag contains my workout and work clothes. I will also stage my pans on the stove. That way I don’t have to worry setting my kitchen in the morning. It’s already set. This saves me precious minutes and streamlines my process.

I can do the same for someone else. Take my wife for example. If my wife was going to prepare breakfast for me, I would set the kitchen for her before she woke up. When she got to the kitchen, she just needed to turn on the stove. I had already taken care of the logistics for her. I set the pans on the stove, the spatula on the counter next to the stove, and the eggs and steak on the other side of the stove. I also pre-seasoned and cut the steak. Oh, I would have made her a cup of coffee as well.

You see, now she steps into the kitchen to grab her cup of coffee, turn on the stove, and start cooking the meal. She needs not to worry about everything else in between.

Conclusion

Identify what’s important to you. Why do you want to do the things you want to do. There’s a reason for it and you must define it. Otherwise, you are going to wonder around aimlessly.

Be proactive! Identify what you need to do. Then start planning for it. Start with the end in mind. How do you want your day to look at the end of it? Include the time you go to bed. Then make your to-do and not to-do list. The latter is the blueprint of things that you will not do because they do not serve. Or they take you away from your goals.

Prepare the night before. Start working on getting things ready for the next day. Remember to consider the steps you have to take. Do them the night before so you don’t have to spend time on them in the morning. You can jump straight into your number #1 priority.

Action Plan

Thank you for reading. Clap and follow for more content.
Share this with someone interested in a morning routine or increase their productivity.
Check out the resources on this post. I will list them below for you as well.
Let me know how this article served you in the comments.

Resources

“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey
“The Perfect Day Formula” by Craig Ballantyne
“Atomic Habits” by James Clear

Disclaimer

I used the help of artificial intelligence in writing this post. I edited to match my personality and writing style. I also edited to ensure accuracy. I used it for the outline and title for this post for SEO.

I included affiliate links to this post. I earn a commission when you buy a product using one of my links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support. Congratulations on your investment!