How To Kickstart Your Morning Like A Badass Billionaire
Consistency is the key to long-term success
Funny story… so, I did all of my research last night for this article discussing morning habits, because I wanted to wake up and start writing. First I headed over to the Medium Writers Lounge on Facebook to catch up on some of the articles shared by other writers. And wouldn’t you know it? I come across Jack Krier’s story about his personal experience with implementing morning habits!
My first thought was “Gaaaaahhh what do I do now???” But then I remembered a quote I saw one time that mentioned that there are very few new ideas to write about. Most stories and articles rehash the same information just from a different perspective. As much as I enjoyed Jack’s story (it really is good, you should check it out!), I have decided to continue rehashing this information from my own perspective. Enjoy!
Morning Habits and Routines
Mine haven’t made me a billionaire, yet…
A few years ago, I read Robin Sharma’s book The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning, Elevate Your Life and was deeply inspired to create a morning routine that would enrich my life. His website even offers a 66-day challenge to kick everything off.
His first lesson is, obviously, wake up at 5 a.m. to give your brain the advantage to succeed throughout the day. Our brains can only concentrate on a limited amount of data every day, so do not flood your brain first thing in the morning with social media or television distractions.
His suggestion is to follow his “20/20/20” rule:
- The first 20 minutes of your day should be dedicated to some form of exercise. This will get your blood flowing and your mind alert for the day.
- The second 20 minutes of your day should be spent on some type reflection or meditation. Use this time to journal. Reassess the events from yesterday and focus on what you want to accomplish today.
- The final 20 minutes of your first hour after waking up should be spent learning. Read something informative that will kickstart your brain juices.
I love all of Robin’s suggestions, but my job starts at 4 a.m. so I get up at 3 a.m. No way am I getting up at 2 a.m. to do those three things! I have tried to implement them into my life though, especially the part about learning something new instead of perusing social media.
I now listen to writing or blogging podcasts instead of the radio while I am driving. Four that I am seriously enjoying and learning a lot from are -
- This Week in Writing by The Writing Cooperative**
- The Richie Norton Show
- Build Your Tribe
- The Blogging Millionaire
I also have Masterclass on in the background instead of just some old television show while I am cooking or cleaning.
Even though I cannot fully follow Robin’s 5 AM Club outline, I do believe he has some solid advice for creating routines to be more successful.
Habits and routines of other millionaires and billionaires
From my research, it seems that there are some fairly common habits that the rich like to do every morning,
including the 3 above that Robin mentions (waking up early, exercising/meditating, and starting the creative process right away.)
Getting a full 8 hours of sleep every night is on the top of the list for many, including Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos. Allowing the body and brain to heal and re-energize through a good nights’ sleep can help you wake up more focused and remain invigorated throughout the day.
Eating a healthy breakfast is the perfect way to start the day no matter how busy you are. Take Richard Branson for one. As the founder of the Virgin Group, we can imagine how busy he must always be! But no matter what, he usually has fruit salad and muesli for breakfast to fuel his body for the rigors of the day.
Quite a few of the affluent have a minimalized daily wardrobe. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, limits his outfits to dressy jeans and sweatshirts because he “…prefers to save his mental energy for important decisions and vowed to simplify his morning routine by always wearing the same outfit.” Barack Obama and the late Steve Jobs had the same mindset.
My takeaway on this whole “routines of the rich” idea
So, do following these morning routines of the rich and famous work? Obviously not in the sense that they will turn us all into millionaires or billionaires unfortunately. But I do feel that having some type of morning routine in place can be beneficial for us.
As Jack mentions in his article above, I agree that being too rigid can have its disadvantages. But following a pretty regular daily routine can up our chances of being successful at what we want to accomplish and stay healthy in the process.
- Getting 8 hours of sleep every night is an excellent habit to form, not because you want to become rich but because you want to be healthy and alert.
- The same with exercising and meditating. Great habits to form for physical and mental health, not go increase your bank account.
- And ditto for eating a healthy breakfast. Just eating healthy is general. Good for the body, not so much for the wallet.
- Learning something new every day. This may be beneficial to increasing income, but it is also a great way to keep your brain active and healthy.
As often as we see the articles and posts about “habits of millionaires” when we do a Google search, you would think that following these simple tactics would work and we’d all become super rich. Since that is obviously not the case, we need to take these useful tips with a grain of salt if we’re following them just to become wealthy.
Apply these habits to your daily routine for the health benefits. Let your healthy self approach life with gusto as you will then have the focus and energy to become successful. It’s all in the mindset baby!
**Co-founders of the Writing Cooperative and their podcast are Justin Cox and Jessica Jungton
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