Morning Habits of Millionaires
by Amanda Johnson, Employee Motivation Consultant for ClickHelp.com — professional technical writing tool
Morning is the most important time of the day because how we spend our mornings shows how we spend our days. If you wake up without enthusiasm, don’t have breakfast and just leave for work, of course, your day won’t be successful. I want to share with you some morning habits of millionaires that will help you to achieve amazing results. So here they are!
1. Wake up early
“I wake up at 4.45 am. I like to have that psychological win over the enemy.”- Jocko Willink, former Special Ops soldier, productivity expert and jiu jitsu practitioner
According to a research by the American Psychological Association, people who wake up early feel happier and healthier than those who self-identified as night owls. How to change your habit to wake up late? It’s easy! Just wake up 5 minutes earlier everyday and soon you’ll realize that you can identify yourself as an early riser.
But of course if you don’t get enough restful sleep you’ll never wake up early. You should sleep about 8 hours in order to be creative and fresh. Read my article about how to get a good night sleep which allows you replenish your energy, feel rested and be ready for work throughout the day.
2. Meditate
“Never check your emails first thing in the morning. Instead, complete your most important task by 11.00am to avoid using lunch or reading email as a postponement exercise.” -Tim Ferriss, author of The 4 Hour Workweek and self-development guru
When you’ve woken up stay disconnected during your morning. Forget about checking emails or writing out lists as the first thing you do in the morning. Focus on yourself! Nowadays all kinds of jobs demand intellectual work so take care of your mental health.
“When I’m alone in a hotel room I meditate. I’ll go into a certain pattern of breathing and I’ll concentrate on my breath. When I do that I can achieve a good objective look at life and I can relieve myself of any necessary concerns.” -Joe Rogan, UFC color commentator and world-famous podcast host
Meditation have a lot of scientific benefits:
- Lessen worry, anxiety and impulsivity
- Enhance self-esteem and self-acceptance
- Help prevent emotional eating and smoking
- Increase mental strength and focus
- Increase memory
- Improve immune system and energy level
Of course, it’s non-exhaustive list of meditation benefits.
Meditation isn’t time-consuming, you need just 3 minutes and you’ll see that your live is changing for the better.
3. Create to-do lists
Kenneth Chenault, the CEO and Chairman of American Express, always writes down three things that he wants to accomplish the next day. So in order to start your day more effectively and forget about checking emails, create a to-do list the night before. It’ll help you to prioritize your deals and organize morning routine.
But the first place is for the most important task that you want to accomplish. It’s called “eat the frog”. Brian Tracy, author of “Eat the Frog,” describes his morning philosophy using a quote from Mark Twain:
“If the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long.”
However if your “frog” is a big project, it’ll be better to start with small tasks. Teresa Amabile and Steven J. Kramer, researches described the power of small wins. Making incremental progress will inspire you and you’ll face with big deals without prevarications.
4. Take a cold shower
“There is still every reason for healthy people to take cold showers, or swim outside in cold water. It gives you the feeling that you are alive.” — Wim Hof, aka ‘The Iceman’, holder of the world record for the longest ice bath and creator of ‘The Wim Hof Method’
In 1820s cold showers were used as a therapy. This method is also used as a part of recovery process by many professional athletes now. For example, LeBron James, an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association, takes cold shower every time after an intensive workout.
Cold water
- Helps to wake up and increase awareness
- Gives extra dose of energy
- Improves concentration
- Accelerates metabolism and more
But you should take cold shower right:
1. Get your feet under the spray first because they adjust to the temperature fastest.
2. Then wet you hand and arms, splash water over your torso.
3. Calm down, it’s time for your head!
4. Back is the hardest part so be prepared to feel a lot of sensations.
5. After that rub yourself by a towel. Good job!
5.Exercise and Hydration
“ I get up at five, meditate for 30 minutes and then do a seven-minute workout three times. I look to build a lot of consistent routine. The same thing every day. It allows a steady state that enables me to be more effective when I do have to react to something out of band.” -Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter
Health is important thing. We forget about it sometimes in today’s high-octane world. But by exercises I mean not only a gym but walking and jogging in the park, for example.
However I want to tell you about interesting version of walking, it’s nordic pole walking. It’s an efficient way to exercise your upper and lower body at the same time, because during this kind of walking about 90% muscles are involved!
All you need is to buy poles. Here is a tips for beginners.
But during moving don’t forget to stay hydrated.
“ I drink water and take my supplements. Water is important because most of us are very dehydrated at night.” ~ Jim Kwik, CEO of Kwik Learning and memory & speed-reading expert.
A good habit is to drink water before your breakfast. It helps to prepare your body for the day and provides incredible energy.
Conclusion
Of course you can choose just one habit and try it out. One new thing in your routine will help your brain to refocus and come up with creative ideas.
What habits do you can recommend for successful days?
