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What really got me hooked on Medium was not just the awesome posts I read daily but it was the amount of value I received after I took the time to go back to January of 2014 and read as many posts as I could from then until now. This has inspired me to share the Top 10 Posts across my favourite topics so the rest of the Medium Community can get the same value I have received and take ACTION.
Why this Top 10 List is Different
- It is not just the number of recommendations that makes a Medium post great it’s the relevancy to that specific reader, if the reader takes REAL VALUE from it and most importantly does it teach them HOW to take ACTION. That is what this post is about — — ACTION.
- After showcasing the Top 10 posts, I share 3 ways to ACTUALLY build a morning routine and TAKE ACTION around building long term habits.
- Instead of being just list with cool graphics I intend to create these Top 10’s weekly so it’s easier for Medium Readers to search and find the best articles about their favourite topics and put a plan together to make SUSTAINABLE CHANGE.
CLICK THE PICTURES TO READ THE ARTICLE.
Cathryn does a great job not just outlining what her morning routines are but instead the tools she has used to shift from being a night owl to a morning person. She talks about leveraging the Habit stacking approach which I am a huge fan of. You take habits you have already developed and stack on incremental new habits to make it part of that routine. Cathryn does a great job keeping it real and highlighting the different benefits one can get from a solid morning routine.
Well we have all seen this in our feed the last 7 months because it has crushed it with over 23k Recommendations and there are a lot of gems in there. Benjamin outlines the 8 things you should do as a morning routine to set you up for a life of fulfillment and self awareness. All his 8 routines have a ton of support from cited scholarly articles and superstars best practices like Tony Robbins. I’ll tell you, when you read this it’s not like you will have a blueprint on how you can build these routines but this will get you jacked up to be a better person and outline the ideal morning routines that are proven and tested.
Rhonesa puts it very well when she says “what these pieces seem to imply is, if you don’t wake up at 5 am, make an all-natural juice, meditate, watch the news and check all of your emails before the sun comes up you won’t be successful or productive” talking about morning routine articles. She is right it’s not for everyone and yes you can be successful without a 5am wake up. Rhonesa outlines in detail the morning routines of up and coming Ambitous woman as a way of contrasting the traditional advice from all the other morning routines. A good dose of realness in this one.
Short and to the point in this article. Juliet doesn’t claim to be a guru of any kind but instead someone that has built and stuck to a morning routine that makes her happy for the last couple months. Nothing earth shattering as she using a few tech apps to get up, works a couple hours on the “important stuff” then gets some protein and a bike ride in before work. The part of this that stuck out to me was how she included her friends into the activity of trying to build a morning routine. She recommends telling them of your plans almost as a way of holding yourself accountable and it has worked great for her.
Niklas flips the switch on this one talking about the 7 toxic routines to kick to improve your morning. I love this approach. Without understanding the bad its hard to create a level of motivation to make yourself better. He talks about kicking the snooze button, stop rushing, eliminating the overthinking etc. but what is very useful for anyone looking to read this are the ACTIONABLE insights he provides in helping readers change these bad habits. That’s a game changer for these posts since most lack the action side of it. Well worth the read.
What a fantastic article and one that is a must read for anyone checking this list out. Kevin attempts to do everything in his power with the help of experts and clinical studies to rid himself of morning inhertia and guinea pig his way to a better morning routine. He talks about finding the best alarm clocks, pillows, coffee that works best and the right food to eat. Being very detailed and transparent it acts as a solid blueprint for anyone looking to take action on building a morning routine. This is part 1 of a series of Kevin’s journey to better his life so lots of juice on the follow ups as well.
An oldie but a goody Jeff talks about his journey from being depressed to having a sense of purpose and happiness through the power of morning routines. He uses some unconventional approaches like “My trick was to watch a new episode of some addictive TV series first thing in the morning while I sipped my coffee” to start getting his habits rolling. He talks about the resources he leveraged to get motivated and learn how to approach this challenging journey of change. This resources are very applicable for others feeling overwhelmed by making a big change in their life and enhancing their morning rituals.
For the startup enthusiasts out there Min outlines the different morning routines he leverages to not only make the most of his day but tackle the ever changing landscape of starting a business. One of the more actionable pieces of advice he provides is to build a lean startup and break your business into micro-startups to stack on new challenges. Need to build an app, focus on writing one line of code and/or create one design on the road to a full portfolio. Min suggests you build 100 incremental micro-startups and work on conquering these easier tasks as you work your way to a rock star morning routine and startup.
Short and sweet Andrew outlines the reasons why and examples of solid morning routines implemented by successful entrepreneurs. Morning Routines are critical and Andrew does a great job bringing a level of validation to their importance by highlighting some of the morning practices of people like Howard Shultz CEO of Starbucks, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Virgin founder Richard Branson. Gets you fired up.
For the second time on this list Cathryn decides to describe how to hack your way to an awesome morning routine by developing an awesome nightly routine. She outlines Reflection, Priorities for tomorrow, Wins, Gratitude Clean Desk = Clean Mind and Sleep Hacking. There is quite a bit of detail on the tools to use and how to hack your sleep that would be very useful for anyone looking to enhance their sleep patterns. Actionable insight with a unique approach to making your morning better.
Read Miracle Morning
In almost every one of the top 10 posts the authors talk about Hal Elrod’s The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM) as the book that really changed their perspective on the value of building an awesome morning routine.
Miracle Morning is a must read for anyone interested in taking life head on and not just building a productive morning ritual. That is the real value of a morning routine, shifting from a state of reaction to a proactive state. Do what you want because it makes you feel fantastic and it moves you closer to the aspirations you deem to be critical in your path on this earth.
Miracle Morning provides a detailed structure on how to go about building a morning routine and Hal has an inspiring story to support his big WHY. After a near death experience he decides to live life on his terms and dictate his future. The workbooks and tools make it that much easier to start building a routine in the morning and no surprise most of the authors on this top ten list mention its impact on them.
This is a state of ACTION not just a “oh looky looky I get up at 5am so does Richard Branson”. Grab the book, read it, reflect on what your why is, are you happy and how can you leverage your morning to make progress to the life you want to have.
Stack on New Challenges
I believe across any new habit, area in one’s life and looking at all the pieces of your life from a broad view, STACKING IS THE ANSWER!!!! I am talking about incrementally adding new challenges to a small goal and as you slowly break through new thresholds, over time you develop a strong habit in that given area of your life.
Across the Top 10 Posts the authors discuss the importance of using the stacking approach to build a morning routine. If it as simple as stacking on drinking 10 ounces of water right before brushing your teeth, to starting with a 5 minute journal entry and stacking your way to 20 mins the examples are endless.
As it relates to morning routines it’s like building a lego wall. You start with one block, which could be waking up at 6am 1x a week, with what the entire wall should look like in mind, you slowly stack on more challenges on this block until it reaches it final form. For example, 6am 1x week after crushing that for 2 weeks turns into 6am 2x week for another 2 weeks, then 4x a week etc.
Eventually you get to a point where your wall is built, waking up at 6am Monday-Friday then you say ok I feel comfortable with adding a new challenge. That is where the new “wall” or habit in your morning routine starts to build. You then say I want to read 30mins in the morning so you continue to get up at 6am Monday-Friday but 1x a week you read for 30mins, this lasts for 2 weeks. Then you move up to waking up plus 3x week reading and you keep adding from there.
You use this stacking approach for however many habits you want to build into your morning routine. Over time YOU WILL GET THERE.
What’s nuts as well is think about how many days you would of woke up at 6am after 2 or 3 challenges. You are raising your status quo this way. You know how hard it would be to go back to waking up at 8am everyday? Maybe a couple days a week but at this point it will be tough to break that habit. That is what you want.
Don’t think this is just for morning routines either. Think about getting fit, it’s the same thing. Going to the gym 6x a week will only last a newbie a month or so then it’s back done to ZERO/week. If you start with 1 x a week for a month then stack on over 6 months you would of gone to the gym so many times more than your 1 month at 6x/week.
Use Tools
Tools are critical in making it easier to build a solid morning routine and across these 10 posts there are a bunch that are mentioned multiple times.
Alarm Clocks- From the Gentle Alarm to Sleep Cycle to the clock you need to step on to make it shutup, Ruggie, there are plenty of clocks to get you up early.
Lighting- You can use Blackout Blinds to keep even the slightest glimmer of light out of your room and/or hook up the Philips hue smart lighting system that you can program with the huerray! mobile app to mimic the sunrise.
Coffee- Getting your buzz on is huge and nothing beats a cup of coffee to keep you from going back to bed. Force yourself to either have it pre-ready or start brewing automatically from an app like Mr.Coffee to get caffeinated.
Getting the Metabolism Going- Food and Water are great tools to kickstart your Metabolism and get the engine revving. To make it easy have a protein shake beside your bed ready to drink when you wake up. 2 birds with 1 stone.
Conclusion
Hopefully these Medium Top 10 posts on Morning Routines provide as much value to you as they have for me. If you want use morning routines as a way to make strides towards the life you desire. TAKE ACTION.
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