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The Key To Success In Life
What all exceptionally successful people have in common? They have morning rituals. This also means that they all wake up early and I mean, very early. Because if you have ever read or watched an interview with one of the top New York City CEOs or some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world that they are all early birds who wake up somewhere between 5 and 6 a.m. Why they do it? For a couple of reasons.
First of all, being an early riser gives them a great competitive advantage over their competitors who most likely get up around 7 and 8 a.m. Second, they make the best use of the morning peak hours that occur between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Third, waking up early gives them enough time to perform their powerful morning routine and set the right mood for the entire day. Another important thing is that the world in the early morning is world free from external distractions, which cannot be said about midday. And last but definitely not least, being an early bird means drinking your coffee in peace instead of doing this during your commute to work.
As you can see, there are plenty of positives about being an early bird. So if you want to be highly successful you need to become an early riser and develop powerful morning rituals that will help you to stay motivated and focused to follow through on your goals.
Of course, if you are a night owl that prefers stay awake long after darkness falls instead of waking up at dawn, waking up early in the morning may not be the easiest thing to do BUT it’s definitely doable! Just start going to bed at a reasonable hour and set your alarm an hour or even two hours before you’re supposed to go somewhere in the morning. Give yourself this extra time to perform your positive morning rituals, create motivation, boost your productivity levels and set the tone for a positive day.
As for powerful, inspiring and positive morning rituals, in this post, I am sharing my brand new morning routine that you can use as an inspiration in creating your own! I hope you’ll enjoy it!
'Time is a currency you can only spend once, so be careful how you spend it.'
Morning Rituals Manifesto
Golden Rules Of Effective Morning Routine
Keep It SIMPLE
Be CONSISTENT
Enter the PRESENT Moment
Have FUN
Make It COZY
Make It UNIQUE
EXPERIMENT A Little Bit
Have The PLEASURE Of It
gain knowledge
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Is it possible to have a perfectly productive morning every single day even on those days when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Well, that depends entirely on you, or more precisely on your self-discipline level. Because if you are self-disciplined you know that relying on motivation to get stuff done is not the best strategy. Motivation is just a feeling and as such is not in itself a guarantee of success.
The secret to a productive and successful day lies in strategic planning and self-discipline. To be able to get things done you need to know what you got to do and in what order. In other words, you need to plan your daily tasks in advance and make a promise to yourself that you will get them done. And that’s it. There is no philosophy in it. You need to plan, organize, schedule and take action. Of course, being self-motivated helps tremendously to stay on track for your goals, but it’s not motivation but action that gives you results. You don’t need that spark to get everything you have on your to-do list. You need self-discipline.
Simple Tips To Plan Your Day Properly
- Plan Your Days According to the 3 x 8h rule (8h of work, 8h of productive “me time”, 8h of quality rest. A 3 x 8h rule it a great way to achieve work-life balance.
- Set 3 Daily Priorities (You can use the 20/80 Pareto Principle to set your priorities, eliminate your distractions and focus on personal and professional growth. 24 hours a day can be enough to get the most important things done if you eliminate distractions and time-wasters (in every area of your life).
- Set your Daily Intentions (Ask Yourself, how do you want to feel at the end of the day)
- Create a prioritized To-Do List
- Set 3 MITS - the most important tasks (get them knocked out in the early morning, as soon as you can when your mind is fresh)
- Set SMART Goals & Deadlines
- Break down your big goals or larger tasks into more realistically achievable and manageable steps and then set deadlines for any of them
- Design an Action Plan for Your Goals (a goal without a plan is just a WISH!)
- Use the Pareto Principle to track your success and optimize what really matters in your life (According to the Pareto Principle, 20% of your work produces 80% of the result. This means that if you manage to identify that 20% correctly you will spend more time doing the right things that will produce the greatest outcome.)
- Schedule meal and rest breaks
II Ritual: Get Good Quality Sleep On A Regular Schedule
This tip might seem obvious, but getting good quality sleep on a regular schedule is extremely important if you want to be highly productive, insanely focused on your goals and of course healthy. We all know it, and yet we continue to sacrifice our sleep to accomplish more (or procrastinate more) during our workday.
But the truth is, reducing your sleep hours to get more things done, just does the opposite. Because no matter how hard you try you cannot be highly productive, mentally focused and motivated to work hard towards your goals if you are sleep deprived. It just doesn’t work that way. Not to mention maintaining good health. Getting quality sleep on a regular basis plays a critical role in staying healthy, improving your mental focus, building a strong immune system and just enjoying life.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per night to feel well-rested and maintain good health. So if you have trouble sleeping on a regular basis, it’s a good idea to address this problem. Perhaps all you need is to create a healthy night routine. Whether it is the case, improving your sleep habits is always a good idea. If you are interested in doing so, I wrote a couple of articles on this topic. Here they are:
Posts On Quality Sleep
Best Apps For Relaxation And Sleep
- Headspace Meditations, Mindfulness & Sleep (Android / iOS)
- Calm Meditation and Sleep Stories (Android / iOS)
- Aura: Sleep & Mindfulness (Android / iOS)
- 10% Happier: Meditation & Sleep (Android / iOS)
- The Mindfulness App: relax, calm, focus and sleep
(Android / iOS) - Insight Timer - Meditation for Sleep & Anxiety (Android / iOS)
- Smiling Mind Meditation for all ages (iOS / Android)
III Ritual: Engage In Physical Activity
It is scientifically proven that physical activity stimulates the release of dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin and endorphins. These chemicals, also known as “happy hormones” are directly responsible for your mood. That’s why even low impact and relatively short physical activity has the power to drastically improve your mood and boost your energy levels. Not to mention that exercise makes your brain perform better due to increased blood pressure and blood flow throughout the entire body. In other words, regular physical activity not only benefits your body but also your brain.
So if you want to maximize your brain’s performance in the early morning I highly recommend you to add some type of physical activity into your daily routine. It can be anything from simple stretches, morning walk or a solo dance to your favourite morning wake-up song to a full-body HIIT workout.
Waking up your body with some kind of physical activity will increase your brain and memory power naturally and easily! If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself! Trust me you will not regret this!
IV Ritual: Take An Ice-Cold Shower
Another ritual that I’ve recently added to my morning routine is an ice-cold shower. And let me tell you something; that was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It’s incredible how a quick ice-cold shower can boost your energy levels, lower stress, relieve fatigue, increase mental alertness, improves metabolism and activate your happy hormones. All this in a few seconds! It’s the power of morning ice-cold shower! I’m serious!
But here’s the thing: If you’re not used to taking a cold shower, it will take some time to acclimatize to this new experience. So don’t get discouraged if during the first week of taking an ice-cold morning shower you will (most probably) experience a physical shock and mental panic. That’s quite normal. You will need to adjust to colder temperatures, learn to embrace the fear of cold and develop resistance to bath in cold water. And that comes with time and experience. So don’t worry, take your first ice-cold shower, breathe through an initial shock of cold water, train yourself to resist and use the physical discomfort to increase your mental toughness. Try the Wim Hof Method and improve cold-water tolerance!
V Ritual: Focus On Your No. 1 Priority
The first hour after waking up is also a perfect time for focusing on your No. 1 priority, or more precisely, on your biggest goal in life right now. This simple practice will improve your self-esteem, increase life satisfaction, boost your motivation for success and of course, make your productivity skyrocket. Because what better way to start your day than by working on your biggest goal?
I will give you an example. My biggest goal right now is to improve my time management skills and strengthen my self-discipline muscle. To achieve that, every single morning, before I get to work I read books, listen to podcasts or watch Youtube content on improving time management skills and building solid self-discipline. Then I take notes, self-reflect and think about how can I use this knowledge to improve my time management skills.
This whole process, or morning ritual, usually takes around 20-30 minutes. It’s just enough time to gain some practical knowledge and take one step closer towards your biggest goal, desire or dream. Of course, it does not have to be improving your time management skills. It can be anything from working out to learning photography or even gardening. It all depends on what your biggest goal in life right now is. Choose something you want to focus on and dedicate about half an hour every single morning to improve in this area.
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Best Posts About Achieving Goals:
- Maximize Your Productivity: 6-Step Method To Get More Things Done In Less Time. HERE
- Perfect Morning Routine to Reduce Stress & Anxiety HERE
- The Ultimate Guide For Setting & Reaching Your Goals HERE
- 6 Self-Improvement Habits To Adopt in 2020 HERE
- Get into the Habit of Being Seriously Organized in 2020. HERE
- 8 Simple Steps to Set Yourself Up for a Successful 2020 HERE
- Powerful and smart ways to manage your time efficiently and effectively HERE
- 5 steps to success in achieving your goals HERE
- The ultimate way to overcome procrastination and become a highly productive person HERE
- The science of motivation HERE
- 10 powerful habits to boost your confidence HERE
Stay positive
Be Mindful
and
Create Your Morning Rituals!
xo Kate
12 thoughts on “5 Morning Rituals I Do To Reach Flow State And Improve My Work Performance.”
Great tips, as always! I need to keep a list in my notes app so I can wake up and know what I have to do, just in case the caffeine hasn’t yet kicked in.
Haha, I love that!! That’s why I’ve entered the world of taking cold showers! It’s a life-changer! Your comment made my day! Thank you Aixa! Have a wonderful weekend! 😁😉
I had one of my most unproductive days ever… I can’t get anything done at work anymore because I don’t know what to do. Because of the pandemic, everything changes every day and I don’t know what to do anymore.
Hi Greg! I’m so sorry to hear that. Well, this year is quite challenging, to say the least. It’s not the easiest thing to be productive when there’s so much chaos around the world. That’s why I’m taking each day and week as it comes. Of course, I have my goals and priorities but I try to stay flexible (just in case). My anecdote to this chaos is to focus on what’s truly important and what adds value to my life, taking care of myself mentally and physically, spending time in nature and… eating lots of gelato… yeap, I may be addicted to gelato… because you need to treat yourself! Please stay safe, take GOOD care of yourself and have a peaceful and relaxing and beautiful weekend!! 😉😉
I don’t even know what my goals and priorities are… the nature of my job is that everything is different now, I’m a little overwhelmed with all the new information that has been constantly thrown at me over the last week, no one else knows what they’re doing either, and I can’t really go it alone.
I know exactly what you mean. I had to pivot some of my 2020 goals. And I did, just like most people. It has never been more obvious that change is the only constant. Some would go even further and say that change is the new normal. Is it scary? Of course, it is, but at the same time in a changing world, there’s an incredible opportunity to grow and we should all use this opportunity to the fullest. Please stay safe and take a good care of yourself! We will get through this!! 🙂🙂
True… I feel like I went through a traumatic 2019 that I hadn’t recovered from, so I’m not really ready to grow and change this much… but I don’t always get to decide things like that.
That is so true! I couldn’t agree with you more. My 2019 was extremely traumatic and I hadn’t recovered from all the bad things that happened either. But I decided to embrace change instead of fighting it. When negative feelings come I don’t fight them I just take a deep breath and wait until they go away. And they always go away, usually after couple of minutes. Then I get back to my work again. I’ focusing on taking things day by day instead of planning my whole future right now. Change is normal, natural and much needed. Change is a sign of life. Everything and everyone changes. It’s normal to be afraid because as human beings we prefer comfort, stability and predictability. And change is anything but comfort. But at the same time discomfort is the key to growth and success! And we should not forget about that. P.S. Stay safe and take care of yourself!! 🙂🙂
Very true, about discomfort…
Use the hardest experience you had to go through to build your mental toughness. Think about all the bad things that happened to you in 2019 and look at yourself now, you have survived! And now, you’re stronger than ever before. We all have a little self-doubt going on and it’s quite normal. But you’re stronger than this. We need to fail to succeed in every area of our lives. 🙂🙂
I don’t feel stronger… I still feel traumatized from 2019, and I hadn’t had time to recover from that when everything happened this year. I get panicky and feel dread every time it rains, or even every time I think about rain, or every time I hear weird noises coming from my house.
I am sorry to hear that. This year is particularly tough for most of us. Struggling with anxiety and panic attacks is quite common. I do hope you will feel better soon!! Please take care and stay safe!! We will get through this! 🙂🙂