Most of us wake up to the alarm snoozing sound, with a mug overflowing with coffee, and checking our social media, and mail. While this is the norm of the decade, highly successful people tend to have a different morning routine altogether. Surprisingly, they do not check their phone as they open their eyes unlike most of us.
They probably take a minute to appreciate the beauty of life, be grateful, breathe, and slowly get around to planning their day. Here are some of the morning routine schedules of highly successful people from around the globe.
What do highly successful people do when they wake up?
All exceptional performers in any field such as sports, arts, business, or entertainment have a morning ritual. It is incredibly powerful because it sets the right tone for the hectic day ahead.
If you start your day loaded with stress and zero focus, then you are more likely to have an unproductive day. The highly successful people understand this and hence, they focus on developmental activities first thing in the morning to be stress-free and creative throughout.
Skip the alarm
Having a good night’s sleep should be an important priority. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos swears by 7 to 8 hours of sound sleep every night. He also recommends waking up without an actual alarm. Once you prepare your body the right way, then the natural clock of your body automatically pushes you up.
Beginning the day in a startling, screeching alarm just puts your body into a high tension state. Hence, it is not a very happy way to start your day. Most highly successful people sleep well and trust their bodily instincts to have a great beginning to their morning.
Highly successful people also skip their coffee
Recharge your body with a tall glass of water, the first thing in the morning. Although grabbing that cup of coffee might seem the most obvious logical thing, it is better not to do so. After fasting for several hours, it is very important to hydrate your body first before drinking a beverage or eating a bite of anything.
Water is vital for your organs and tissues for your body to function properly. Additionally, your body loses water regularly, and hence you need to compensate to avoid dehydration. A refreshing glass of water can help you stay positive throughout the day. Therefore, most highly successful people swear by drinking a glass of water to kick start their morning routine.
Get your body moving – exercise
Morning exercise is a regular habit of highly successful people. They get their body moving and are motivated to stay healthy and fit. Your priority should be physical and mental health to achieve your other goals in your life – personal and professional. Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates multitasks every morning by running on his treadmills while watching DVDs.
Your career goals, personal relationships, and mental, and physical well-being are all interconnected. You can start by setting a morning routine of exercises, yoga, cycling, workouts, cardio, or simply brisk walking. Just get moving and bring positive energy to your day.
Practice Gratitude
A moment or two by yourself in silence to be thankful for the abundance the universe provides. You can get into the habit of writing down a list of things that make you grateful.
When you do this, you start paying attention to the small things throughout the day. They can be little actions from others that bring a smile to your face. This habit will ultimately help you be more grateful, and increase your openness, immense satisfaction, and happiness from the little joys of life.
Additionally, self-reflection can get you past most days. We rush through our lives in auto-pilot mode. Hence, we easily lose sight of our direction, goals, vision, and dreams. The late Steve Jobs avoided this by asking himself this question every morning – “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? If the answer is no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
Self-awareness is the key to a highly successful life and people should pay attention to their targets.
Avoid checking smartphones or gadgets first thing in the morning
Most of us have the habit of setting alarms on our smartphones. Hence, it is the first thing we interact with every day. We move from one social media platform to another scrolling aimlessly. Additionally, we consume unnecessary information that adds stress to our life.
Highly successful people enjoy a gadget-free morning for the first 30-45 minutes at least. You can proactively listen to your own needs, assess where you stand instead of responding to others’ requests, messages, and pictures.
You need to remember that a strong start to your day can make it super-productive and highly successful.