How to Get Rich with a Morning Routine

There’s a secret highly successful people use everyday, top performing CEO’s swear by and creative people can’t perform without. It has to do with your routine.

Before I get to the power of a morning routine, let’s look at the rest of your day.

If you are like most readers of this blog, your days are busy. It could be family, new clients, proposal writing, presenting or working on your first book—by the end of the day you’re exhausted and wondering where the day went. Right?

I know because that’s exactly how my days looked and I had dozens of excuses. I was starting a new business, my kids were young and needed lots of my time, I didn’t have much in the way of staff…the list of excuses goes on (and I won’t bore you with it.)

The point is I didn’t understand how important a morning routine could be – instead I ignored my mornings and tried to cram as much productivity into “business hours” as I could.

And then I discovered my rhythm.

Get the Rhythm

We all have a rhythm – it’s called the circadian rhythm and it repeats every 24 hours and directly influences the change in your energy as you go through your day.

In tests of over 5,000 people I’ve discovered that mornings are consistently the highest energy time of the day.

It makes sense – in the morning you’re rested, there’s more natural light and willpower reserves are at their maximum. For most of us mornings are the best time of day to get work done – hard work, work that requires your best creative juices; work that will make you rich.

The list of successful people who use their mornings for creative work includes: Arianna Huffington, Howard Schultz, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson.

The trick is a creating a routine.

Run a Routine

Even if much of your day is a hot mess of appointments, last-minute crisis and deadlines, you can enjoy a morning routine perfectly designed for you. My morning routine starts at 5:00 AM and is protected for creative writing, proposal writing and designing projects for my company. At 7:00 AM I’m out the door with my dog and then the rest of my day begins.

Because of that simple routine I’ve written a national best seller, created a 6-figure side project and built a successful blog that now generates most of my keynote bookings. And I did it all while most people are still sleeping.

Create your Morning Routine

If you want to make better use of your mornings you have think: routine. The idea is to roll out of bed and already know what you’re going to do. It could be meditation, journaling, exercise, writing, or practicing Tai Chi – your routine is what guarantees success.

Here’s how to get started to harness the power of your mornings:

1. First, get the sleep you need. I had to train myself to go to bed by 10:00 PM if I wanted to truly enjoy a morning that starts at 5:00 AM. Nail down your sleep patterns first.
2. Write out your morning plan. When you first wake up, it’s easy to waste 15 minutes deciding what to work on – don’t do that. Before you go to bed, jot down what you’ll be working on in the morning.
3. Build a routine you enjoy. I start by enjoying a full glass of water while the water boils for my tea. From there it’s off to write until 7:00 AM. Stacking each habit on a previous habit (writing following making tea which follows drinking water, etc.) is the secret sauce to habit building.
4. Notice the results. At first it might seem awkward – good! You are trying to squeeze more juice out of life and that should feel awkward. Next, notice any small benefits your morning routine is giving you. That’s the reward you want celebrate.

You already have rhythm, now it’s time to get it to work for you!