Marcel Deer
What’s your morning routine like?
For years and years, mine was rolling out of bed late after snoozing a few too many times, showering for one minute, and grabbing whatever I could stuff in my face as I rushed out the door.
OK, I usually also remembered to get dressed.
But at some point, it became obvious to me that this sort of lifestyle was doing me a great deal of harm. I was always tired and usually cranky, plus I knew I was eating really badly.
So what did I do?
I started looking into other ways to get the day started that seemed to be a whole lot more positive. Luckily, I found a great deal of inspiration by reading about successful people and their morning routines.
While a lot of the details varied, there was one common thread I turned up again and again. It was that these people started the day off positively, and all of them felt that this kept them motivated and happy and directly contributed to their success.
So, from what I learned, here are eight things super successful people always do before 8 a.m. for you to learn from and emulate.
1) Prepare the night before
One of the best lessons I learned from reading about super-successful people who placed a huge importance on their morning routines is that you should start your routine the night before.
In the late hours, when you’re getting close to turning in, what do you normally do?
If you answered “play on my phone” or “watch TV,” you’re definitely not alone. But did you know that this screen time actually works against you by telling your brain not to fall asleep?
Watching interesting things and staring at bright screens is a good way to keep yourself awake and make you sleep late.
A much better thing to do is set yourself a time limit, after which all screens are turned off. Then, you can focus on activities that are both productive and calming.
You can pick out your outfit for the next day and maybe even iron it.
You can make your breakfast or lunch in advance.
Try to choose activities that aren’t too stimulating but help you get the jump on the next day. You’ll be producing a win-win situation for both your present and future selves!
2) Get enough sleep
Have you ever gone for a few days without sleeping?
If you have, you’ll know it’s hard to do anything successfully when you’re sleep-deprived.
That’s because sleep is the time when our bodies and brains regenerate, flush out toxins, heal, and rest.
Sleep’s importance for our short and long-term physical and mental health simply can’t be overstated.
Plus, it’s just really great, isn’t it?
So do super-successful people sleep more than average, or do they manage on just three hours a night?
The answer is successful people try their best not to run up sleep deficits. Almost all adults need between seven and eight hours of sleep every single night for great health and optimal performance.
So, how do they make sure they get the sleep they need?
One thing I’ve already mentioned is setting times to turn off screens and then all lights. They also do relaxation exercises to help them get ready to sleep.
Finally, they make sure their bedrooms are for sleeping.
They remove all distractions like message alerts and nightlights so they can get a great night’s sleep and wake up feeling refreshed even at the crack of dawn.
3) Get caffeinated
Whether you’re a coffee lover or a tea drinker, or you like a yerba mate in the morning, I’m not going to judge you.
I like unsweetened cocoa with a pinch of chili powder in it as my morning drink of choice.
But whatever your pleasure, a caffeinated beverage in the morning can stimulate both your brain and body, helping you gain alertness and feel energized.
Caffeine is a psycho-stimulant as well as a physical performance-enhancing compound.
It can help you to be sharper, and for most of us, that’s definitely something that doesn’t hurt in the morning.
4) Eat good food
I would never, ever dream of skipping breakfast.
Even when I was doing my old hurricane-style morning routine, I always managed to get something into my stomach. I need to break my overnight fast!
But I understand that there are lots of people out there who skip breakfast despite its reputation as the most important meal of the day. Some people actually hate eating early in the morning.
Research has shown that skipping breakfast doesn’t seem to make you eat more later in the day. I think it’s really a personal choice whether you want to eat in the morning or not.
If you are going to eat something, however, try to ensure it’s actually food.
I’m not even trying to be funny here.
These days, most of us get many or even most of our daily calories from ultra-processed foods that have a lot more in common with engineered chemicals than with fresh food.
UPFs are food products that have been extensively modified and often contain many engineered ingredients like emulsifiers, preservatives, sweeteners, and artificial flavors. They’re usually high in salt, sugar, and fat. You also absorb more of the fat from UPFs than you do from regular foods.
Successful people try to eat well and look for things that have the carbs, protein, vitamins, and minerals their bodies need to stay healthy and strong.
5) Exercise
If you’re doing things right, you’ve just spent the past seven to eight hours flat out on your back, front, or side.
When morning comes, it’s time to get your motor running and your body moving.
This will help you chase away any aches and pains and shake the cobwebs out.
Motion is lotion, baby!
Most super-successful people I read about stress the importance of exercise as an essential part of their morning routines.
They swim, job, hit the gym, or do yoga as their top exercise activities. And they swear by getting their sweat on in the morning as something that gives them more energy, not less.
6) Plan the day
While many other people are still waking from their slumber, super-successful people have usually got their day planned already.
All it takes is to sit down for a few minutes and think about the tasks they need to accomplish and the things they need to get a hold of.
I started doing this a few years ago, and it had instant results.
While it takes time, it helped me prioritize my daily tasks and get way more efficient. I also wrote lists of what I needed to get and where I needed to go, and that helped me save lots of travel time and stop forgetting so many things.
It also helped me cut out things that I didn’t have time for.
In short, these few minutes in the morning are some of the best spent in my whole day.
7) Reflect
Another few morning minutes that are worth their weight in gold are the minute’s super-successful people spend doing reflections.
This is the time when they think about the days and the week that has come before and consider how things have been going.
They look at the things they’ve done well and the things they could have done better.
They also focus on the positives in their lives and practice gratitude, appreciating what they have and where they are in life.
Some people do their reflections simply in their heads, while others prefer to write them down in a sort of journal. Some even speak to themselves out loud.
But starting off their day with this contemplation and focus on positivity is something that most super-successful people in the world have in common.
So maybe you should try it, too.
8) Spend time with people
I know that the first thing most people do when they wake up is grab their phone to turn off the bleeping alarm.
And the second thing they do is to get right on social media, reading emails, or answering texts.
I know because I’m often guilty of this, too.
But this isn’t what most super-successful people do. You might think they reach for their phones to start making calls so they can kick ass and take names, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Instead, they reject their devices in favor of spending time with their partners, children, or other real people whom they care about. While this could include video calls, that’s not the same as falling down social media rabbit holes.
They take time in the morning to enjoy life and share it with their most important people.
Final thoughts
If you’re looking to improve your life, try these eight things super successful people always do before 8:00 a.m.
Like me, you should notice instant changes for the better, making your life more efficient, enjoyable, and full.
