How to Establish a Successful Morning Routine

 Morning routines are crucial for success

Why is a daily morning routine necessary for success?

Your morning actions—good or bad—set the tone for the rest of the day. And the quality of your life is determined by your behaviors, good or bad.

The businessman Jim Rohn famously observed, "Success is a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day."

If that's not incentive enough, your morning productivity is at its highest. 

The first three hours of the day are the most valuable for productivity, according to psychologist Ron Friedman.

According to Friedman, "we typically have a window of about three hours where we're really, really focused." "We're able to have some strong contributions in terms of planning, thinking, and speaking well."

Additionally, studies have shown that the brain is most creative and active right after waking up.

Last but not least, your morning routine serves as a lighthouse during a storm. Having the ideal morning routine will help you stay on track no matter what challenges life throws at you. You can permanently quit procrastinating with the aid of a successful morning routine.

So, whatever the circumstance, guard your mornings!

You'll set yourself up for success and lead a more balanced, contented life if you commit to an efficient morning routine for at least the first hour of your day.

5 Easy Steps to Starting a Morning Routine

There is no "perfect morning routine for success." The finest morning routine for you, though, is one that is productive.

Since we are all unique, I have found that attempting to mimic someone else's regular morning ritual will only lead to failure.

So, give these five easy steps a try if you want to discover how to design a morning routine that works for you.

1. Discover Your "Why"

It can be challenging to maintain a daily morning routine at first.

You must therefore understand your motivations. According to author and motivational speaker Simon Sinek, "working hard for something we love is called passion, working hard for something we do not care about is called stress."

It's likely that you will become overwhelmed, burn out, and give up if you don't understand why you are trying so hard to establish a daily routine. However, everything becomes lot simpler if you are passionate about the reason you wake up at five in the morning every day.

So why do you want to commit to a morning ritual every day?

Establish your goals for a productive morning routine first. For instance, you might wish to increase your income, feel more in control, establish a side business, write a book, get in shape, eat better, or pick up a new skill. You might also want to enhance your mood, focus, or sense of wellbeing.

Then, consider why you desire these things.

Perhaps you want to increase your income so you can visit Thailand, purchase a nicer home for your family, or retire earlier.

Whatever it is, you must have some compelling reasons to rise at five in the morning.

Be sure to express your "why" in detail.  Next, think of ways to be reminded of your motivations. Drill it in by making notes all over the place, setting phone reminders, and repeating a mantra.

When circumstances are hard, and they will be hard before they get easier, your "why" will be what propels you forward.

2. Begin Small

It's usually advisable to make gradual, incremental changes to establish new habits.

In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear stated that "changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you're willing to stick with them for years."

For instance, I made a point of flossing twice a day. Fortunately, I had tried to modify my habits unsuccessfully enough times to know that the best approach to make change is to achieve modest daily victories. As a result, I didn't begin flossing twice a day or even just once.

I began by brushing one tooth per day.

I began flossing two teeth every day after a week. I started flossing all of my teeth twice a day after about six months. My dentist is consistently pleased with my oral health because I've maintained this routine for years.

Make your early morning routine as simple as possible to ensure that you never forget it.

If you typically get up at 8:00 a.m., for instance, don't set your alarm at 5:00 a.m. You probably won't last more than a few days. Set your alarm for 7.30 am instead. Once you've maintained consistency, move on to 7:00 am and so forth.

Avoid shocking your body. Make gradual, but persistent, changes. 

Find no more than one, two, or three things to begin with. start out modestly. For illustration:

Do you desire a balanced diet? When you first wake up, start with a glass of lemon water. 

You desire to be more arranged. Make your bed before you leave the room to start. 

Want to become in great shape? Each morning, perform five pushups before stepping into the shower.

Increase the challenge just a little bit after a week of reliable victories.

3. Determine to Be Consistent

Hear Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, a popular actor: "Success isn't necessarily about excellence. Consistency is key. Success is the result of persistent hard work."

You may have heard that in order for a new behavior to get ingrained in your routine, you must maintain it for a period of 21 days.

Sadly, this is a falsehood.

In reality, it takes 66 consecutive days for a new behavior to become automatic, or an average of two months. However, it might take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to build, depending on the habit you're trying to establish.

For instance, I tried for years to include meditation into my morning practice. I studied meditation books, watched guided meditation videos, downloaded apps, practiced various sitting positions—you name it, I've tried it.

Everything failed. After a week or two, I would grow discouraged by the lack of progress, lapse into inconsistent behavior, and forget about it for a month before giving it another shot. 

I finally succeeded. 

How? I didn't utilize any apps, tools, or hacks in the end. For almost 250 days straight, all I did was sit down, close my eyes, and concentrate on my breathing for 20 minutes each day.

No, there was no typo. 

I had to practice daily meditation for around eight months until I felt the habit had become automatic and I no longer needed to attempt or will myself to perform it.

Bottom line: You must be committed to the process if you want to establish a successful morning routine that will transform your life.

Everything will fail if you are not consistent.

We are what we repeatedly do, as the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle famously stated. Therefore, excellence is a habit rather than an act.

Be committed.

4. Make a plan.

Will you still be motivated to start a productive morning routine three days from now at six in the morning after reading this post?

Probably not, if you're like most people.

You won't always have the strongest sense of motivation. So, make a plan. 

Eliminate obstacles in your way and provide cues to make it simpler for yourself. There are numerous things you may do to support your commitment to your morning routine. Here are some examples of strategies I used that were successful:

Don't keep your phone in the bedroom and turn it off. Picking up your phone first might lead to distractions from social media, email, videos, and other things. This is the simplest way to completely ruin an effective morning routine. Instead, invest in a traditional alarm clock. (I wear a $8 digital timepiece.)

Place your training attire, including your shoes, on the floor next to your bed. By doing this, you'll remember to put them on right away when you get up because you'll stand on them. I was able to incorporate running into my morning routine thanks to this strategy.

Consider the "buffer" time. It would be challenging to include 20 minutes of yoga, 20 minutes of meditation, and 20 minutes of reading into an hour-long morning routine. You need time to make a drink, use the restroom, and move slowly. Keep it simple for now, and as you develop, you might be able to get through tasks more quickly. Ensure that there is a minimum of five to ten minutes between each behavior. (We'll examine an example in the section after this.)

Make it as simple as you can to follow your morning routine every day.

5. Establish Balance

How can you create a balanced and productive morning routine? What exactly constitutes a good morning routine?

Picking one action from each of the four major areas of self-improvement to start with can be helpful:

Mental: Read, watch a podcast, make a daily schedule, etc.

Emotional: Be grateful, stay in touch with loved ones, etc.

Exercise, practice yoga, consume wholesome beverages and foods, etc.

Spiritual: Take time to meditate, pray, and/or enjoy nature.

Making a successful morning routine doesn't have to be difficult. By picking one tiny thing to work on in each area of self-improvement, you can keep it simple and balanced.