The Best Way to Start Your Day

How to kick off each day with a purposeful win

A little over six months ago, I began a daily habit that changed my life. It made me more balanced and centered, and it helped me launch into my days by making disciplined progress toward goals that matter to me. If you’ve ever wondered how to make your mornings more meaningful, productive, or invigorating, this post is for you.

For months (if not years) before I started this routine, my words always spoke louder than my actions when it came to spending time on things I claimed mattered to me. Then, inspired by a perfect storm of Tim Ferriss’s Tools of Titans and a Fast Company article on the habits of extremely “productive” people, I decided it was time to turn that equation on its head and commit to a daily wakeup routine.

Every morning I grab my Time Timer (seriously one of the greatest tools there is for productivity), and I…

1) Read for 10 minutes

I’ve been exclusively reading books during this practice. This is mostly a personal preference of mine, since I have a goal to read more books this year. Personal preference or not, I’ve made the intentional decision to not use this time to read blogs online, catch up on daily email newsletters, or browse online news. I dedicate this time to a single piece of writing. Most importantly, I choose something that has zero chance for distraction (i.e. nothing “connected”).

2) Meditate for 10 minutes

My meditation “practice” first began when I attended the Strozzi Institute’s Leadership in Action somatic leadership retreat during the summer of 2015. And while I’d “been meaning to” implement meditation into my life, it never quite evolved into a real practice — until I started this.

Your choice of meditation “strategy” will depend on personal preference. Some folks like more guidance, and they might opt to use an app like Headspace or Calm. Others use visualizations to guide their practice, so they might imagine lying in a raft floating on the calm open sea. Still others (like me) simply use breathing to focus their attention. Try some different options and find one that feels right; when you do, you’ll find that just 10 minutes of meditation can have major benefits.

3) Write for 10 minutes

I start by writing 3 gratitudes, 3 intentions for the day, and 3 priorities for the day (with the difference between intentions and priorities being that intentions are how I want to be that day and priorities are what I want to do that day; “Bring deep focus to my work” is an intention, whereas “Finish the report and send to Alice” is a priority). When writing intentions, I write them as if they’re already true. If you give this practice a try, you may be surprised at how empowering it feels to write “I am focused” as opposed to “Be focused.”

Once I’ve written my three 3’s, I go one of a few different ways depending on how I’m feeling. Sometimes I’ll just continue writing stream of consciousness in my notebook. Other times, I’ll pick a specific question or challenge to write about. Yet others I’ll open up my computer and work on a blog post like this one.

That’s it — just thirty minutes and I’ve kicked off my day with momentum-building activities in areas that are personally valuable to me. Doing this practice as the first thing after I wake up means that even if I don’t spend another minute doing any of these three things, I’ve already won for that day.

Yes, sometimes I have to set my alarm earlier than I otherwise would. And yes, sometimes it’s difficult. And yes, sometimes reality is overwhelming and I skip it. So yes, you might have to set your alarm 5, 10, or 30 minutes earlier. But that’s a small price to pay for noticeably and continuously moving the needle on one or more of your most important goals. I try to stick to it because 1) these are three practices that matter to me; 2) kicking off each day with a win feels really good; and 3) waking up early is one of the greatest not-so-secrets out there.

What’s the big deal about mornings? Why is it important to do this first thing, right when you wake up? One reason, as Admiral William H. McRaven (author of Make Your Bed) explains in his 2014 University of Texas commencement speech, is that doing simple tasks like making your bed in the morning quickly give you momentum to accomplish even more:

If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.

That’s not all. In the mornings, you are also significantly less prone to distractions and last-minute plan changes. That invitation to the end-of-day meeting won’t force you to punt your daily practice were you to plan it for 4pm every day.

Another key benefit to morning practices (especially early on, when they haven’t become habits and they require more conscious discipline) is that right when you wake up, your willpower muscle is at full strength. According to research by Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, and others, it can get drained throughout the day as you make decisions to not have that donut at lunch or not click on the headline about Steph Curry’s hot hand in last night’s game when you should be working.

Building habits like these can boost your well-being in a number of ways. And I believe that doing them first thing in the morning can be even more transformative for you. Want to give it a try?

To begin your perfect wakeup routine, try the following:

• Identify 1–3 things you’d like to spend more time on or get better at
• Choose a time window that feels realistic for you (maybe your sweet spot is 5 or 10 minutes instead of my 30, or maybe it’s 60)
• Divide up your time window between your tasks — could be evenly like my 10–10–10, could be different
• Set up a spot in your home where you can practice free of distractions, and gather whatever you need (a timer is the only constant; the rest is up to you…a book, a meditation pillow, a journal, a paintbrush, running shoes, whatever)
• Set your alarm to whatever wakeup time you calculate, factoring in your new time window

In a nutshell, figure out something that’s really important to you, and then make it the first thing you do every day. It’s that simple.

What’s your “best way to start your day?” How do you kick off each day with a purposeful win? If you’re giving this a try, how’s it going? I’d love to hear about what works and what hasn’t worked for you. Have a great morning!

Read more of my posts at www.lightshed.co/blog.