There’s No Such Thing As “The Best” Morning Routine

I was a guest on a podcast recently. The conversation started with a question about my morning routine.

“Will doing a cold plunge every morning make you rich?”

The question was a little “tongue-in-cheek” joke. And my response was a little jokey too.

I did say “Yes”.

Because for me. I believe it will help me reach my goals (more on this later).

But is it for everyone?

The Miracle Morning Doesn’t Exist

A friend recommended a book to me.

I’m sure it was during the first lockdown of 2020, during the COVID pandemic.

“You get up at 5 AM? You should check the book, The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod”

It’s a good read.

The author does a fine job of convincing you that his morning routines will help you reach your goals. Make your dreams come true.

And it may have worked for him.

Even countless others.

But it didn’t for me.

The Stress of Getting It Done

If you haven’t got a morning routine sorted.

And it’s something you want to develop.

Then reading The Miracle Morning is a good start. It gives you a framework. A structure to your morning. With tips and tricks from a lot of successful people.

At its core. The book breaks “a perfect” morning routine into six things you “should” do.

1. Meditate
2. Affirmations
3. Visualizations
4. Exercise
5. Read
6. Journal

The book breaks down each step even further.

For example, step 5, read. It’s not about reading for long periods. It’s about reading 10 pages of a self-help book each morning.

What I found is that these 6 steps took a few hours to get done.

Even though I was getting up at 5 AM.

It was almost 7 AM before I’d finished my morning routine.

I was too stressed by the time I’d finished. My mind would be racing with all the things I needed to get done that day. And I would feel a little tired and drained from the mental effort of doing all these things.

So what’s the answer?

Is a morning routine pointless?

Try Things Out

What I’d say from testing out The Miracle Morning framework is to not dismiss anything.

Give something a try.

Make sure you stick with it for a while. A month. At least.

But drop what doesn’t seem to be working. Double down and focus on the things that do.

I stuck with the miracle morning framework for a good 6 months.

And there are parts of it I liked. Parts of it I found useful and haven’t completely dropped (more on my current routine shorty).

The two things for me. That didn’t seem to work, where the affirmations and visualization.

A Little Too “Woo-Woo”

I don’t dismiss things because they seem “a bit hippy”. A little too “woo-woo”.

To me, that’s what affirmations and visualisations were.

Even though I’ve read a lot of Tony Robbins self-help books. Where he discusses how powerful these tools are.

And I agree they can be.

For example. Lots of sports stars use visualisation before a game or event to help focus their mind.

Which is great, and it works.

But visualising things in your mind. Things you want to come true. Things that are out of your control.

Well, you end up feeling like an idiot.

I’m not going into detail.

But I was going through some stuff in my personal life. And I was visualising what I wanted to happen.

When it didn’t. Well, I felt even more like shit, more worthless.

What I’m finding it’s better to focus on other things. Which I’ll discuss later.

Aggressively Drop Or Move Them

I did find a few things useful.

Meditating and journaling can be powerful tools.

And I love reading and have stacks of self-help books.

But doing all these things. These “tasks” every morning felt like too much effort.

So I decided to move the mediation and reading to later in the day. When the working day was done and I felt a little tired and sluggish.

Journalling was another thing that I moved around.

And I don’t do it every day.

What I tend to do is journal when I’m stressed. When I’m overwhelmed. Or if something is pissing me off. Then I tend to try and write things down. Get them out of my head.

This seems to work for me.

So what about affirmations and visualisation?

Well, I’ve completely dropped them.

They had more of a negative impact on me than a positive. Not everything is going to work for you. And life isn’t going to pan out as you envision it.

I have focused on my “self-talk” though.

So, what’s the answer?

Do What Works For You

“Do what works for you”. May sound simple right?

And you may think. “I’ve read all this way and that’s his answer”.

Yes, it is.

And you know what? I bet you haven’t always done this. I know I haven’t.

Because you see someone on social media. That is “successful”. Who does all these things? Eats a certain way. Does a form of exercise like CrossFit.

And you copy it exactly.

I can see why. I’ve done the same and will again.

But you aren’t them.

You are YOU.

And you may need to do something completely different from the person you admire. To get the same results.

You know what?

That’s OK.

Join The 5 AM Club

I’ve been in the 5 AM club for over 20 years.

Even in my early 20’s, I’m now in my 40’s (further than I’d like).

I’d wake up at 5 AM every weekday morning. Get dressed. Throw a protein shake, or whatever concoction I was on at the time, down my neck. Grab my bag and head to the gym.

Because for me, exercise is important. And I love it.

But if I don’t get it done.

It won’t get done.

Other things will get in the way. Or I won’t want to go. Plus, for me. When I’ve done a workout first thing. I’ll feel better for the rest of the day.

But that’s me.

I spoke with a friend who gets up at 7 AM.

He potters around for a few hours. Then goes to work. Spends his evening at events, out around the town he lives in.

Then at weekends is active, nonstop with things, which keeps him fit.

And he runs a successful company.

Because he focuses on what works for him.

Not Everything Can Get Done First

You can’t cram everything into two hours in the morning.

What I’m finding too, is that your brain won’t let you.

What do I mean?

Well, I’m a software developer “by trade”. So I do a lot of coding. Both for other businesses as an employee and for my businesses.

And one of my big goals is to have a lot of people read my blogs (like this one). Also, to grow a weekly newsletter. So, I want to do a lot of writing.

This is why figuring out what works, and when to do it is important.

Coding

When it comes to coding.

No matter how many times I’ve tried. For a company or myself. I can’t seem to get into the coding flow first thing in the morning.

I do my best coding work in the afternoon and evenings.

Sometimes when I should be going to bed, I can code away like a madman.

Writing

When it comes to writing.

No matter how many times I’ve tried. I can’t seem to write. Or write well. In the afternoon or evening. It has to be early, the first thing I do (after one or two other tasks, which I will touch on in the next section).

And it’s because of the logic vs creative parts of my brain.

The creative part (writing) is active in the morning. And has a limited battery life.

The logic part (coding) is active later in the day. And even though it also has a limited battery life. It takes longer for me to drain it.

That’s why it’s important to try things out.

To drop or move it.

And focus on the right thing, at the right time of day.

A “Real-World” Example

Oh great! I can hear you scream.

“I’m still none the wiser”

I can’t reach through the screen and help you 1-on-1. To work all this shit out.

All I can do is tell you what my morning routine looks like now. And the thought process behind it.

As well as recommend things and say why they are part of my day.

It’s all about priorities.

Still In The 5 AM Club

I still get up at 5 AM.

But there isn’t too much I want to get done.

And yes, I’ve become one of those cold plunge wankers.

I wake up using a sunrise alarm clock (you should check these out). Then, I do a 5-minute cold plunge.

Next, I focus on exercise. I’ve mapped my entire workout for the week, including weekends in a Notion doc.

What I’ve found is that exercise is the most important part of my day. I want to look after myself and exercise is key to that.

Doing 45 minutes to an hour first thing each day, makes me feel better. As well as giving me more energy to then do the things I want each day.

After listening to Wim Hof, known as the Iceman. I’ve committed to doing a cold plunge to start my day.

I’ve stuck at it for about 14 months and upgraded the plunge I use.

For the past few days. I’ve also been doing 10 minutes of Wim Hof’s breathing exercise. Between the cold plunge and exercise.

Again, going back to testing things out.

This is something I want to do more of.

I’m seeing a lot of content about the benefits of breath work. So put it as a priority for now. To see if I can stick with it. Or if it becomes more of a hindrance.

And to see if I get any benefits from it.

Do Hard Shit

Going back to the very start.

When I was on the podcast, saying that the cold plunge would make me rich.

Yes, I was joking.

But there is some seriousness behind it.

Each morning. More so in winter. I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to get into the cold water for 5 minutes.

But I do it anyway.

There are some days I don’t want to exercise. That I want to cut short the routines. Or have a coffee instead. Even get back into bed.

But I do it anyway.

Why?

Because if I can force myself to do these hard things. What other hard shit can I tackle?

What I’m trying to do is hack my brain.

Let’s say I’ve got a few difficult tasks I want to do to move my business forward.

After doing the cold plunge and a hard workout. I say to myself, well everything is easy after that.

Sending an email, writing a blog, posting on socials.

Well, it’s a piece of piss after what I’ve done between 5 AM and 6:30 AM.

Know Your Brain and Your Priorities

There are three things I commit to every morning.

Yes, there are some days that I miss or skip them. But 90% of the time. I’m on it.

What about the rest of the morning?

And what about other things you “should” be doing? Like meditation, journalling, reading, etc (more on this in a second).

What about your goals?

This comes back to the section where I talked about my coding brain and writing brain.

My goal is to grow my blog and newsletter following. As well as grow on social media.

The key to this is writing.

Write so I have new posts coming out each week. As well as content for my weekly newsletter.

Then, that leads to having an archive of stuff I can talk about and share on social media.

So, once I’ve completed my health and fitness stuff (cold plunge and exercise).

I grab a coffee and spend the next two hours of my day writing blog posts.

Then, spend another hour creating and scheduling content on social media.

After that, I spend between one and two hours engaging on social media. To try and hand crank both followers on a few platforms. And subscribers to my newsletter.

That’s my morning.

Because my creative brain is active in the morning. And that these tasks will help me with the goal of having a successful business.

I prioritise them over all other things in my day.

Not above the two things I do first.

But above all else. Before meditating and journalling. Before coding and other product development.

These two “tasks”, as well as reading. I do it later in the day. When my energy levels are lower.

Taking The Stress Out Of A Routine

So how do I make sure I do the stuff I want?

As well as make sure I don’t miss other things, like reading.

I was going to quote the author James Clear here. But, I won’t. I recommend reading his book Atomic Habits. At it’s core is about building systems to get shit done.

What I’ve taken away from this best-seller, is to have a habit tracker.

I’ve bundled up my habit tracker which you can download for free. You can grab a copy here (you can pay me for it if you’d like, which would be awesome).

What I do is make sure I tick off 3 things every day. Cold plunge, exercise, daily marketing.

NOTE: I’ve split my daily marketing tasks into a separate habit tracker as it changes and adapts. But I want to tick off as many tasks each day, as I can.

I then list other tasks, like reading, meditation/affirmation. Journaling on there and check them off as they get done.

I’ve even put other things on there. Fun stuff like playing the guitar. As well as other learning stuff. I’m trying to teach myself Spanish.

I tick off the non-critical stuff too.

The habit tracker is a great way to stay consistent.

As well as list what YOU want to improve on and do.

Regardless of what it is.

Real-World Example Snapshot

I’ve thrown a lot of information at you from my morning routine.

As well as how I run my day.

Let’s go over it again.

My daily non-negotiables which is all about health and wellbeing

1. 5-minute cold plunge
2. 10-minute breath work (new task, testing phase for now)
3. 45-60 minutes of exercise

Next, are my daily non-negotiables which help in the wealth realm, my business. My daily marketing.

1. 2 hours writing a blog post, article or newsletter
2. 1 hour of scheduling content on social media
3. 1-2 of engaging on social media.

Now, that looks like a lot of work.

And, yes it is.

Generally, I’m busy from 5 AM up until 11 AM. Somedays that’s 10 AM some days 12 PM.

The rest of the day is ad hoc and I plan out either on a Sunday evening for the week. Or the night before.

Here’s an image of my habit tracker.

You can see what I’ve got listed and how well I’ve stuck at those this week (I’m writing this on a Wednesday morning).

I hope this helps.

If you have any questions, visit my About page and reach out to me. More than happy to “chat shit” about morning routines.

I love this sort of stuff.

Conclusion: A Morning Routine

There is no such thing as the perfect morning routine.

Anybody who says there is, well, they are trying to sell you something.

The best morning routine is the one that works for you. That helps you stay fit and healthy. That you feel like it improves you and sets you up for the day.

Oh, and the one that you can stick to.

But it can and will change.

And you need to know what works for you. As well as knowing what your goals are. So you can plan and map out your habits and routines.

Currently, my morning routine is a 5-minute cold plunge. 10 minutes of breathwork. 60 minutes of exercise.

I then focus on priorities that will move me and my business forward

It’s taken me 4-5 years to get this to a point where I’m happy with my morning routine.

I had to move a lot of stuff around 4 months ago.

And I’m only a week into testing the 10 minutes of breath work.

So. The takeaway?

No morning routine is a “one size fits all”.

It’s on you to figure out what that is.

It will be an everchanging thing too.

You may find that lying in till noon and then getting after it works for you.

Best of luck.

P.S. If you want to download my habit tracker. So you can plan your days and week out. You can grab a copy for free here.