A Morning Routine Could Change Your Life

My mother stayed a week with me after knee replacement surgery, and one morning at 5 a.m. she said, "I never thought I'd see the day. You were the most awful morning person as a teenager, and look at you now." Me now is up at 4:30 a.m. most days, long before the sun rises. I'm usually at the gym by 5:30 a.m., executing a 30-minute lifting routine and practicing my Spanish on the Hispanic desk attendant, Jesse.

Mornings have become SO sacred to me, and when I get off track and start sleeping late, my productivity and life reflect it.This isn't anything new. Every leadership guru I've heard, read and met speaks to the importance of rising early and establishing a good routine before the chaos of the day hits. From John Maxwell to General Ben Robinson, all the way down to my friend and best-selling author Mark Perna - the most successful people I know rise with the roosters and start their day while much of the world sleeps.

I use my quiet time in the morning to work out, drink coffee, review my day and complete a couple of Spanish lessons, as being fluent is one of my big goals in 2023. Since my dog is the only other person awake, she absorbs most of my practice."Yo tengo un perro, Idabel." And it's you!If you're rolling out of bed at 8:30 a.m. then speeding to clock in at 9,  you're likely not arriving ready to do your best work.

Waking early gives your body a chance to reach peak wakefulness naturally, which means you won’t have to depend on a triple shot of espresso to think for you. At first, setting your alarm for an earlier hour won’t feel good, and you might have to drag yourself out of bed unwillingly. But once it becomes part of your routine, you'll likely notice a major difference in your energy levels and mental clarity in the morning.