What Is Your Morning Routine?

Everyone has a morning ritual.

To some, it may be:

7:00 am - Smash the snooze button until your fingers bleed.

8:30 am - Dash to the bathroom to bandage your wounded hand (after tripping over the cat of course).

8:45 am - Throw on some clothes (Matching socks? Aint' nobody got time for that).

8:50 am - Have a pop-tart and down some boiling hot coffee
(Got to make sure to zap those tastebuds so you can't taste the stressful day that lies ahead).


I am a college student and this is pretty much how I used to start every day.

Sure, this type of ritual gets the adrenaline flowing, but it also gets the stress and cortisol coursing through your veins.

You might be able to wake up 10 minutes before film class and successfully make it to class in time to finish watching Westside Story.

But in reality, you will probably fall asleep on your desk as the 34g of sugar from your poptarts starts to wear off, leaving you a drooling, tired, mess.

Waking up with a stressful ritual like this one, does not set your day up for winning (And your cat, Snowball, would appreciate it if you would be more alert in the morning).

After coming to the realization that I sucked at mornings and that the most successful people on this planet wake up before the sun rises, I came across Stefan Pylarinos' fantastic video where he shows you...

The Benefits Of Having A Morning Ritual and How To Set Up Your Day To Become Unstoppable.


After watching the video, I put together a NEW & IMPROVED Morning Ritual for myself.

5:00 am (Yes, 5 am!) - Wake up to alarm positioned strategically at the foot of the bed (no more bloody hands), SMILE, stretch.

5:05 am - Drink some Dihydrogen Monoxide aka Water.

5:10 am - (Don't laugh) YOGA (My roommates think I am ridiculous for watching yoga videos on YouTube and clumsily trying to follow along at 5 in the morning, but stretching your whole body feels AWESOME - very relaxing too).

5:30 am - Start up a music playlist or a motivational video to get FIRED UP!!

Do a quick circuit to get my blood flowing and to sweat out some toxins.
(Usually consists of 20 pushups, 20 situps, 20 jumping jacks, 20 squats - I do this 3 times in a row with short rests)

5:45 am - Jump in a cold pool and swim some laps or take a cold shower (This will make you FEEL ALIVE and if you do this, you will NEVER NEED COFFEE AGAIN!)

6:00 am - Dry off, get dressed, and MEDITATE (Not so great at it, but getting better. It's interesting when you notice how many tangents your mind goes on)

6:10 am - Protein shake/superfood smoothie (Milk/water, whey protein, frozen berries, yogurt, fresh greens, coconut oil, etc..)

6:20 am - Incantations (What do you want to become?) Scream it from the rooftops! Wake those neighbors up!

Empowering Questions (What are you happy about? What are you grateful for?)

Driving Force/Ultimate Purpose (What is the purpose of YOUR life?)

Journal about all of these things.

6:40 am - Learn. Read a book, watch a video, listen to an audio. Fill your mind with positivity. Don't watch the news.

6:50 am - Plan Your Day. Write a list in your journal of everything you want to get done that day. Number them in order of importance. Start crackin'

7:00 am - Workout. If you workout first thing in the morning, you will have sustained energy throughout the day and you will be able to cross it off your list and GET IT DONE!

So there it is!

I have noticed that every time I complete this ritual, I have so much more energy and a strong sense of well-being throughout the day.

I feel more alive and awake after doing this than if I were to sleep an extra 2 hours or drink a Starbuck's grande coffee in a venti cup with 2 pumps hazelnut, 2 pumps vanilla, 2 pumps caramel, 2 equals and 4 sweet and lows filled to the top with cream, with extra cream on the side, double cupped with no sleeve, a stir stick, and stopper put in the top!