Hey Joseph, fabulous article. I hate morning routine articles usually, you brought a great angle to an overdone topic. What most stood out to me was morning routines are different for each person, though the underlying theme was that each person found routines important to kickstart their day.

My morning routine includes:

• Thinking / jotting down what I’m grateful for as soon as I wake up
• At least 2 glasses of warm water (no breakfast, I’m usually not hungry)
• Walk / jog to school drop off followed by a few minutes meditation in the car when I get back
• Listening to classical music in the car and testing my kid with spelling words and times tables
• Listening to Rob Dial’s Mindset Mentor podcast on my way home
• Starting the day at my desk with my own learning and writing — before I do work for any client

Thanks for sharing such an insightful, informative article Joseph. It took a long time to write with all your interviews I’m sure. I really enjoyed reading about a few of those Medium authors I admire. Here are the lines that most stood out to me:

Nicolas Cole: “writing is the one thing I’ve done in my life that has the biggest impact on everything else”

I have also realized this over the past 2 years and it’s incredible what opportunities come knocking when you focus.

Anthony Moore: “Discipline brought me freedom”

Anthony has a wonderful behavioral change course, it has made such a difference to my life.

Matthew Kent: “Seinfeld Method… you get immediate positive feedback… you get to check a box”.

Great practical tip! I love reading Matthew’s articles, he has an awesome positive, happy approach to life.

Jari Roomer: “wake up time not as important as the routine”

Yes! I used to wake up at 5 am for a run before my kid, now there’s no way that happens. I struggled with not doing that “like I used to” for a long time (that was a common frustration). Now I am happy with getting as much sleep as I can manage and doing my routine consistently — whenever I wake up.

John Gorman: “don’t eat 3 meals per day just because they tell you to. If you’re not hungry, you can get by with 2”.

This is also what I do, it took me years to figure this one out but so worthwhile — it has improved my digestion and focus.

Joseph, brilliant post :) Thanks again for taking time and effort to write it. Have a fabulous day!