How My New Morning Routine Changed My Life

When I quit my job and decided to make the jump into real estate full time, I remember waking up Monday morning and thinking, OK...now what? I had grown so accustomed to working a 9 to 5 schedule. Now that I was an entrepreneur for the first time in my life, I was completely lost.

The first few weeks were rough.

I would wake up at 8, check my email for 20 minutes, then aimlessly roam around Facebook for half an hour, and drag myself out of bed by 9:15. From there I would eat breakfast while working for about an hour, and head into the gym at noon.

Before I knew it, it was 2pm and I had very little to show for it.

I decided to sit down and address my biggest shortcoming as an entrepreneur - my unstructured morning routine. I remembered hearing that around 90% of CEOs wake up before 6am. This speaks volumes to the importance of waking up and seizing the day before it drifts away, as was happening to me.

From here, I decided to pour over articles and books that gave advice on how to craft the perfect routine. I'd highly recommend reading The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod (or listening to his episode on the Bigger Pockets Podcast) and looking at the site My Morning Routine.

So, here's how I crafted my morning routine.

The first thing I established was what time to wake up. Now, I'm a night owl and I love getting a solid 8 hours of sleep a night. I decided that while I'm building my real estate business I can afford to get by on 6-7 hours a night on occasion, as long as I have a couple of cheat days on the weekends to make up for it.

I decided to start my day off at 6am. Also, a great tip is to place your phone (or alarm clock - if people want to get retro) far enough from your bed so that you are forced to stand up to turn it off. This is a great way to force yourself up right when you wake up.

Right after popping up, I head into the kitchen and pour myself a glass of water. I squeeze half a lemon into the water, which helps to clean out your digestive system and rehydrate your body. On cold mornings, I'll heat the water just a tad. If you haven't tried this out, I would definitely recommend trying it for a week.

After the lemon water, I head to my living room where I sit on the floor in my sweatpants and meditate for about 5 minutes. I tried downloading a meditation app (I can see you rolling your eyes right now - but at least give this a chance). If you're looking for a good one I would recommend Stop, Breathe & Think, which creates different short meditation sessions based on what you are feeling that day. The highest echelon of successful people block out this time to visualize their plan for attacking the day and to quiet their mind. This is easily the most likely one you will skip, but trust me...try it for one week and you will be hooked.

Next up, exercise. In my early 20s, I went through a little bit of a rough patch where I felt depressed. I pulled myself up by my bootstraps through exercise and healthy eating and I guarantee it will work wonders for you as well. Around 6:45 I head into the gym for a 45 minute workout.

If you are new to working out, I would highly recommend hiring a semi-private personal trainer for about $20 a session. They will give you the guidance and proper technique to ensure that you don't hurt yourself, which will cost you a lot more in the end. At least do a little online research before jumping into the gym.

When I get home from my workout, I jump into the shower and then throw on my boxers or some gym shorts. This part of my morning sounds weird...but bear with me here. I sit out in the sun for 10 minutes and soak up vitamin D. Now, I realize if you're reading this from Nova Scotia, this really isn't an option. But if you're like me and live in a location with a beautiful year round climate, get outside with as little clothing as possible and soak up those rays.

Now, I dress for the job that I want. If I want to be a successful real estate investor (and I'm guessing we all have the same dream if we are on Bigger Pockets), it's crucial that I dress for the part. I put on a shirt, slacks, nice shoes, and a jacket. Comb my hair real nice and shave. You need to look like someone a 65-year-old conservative guy will want to give a million bucks for an investment and be able to trust. Dressing up sucks, but you will be amazed at how people treat you and the self confidence it instills when asking for that big deal.

The final part of my morning routine is journaling. This doesn't have to be formal writing or anything you don't want it to be. This is simply a time for you to write down your thoughts on paper. Write about whatever you want. Where you see yourself in 10 years. Ten different places you want to own properties in one day. Three things you are going to do differently tomorrow as an entrepreneur that will help you get to where you want to be. Your areas of your life you want to improve. Jim Rohn said, “A life worth living is a life worth recording.” Great piece of advice.

On my way into work, I forgo the Led Zeppelin songs I've heard a million times and tune into a business audiobook or podcast. Obviously, Bigger Pockets is my first choice. But I would also highly recommend The 10x Rule by Grant Cardone on audiobook or the Tim Ferriss Podcast.

That about sums up my morning routine. By 8:30 or 9, I'm feeling great and ready to go take on the day, head first. If you want to build a house, you have to start with the foundation, and that is why you need to absolutely crush your morning routine.

Since entrepreneurs are usually focused on getting their businesses up and running, I find they typically overlook taking care of their health. Without your health, you simply aren't going to function at the same level as those with a sound body and mind. 

The writer James Altucher says to improve your life by 1% every day. Even if you just tweak your morning routine by a little each day, think of how awesomely productive you will be on the 99th day.

I'll leave you with one of the all-time greats - Benjamin Franklin's schedule. I like to think that if Mr. Franklin were alive today, he would expand on this schedule by adding more detail into his morning routine.