If your morning routine involves hitting the snooze button, skipping breakfast, and rushing for work, you’re doing it all wrong. All it will get you is a harried mind, which won’t help you be productive and will, instead, weigh you down.
Like most successful people will tell you, the morning should be considered the most important time of the day. This is because it sets the tone for the next 24 hours; a positive mindset will out-turn a fruitful day while waking up on the wrong side of the bed will almost always make you feel like the universe is out to get you.
Take Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in both India and Asia. The Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director starts his day at 5:30 am, meditates, goes for a brisk walk and eats a light breakfast, which includes fresh fruits, juice, and idli-sambhar. Or Bill Gates, who drinks 0.5 litres of water upon waking up, practises meditation and then sets up his daily tasks. These billionaires follow a strict morning routine, which helps them build their inner strength and become the best versions of themselves. Here’s how you can derive your own.
Morning routine: 8 daily habits that will help you build inner strength
1. Wake up before your alarm. Waking up at the crack of dawn — or at least close to it — adds several hours to your day, which you can spend building your focus and energy levels for the day ahead. This is a short window where distractions are few, so it’s important to capitalise on these select hours and transition into a calm and relaxed mindset to set the base for a good day.
2. Time for some H20
Drinking water as soon as you wake up helps prevent dehydration after a whole night’s sleep, kick-starts your metabolism into full gear, replenishes your energy levels and flushes out the toxins from your body.
3. Meditation and breathwork
Meditating can be a task for chaotic minds, but it’s an essential power practice that will help build your inner strength. Successful businesspeople like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Ray Dalio, and Oprah Winfrey credit their success to meditation and make sure to get in even 10 minutes before starting their day.
4. Journal away
It’s simple: writing down your thoughts helps you understand them better, especially if you’re dealing with stressful situations that tend to cause depression and anxiety. Pen down your worries and release them from your mind while noting at least five things you are grateful for. Practising gratitude helps in positive thinking, and you’ll automatically feel much lighter and more determined after journaling away.
5. Work it
Adding even 10 minutes of exercise to your morning routine can go a long way in building your inner strength, both physically and for your mental health. Any exercise will release endorphins, which will automatically elevate your mood and help you start your day on an energised and happy note.
6. Healthy breakfast
While it is a millennial trend to skip breakfast, most doctors say it’s the day’s most important meal. Before heading out to work, fix yourself a balanced meal of fruits, juices or non-milk tea and eggs or a substitute that will give you the fuel you need to stride through the rest of the day.
7. Mind-mapping
Take those extra hours in the morning to create a mind map for the tasks you need to accomplish today. Besides being a creative process that will help sharpen your mind first thing in the morning, it also comes with a boost of dopamine that you experience when you tick off each task as it’s being completed.
8. Read, read, read
If you still maintain the old-school practice of reading the newspaper first thing in the morning… bless you. It’s a great way to activate your brain. And if you get your news off social media, take some time to read an actual book or a magazine. This will help you bring a much-needed digital break and open up your brain to consume and utilise information that could assist you.
