Daily rituals are something that I’ve only adopted in the last 4 months, really. I’ve always followed a loose way of doing things, and over the last several months I’ve really buckled down and focused strictly on morning and evening rituals in an effort to get myself more organized and ultimately to help me be more successful with everything else in my life.
What do I mean by rituals?
In the morning, a typical day that sets me up for success looks like this: Wake up at 6am, go into my office and write for 45 minutes with a pen in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Finish coffee. Meditate with my wife, Lela, for 15 minutes. Get ready to either do my own workout, or prepare for a training session with my first client of the day. Sometimes I’ll have a full breakfast before I workout, and other days all I’ll have time for is a protein shake. Either way, I never train on an empty stomach. After my workout, I shower and get ready for the rest of my day. If I have a few minutes of extra time, I’ll squeeze in some reading and web surfing.
I wake up every morning and write for 45 minutes. Nothing keeps me from this ritual. NOTHING.
I cherish sleep, and it’s something that I’ve realized I can’t mess with if I want to be on top of my game, everyday. We prepare for the following day that night. This means workouts are already made, and the java beans are ground and the coffeemaker is programmed so we don’t have to stumble around the next morning trying to figure out how to use it at 6am.
We’re in bed by 8:45pm to read until 9:30am and then lights out. There are no exceptions to this. No movie or book is important enough to stay up for and jeopardize our sleep because it compromises our productivity the next day. The dog has his own bed on the floor, so there’s no excuse to lose sleep because he’s taking up room in our bed or aggressively licking his ass at 2am.
Waking up early doesn’t have to be difficult as long as you get to bed early enough and allow for 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
I’m a list maker and I’ve found that listing out my goals, printing them, and taping them up next to my desk has helped me be even more successful with my rituals, which has ultimately led to the achievement of my goals. It’s my nature to constantly want to grow and learn new things.
I enjoy the process of evolving because it fulfills me and the enjoyment that I get out of it allows me to be a better spouse, business owner, and all around happier person. The above habits are what have allowed me to achieve my version of success and fulfillment in my life.
The dog in his OWN damn bed.
If you’re struggling with not having enough time and energy to achieve your goals or you’re simply having trouble keeping yourself organized, come up with a few rituals of your own. Give them an honest shot for at least two weeks and then discard ones that don’t make you happy or that don’t help make you more productive. Add new ones that you think might help you.
The whole point of them is to create a little more stability and predictability at the beginning and at the end of your day. By adopting daily habits that keep you focused, you’ll be able to preserve your sanity and maintain a little more control over the daily chaos of life. As you get into the groove, you’ll find that you have more clarity and less stress, every single day.