Morning routines can set the stage at how the day will unfold. Over the years our EO Melbourne chapter had the opportunity to learn in first person about the routines that successful business icons such as Warren Rustand use to start their day. Many of them claimed to be critical for their success.
Some say that you start your day right by taking care of your mind and body and doing something that will increase your productivity and boost your energy. Experts claim that having a rhythm as soon as you wake up in the morning may be beneficial to your physical and mental health.
Even for busy people like CEOs and business owners, an effective morning routine help them get through the rigours of work and other responsibilities. Highly successful people often attribute their good performance to their positive morning habits that enable them to start their day strong. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some morning routine changes our EO entrepreneurs made to get them going through the day, given their demanding schedules and tremendous workloads.
(Left to right) Salt & Fuessel Director Gabriel Esseesse, Torii Consulting Director Joe Woodham, Work Healthy Australia Managing Director and Founder James Murray, and Banjo Executive Director & Co-founder Andrew Colliver share the morning routines that work effectively for them, helping them face their day and tackle the things ahead of them with energy and focus.
Salt & Fuessel Director Gabriel Esseesse narrates the shift he did in his morning habit. Looking back at his old morning routine, it was rolling out of the bed after hitting the snooze button at least thrice, checking his emails, getting already annoyed by them, grabbing whatever breakfast he could find from the pantry, getting the kids ready for school or childcare and dropping them off.
“As you can imagine, my mood was already set for the day. A few years ago, I had to change that. Then my evenings finished quite earlier than the usual and I stopped eating sugar. Now, I can get up from bed without being torture. I also wake up earlier, and straight after brushing my teeth, I do weight exercise at home for 30 to 40 minutes. After completing that, I would have my oats or smoothie or toast and get ready to kick off the day,” Gabriel narrates. Starting his mornings like this, he regards it as already a win in his day.
Another thing he altered in his morning routine is cancelling out any news or radio. Rather, he would get to work listening to an audiobook or calling someone. Gabriel acknowledges that he may not be able to control everything that happens throughout the day, but he can at least control certain things like his morning routine, which allows him to have more energy to tackle all the things in front of him.
In the case of Joe Woodham, Director of Torii Consulting, he had many iterations to his morning procedure over the years. “I didn't just wake up one day and decide this is what I will do; I spent time adding to my routine and working out what worked for me until I had something I could stick to,” he revealed.
Joe admits that finding extra time in the day has always been a challenge for him. With a growing family and business, it seems that things only get tougher as they go by. “Over the last few years, I have found the only way for me to focus on myself with uninterrupted time truly is to swap later nights for earlier mornings,” he declares.
In the process of pinning down the right routine that worked for him, Joe read countless books and articles and attended events of successful entrepreneurs who had found ways to get the right balance between self, business and family. “In a lot of cases, it came back to having a successful morning routine,” Joe realised.
His current routine is waking up at 5:45 am, then going to the gym for 45 minutes, followed by a 20-minute meditation and 10-minute journaling. According to Joe, “Even under the current COVID restrictions, I have tried to keep my routine unchanged as I notice the difference when I don't. However, when I find that working out in my lounge room isn't so much fun I will swap out some days for studying, such as learning Japanese.”
Similarly, the morning custom of James Murray, Managing Director and Founder of Work Healthy Australia, has changed a lot for the last two years. “For me, the morning is the time that I have that’s just for me because with work and family, anything after 8 o'clock, I don't have control over that time. So, I get up a lot earlier than I used to. Now, I wake up before 6:00 am and then do the things that get myself ready for the day,” he explained.
The first thing James does is to meditate for 20 minutes. “By meditating in the morning, it allows me to learn a lot more about myself emotionally and know what my emotional triggers are. It’s very, very helpful just to keep me calm,” James stated.
After that, he does his exercise, which includes cardiovascular activities like doing 10 kilometres on the rowing machine, along with 10 minutes of yoga and some weightlifting. He pointed out, “When you exercise in the morning, you have to consider your strength, flexibility, mobility, balance and coordination.” He also uses a lung training device, called airofit, which he finds a good addition to his morning routine. Before, he would just do one thing, such as go for a walk, for example, or only lift weights. “What would happen was I would find myself into a rut. By building a stronger routine, I'm able to be more holistic in the way that I approach my mornings,” he explained.
Other things that James follow during the morning is avoiding his phone while working out. He also feeds the dogs, which he loves doing. “I also do my lemon juice in hot water and I drink a litre of water in the morning because sometimes during the day, I'm not so great at drinking a lot of water. I've had to add all these things in over the years,” he quipped. With his present morning routine, James finds it effective as it allows him to focus on work, increasing his concentration and energy levels.
For quite some time, Banjo Executive Director & Co-founder Andrew Colliver has been following Dutch athlete Wim Hof, a.k.a. “The Iceman”, who has 21 Guinness World Records, including climbing Mt. Everest in short pants and swimming under the ice for 66 metres. Inspired by Wim’s method of exercising and prompted by the lack of energy in the mornings, Andrew decided to change his morning routine at the beginning of 2020 by incorporating cold therapy and breathing.
“Every morning at 7:45 am, a small group of friends enter my pool for 10 minutes of cold water immersion. The temperature is 11 degrees, and we follow the immersion with an outdoor cold shower. In 2020, I have had three warm showers, and we have not missed a morning,” shared Andrew.
The results are magnificent as the benefits have been extremely noticeable for him, giving him clarity of mind and energy throughout the day. For Andrew, “It is a mood booster, and I sleep so well. It has helped my business by facilitating heightened energy and positiveness as well as building a higher resilience level. Every morning, my mind tells me the research is flawed and it is crazy to jump in a cold pool on 2-degree mornings. I love the challenge of overcoming the thought patterns and executing them. I also love the challenge of overcoming the pain and stress of the cold water immersion though ‘acceptance’. It soon becomes a very pleasant and rewarding experience, which is counter-intuitive.”
It pays to try various things and come up with a morning routine that works best for your mind and body. The important thing is that the first thing you do during the day will help you build strength and vitality, as well as develop discipline and focus, which can lead to a productive day at work. With such effective routines, you will find more energy to power you up towards your goals and closer to achieving success in life and business.
Have a morning routine story to share? Please do so by sending us your story at communications@eomelbourne.org or via the comments section below.