Can your morning routine have an impact on your long-term success? Discover how some of the world’s most successful people start their day – and find out how your routine compares to others.
Getting your beauty sleep
We all know the importance of getting enough sleep, but what exactly is the best way to go about achieving that all-important shut-eye?
Joel Gascoigne – co-founder and CEO of Buffer
Joel likes to start his day at around 6:30 am after getting a minimum of seven and a half hours of sleep. That means a bedtime of 10:30 pm, so he can get all the shut-eye he needs to start the day off bright and early.
Dharmesh Shah – founder and CTO of HubSpot
It’s safe to say Dharmesh is something of a night owl, generally hitting the sack sometime between 1:30-2:00am. These two founders do have one thing in common though, with both trying to clock at least 7 hours of sleep a night.
Jacqueline Claudia – founder and CEO of LoveTheWild
Most mornings, Jacqueline’s alarm goes off at 5:20am – though she says she’ll often awake naturally by 5 am giving her time to peruse her emails for 20 minutes before getting out of bed.
Anyone for coffee?
When it comes to breakfast, it seems that the ideal one doesn’t exist. Some of the most successful people in the world, including Elon Musk and Arianna Huffington, skip breakfast altogether, opting instead for a quick morning coffee.
Howard Schultz – CEO of Starbucks
If you’re going to stick with coffee, then who better to look to than Howard Schultz. At around 5.45am, he makes a coffee for himself and his wife using an 8-cup Bodum French press. Is there a better way to have your morning coffee?
Winston Churchill
Can’t imagine facing the day without breakfast? Churchill took his to the next extreme. Without fail, Churchill would always eat a big breakfast (with whiskey soda for good measure), which he preferred to be brought to him across two trays.
Nancy Pelosi – House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi gets her mornings off to a sweet start. She has eaten dark chocolate ice cream for breakfast every day for years, and says “I don’t see it as different from having a cup of coffee.” That sounds like a breakfast we can get on board with.
Get your heart pumping
To workout or not to workout? Morning or afternoon? When it comes to exercise, we all have our preferred ways of doing it (or not at all). Here’s how some of the world’s most familiar faces add exercise into their daily routines:
Mark Zuckerberg – CEO of Facebook
Zuckerburg ensures his schedule includes time for his family, exercise and travel. He gets up, views his morning updates and then works out. His workouts are done before he eats breakfast and are done at least three times per week.
Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon also enjoys exercising before she heads into work. She once said that you can run just about anywhere as long as you have a GPS and sneakers at the ready. Witherspoon also said that when she exercises it makes her a happier person.
Mark Wahlberg
Working out at 3:00am? The majority of us would decline. But for actor and entrepreneur, Mark Wahlberg, it’s just another part of his extreme early morning routine. The 47-year-old is already in the gym and has eaten breakfast by 3:40am, ready to seize the day.
Time to get to work
For many of us, the purpose of our morning routine is to get us ready and energized for a day of work. But, when does that working day begin in the entrepreneur lifestyle?
Jack Dorsey – CEO and co-founder of Twitter and Square
Strict time-management and utilizing every minute of his 18-hour working day is vital for Dorsey. He has even been known to hold investor and advisor meetings in the car on the way to the office.
Arianna Huffington – co-founder of Huffington Post
At the other end of the spectrum, Huffington says, “a big part of my morning ritual is about what I don’t do” – she makes sure not to keep electronic devices charging in her bedroom to reduce any temptation to respond to emails when she wakes up.
John Paul Dejoria – Homeless man turned billionaire
Dejoria follows his morning cup of coffee with a call to his assistants to check his agendas and calendar for the day ahead. He admits to sticking to his “old-school ways”; all his communication is done via calls or fax (no email, texts or computer) saying this helps him to focus on the most crucial tasks.
How does your morning routine compare? While some of the biggest entrepreneurs in the world have some extreme morning rituals, you may find your own routine isn’t too dissimilar to those around you. Share your results and let us know your key to a successful morning routine!
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