Successful leaders use their mornings to create a solid foundation for what they want to achieve throughout the day. They get up early for a head start, meditate or work out, and avoid distractions like email and social media. They treat the morning as the best and most productive part of the day.

“Work hard, stay positive, and get up early. It’s the best part of the day.” – George Allen, Sr. 

Rising early is a leitmotif throughout the morning routines of successful people. Give it a try. You will likely find that you’re extremely productive early in the morning while the rest of the world is asleep. You will also find that you can accomplish quite a bit right after you wake up. Being early to rise allows you to kickstart your day positively, giving it momentum that will carry you through the remaining hours.

Successful people wake up early. 

What should you understand by “early?” Most Americans tend to wake up around 7 AM. Successful executives aim for 5-6 AM. This gives them a head start of an hour or two over everyone else, and they know how to make that count.

Meditation

Getting our minds to focus is often the most difficult challenge we face. If we don’t set the right tone for it in the morning, focusing becomes increasingly difficult throughout the day as we face further distractions. Leaders like Oprah Winfrey use about 20 minutes of their mornings to meditate, focus their minds, and set themselves in a positive mood.

Exercising

Intense physical activity is like meditation for some people. In addition to allowing the mind to focus, it fires up the hormones and primes the body for action. Some, like former Navy Seal commander Jocko Willink, pump iron, but the morning workout doesn’t have to be extreme to create benefits. Other leaders may go for a brisk walk, a run, or do yoga.

Physical activity works wonders for your well-being. Leadership coaching values the positive effects a healthy body-mind connection can have on leadership, as one such effect can be controlled stress levels.

Having Breakfast

Leadership coaching encourages leaders to feed their minds with great thoughts. Likewise, to allow your mind to work optimally, you must feed your body with healthy, nutritious food. Breakfast is the perfect opportunity to give your body and mind fuel that will carry you through a day of optimal decision-making.

Don’t forego breakfast for seemingly more important matters. It should be the most consistent meal you eat all day.

Avoiding Social Media Engagement

In the age of ubiquitous mobile devices, we all feel tempted to peek at our email inboxes and profile timelines more frequently. Executive coaching understands the value of social engagement, but it preaches that there’s a time and place for it, and early in the morning is neither the time nor the place.

Successful leaders try to clear their minds and establish focus after waking up. By looking at your email, you force your mind to connect with work-related matters, sending it into work mode immediately.

By doing so, you deny yourself the benefits of rising early.

Setting a List of Priorities

No proper leader would go into battle without a plan. Setting up priorities in the morning should be your battle plan for the day. Executive coaching professionals understand leadership success isn’t an act; it’s a series of habits that work together to facilitate success over time.

Your day is the building block of your long-term success. By setting up a list of priorities, you give it structure that helps you accomplish objectives you define and control. You may not always be able to execute your plan flawlessly, but you need it regardless, as without it, you’ll fail consistently.

Reading

Leadership and learning go hand-in-hand. 

Business coaching understands that visions power organizational transformations, and visions originate from leaders.

Leaders must be well-informed and knowledgeable about industry trends and tendencies. They’re responsible for implementing preemptive change and modeling it throughout their organizations.

Leaders should focus on defining personal morning routines that suit their natures and styles. The objective is to establish solid foundations for a day’s productive leadership, and the morning is the best time to establish such foundations.

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