Success Advice

4 Secret Morning Habits Of The Ultra Successful

Published

8 years ago

Feb 18, 2016

Image Credit: Unsplash

How often do you have ‘one of those days’? You know, the days when you feel you’re missing a certain spring in your step, a thirst for moving forward, and the motivation to not close your computer and say, “Oh there’s always tomorrow”.

I was sick of the feeling. The world’s top performing athletes and business people don’t get where they are by doing the bare minimum, getting distracted by shiny objects, and going home early.

However, they must have dealt with the same stumbling blocks at some point, so how did they get through them, and more importantly, banish them for good?

Being prepared and eager to attack whatever the day has to throw at you is such a game changer that it makes the presence of a morning routine an effective method of separating the ‘successful’ from the ‘ultra successful’.

As I journeyed deep into the routines and rituals of the world’s top performers, I consistently came across four core habits—each with their own power to completely change how your day pans out.

Here are four common habits from the world’s top performers:

1. They do a holy hour

Great leaders all seem to be fighting against one thing—time. Where can they find the time to read that book, learn that new skill, or think about their long term goals?

In Robin Sharma’s The Greatness Guide, he describes a technique called ‘The Holy Hour’. This is 60 minutes, ideally between 5 and 6am, that you dedicate entirely to yourself. That means reading, planning, learning, exercising, visualizing; all the things you want to do but can never find the time to do them.

It may be tough at first, but it won’t be long before you are benefiting from the extra time invested in yourself and leaping out of bed in the mornings.

“All great thinkers are initially ridiculed – and eventually revered.” – Robin S. Sharma

2. They’re in tune with their body clock

Life on Earth is connected to the daily rhythm of the rising and setting sun. As humans, this is easy to forget as we are surrounded by gadgets and electronics and artificial light, but many do manage to escape from all this tech and get back into their natural rhythms.

This is our internal biological clock or ‘circadian rhythm’, and is described as the way in which our physical activity, metabolism, hormone production, and other functions of the body change over roughly a 24 hour period. Everyone’s circadian rhythm is slightly different, and thus there’s no universal best practice. But one thing is fixed: we are conditioned to wake with the gradual rising of the sun. Studies have shown that when we eliminate artificial light after the sun goes down, our circadian clock synchronizes back to solar time.

Leave a gap in your curtains, turn off the dreaded alarm clock, and soon you’ll be getting up earlier and feeling more refreshed. What’s more, you’ll start to experience a heap of other benefits as this rhythm is intertwined with our overall health and wellbeing.

3. They use cold shower therapy

It’s easy to jump into a nice steaming hot shower, but the ultra successful aren’t known for taking the easy route. By enduring—even enjoying—a five minute daily cold shower, they not only benefit from stronger willpower and an elevated mood, but greater fat burning and a more effective immune system to boot.

The morning couldn’t be a better time to have one. The cold temperature forces you to breathe deeply, increasing oxygen intake and waking your brain right up. Add this to the fact that, due to the high density of cold receptors in our skin, we receive a flood of electrical impulses to the brain, and you are left leaving the house literally buzzing.

4. They do one impossible thing

Today, the word impossible is used for something we don’t want to do, rather than for its real definition as something not being able to occur, exist, or be done.

Barack Obama, Richard Branson, and Disney CEO Robert Iger understand what impossible means. Every day, even before they’ve got to the office, they’ve contended with the impossible by challenging their thoughts. This doesn’t necessarily mean redefining the laws of physics while eating your cereal, but it does mean doing something you thought wasn’t possible.

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” – Walt Disney

These three greats—along with many others—all like to start their day with exercise. If you believe you can’t get out of bed to do 10 minutes of yoga, or run that extra kilometer, do it, and redefine what you think is possible.

Which habit will you add do your morning routine? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

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Joseph Pennington

Joseph is a freelance writer, and the co-creator of Project Monkey Mind—a new blog for the 21st century solopreneur and young professional who wants to lead a more free and fulfilling life. Grab a free copy of our new eBook: MORNING MASTERY: The Simple 20 Minute Routine For Long Lasting Energy, Laser-Sharp Focus, and Stress Free Living.

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All of us come to this world with our own reserve of magic unfortunately, not everyone can unleash it

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How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

Published

3 weeks ago

Nov 16, 2023

Jamelle Sanders

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In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.