Without having the facts, you could easily see success for what it isn’t: easy.

Success is largely made up of your habits (go figure).

What you do every day will determine what direction you head. You may be heading to Loserville, or you may be heading to Success Mansion. Where you’re heading is powered by your habits.

Here’s what my day looks like:

4:00 am

My phone is on the floor on the other side of the room. This trick forces me to get out of bed and turn off the chimes. I chose chimes by the way because it’s a gentler way of waking up.

4:05 am

Drink 500ml’s to 1 liter of water. I then rinse my face with cold water to avoid the temptation of going back to bed.

4:15 am

I begin editing and formatting my next blog post. Blogging is my passion, so I ensure that it’s one of the first things I do when I have the most energy. Trying to do it at the end of the day is too difficult because I don’t have the same energy levels.

6:00 am

Go to the kitchen and make a cold press green juice made of celery, cucumber, orange, silverbeet and carrot. This juice feels ten times better than coffee and hydrates me perfectly. It also gives me all the vitamins and minerals I need which is why I rarely get sick.

Right after the juice I then make breakfast. Usually avocado on toast or peanut butter on toast with tofu.

7:30 am

Walk to the train station and get some exercise. It’s about twenty minutes walk, but I feel refreshed after it (unless that Melbourne rain comes down and then it’s not as fun).

8:00 am

While on the train, I do 10 minutes of meditation using the calm app to prepare my mind for work and empty out my thoughts.

9:00 am

Once I’m in the office, the first thing I do is check my work phone. Notice how I don’t do this earlier? The reason is that I want my journey to work to be a good one.

I don’t want work to distract me when most of the time there’s nothing I can do about it until I get to the office anyway. My trip to work is always combined with a podcast from either Tim Ferriss, Gary Vee or Lewis Howes.

Important to note that this habit doesn’t occur all of the time. Nothing is ever going to be the same every day. What I’m documenting here is how it happens most of the time so you get an idea of how you can shape your own habits for success.

10:00 am

Time to get off the email and connect with my team. Human conversations are how stuff gets done, not emails. In fact, emails are very unproductive although they do quickly allow me to see what’s happening. Most emails get deleted within a few seconds though unless they carry value and are relevant to me.

11:45 am

I beat the lunch rush and have a healthy sandwich. I never make my own lunch and buy it every day. It’s my one treat every day and it gives me the energy I need to do difficult tasks. I think that’s a good investment for us all.

3:00pm

I take ten minutes away from work to get out of my head and just do some deep thinking. I think about my schedule. I think about my priorities. I think about the love of my life and the people I care for.

This habit helps me put the last few hours of the day into perspective. It gives me the juice I need to go the extra mile and push through any fatigue I may be experiencing.

6:00 pm

Arrive home and head to the gym. I do a quick workout to get rid of all the day’s stress and relax as well as fatigue my body so I can get a good night’s rest.

I also love workouts before I blog because it puts me in a positive state of mind and awakens my sometimes sleepy brain. The endorphins also make me feel happy as well.

7:00 pm

Dinner time is where I have lots of veggies and some protein to help give me energy for the last few activities before bed.

8:00 pm

I have a conversation with my other half and spend time with her. After all, what’s the point of life if you’re so busy and don’t get time with your loved ones? I make sure I’m completely focused on her and make her feel like the center of attention.

9:00 pm

I do more formatting and posting of articles before bed. I also prepare my social media posts for the following day and think about what I want to share with the world. I focus on what I have to say that is positive and try to put the negative thoughts of the day to rest.

“Yes, they say you shouldn’t have screen time before bed but screw that! Blogging is my passion and no BS rule is going to stop me from following my passion and inspiring the world”

10:00 pm

Bedtime has arrived. Without sleep, I have zero chance of crushing the next day. 7 hours does me fine although any less and I wake up like a zombie looking for its next kill. My phone is placed back on the other side of the room with the alarm set for 4 am.

List of weekly habits (these don’t occur every day but they occur every week).

– Couple time with my girlfriend (phone on flight mode).
– A trip to the market to buy fresh fruit and veggies.
– An entire day of blogging (typically Saturday afternoon).
– A car wash session (This helps me feel like my life is clean. It’s also very relaxing).
– Time spent reading a book on my iPad Kindle app. Education is how I grow and learn new strategies.

What are the daily habits I need to cut back?

Checking bitcoin and stock prices.
Checking social media notifications every 30 minutes.
Spending time worrying about the future.,

My list is not that over the top. Here’s what matters:

I’ve followed the success habits of people that have done cool stuff. In comparison, my list may seem mediocre and I’m okay with that. I believe that as long as your passion is prioritized in your day and you’re spending a bit of time with the people that matter to you, you’ll be successful.

The reality is that some of these habit lists you see are just plain crap. They’re not practical and the person writing them is exaggerating what they do. Every day is going to be a bit different and that’s normal. You can’t be a robot trying to follow exactly the same list of tasks every day. We need variety as humans.

Repeat habits that support your goals.
Stay healthy and keep your energy levels up.
Spend time with the people you care about.
Prioritise what is important to you and no one else.

If you want to increase your productivity and learn some more valuable life hacks, then join my private mailing list on timdenning.net