Morning rituals and routines are the trendy things to do. Every self-help guru and “entrepreneur” can’t stop talking about their importance. Wake up before the rest of the world. Meditate. Journal. Read a book. Go on a walk and listen to a podcast.

A lot of it is just horseshit and busy work. Morning routines have become a way to make people feel like they’re better than everyone else.

I would know because I used to be a sucker for all of those things. Bulletproof coffee, gratitude journaling, meditating, and reading so many books that my overflowing bookcase was a strange prized possession in my arrogant mind.

I thought I had things figured out, yet I was working a minimum wage job hoping to get accepted into grad school.

But shit, at least my morning routine was on FIRE.

I’m not going to lie. I still do some of those things, but I’ve pared that shit down. Morning routines shouldn’t be three hours long. If yours is, you’re a sucker. There’s a difference between being busy and being productive.

Do things that resonate with YOU

Morning routines should get you focused and smoothly transition into your work. They should work for you, not against you. Don’t do something just because “successful” people do it. Feeling productive isn’t the same as being productive.

Every part of your morning routine needs to have a purpose. If it doesn’t serve a purpose or if you don’t actually give a shit about what it does for you, then throw it out. I used to put MCTs and butter into my coffee because the pros and “successful” people did it. Once I slapped some sense back into myself, I realized that shit is disgusting. It didn’t give me success. It gave me diarrhea.

Gratitude journaling has its benefits, but it doesn’t jive with how I work. If I journal, it’s simply to stay focused on the road to my goals and any tasks at hand. If it works for you, keep it.

Some “successful” people insist that you’re lazy if you can’t train in the morning. I hate training hard in the morning. I used to do it when I played rugby and it never felt right. We would gather at 5am (meaning I had to be up at 4am) when it was still dark and try and do circa-max lifting. I felt sluggish and could never give my best performance. I tend to lift best in the evenings so that’s what I do.

One of my best friends loves training in the morning and it works great for him. Awesome. Figure out what works best for you.

All of this to say, audit each and every item in your morning routine and determine if it really deserves your time.

Constructing the perfect morning routine

Now that we established that there is no one-size-fits-all morning out there, let’s put together something workable. First, determine if you even want a morning routine. Some people just don’t need or want it. Don’t do something that’s useless to you just because it’s useful to others.

Personally, I work best and have the most efficient mornings when I have a predetermined routine put together. I need the consistency or else my brain will wander off and never come back.

Next, determine when you need to cut off your morning routine. This will usually be the time you need to leave your home for work or when you want to start your work.

Then, figure out when you would like to wake up. You now have the window of time to put together your routine. A good routine shouldn’t be any longer than 60 minutes.

Some ideas of things to include:

• Wake up (duh)
• Face, hair, shower
• Hydrate
• Go on a walk
• Exercise
• Read
• Meditate
• Journal
• Listen to an educational podcast
• Eat
• Caffeinate

The list can go on and on. The routine should naturally carry you through your home and progressively transition you to your work.

My mornings largely look the same from day to day.

• I wake up around 6:30am,
• Wash up (5 minutes)
• Drink water (2 minutes)
• Make coffee (8 minutes)
• Get outside into the sun (10-15 minutes)
• Meditate (10 minutes)
• Journal (10 minutes)
• Get to work.

From start to end, it takes about 45 minutes, maybe 50 minutes if I get a really good dump in there.

I’ve been trying to incorporate more reading into my day but if it doesn’t happen during my morning, I don’t freak out.

Once my routine is complete, I will either leave home for my first appointment or hop on here to write some of that good content for you guys.

Write your own story

Morning routines can have incredible value, but only when you do things that are actually valuable to you as an individual. You cannot just create a carbon copy of some “successful” entrepreneur’s morning ritual and expect to become successful.

Also, morning routines don’t make you any better than anyone else. So stick that disgusting turmeric latté up your ass, because no one wants to hear about it.

I often cringe at my college self. I wish I can go back in time and slap my past self silly. Quit acting like you’re big game just because you listen to business podcasts, me!! You’re just an average university student, quit acting like you’re “successful”, me!!

How on earth did I have any friends back then? I must have been insufferable.