I thought I would post my morning routine for those that might be interested. I have been described by others as "extremely disciplined," but what I know is that it just works for me. You need something that works for you. I have been a morning person my whole life...not sure why, it's when I am most alert. Health, mindfulness, presence, energy, strength, and clarity are all the goals I'm looking for in my morning routine.

Monday - Friday here is how my days start:

5:30 wake-up

5:45 - 6:30 workout (I have a trainer for the past 3 years who sends me workouts on an app, that I meet with once a week on FaceTime. Pre-corona, I met with the trainer in-person twice a week. Since corona started, we moved to virtual ;-))

6:30 - 6:45 meditation - this is interesting and something I just added about a month ago. I used to wake up at 5:45, but I am now waking up 15 minutes earlier just to do this. I enjoy it so far - but I struggle with focus sometimes, hence why I am doing this mindfulness training - I use the Calm app on the iOS app store

6:45 shower/dress, empty the dishwasher, make green tea, make breakfast (I eat breakfast every day)

7:30 read the news at the computer, eat breakfast/drink tea

8:00 - 8:30 publish to LinkedIn - this is the part many people are curious about. how do you publish so much? The reality is it's not hard. Just do it BEFORE you start the workday. That's it.

8:30 start working

Why so disciplined? A few reasons:

1. It reduces the number of decisions I need to make. If I can set that part of my life on autopilot, I don't second-guess myself 80-90% of the time. It does mean on occasion I need to be kind to myself if I'm not feeling up to it, and recognize it's OK. That's usually the harder part for me.

2. It comes from my father, who told me long ago "Have a sense of urgency about yourself." It generally means I am action-oriented. In the worst case, it means I can be impulsive at times, but in the best case I try hard not to have a plan for every problem before starting something. If I can identify the main problem and have some idea of the approach, that is usually good enough for me.

3. It makes me feel good. It clears my mind when I struggle and sweat - hard to think about work during these times, and after it creates residual good feelings all morning that help keep me calm.

I usually get about 7 hours of sleep every night, and if it wasn’t clear from the structure of this routine, I don’t have kids ;-) God bless all the CEOs, entrepreneurs, and other professionals who do! This routine hasn’t always been the same - for instance, it was different when I was sometimes commuting, etc. I do tend to develop a routine over time based on what I think is working for me. The key is to find something that works for you.