The Importance of The Golden Hour for Your Upcoming Day – What Highly Successful People do in the early a.m.

Your morning determines your performance for the day. Therefore, a focussed and calm start into the day is what sets the right basis for exceptional actions following. High performing people already know about the importance of the morning which is the reason they follow certain routines. Those routines can be broken down into four aspects.

 

You hit the snooze button for the third time just to hear the annoying tone again five minutes later. The only difference? You have five minutes less to get yourself ready. You roll out of bed and shuffle towards the coffee machine. Your morning seems damp as if a heavy curtain would lay upon. After leaving the house you are in a rush and think to yourself: That last snooze was not worth it…

Can you relate to this? Heaps of people start their day like this, and they keep on doing so.

 

The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day.

-Aurelius Augustus-

 

Aurelius Augustus lived around 1600 years ago and already preached what seems to be forgotten by many. The morning sets the course for the day. Therefore, a morning routine will shape your performance and perception relating to upcoming events. Highly successful people know about the power of the morning hour. Barack Obama normally gets up two hours before his first official appointment to make sure that he will have enough time to find his way into the day. Ariana Huffington starts her day with breathing exercises and meditation and Oprah Winfrey walks her dogs’ first thing in the morning. The list of high performing people with morning rituals could go on (Bill Gates, Woody Allen, Warren Buffet…).

 

Do Not React – Act

While there are different activities involved, there is one thing all morning routines have in common: It is a time just for you. No reaction – just action. A study shows that 78% of observed smartphone users glance at their phone during the first 15 minutes after awakening.[1] Avoid looking at your smartphone or checking your e-mails during your first hour after waking up and concentrate on yourself as this paves the way of proactivity.

Break A Sweat

Another ritual most people follow is exercise. Exercising first thing in the morning is not only advantageous for your body but also your mind. Early morning workouts boost cognitive performance throughout the day by enhancing decision-making skills and productivity.[2] Furthermore, an early fasted sweat stimulates your metabolism which results in faster fat burning.[3] There are several kinds of movement to practice so don’t worry if you are not the gym-kind-of-person. Stretching, Yoga, running or walking will all have an impact so figure out what works best for you.

Write Down Your Thoughts

Also, journaling is something a lot of people swear by in their early a.m. – Conscious longhand writing facilitates creativity and therefore helps to approach and solving problems. Doodling, sketching and writing bring awareness of mental patterns and thoughts. Moreover, journaling sharpens your focus making it easier to define goals. There are several questions and topics to relate to when journaling. You will find a lot of journaling exercises in our Happiness Challenge™.

Meditate

Well, you probably guessed it, but our fourth tip for a healthy morning routine is meditation.

  • If you already tried meditation: Awesome! Stick to it.
  • If you are more like “Ain’t nobody got time for that”: Meditate! Stick to it.

Meditation reduces stress[4], promotes emotional stability[5], lengthens your attention span[6], calms anxieties[7] and improves your sleep[8] just to name a few advantages.

 

With a morning routine, it is the same as with every other habit. Consistency is key. Some frisky temerarious rituals that you don’t follow are a waste of effort. Due to the current Corona crisis (COVID-19), a lot of people are working from home. This circumstance is challenging, not only for your morning kick-off. Kids are running around; pets want cuddles and the social isolation gnaws at the mentality. Setting up a routine is hard, especially when there are heaps of other things to care for. We made that step for you. In our Happiness Challenge™, we developed one task per day for you and your happiness. We provide you with state-of-the-art knowledge from Neuroscience and Positive Psychology as we committed to your best performance and happiness. We know that changes can be tough if the environment stays the same. Therefore, we gather a striving community of like-minded people who support and inspire each other. Become the happiest version of yourself and join our Happiness Challenge™ now to receive science-backed information and daily missions that make the implementation of a daily routine simple and effortless.

 

 

 

[1] Lee, P. & Calugar-Pop, C. (2015). Global Mobile Consumer Survey.

[2] Wheeler, M. J., Green, D. J., Ellis, K. A., Cerin, E., Heinonen, I., Naylor, L. H., … & Eikelis, N. (2019). Distinct effects of acute exercise and breaks in sitting on working memory and executive function in older adults: a three-arm, randomised cross-over trial to evaluate the effects of exercise with and without breaks in sitting on cognition. British journal of sports medicine, bjsports-2018.

[3] Iwayama, K., Kurihara, R., Nabekura, Y., Kawabuchi, R., Park, I., Kobayashi, M., … & Tokuyama, K. (2015). Exercise increases 24-h fat oxidation only when it is performed before breakfast. EBioMedicine, 2(12), 2003-2009.

[4] Goyal, M., Singh, S., Sibinga, E. M., Gould, N. F., Rowland-Seymour, A., Sharma, R., … & Ranasinghe, P. D. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA internal medicine, 174(3), 357-368.

[5] Jain, F. A., Walsh, R. N., Eisendrath, S. J., Christensen, S., & Cahn, B. R. (2015). Critical analysis of the efficacy of meditation therapies for acute and subacute phase treatment of depressive disorders: a systematic review. Psychosomatics, 56(2), 140-152.

[6] Jha, A. P., Krompinger, J., & Baime, M. J. (2007). Mindfulness training modifies subsystems of attention. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 7(2), 109-119.

[7] Miller, J. J., Fletcher, K., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (1995). Three-year follow-up and clinical implications of a mindfulness meditation-based stress reduction intervention in the treatment of anxiety disorders. General hospital psychiatry, 17(3), 192-200.

[8] Martires, J., & Zeidler, M. (2015). The value of mindfulness meditation in the treatment of insomnia. Current opinion in pulmonary medicine, 21(6), 547-552.