breakfast

Dec

2020

Morning Habits of Highly Successful People

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Are you happy? Are you healthy? Do you consider yourself a highly successful person? Are you a millionaire? You are where you are today because of your habits. So, if you want to change your life for the better, you need to start changing your habits. So, what are the morning habits of highly successful people?

Habits Defined

What are habits? Habits are your usual way of behaving. They are your thoughts and actions that you repeat over and over again.

In short, everything that you repeatedly do from the moment you wake up until the time you go to sleep are habits. According to Charles Duhigg, author of best-selling book The Power of Habit, 40% to 45% of what we do each day are not conscious decisions but habits.

Habits Formation

Habits are formed through repetition on a daily basis. Some habits were developed during childhood like tying your shoelaces or brushing your teeth. Other habits like how you parallel park your car are formed each time you learn something new. Studies suggest that as an action becomes automatic, the brain shuts down. For example, you can completely concentrate on something else while brushing your teeth.

Thus, habits are very powerful. They dictate how successful or unsuccessful you will be in life. Your life today is the sum of all your habits.

Making a Choice

While luck and genetics may be contributing factors, it is the behaviours of individuals that ultimately lead to success. The good news is that new habits can be learned and old habits can be unlearned. So, if you want your life to get better, you cannot continue doing what you have been doing. You need to make some changes.

Success does not happen overnight. Rather, it is the result of all the successful habits done over time.

Success is the sum of all efforts, repeated day in and day out.
– Robert Collier

In this case, how and where to start? Brian Tracy, the most listened to speaker on the development of human potential and personal effectiveness recommends starting with your morning routine. According to him, what you do in the first few hours of the morning set the tone on how the rest of your day will turn out.

Five Morning Habits that will Change your Life

Specifically, morning habits are routine things that people do in the morning. Starting the morning right can influence how the rest of the day will turn out. Every successful person in the world out there has similar morning routines.

1. Get Up Early

Morning people are successful people. Tom Corley, author of Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals, spent five years studying 233 wealthy people and 123 poor people. According to him, self-made millionaires woke up three hours before their schedule actually begins.

Robert Iger, Disney CEO wakes up at 4:30 am.
Former US President George HW Bush would get up at 4:00 am.
Apple CEO Tim Cook gets up at around 3:45 am
Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne gets up at 3:30 am.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz gets up at around 4:30 am.
Best selling author Dan Brown wakes up at 4:00 am
Jack Dorsey, Co-founder and CEO of Twitter wakes up at 5:00 am

2. Meditate

Gone were the days where meditation is just for the monks, hippies and yogis. Science has proven that meditation has many beneficial effects on the body. Meditation reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, enhances creativity, lowers depression and improves performance. Meditation is a form of contemplative practice just like prayer and visualisation. Start your meditation with gratitude and then visualise the day ahead of you.

Ariana Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post does 20-30 minutes meditation as a part of her morning routine.
Rick Rubin, former president of Columbia records is a daily practitioner of Transcendental Meditation.
Padmasree Warrior, chief Technology and Strategy officer of Cisco Systems allots 20 minutes a day for meditation.
Jeff Weiner, CEO of Linkedin empties his mind each day to meditate.
Ophrah Winfrey, the most influential woman on media who has her own media empire, spends 20 minutes of meditation to start her day.
Jennifer Lopez meditates 20 minutes in the morning and at night.

3. Exercise

Tom Corley said that about 76% of the wealthy exercised for at least 30 minutes a day. In another study done by Psychology Today on 5,402 Finnish twin males, results revealed that the physically active twin earned about 17% more income than the less active twin. Daily exercise not only controls weight but also improves health and stimulates the brain.

Jennifer Aniston, one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood, includes spin-yoga and gym workout as part of her daily morning routine.
Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, spends an hour each day on his treadmill.
Former US President Barack Obama goes to the gym at 6:45 am to do weights and cardio work-out.
Steve Rheinmund, former chairman and CEO of Pepsi does a four mile run every morning at 5 am.
Anna Wintour, Vogue editor-in-chief plays an hour of tennis at 5:45 in the morning each day.

4. Eat a Healthy Breakfast

The word breakfast came from an old English word which means to break the fast of the night. After a whole night of fasting, the body needs essential nutrients to function properly for the day. That is why, breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day.

Richard Branson, founder and chairman of the Virgin Group opts for a high fiber, high vitamin breakfast. His breakfast includes fruit salad, muesli and some kippers occasionally.
Winston Churchill, former British prime minister ate a hearty morning meal of poached eggs, toast, cold meats and grapefruit.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, eats two hard boiled eggs with soy sauce.
Shaquille O’Neal, former NBA star, confessed that he never drank coffee his whole life. Breakfast is normally composed of bread, omelette and a glass of fresh orange juice.
Justin Timberlake, singer songwriter and record producer eats breakfast twice daily. The first one includes waffles with flax, almond butter and scrambled egg. He eats another egg and a protein shake for his second breakfast after workout.

5. Read

According to Tom Carley, the most significant disparity between the habits of the wealthy and the poor concerns reading. About 88% of the wealthy read at least 30 minutes each day compared to only 2% of the poor. Successful people make it their business to stay informed. They read to increase their knowledge, learn new things and to stay current with events especially in their industry.

Warren Buffet, the most successful investor in the world reads the American Banker, Financial Times, New York Times, Omaha World Herald, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal every morning.
John Carney, writer and former CNBC editor reads ancient philosophy by Plato, Socrates and Xenophon.
Dave Girouard, former president of Google, reads Winston Churchill’s speeches.
Charlie Munger, vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway reads The Economist.
Fran Tankerton, former National Football League quarterback read local and national newspapers from cover to cover.

To change a bad habit, all you need to do is simply replace it with a new one. Studies show that on average, it takes 21 CONSECUTIVE days to create a new habit, although some people take a bit longer. This simply means that you need to do the habit that you want to form for at least 21 straight days preferably at the same time everyday. For example if your goal is to wake up at 5:00 am, you need to set the alarm at 5:00 am from Monday to Sunday. If you fail to do it even for a day, you need to restart on Day 1. An effective technique is to use a daily reminder or alarm and to mark an X on your calendar once you have done it for the day.

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.
– John C. Maxwell

Feature Image by Emrah Tolu from Pexels

May

2020

Baby Steps to Optimal Nutrition

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Health is a basic necessity if we want to achieve our goals in life. A healthy mind and body allows us to act on our goals. Most of us focus on our careers and financial goals, putting our health in the backseat for the time being. This should not be the case. Taking care of our health should come first and we should work on maintaining it while we work on our other goals. Getting optimal nutrition from the food we eat is one of the most important ways to maintain our health. By carefully choosing the food you eat, you can also boost your nutrient intake.There is no need to have a complete change in diet. You can start with baby steps to reach optimal nutrition.

Eating the right foods will ensure that you can maintain a healthy body and you have the energy to move through your day.

Here are some baby steps that you can integrate into your daily eating goals to achieve optimal nutrition.

1. Eat a Healthy Breakfast

If your breakfast consists only of coffee, then you don’t have enough fuel for your brain for working. You may even space out while trying to concentrate on a task. Slowly introduce breakfast into your morning routine. Start by eating something with your coffee until you replace your coffee entirely with a healthier breakfast.

What can you eat for breakfast? Your breakfast should include food rich in protein to keep you full until your next meal and give you energy for work.

Check out the rest of the tips to guide you on what you should eat for each meal. (If you’re the type who starts the day late or just isn’t into breakfast, then just follow the tips on what to eat for your meals.)

2. Lay Off the Sugar

Most of us have a sweet tooth which we usually indulge in when we crave for desserts. Unfortunately, sugar is not only highly addictive; it also triggers inflammation in the body. If you have allergies, sugar can make it worse. If you can’t seem to get rid of your pimples no matter what face cream or treatment you try, sugar maybe the culprit.

Take a look at the sugary items in your diet and replace them with healthier options. For example, if you usually drink soda, drink water instead. Get wholewheat bread instead of plain, white bread. If you love white rice, try cooking with half white rice and half brown or red rice until you can fully replace white rice.

3. Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

This can’t be stressed enough – eat your fruits and veggies. Leafy greens are usually emphasized when eating vegetables and this is because they are not only packed with nutrients but also have fiber which aids in proper and regular digestion. However, you should try to include all types of vegetables into your meals so instead of just greens, try to eat a rainbow of vegetables.

Fruits are also a good substitute for sugary snacks. Instead of fruit juices, eat the fruit. The fruit is more nutritions, has no added sugar and it has fiber to help your digestion. Many fruits are also high in vitamin C that help the absorption of other nutrients into the body and strengthen the immune system.

4. Reduce Intake of Processed Foods

One way to ensure that you are getting the most nutrients from the food you eat is by getting them as close to the original source as possible. Processed foods have added chemicals and preservatives that may be harmful to your health in the long run. They also have their natural nutrients stripped from them. That’s why some processed foods are fortified with vitamins and minerals but they do not give you all the nutrients from the original source.

Processed foods have their day but consider them a treat instead of an everyday essential. As much as possible, get your vegetables and fruits in their original form so you also get to enjoy all the benefits.

5. Practice Portion Control

How do you make sure that you are eating everything that’s healthy for you in each of your meals? You can do this not just by watching and selecting what you eat but by controlling how much you eat.

Portion Controlled Plate | Source: SWEAT

Portion control ensures that you are eating the right amount of nutritious food to satisfy you and provide you the needed energy until your next meal. If you have weight goals, these portions can be adjusted.

These tips should help you on your way to gaining ideal nutrition needed by the body and enjoying better health. Don’t forget that you should also drink lots of water, engage in daily exercise and get enough sleep so your body can better process all the nutrients from the food you eat. Do it slowly. Doing baby steps on the improvement of your food intake everyday will lead to optimal nutrition in the future.

Feature Image: Original Photo by Ella Olsson from Pexels.