Every leader I work with has a routine (conscious or unconscious), and the results that they get are directly related to the habits that they have established.
I want to share a few things that have worked for me, with the hopes that if you make even one change in your existing routine, it can have a massive impact on your results.
It All Starts with Your Physiology
If you are running around in a panic, you are not going to create good results.
So the question I like to start with is—who do you want to be?
When they get past the goals, financial, business, and otherwise, most people I talk to say things like—
— I want to be a person who sets and achieves goals with ease.
— I want to be more calm and present.
— I want to make better decisions.
— I want to have better relationships.
— I want to be more creative and engaged in the work that I am doing.
— I want to live a life of minimal regret.
All of these start with your physiology.
You can’t do any of these when you are consistently in fight or flight. So having a routine that minimizes the time you are in that state will pay exponential benefits.
It Must be Doable
I work with a lot of overachieving leaders. And when the topic of a morning routine or habits comes up, they often try to design the perfect routine—I’m going to meditate an hour a day, I’m going to do yoga, go to the gym, train for an ultra, etc., etc.
And like the New Year’s resolution that lasts two weeks, this approach fails over and over.
Start Small and Build
I once asked a leader to set aside one minute a day to breathe deeply. Because we had done that in a session and he had felt the impact in just that one minute.
If you get success with small things, it will reinforce itself and you will take on more. A virtuous cycle that will pay increasing dividends over time.
A Sustainable Routine that Works for Me
Here are the things that I have been able to implement and sustain over time. And a couple things that I am trying to get better at incorporating.
Meditation
I used to meditate an hour a day. For years. But it stopped working for my schedule once I started my own business. I went months without meditating at all and I noticed my reactivity was increasing in its absence.
In the past few months I started a new habit. After I make my coffee, I meditate for five minutes. That’s it. And my focus is on belly breathing, the 4×4 exercise (four seconds inhale into the belly, exhaling out my stress and thoughts, repeated four or more times) that I recently wrote about. It clears my head for whatever is coming in my day.
Journaling
After I meditate, I pull out my notebook and write for three pages, an exercise called “Artist’s Pages” first written about by Julia Cameron. But I ask specific questions—What is being called to be created by me today? What is it that my higher self wants me to know about myself today? Who do I want to create myself as today?
Once the ink starts flowing (I highly recommend that you physically write rather than keyboard), something opens up and I almost always see something about myself or the world that I did not see before. And that reinforces my understanding that each of us is literally creating ourselves fresh and new in each and every moment. There are limitless possibilities, if only we get in the habit if seeing them!
Exercise
My wife routinely goes on ten mile hikes. I confess I am much more utilitarian in my exercise, focusing on what is the minimum dose of what I need to feel the way I want to feel.
For me, that means resistance training and aerobic training. I am trying to incorporate more work around flexibility, such as through yoga, as well, but it is not as established as I would like it to be.
For resistance training, it means a simple weight working on machines and with dumbbells, exercises done to failure. I often incorporate what are called “drop sets,” which means you do a set to failure, drop the weight significantly, then do another few reps to failure again. it is intense but it works. I feel great after a workout. I can get though my weight workout in about 20 minutes and I do it twice a week.
For aerobic training it depends on time of year. I try to have it be outside—a run with the dog for 30 minutes to an hour, or cross country skiing, or carrying a weighted backpack uphill. I try to do sprints or short intervals (100, 200, or 400 meters) once a week or so for variety. Sometimes I end up doing those intervals in a treadmill but it is not my preferred approach. I do two aerobic workouts a week.
Time Outside
There is lot of research pointing to the fact that time outside helps us with both stress and creativity.
I walk outside with the dog two or three times a week for about an hour (I share dog duty with my wife—the dog gets out every day!). It can be difficult to get out sometimes, especially in the middle of the day, but I’ve found it’s a good time to listen a podcast or make phone calls, so it can serve double duty if needed. I also find that a hour walk while doing absolutely nothing else can be incredibly energizing and head clearing when I feel like there is just too much going on.
Having A Hobby
My newest addition to this routine is playing the saxophone. I first picked up a saxophone on April 6, 2023 (I sang growing up but have never played an instrument) and it has become the part of the day that I consistently look forward to the most. What I love most about it is the fact that I have to be present to have any chance of doing it well. If I have anything else on my mind, the horn lets me know, immediately.
Building YOUR Routine
Those are the elements of my current routine, and they have been cultivated over a period of years. They also change from time to time based on what else is going on in my life.
But every ingredient brings me some combination of joy and building my capacity to be calm and present with whatever else is going on in your life.
What are the elements of your routine? I’d love to hear what works best for you.