What Successful People Do In The Morning

You Are The Company You Keep

All the people featured in this article are a success. They are business owners, C-Level Executives, famed authors and community leaders. Their hard work is backed-up by credentials and accolades from their colleagues and business community.

All the participants found the questions to be a fun diversion from their regular activities and they all thanked me for making them think more about what’s important to them.

We all have rituals. The first and most important ritual of the day is morning. For most of us, our morning routine consists of waking-up, getting out of bed, brushing our teeth, getting dressed and dashing off to work.

And then there’s the boss, a business owner or professional that’s achieved success.

These people have complex and demanding lives during the day. But, morning seems to be the common equalizer.

Being curious about these high achievers, I asked myself:

◗ What do they do in the morning that differs from mine?

◗ Are there tips & tricks that I can learn that might help me achieve a success oriented routine?

So, I set out to ask them:

“What do successful people do in the morning?”

I composed strategic questions to get to know more about their morning routine and a few other fun design related questions. And, the answers I got back were not what I expected. One person, lead to the next person and the next. To date I’ve interviewed 11 people and have appointments to interview several more. Each one of them - fascinating.

Is There A Morning Success Formula?

Short answer.... NO.

Is there something that we can learn from them and adapt to our own routines?

Short answer ... YES.

So here’s what October’s graduating class had to say about their morning ritual:

Have A Partner? They’re On Their Own – Unless They Have Kids

When you’re single and living alone, you’re time is your own and you don’t need to consider anyone else. Eight of our 11 participants have a partner. In most cases (I won’t reveal any secrets) they don’t really consider their partner’s routine. They leave them to their own devises and they just carry on with their day.

However, if you have kids that need to be dressed, fed and driven to school, it helps to have an awesome partner. As Paulina Georgiou says: “I couldn’t accomplish what I’ve done if I didn’t have the support of my husband. He’s my partner in crime.”

The Early, Early, Early Bird - Starts At 4:30 a.m.! Other Early Birds Sleep-In ‘till 5:00.

Six out of 11 live a whole day before starting work.

Kent Ford, a landscape architect and owner of his own firm, follows the rhythm of his body. In the spring and summer he rises with the sun. He takes the dog out for a long walk in his choice of the Rosedale Ravine, Chorely Park or the Brickworks. He then eats his breakfast while sitting peacefully viewing his award winning garden in his Governors Road home. His mornings are intense while his mind strategizes his activities for the day.

Danielle Feidler, SVP Brand Management for Tridel, wakes up at 5am. Her husband is in construction, so she might as well get up to and take the dogs for a walk.

Peter Trevor Wilson, diversity expert and author, starts his day with a disciplined spiritual practice made-up of prayer, meditation and journaling. If this discipline is interrupted, the ‘gremlins’ start to go to work. He also goes for long walks from time to time. Peter Trevor starts his work day at 10 a.m.

Diane Craig, Owner of Corporate Class Inc., spends half-hour journaling and reads the bible. Afterwards varies her routine with exercises, yoga, meeting with her trainer or goes for long walks. She takes an hour or so for showering, make-up and eating breakfast. She’s at her desk by 9 a.m.

Keith Williams, nicknamed “Peddle Hard”, is a serious cyclist that rides for 3 hours a day. He prepares his gear the night before. After he wakes up, has a bio break and literally runs out the door. Preparation is key to having an effective run. Afterwards, he showers, dresses and eats his breakfast standing-up, because at this point his tush needs a rest. He has a short drive to his custom jewelery manufacturing business and is at his desk by 9:30am.

Alex Christopoulos, CFO ICON Digital Productions, naturally wakes-up at 5am. He’ll drink a large glass of water while sitting in his cumfy lounge chair overlooking the ravine. He then reviews flagged e-mails and composes his response, prepares for meetings, checks-in with staff and clients all over North America. At 6am he wakes-up his 3 sons so that he can have half hour of uninterrupted play time with them. Afterwards, he wakes his wife and then she takes over, feeding the boys and getting them ready for school. In the meantime Alex gets ready for the day. He always eats breakfast with the kids. He grabs his coffee, then drives the kids to school. This gives him 45 minutes of talk time with the boys – he’s in ‘father mode’. Alex loves being a dad. After he drops off the kids and for the next 20 minutes, he focuses on the day ahead and thinks about what he has to do.

Whew!

And for those four out of 11 that don’t get up super early in the morning, meditation plays a big part of their morning too.

Coffee Is The Fuel Of Choice – Except for Kent

Each and everyone of them starts their morning with caffeine – usually before breakfast and before a workout.

Caffeine seems to be the spark to spur them onwards – before dressing, before anything else happens.

Everyone checks e-mails and texts within 1hour after waking - Except for Keith – he’s out cycling.

If you’re the boss – you kinda’ have to.

Since they’re the boss, and since business is done all over the world in different time zones, checking e-mails is mandatory. There may be emergencies and time sensitive information that need to be managed.

Psychologist’s advice be damned.

Want Morning Exercise - Get A Dog

Walking the dog seems to be one way to ensure you get some exercise. This gives our five out of 11 dog owners the alone time that they crave.

Danielle sums it best, “It gets me right with the day.”

Multi-Tasking In The Morning – Seems To Get Them Up & Running

For a small group, Freda, Alvin and Danielle, performing morning chores, cleaning-up and organizing things is a definite part of their routine. Doing whatever it takes to makes sure that the house is tidy. This helps them to create their mindset for the day.

For Freda, “A clean home is a clean mind. I like to come home to a nice, clean and tidy house which helps me decompress at the end of the day. My home is a work free zone.”

Dr. Alvin Curling, an educator and politician, is officially ‘retired’ but not according to his hectic daily schedule and speaking engagements. Tidying up along the way prior to eating breakfast and before siting down at his desk, helps him to get into work mode.

CORONA-19 – A TWIST TO EVERYONE’S MORNING RITUAL

It takes strategizing with allot of trial and error to come-up with an effective morning routine. One that utilizes every second, creating a dance of activities before you get-out-the-door-to-go-to-work.

How Are They Adapting During Lock Down? Working From Home - With No Freedom In Sight?

Everyone is off balance but adapting.

Some have a modified their routine and others have modified work schedules, alternating from home and office. They all miss the structure that the routine of ‘getting up and going to work’, gave them. Also, they miss the‘ buzz’ and the energy of people working together.

Planning a new structure that keeps you up and motivated, is challenging since all other micro habits have been impacted too. Activities such as attending a morning coffee with colleagues or buying breakfast to eat at work, were all a part of their morning ritual.

It’s a family affair.

Freda and Demos Iordanous are the founders of Freda’s Originals. They’ve passed down their business to their two daughters, Paulina and Elaine. Paulina, now manages the company.

The family still travels to their manufacturing and retail shop on a daily basis. As small business owners they feel a very deep sense of responsibility to keep the business running smoothly despite the challenges with staff not choosing to come to work.

Since Freda and her family don’t go out to lunch anymore, she prepares their lunches the in the morning. Freda enjoys cooking and seeing that her family is taken care of. Her morning walk in the garden and looking over the ravine, is extra special since they can’t go on vacation down south or back to Greece. Covid has impacted her semi-retirement and she still needs to work long hours.

Sales and Covid

When, one of the primary focus of your business is sales, like Martin Hutnick, owner of 33 Eleven, a wealth creation boutique, or Ken Campbell, who’s in real-estate, you usually structure your mornings around a business breakfast or morning sales meetings. This creates a momentum and an easy to follow schedule of activities.

Martin who’s not used to working from home, finds sales calls a bit challenging. Getting up, dressed and eating breakfast doesn’t have the same energy as before.

Ken, is used to working from home, alone. However, his partner now works from home and they’ve created separate work habits and go their separate ways to different rooms.

Do You Miss Your Morning Commute?

Answers vary widely.

Five out of our 11 participants still go to the office on a regular basis. Since they are the owners and leaders of their business, there’s only one choice – going to the office. On the positive side, their commute has been cut short by ½ hour or more.

Others work alternatively from home and the office. Interestingly, those with long drives miss the ‘alone’ ‘me’ time that commuting gave them. Some have reclaimed this time by extending their morning walk with the dogs.

I’ll need to circle back in a few months to see how they’re doing.

What About Those Questions Unrelated To Their Morning Routine?

I asked a few questions to learn a little bit about them, to hear their views on the word ‘design’ and a few other items that may be important to them. This helped me to understand the person behind the success.

There are other interesting insights into ‘What Successful People Think’. Stay tuned for the next article. I think we’ve all done enough reading for now.

I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting these wonderful people who I can now call close acquaintances. Once you’ve shared the intimate goings on of your morning routine, it does create a certain level of trust and intimacy.

Dolores Pian is a Master Interior Designer who crafts luxury residences, penthouses and purse parking. Successful people seek her expertise to Design Reclaiming Time ©

Because time is their truest luxury.

Drop her an e-mail to say hello and let her know what you thought of this blog post.

Dolores Pian’s blog posts are meant to inform and entertain. Please consult Dolores Pian directly if you need any specific information for your specific spaces.