The 10.10.10 Morning Routine
How we start, each day is paramount to how successful we will before the day is over. You don't just roll out of bed late, eat some leftover cold pizza and end up curing cancer that day. Accomplishing your goals and performing to full potential requires intention. In studying entrepreneurs, world leaders, and enlightened beings, they all have something in common. The most successful people practice consistent rituals that they perform optimally while focusing on the essential tasks. Benjamin Franklin started each day by asking himself the same question "What good will I do this day?" What I have found the best way to set myself up to be as creative and productive as possible is the 10.10.10 morning routine. Ten minutes of meditation followed by ten minutes of reading then ten minutes of journaling.
Ten minutes of meditation is enough to find focus and center your mind before getting lost in the hecticness of everyday life. When someone tells me they don't have time to meditate for ten minutes my response is that they need to meditate for 20 minutes. If you look at the most common practice of high performing individuals, it is consistently a mindfulness practice. Now anyone can access quality guided meditation with apps like Calm and Headspace, or if you are interested in pursuing a higher method, I would recommend Transcendental Meditation. It's not the type of meditation that matters but the practice when you start your day. Meditating will calm your mind before the second ten minutes of reading.
Immediately after mediation pick up a book and read for the next ten minutes. I would recommend reading something for personal or spiritual growth. It should be some type of learning vs. fiction. Your mind is centered now, ready to ingest knowledge so don't waste it on reading for fun (that is an essential part of winding down vs. ramping up your mind). Some suggested reading for this practice
Business
The Rockefeller Habits
Scaling Up
Traction
Great by Choice
Personal Growth
The Four Agreements
How to Win Friends and Influence People
The Obstacle is the Way
Spiritual
The Untethered Soul
The Power of Now
The Book of Joy
Close your practice with ten minutes of journaling. Your mind has been focused then feed information to fuel creativity, problem-solving, and innovation. The final step is taking a few moments to capture your thoughts in a journal. It can be sketches or flow of consciousness, but it's paramount to write it down. The act of putting thoughts on paper does more than capture your ideas. Physically writing will help inspire new ideas while reinforcing them in your memory.
Now it's a matter of having the discipline to develop this habit. You have the burden of knowledge. If you practice the 10.10.10 morning, it will improve your daily performance while dramatically impacting long-term results. But knowledge doesn't equal results; the consistent effort will produce the outcomes you desire. Do this for 30 days, and the habit will be in place. If you're thinking that you don't have enough time in the morning that is easily solved by merely waking up half an hour earlier, I challenge you to find an accountability partner to do this with to get over the first month.