Nine out of 10 people I talk to don’t know what they want from life. They just let it happen without questioning it too much, often taking the path of least resistance. I was one of them. I didn’t know where I was going in life; I had vague goals, a poor work ethic and no clear vision. But then, I completely transformed my life by engineering a simple yet profound morning routine. Do you know what you want from your life?

The daily routine I will share in this article can be easily replicated and adjusted to take your life to the next level. Read on!

1. The importance of “me” time

I always wanted to read more, spend time learning things that mattered to me and simply have time where no one can tell me what to do and I can just focus on getting lost improving myself. It’s important to set a specific time for yourself. Whether you want to do yoga, stretch, read, paint, write, anything. You must block time where you have little to no distractions and can spend time on yourself guilt free. My decision was clear when I started writing my first book. My day would become so busy that I wouldn’t have the time nor the energy to sit down and write. I decided to wake up one hour earlier and write. Nothing more, nothing less. Some days I would write two sentences, other days I would easily get to 1,000 words. For the last two years I have dedicated three hours, from 5am to 8am to “me” time and I have grown enormously.

Man sitting on the edge of a canyon while enjoying the view
Your focus is at its best in the mornings

2. Prepare the night before

A successful morning starts the night before. Throughout the years I experimented with many things including reading before bed, drinking tea, taking a walk, showering, writing, meditating and fasting. What I found out is it doesn’t matter what you are doing the night before as long as you set clear intentions for the next day, acknowledge the present day and express gratitude in what happened. Reflect on your day by remembering what went well and what went wrong.

Action: Decide on your sleep schedule and commit. You may need to inform your family or partner about your new sleeping patterns.

3. Consistency beats ability

Showing up daily and performing consistently might not be sexy and won’t bring overnight results but it will definitely make you better. Here’s an article by James Clear on marginal gains that proves that improving just 1% every day will have a significant impact on your life in 365 days. Whether it’s fitness, finances, creativity or relationships, show up daily and improve just 1% to grow.

Action: Decide on what you want to improve this year and write it down. Every morning spend time practicing.

4. Develop your grand life vision

As I mentioned at the very beginning of this article, most people don’t know what they want from life. Vague goals like building a house, buying a car, marrying and having a good job are not really goals. It’s the way people live, these are more like needs. I was focused on needs as well until I started thinking what is really important to me.

To help you develop your grand life vision, ask yourself the following questions.

  • What do I want to be remembered for?
  • What gives me enormous satisfaction?
  • How can I leave this world a better place?

For some people it’s music, for others it’s art. For me, it’s about mastering myself, learning new things and experimenting in life.

Action: Come up with a grand vision for your life. Remind yourself every morning why you woke up and why it matters. Visualize yourself getting closer to your goal.

View from up above on a desk. One can see a macbook, a cup of coffee, a smartphone and somebody's hands writing in a planner.
Keep your goals focused and details of them to hand.

5. Block distractions

In the morning your focus and energy is at its best. It’s when your mind is sharpest and capable of tackling hard tasks. But no matter how focused or trained you are, ignoring distractions takes its toll and eventually you will lose and give in. I’m talking about TV, notifications, messages and the Internet.

Find a place or better design a place where there are as few potential distractions as possible. Leave your laptop, smartphone and TV remote in another room. Close the doors and windows so no sounds can distract you. What I noticed is that the Internet can be a huge distraction for me, especially checking social media first thing in the morning. Now, I have my morning alarm on my wrist and I don’t need my phone near my bed. When I get up, I can’t just open my iPhone and start checking everything that happened in the world because it’s hard to reach. The list prepared the day before keeps me focused and I dive right into my morning routine.

Action: Think about what distracts you the most in the morning and come up with ways to eliminate these distractions. This will not be easy and will take a week or two to figure out how you can beat the distractions.

6. Read/listen/watch something uplifting

What works for me is to keep my schedule consistent and read every day for at least 30 minutes. It allows me to focus and forget myself while learning and gaining inspiration. Other times, when I travel early in the morning, I like to listen to podcasts about the things that matter to me. Whether it’s health, productivity, lifestyle design or business, I get inspired and pumped up hearing experts talk about these topics. Lastly, watching uplifting videos can fill you with positive energy in no time.

Back in 2015, I took an intense five-week training program for a half-marathon and had hard mornings when my legs and feet were sore, it was raining outside and I wouldn’t get excited about running 18 kilometers. Then, I would watch a motivational video on YouTube and become motivated in no time. My favorites are videos about great athletes like Lionel Messi, Novak Djokovic and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Action: Make a motivational playlist on YouTube and watch it every morning for inspiration.

7. Meditate/journal/stretch

Once you block physical and digital distractions the real challenge begins. Our minds are designed to seek dangers for survival and our monkey mind doesn’t like the present moment. That’s why it’s hard to block mental distractions. Thoughts about the past and the future make us worry. Worries become anxiety and we can no longer relax, no matter how relaxing the environment is. For that reason, I started doing mental fitness.

Three years ago I discovered meditation. I was a skeptic and had to try it many times to feel the benefits of slowing down and observing my mind. It’s not only beneficial for your mind but it has a lot of health benefits. Regular meditation practice is proven to reduce blood pressure and lower cortisol, the stress hormone levels, which in turn helps to increase focus and make you happier.

Other exercises to sharpen your mind I recommend are journaling and expressing gratitude. It will force you to observe what is going on in your head and will allow you to understand yourself better.

Finally, stretching and doing yoga can enormously improve your health while sharpening your mind through mindful breathing exercises. The key here is not to overdo it. If your “me” time allows you just one hour every morning, spend five to ten minutes sharpening your mind.

Action: Decide how you will sharpen your mind and prepare the night before. Whether it’s a timer for meditation, a notebook and pen for journaling or a yoga mat for stretching.

8. Step out of your exercise comfort zone

Man running and jumping from rock to rock at a beach. In the background one can see huge palm trees.
Wherever you are in the world find a way to make your body stronger.

Finally, every morning I challenge myself through exercise. While traveling I don’t always have the luxury of hitting the gym and do a short HIIT session or use a fitness app. Exercise is extremely important as it contributes to my discipline, confidence and performance. If I show up daily and push myself to become a better person, I can demand from my body to perform at a higher level and make me more productive, focused and healthier. I know not everyone is lucky enough to be able to hit the gym every day but there are tons of other possibilities. Go for a run, do bodyweight exercises, challenge yourself with the HIIT session. Don’t just pity yourself and give in to an excuse that there is nothing you can do to make your body stronger. Getting into mental and physical shape requires a consistent healthy daily routine.

I noticed that exercise has become one of my keystone habits that push me out of my comfort zone every single day, building up stronger will and self-discipline.

Action: Decide how you will push yourself out of your comfort zone. Make it easy to start. Find a suitable training program, prepare your clothes the night before and find an accountability partner.

Do you have a morning routine that fires you up and makes you a better person day after day? Share your plans or tips in the comments below.

59 COMMENTS & EXTERNAL REFERRALS

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by Tomas Laurinavicius 31.08.2017
Thank you for having me!
Reply
Nina Weihrauch
Nina Weihrauch | Editor Tomas Laurinavicius 04.09.2017
We're so proud to have you in our GamePlan A huddle, Tomas!

I'm already looking forward to your next story on our hub.

Best regards,

Nina
Reply
by Katy Tomas Laurinavicius 09.05.2018
Thank you Tomas, you are quite insparational.

Finding time around work and the routine of life is hard but I'm going to give it a darn good go x
Reply
by Nick Tomas Laurinavicius 21.01.2021
Hey. Im 13 and looking to lose weight and get a better structure mentally. Im going to 100% start reading daily and attempt the 1% every day thing. Thanks for your plane. Now lets put it to action!
Reply
by Lisa Hall 31.08.2017
Loved these tips! I'm going to implement them today!
Reply
by Tomas Laurinavicius Lisa Hall 04.09.2017
Awesome Lisa! Please update me how it goes.
Reply
by Yuri B 01.09.2017
Thank you for sharing your gameplan 🙏
Reply
by Tomas Laurinavicius Yuri B 04.09.2017
Absolutely Yuri! Never got to know about your morning rituals. What are they?
Reply
by Mahesh Mane 02.09.2017
It's great thanks for sharing with us definitely i will Star today itself
Reply
Nina Weihrauch
Nina Weihrauch | Editor Mahesh Mane 04.09.2017
Hi Mahesh,

thanks for your comment. Did you have a fresh start this morning?
I'd love to know about your progress in implementing a new morning routine in your daily life.

Keep me posted!

Best regards,

Nina
Reply
by Gennaro 11.09.2017
I'm listening.
Reply
by Joel 12.09.2017
It has been a struggle for me to keep the Morning Routine that i like to do for years, but recently i decided to discipline my self by 1st Sleeping Earlier and staying away from TV and Internet before i sleep. Now it's been weeks now that i do a morning Run every other day and when its not time to run i do core strengthening which includes stretching, then play basketball every Friday and Biking in mornings of Saturday. These keep me active the whole day and but the night before i sleep is the Me time, reflecting about myself, family, community service and my careeer...i then completely agree that the success of the day is the night before....hope i can keep this up😉
Reply
by Tomas Joel 12.09.2017
Hi Joel, thank you for sharing your story and congrats on your achievements!
Reply
by M Joel 27.02.2018
I actually want to implement the same routine before going to bed , but reflecting about the day and current status of things in my life really calls all to-dos and troubles in my mind and I can't sleep thereafter. Any tips how I can make peace with my mind to find sleep after reflecting about the day?
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by Andres 18.10.2017
Excelent!!
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by Tomas Andres 18.10.2017
Thank you Andres! What are your morning non-negotiables?
Reply
by LaVerne Green Cunningham 27.10.2017
WOW What a life changer
Reply
by Tomas LaVerne Green Cunningham 27.10.2017
I'm glad you found it useful! Let me know how it goes designing your perfect morning.
Reply
by Rebecca Hurlbutt 30.10.2017
Amazing information.
Reply
by Tomas Rebecca Hurlbutt 30.10.2017
Thank you Rebecca! What did you like the most?
Reply
by Christian S 08.11.2017
Great one! Most of the people already know a few of the mentioned points.
But its so good to read them from time to time again!

Very inspiring! Thank you for the motivation boost.

Best regards

Christian
Reply
Nina Weihrauch
Nina Weihrauch | Editor Christian S 14.11.2017
Hi Christian,

thanks for your comment.
Small reminders are great to check oneself if one is still on track. I do that from time to time, too and it really helps.

Keep being a playmaker and best regards,

Nina
Reply
by adhy 09.11.2017
inspiring me!!!!

Thanks
Reply
by Beatrix Piddington 16.03.2018
Hi there,
I found this very interresting to read and would also like to focus more on me...This simple exercises are good and I want to try them out ..Thank you:)
Reply
by Rita Merricks 21.03.2018
Inspirational tips for turning intention into Action
Reply
by Dominique 30.04.2018
My former partner used to implement all of this sort of thing. He owned many books of a similar vain. There is nothing new here. The bottom line is for many people with mental health issues is that for the most part there is not a “trigger” they can just wake up with their mind messed up and no amount of therapy will sort it, tablets helped until it ran its course.
Reply
by Michael 01.05.2018
Good advice. Thanks.
Reply
by Don Mackenzie 25.05.2018
Any more tips on lifestyle mindset would be required thank you
Reply
Nina Weihrauch
Nina Weihrauch | Editor Don Mackenzie 11.06.2018
Hi Don,

Can you tell me what you would like to learn more about in regards to lifestyle mindset?
I'd love to share some great GamePlan A stories with you that suits your interests.

Best,
Nina
Reply
by Richard Solomon 17.06.2018
And another thing, always try to do something for somebody else. Preferably something kind and helpful. Make this one of your daily goals. It works wonders.
Reply
by Gary Barrett 14.07.2018
I am a very lucky man, I am the richest man I know, not with money but with life health & family, I have zero stress no worries a beautiful wife, two great kids and two grandkids that we idolise. My work day starts at 10am and finishes at 4, so I avoid the hassle of traffic and only have to travel 5 miles each way. The house is paid for and we have a nice nest egg in the bank, so live could not get any better, I thought, till I read your article, I look back over my life and realised that somehow I have muddled my way to my position in life, I have set up my business with my wife, without a clue how to run a business and still don’t know how to run it, but it’s now been going for 15 years, if you ask me how much I earn I wouldn’t have a clue, I would say enough, if we need something we just get it, if we want to travel we just shut up shop and go.
But what all this leads to when everything just seams to fall into place is you become lazy I have no focus I have no goals, don’t get me wrong I love my life and I know just how lucky I am, but thanks to you I will now get a routine in place, I have hours to spare each and every morning, I do go to the gym in the mornings but it’s hit and miss, I am in good ish shape for 51 but as you say 1% improvement a day makes sense that in a years time you’ll be where you want to be. The key is consistency. I will plan my day the night before and get things ready and go to be at a set time, so I can get up and go with no distractions, this will be a start for me, then I can build on other things in my life, thank you for this kick up the backside, it’s now down to me to get this started and to see it through,
Regards Gary
Reply
Nina Weihrauch
Nina Weihrauch | Editor Gary Barrett 16.07.2018
Hi Gary,
thanks for sharing your story with us.
First of all, congrats to your family and work life. As you said, it's important to be thankful and humble.
I got goosebumps when you said that Tomas' article was an eye opener to change something although your business and private life is in good shape. It's never to late to invest into growth and change your mindset for the better. I feel that here on GamePlan A, you will find people who help you along the way. I'd recommend you to check out the article from Marcus. He's an adventure athlete at gave a speech on goal-setting: https://www.gameplan-a.com/2017/11/race-race-and-race-again-video/. His insights are a great complementary to Tomas' tips.
Keep us posted and ask if you need a motivation booster in between the process of revamping your routines and habits. Follow us on Twitter @GamePlan_A and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date.

All the best,

Nina
Reply
by Chuck usborne 23.07.2018
Great ideas for getting what you want out of life
Reply
by Bella 01.08.2018
hi I'm Bella I think it's a great plan you put together for me the 1st thing I do is meditate on gods name as I'm Asian and we believe if we thank god for all our blessings in life as soon as we wake up for 1 hour or at least 30 min our whole day will be good . Many thanks and blessings for this plan. 🙏 😇
Reply
by Thao Nguyen 05.09.2018
So inspired! Thank you for sharing this!
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by Simon Pepper 25.04.2019
Great
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by Lindsay Richards 23.05.2019
I enjoy being outside in nature and going to the beach or walking near the river I enjoy meditation I coach dancing I tend to get tired in afternoon and more alert in the morning I will do my plan of action and start a schedule of early morning routines
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by David Ingham 24.07.2019
Thank you, it’s always good to get inspired to be better, have more disapline and commitment. I have just embarked on a new adventure and your article has inspired me, thank you.

David Ingham
Reply
by Mhaveer Gurjar 31.07.2019
Very nice information guidelines
Reply
by Shahnaz Idrees 22.09.2019
Fist thing before sunrise at least one hour prior wash and pray to Allah SWT then recite Koran then pray to Allah SWT. Then you plan your day. This is a routine you fool everyday. Then all that you do in the day wi
Reply
by Clive Davies 12.10.2019
Excellent plan for success! I know because I use similar methods. Great to be in touch with you.
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by Brian lee 03.11.2019
Wow this has given me more inspiration to wake up every morning to feel more positive about the day ahead .
Although I do try to exercise every morning because I know the benefits it brings for me first thing in the morning ,but the other ideas about finding time for yourself is great. I am studying at the moment and stuff during my day sometimes make this a bit tight on time ....but after reading this by Thomas Laurinavicias I will re adapt.
Reply
Nina Weihrauch
Nina Weihrauch | Editor Brian lee 29.11.2019
Hi Brian,
thanks for your comment.
I'm also trying to find my perfect morning routine and often I feel that I just found the best rhythm, I start struggling with it again. It's all about building habits, which is a tricky exercise.
How do you set yourself up for success. Here's how I succeeded for some months: https://www.gameplan-a.com/2018/10/creating-new-habits-like-an-athlete/

Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Best,
Nina
Reply
by Nicoletta Fiorucci 09.12.2019
Very inspiring text
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by Grace 04.01.2020
I just happened across this whilst checking the news & it feels like a wake up call to return to good habits that I'd largely abandoned. Although in my 70's I still see all the content I've just happened across, lying in, before getting going with the day. Thank you.
Reply
by jiujitsu-news 24.04.2020
thanks for this rich and inspirational content. it inspires me a lot.
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by manish sharma 06.07.2020
Thank you Tomas, for sharing this simple and perfect daily routine. I am sure that this morning routine gives you great energy and happiness all day. This is really inspirational to me.
Reply
by Pallab 25.10.2020
It was a great article! Thanks to the writer!
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by Bani Parmar 17.11.2020
From Healthyfime App. I have an exercise routine that is gentle yet intense and has greatly helped sort out my back issues. It does make me feel energetic and not sluggish throughout the day. I like journaling too, if you don't have a friend to talk to journaling is a good way to write down your thoughts and reflect. Also, I love listening to uplifting guidance videos, music on youtube and when Jay Shetty's meditation days come I like to make time for meditation. Thank you for these tips in the post as it gives one motivation to try a step further. Thank you for inspiring.
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by morenewsformen 09.02.2021
Thank you for goodness through your post .i love this blog especially the way you provide the information .i bookmark this site for further reading and to adapt it in daily routine .again thanks alot
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by KUMAR SHREYANSH 27.02.2021
WELL HEY THERE!!! GREAT BLOG POST. I WANT TO ADD SOME POINTS. FIRSTLY, WHEN I GET UP, I SHOW MY GRATITUDE TOWARDS EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING WELL IN MY LIFE, THEN IN THE FIRST THREE HOURS OF THE DAY( IN MY CASE, FROM 5AM TO 8AM, I READ SELF-HELP BOOKS, MEDITATE, PRACTICE PUBLIC SPEAKING, JOURNAL, LISTEN TO MOTIVATIONAL PODCASTS, FOLLOW A STRICT(FAT-LOSS) DIET, AND FINALLY END MORNING ROUTINE WITH A GREAT SHOWER AND SELF-CARE. THIS IS HOW I ENJOY MY MORNINGS EVERYDAY!!! THANKS FOR GIVING ME A SPACE TO EXPRESS MYSELF!!!
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by Usha 02.05.2021
Wow, that's some handful of information. One can literally benefit from this.
Reply
by arthskinfit 02.07.2021
Now people understand about fitness which is very important.
Reply
by Jon Snow 02.08.2021
Hello, this article is very helpful.
Thanks for sharing
Reply
by James William 12.05.2023
I read Your article so very well because your writing article is always very good. I love searching for an article like this so I search for one website that has the best article. please visit this site.
Reply

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