A Formula for a Perfect Morning Routine

Hey Growth Gang,

Welcome to the first edition of the newsletter! What better way to kick things off than the way we start our days? The Morning Routine ☀️

Over the past two years, I’ve been iterating on—some would say obsessing over—my morning routine. But I wasn’t always leaping out of bed at 4:00 ready to tackle my day.

So whether you’re if you’re still rolling out of bed groggy in the morning, or are already on your way to crafting the perfect morning routine, I hope you’re ready to dive into the building blocks of a kickass launchpad for success.

This is where it all starts. Complete this first step and you’ve already won. Seriously. Do not hit that snooze button.

Some people find hacks like putting your phone across the room or using a timed smart lightbulb to work well. But after trying pretty much everything in the book, I’ve come to realize that it really isn’t how you wake yourself up, but why.

If your goals aren’t enough to get you out of bed, make them bigger. If your dreams aren’t important enough for you to prioritize your sleep, find some new ones.

Obviously it’s easier said than done. But if you’ve committed to running a marathon this year or quitting your 9-5 and starting your own business, lying in bed mindlessly scrolling TikTok probably isn’t on the docket tonight—and neither is rolling out of bed after the 4th snooze.

Every morning I hit the bathroom, shotgun a can of liquid death then it’s shoes on & out the door. Okay..maybe not the liquid death part. I do slam a glass of water though. Although considering they’re literally a canned water company that went from 0 to a 700 million dollar valuation in 5 years, maybe I should add that into the routine to harness some of that big VC bucks energy.

Anyways—walks have become an integral part of my morning routine, and it’s truly become my favorite part of the day. I could try reference studies and break down all the benefits of this is scientifically, but the bottom line is that there’s something about being out and about in those early waking hours that primes your mind and body for a fantastic day.

It doesn’t have to be long—usually mine are just 15 or 20 minutes.

After my walk, I make sure to get loosened up before I’m sitting or standing at my desk all day. Stretching not only provides some awesome physical benefits, but it’s actually been shown to boost our mood by changing the levels of serotonin and other happiness-inducing neurotransmitters. Free happiness!

If you want to take this up a notch, developing a yoga routine is fantastic (this is next on my list.. join me!).

Bonus points: Get some sunlight.

Science shows that getting sunlight in the morning jumpstarts your body by clearing out adenosine (the “sleepy molecule”). In other words, it fast forwards our circadian clock so that we’re less groggy.

+1 for morning walks.

If you’re awake at crackhead hours like me though, you’ll be up before the sun is. The good news is that artificial light is almost as effective. Just make sure it’s bright enough & using the proper wavelengths (there are some solid cheap options out there).

I used to always skip breakfast. But a year and a half ago I made it a point to start being consistent with it and it’s honestly transformed my metabolism and daily energy.

The best part: I literally eat the same thing for breakfast every day. Sound crazy? Maybe. But it’s delicious and I haven’t gotten sick of it after eating it for a year and a half straight.

My daily breakfast shake:

Feel free to copy this (it’s ridiculously delicious and packed with protein, fiber, and micronutrients). But I also encourage you to experiment and constantly iterate on this—that’s part of the fun, after all.

The important takeaway is that a healthy breakfast doesn’t have to be extravagant or time consuming (it takes me less than 2 minutes to make this).

Delicious & nutritious with zero decision fatigue. Hard to beat that.

Okay, cool. You’ve set yourself up for success. Your biological gears are spinning. You’ve fueled yourself with some quality nutrition. Now let’s get the brain prepped for an awesome day.

Create a moment of peace. Stretch out your mind just like your body. Release all the tension you have jumbled up as thoughts in the back of your mind.

Everyone’s brain is so different. Because of this, I think this is the hardest part of a morning routine to get down.

The goal here is to prime your brain for a productive day by first creating space in your mind, and then getting those neurons firing creatively. For me, I’ve found a mix of quieting the mind through various means followed by some journaling to be super effective.

Mindfulness practice

You’re probably sick of hearing about mindfulness practice, mindfulness meditation, or whatever hipster organic variety they just came out with.

So I’ll try not to shove it down your throat. What I will say though is that you really just have to experiment until you find a ritual that gets you into a mindful state. For me, this is a freezing cold shower and a simple 5 minutes of sitting still, closing my eyes, and creating mental space by watching my thoughts drift by.

While I don’t think mindfulness meditation is going to solve all your problems, cure your anxiety, or boost your productivity by 80%, I think it’s a great tool that can set the tone for a positive day and help you be more mindful in general.

Writing

I’m a massive proponent of writing. Journaling, creative writing, whatever—practice it however you like. The important part here is that you pick up the pen and physically write thoughts down.

Being a startup founder means I’m constantly having to choose which fires to fight (there’s always too many), and so there’s always this looming feeling of clutteredness & chaos. Writing helps me create space in my mind and keep a firm grasp on everything from my work priorities to my sense of purpose.

It’s this beautiful anchor that brings you a sense of clarity and can do wonders for your focus. Something about materializing your thoughts into physical words just makes the important stuff so clear.

I challenge you to pick up the pen every day and just…write. Even if it’s two or three sentences. A tiny amount of time and effort here goes a long way.

Find your why and your goals will wake you up with a sense of purpose.

Get moving. Go for a walk. Stretch. Do some yoga.

Find a delicious healthy breakfast you can eat every day.

Quiet your mind to make space for focus and creativity.

If you build a morning routine around these things, I can guarantee you’ll start feeling more energetic, your capacity for productive work will increase, and you’ll start finding more joy in your day to day.

If you made it this far, I hope you got some value! I have so so much planned and can’t wait to keep growing with you all.

Cheers to a productive week 🪴📈

Jake