The #1 Secret to Succeeding at your Morning Routine

Having successfully implemented my own morning routine and helped hundreds of others do the same, I wanted to share the one thing I’ve done to greatly increase the chances of me following through with my morning ritual the next day.

It doesn’t involve going to sleep at 6 PM…

Or waking up at 4 AM and sacrificing quality Zzz’s.

In fact, my biggest ‘secret’ to successfully building a morning routine starts the night before.

By getting your mind ready for the next day, you’ll be able to increase your ability to implement a powerful morning routine.

Here are a few things I’ve found to be extremely helpful in setting myself up for success. While you don’t have to do all of these, just doing one or two will help you get into the habit of starting your day off right.

Set Your Clothes Out For The Next Day:

This is incredibly helpful for reducing “decision fatigue” the next morning, and especially great at priming you to exercise if that’s one of your goals. As soon as you wake up, you see your clothes and know exactly what that means. You still have to put in the work of course, but this simple tweak can make all the difference.

Clean Off Your Desk / Work Area:

I take a few minutes each night before I go to bed and clean my desk and work area so I’m greeted with an organized desk the next day. I’ll set my laptop out with my calendar / most important to do items, so as soon as I log on to my computer I have a clear picture of what I need to get done.

Put Your Favorite Book Out In The Open:

When finished cleaning my workspace and desk, I’ll leave the book I’m reading on the desk. When I wake up I’ll see my book and know that reading just a few pages before ‘life gets in the way’ I’ll make progress on the book and feel good about my efforts.

Plan Your 3 MIT’s:

I also like to take 5-10 minutes the night before and plan what my 2-3 “Most Important Items” are. Because my morning ritual is virtually on autopilot the next day, I know I won’t have anything distracting me from getting to work on the 2-3 things that will have the most impact on my business and personal life.

Of course, things might change when I wake up, but having a few clear goals the night before makes it significantly more likely my most important items will get done.

Take A Peek At Your Calendar:

In addition to planning my 2-3 most important next tasks for the day, I’ll also take a quick peek at my calendar. I look for any major events that might distract me from my getting my 2-3 Most Important Tasks done. This way, I’ll reduce the chances of anything “popping up” and distracting me from my goals.

In total, my nightly routine prepping me for the next day takes no more than 15 minutes, and in my experience, it has significantly increased my chances of getting the next day started with all the momentum in the world.

If you’ve struggled with sticking to a morning routine in the past, try just a few of these things the night before. I think you’ll be surprised at the results.

P.S If you’re still looking for every advantage in building a powerful and productive morning routine, you’ll love what Pavlok Rise has to offer. Comment below to stay up to date with all the latest as we launch later this month.-Maneesh Sethi

-Bud Hennekes

Head of Content

A Thought Experiment: “What If I Lost Everything…” (How To Use A Gratitude Journal)

Imagine waking up tomorrow and not having any of the comforts that you’ve worked hard for years to obtain or the support systems that you’ve become completely dependent on and accustomed to.

You have no money in your bank account.
No network of friends or family to help you.
No degree to fall back on.
No clue what you want out of life.

What would you do? How would you begin to piece your life back together?

Many of us would crumble emotionally. We’d completely shut down.

But once you consider what it would feel like to lose everything, you truly begin to see how many advantages you actually have.

Take a deep breath, and quietly ask yourself right now, “What would I do if I lost everything?”

The concept sounds scary — but believe it or not, you’d only need one tool to piece it all back together.

It all starts with gratitude

If I lost absolutely everything tomorrow, I’d only need one thing to start rebuilding myself.

Gratitude.

At the beginning of the year, we talked about my goals and objectives for 2014. One of them was to begin keeping a gratitude journal filled with everything I’m thankful for on a daily basis.

Here are the two best reasons for keeping a gratitude journal:

First, it’s always energizing to think about the aspects of your life that you love and the reasons you’re happy to be alive. In fact, research has shown that simply adopting a positive mindset can actually increase your real-life happiness, productivity and overall health.

Gratitude and happiness act as feedback system. The more grateful you are for your life (even the little things), the happier you become. The happier you are, the healthier and more productive you get — and that brings more gratitude. The cycle starts anew.

Keeping a gratitude journal is a great way to start that feedback loop.

The next reason for keeping a gratitude journal is even more powerful than just the cultivation of a positive mental outlook.

Simply put, forcing yourself to name people and things you’re grateful for actually challenges your brain to think about what life would be like without these things — and then come up with creative solutions.

Oftentimes, we let our “idea muscles” grow weak. We don’t practice coming up with creative solutions. We stop thinking of innovative ways to solve problems. But coming up with solutions to our problems is a skill, just like any other. We must practice using this part of our brain.

A James Altucher talks about the link between gratitude, creativity and happiness in his “Daily Practice.”

I use my gratitude journal as a catalyst to spark my “idea muscles.” Once before I wake up, and once again before I go to sleep, I pull out my journal and write down at least 10 things I’m grateful for.

I try to think of 10 different things in the morning and 10 new ones in the evening. Even “little wins” like, “I got to wear my favorite shirt today” count. Always acknowledge the little things.

Then I use that positive energy to come up with solutions for the problems I’m dealing with.

Start your gratitude journal, right here on Hack The System

Let’s start our gratitude journals, right here. Together.

Here’s what I want you to do.

Ask yourself, “What would I do if I lost everything?”
After considering what it would be like to lose everything, write 10 things that you’re very grateful for in the comments. Bonus points if they were things that you hadn’t taken the time to appreciate until today.

How to Stop Smoking Using your Pavlok

Pavlok’s most powerful use case is to break bad habits. To break a habit, you should force yourself to perform that action repeatedly for at least 5 days (but ideally 10).

Set aside 5 minutes each day and force yourself to do the action – even when you feel like stopping!

If you push through for the full 5-10 days, the habit will usually stay broken.

The 3 Step Process

1. Wear your Pavlok throughout the day. Notice when you start smoking.

2. Zap yourself when you notice you are having the impulse. Add a few zaps while you smoke. Record your urges on the app to help see your progress.

3. Do this as often as you can to keep the smoking low. If it starts to increase, add more zaps.

After 5 days, check in with yourself and determine your progress. You should notice a significant reduction or elimination of the habit. Continue using this process until you feel an aversion towards the habit – and you no longer desire to smoke.

How to Stop Cravings Using your Pavlok

What if you don’t want to eliminate a habit, but instead want to reduce it? Maybe you want to eat a little less sugar, or cut down on alcohol.

Wear the Pavlok on your wrist and only zap if you start to do the undesired action. As you have a craving or do the habit, zap yourself at each step. The more often you zap yourself while craving or doing it, the faster you’ll see the cravings reduce.

The 3 Step Process

1. Determine the bad habit that you want to eliminate. Set aside 5 minutes a day for 5-10 days to perfom the habit purposely and zap. Wear your Pavlok throughout the day. Notice when you start to do the undesired action.

2. Zap yourself when you notice that you are having the impulse. Add a few zaps while you do the undesired action.

3. Do this as often as you can to keep the craving low. If it starts to increase, add more zaps. If you feel like the craving is dropping too fast, reduce the frequency of your zap.

After 5 days, check in with yourself and determine your progress. You should notice a significant reduction or elimination of your cravings. Continue using this process until you feel an aversion towards the cravings – and you no longer have the craving.

How to Stop Snacking Using your Pavlok

Do you ever find yourself mindlessly snacking when you’re not even hungry? Do you want to cut down on eating between meals?

Wear the Pavlok on your wrist and only zap if you find yourself snacking when you are not hungry. As you do the habit, zap yourself at each step. The more often you zap yourself while doing it, the faster you’ll see the habit reduced.

The 3 Step Process

1. Determine the snacking that you want to eliminate. IS it all snacking? Or just unhealthy snacking? Set aside 5 minutes a day for 5-10 days. Wear your Pavlok throughout the day. Notice when you start to think about or start snacking.

2. Zap yourself when you notice that you are having the impulse. Add a few zaps while you snack.

3. Do this as often as you can to keep the craving low. If it starts to increase, add more zaps. If you feel like the craving is dropping too fast or you are not eating enough, reduce the frequency of your zap.

After 5 days, check in with yourself and determine your progress. You should notice a significant reduction or elimination of your snacking. Continue using this process until you feel an aversion towards the snacking.

How to Stop Nail Biting Using your Pavlok

Do you bite your nails down until they hurt? Do you notice when you’re doing it? Or do you do it subconsciously?

Wear the Pavlok on your wrist and zap if you start to do the undesired action. As you have a craving or do the habit, zap yourself at each step. The more often you zap yourself while craving or doing it, the faster you’ll see the cravings reduce.

It can also be helpful to turn on hand detection, so that your Pavlok can alert you when you are unconsciously raising your hand to bite your nails. It is important not to rely on this feature, as part of Pavlok is performing the zap yourself to become aware of your thoughts and actions.

The 3 Step Process

1. Set aside 5 minutes a day for 5-10 days to bite your nails purposely and zap. Wear your Pavlok throughout the day. Notice when you start to do the undesired action.

2. Zap yourself when you notice that you are having the impulse to bite. And of course, zap yourself several times if you catch yourself biting your nails.

3. Do this as often as you can to keep the cravings and the actions low. If it starts to increase, add more zaps.

After 5 days, check in with yourself and determine your progress. You should notice a significant reduction or elimination of the need to bite your nails. Continue using this process until you feel an aversion towards the cravings – and you no longer bite your nails.