OntheGoAthlete #1 — The morning routine

How to start your day the right way

Welcome to the first edition of the OntheGoAthlete newsletter! Excited to bring you actionable insights to help you approach your career and life like an athlete.

This week, we’ll dive into the foundation for high performance and balanced living, the morning routine.

Reflections on Routines

Having a solid morning routine is a staple for any high performer. NBA legend Kobe Bryant was infamous for his structured routine.

Since his high school days, Kobe would wake up at 4.a.m. to focus on his craft. By the time his peers would join him to workout at 8am, he had a 4 hour head start.

While waking up at 4 a.m. may be excessive for most of us, his philosophy still holds true.

The way you start your day can help you invest in your health, expand your mind and hone skills,  with each incremental investment compounding over time.

My personal routine is a variation on the 5am club by Robin Sharma, leadership expert and bestselling author.

He recommends dividing your day into 3 pockets:

1. Move (exercise, hydrate)

2. Reflect (journal, meditate, pray)

3. Grow (consume books, podcasts or educational videos)

By the end of the routine, you’ll have deepened your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy and be ready to start your day with a bang.

After testing a few variations over the past year, I settled on my current routine which takes 2.5hrs in total.

There are 5 steps, starting at 6:30AM:

1. Pray & Meditate

2. Workout

3. Learn by consuming books & podcasts

4. Plan my day and time block key tasks

5. Execute on my #1 priority with a 2-hour block of focused work

By following this daily sequence, I'm ready to take on the day, regardless of the ups and downs of startup life.

The important thing about routines is that they work for you. If you're looking to establish a morning routine, I'd recommend testing out one of the activities above and slowly stacking more habits over time.

For a more detailed breakdown of my personal routine, check out the blog post I wrote here.

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Tools & Resources

Morning routines are all about habit formation. Training yourself to follow the same sequence every single day. Atomic Habits by James Clear is an amazing read on this subject. It’s a game changer for anyone looking to build consistent habits that last.

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Quote of the Week

 “Stop being a prisoner of your past. Become an architect of your future” 

- Robin Sharma

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That’s it for this week! Your feedback is always welcome, and if there’s a topic you want to see, just let me know! Hit reply or shoot me a DM on Twitter @iamedgabrown to get in touch.

Trust the process,

Edgar