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Having trouble getting out of bed? These 5 morning rituals will help you win the day

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Motivational & success author Tim Ferriss asked over 100 highly successful people about their morning routines, and here are the 5 habits he adopted as his own.

How to win at mornings, according to professional winner Tim Ferriss

Tim Ferriss is an American author, entrepreneur, self-proclaimed "human guinea pig", and public speaker. He has written a number of self-help books including the best-selling “The 4-hour Work Week”. He began his podcast, "The Tim Ferriss Show," in 2014 as a way to have in-depth conversations with people at the top of their fields

During this time, he has selected five habits that he’s incorporated into his own mornings, noting that he probably checks all five items on his list about 30% of the time, and that if he hits three out of five, he’s had a successful morning.

Along the way, he's found five habits that he's incorporated into his own mornings, noting that he probably checks all five items on his list about 30% of the time, and that if he hits three of five of them, he's had a successful morning. Source: Facebook/BrightVibes

“If you win the morning, you win the day,” — Here are Tim Ferriss’ five morning rituals

1. Make the bed

Ferriss wrote that in 2011 he was at a difficult point in his life and felt like his "energy was traveling a millimeter outward in a million directions." He met a Hindu priest and speaker named Dandapani who told him that a way to help bring grounding into his life was to start off his day by making his bed

 It’s the same advice Naval Admiral William McRaven gave in his 2014 commencement speech at the University of Texas at Austin. As McRaven said, "If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another." 

2. Meditate for 10-20 minutes

Ferriss said that at least 80% of the people he’s interviewed have some form of a daily mindfulness practice. 

He recommends trying a guided app like Headspace or even going for Transcendental Meditation classes (though those could set you back $1000). Ferriss uses a blend of different techniques that he thinks some purists wouldn’t approve of, but that get the job done for him.

Whichever approach you take, regular meditation gives you time to practice control of your emotions, which then influences how you react to challenges throughout the day.

3. Do at least 30 seconds of light exercise

Most of the people Ferriss has interviewed have a daily exercise routine and some, like former Navy SEAL commander Jocko Willink, wake up before dawn to get a workout in. Others, like WWE star Triple H, work out at night.

Ferriss falls into the latter camp, but he gets quick exercise in to get his blood flowing and mind focused. He usually goes for some push-ups and dips."Getting into my body, even for 30 seconds, has a dramatic effect on my mood and quiets mental chatter," Ferriss wrote.

Source: Richard Feloni, for BusinessInsider

He has written a number of self-help books on the
Timothy “Tim” Ferriss is an American author, entrepreneur, self-proclaimed “human guinea pig”, and public speaker He has written a number of self-help books on the “4-hour” theme, some of which have appeared on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestseller lists, starting with The 4-Hour Workweek.
Ferriss is also an angel investor or an advisor to Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Evernote, and Uber, among other companies. Tim is also host of the popular podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. Source: Facebook/TimFerriss

Strong tea and keep a journal…

4. Drink some strong tea

Ferriss developed a tea combo he jokingly named "Titanium Tea" for its ability to wake him up and get his metabolism fired up, and the name stuck. He uses loose-leaf tea in a glass teapot (which allows you to see when it’s ready) but he said a French press also works.

He takes a flat teaspoon each of pu-erh aged black tea, green tea, and turmeric and ginger shavings, adds hot water, and lets it steep for one to two minutes. Then, in his mug, he’ll add one to two tablespoons of coconut oil or Quest MCT Oil Powder for a dose of medium-chain triglycerides, which some studies have shown to be linked to promoting fat burning.

5. Journal for 5-10 minutes

Ferriss will then spend some time focusing on clearing thoughts from his head and putting them onto a page, including things he is grateful for and things he is anxious about.

He alternates between a 5-Minute Journal and Morning Pages exercise, which you can read about in detail here.

"It’s easy to become obsessed with pushing the ball forward as a Type-A personality and end up a perfectionist who is always future-focused," Ferriss said in a podcast episode. "The five-minute journal is a therapeutic intervention, for me at least, because I am that person. That allows me to not only get more done during the day but to also feel better throughout the entire day, to be a happier person, to be a more content person — which is not something that comes naturally to me."  

Source: BusinssInsider Main Image. Pinterest/Merrell

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