The School of Greatness - 589 My Success Habits, Rituals and Morning Routine

Episode Date: January 15, 2018

HOW YOU START AND END YOUR DAY MATTERS. I get a lot of questions from listeners about what my morning routine, daily habits and nighttime routines look like. So I decided it was time to record a solo episode answering this exact question so that anyone who asks can get a quick answer :) The truth is, I believe that healthy, consistent routines make a massive difference in our daily performance and our long term health and happiness. So even though I'm not perfect at following mine every day, I know what a big impact it makes when I do. Keep in mind that these are just my routines. I've developed them over years of trial and error. Some I got from playing sports, some from studying optimal health, some from going to meditation training, and some from friends. They all serve me, but what I hope you do after listening to this episode is choose habits that serve YOU. Habits are only as useful as the results we get from them, so I invite you to experiment with your own habits until you find ones that work. Here are my favorite ones in Episode 589. In this episode you will learn: What time I wake up (5:45) How I start my day (6:15) Why I make my bed every morning (9:15) How exercise cleanses us (10:08) My morning meditation ritual (12:22) My bedtime routine (17:21) How I prep for a big event or interview (22:34) Plus much more...

This is episode number 589 on my success habits, rituals, and morning routine. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. Welcome back, you beautiful individual you. I'm so grateful that you're here. And no matter where you are at in the world,

no matter what city, state, country you're in, no matter if you're on the treadmill, you're lifting weights, if you're cooking for your family, if you're driving to work, or if you're working right now and you're listening to this in the background, I want to remind you that you are here for a reason. You were put on this planet for a specific reason. Your dreams matter and you matter. And I hope you remember that.

And I hope this serves as a friendly reminder of how important your life is and how important your life is to the people around you. Even if you don't think you are important, even if sometimes you may be forgetful of this idea, you matter and your dreams matter. And I hope this brings you some inspiration today. It's a solo round. I keep getting so many people saying, Lewis, I love, love, love the interviews that you have on with people, but we want to learn more about you and how you do things as well. And I get this question all the time. Every single week, someone asks me,

what's your morning routine? What are your rituals? What are your success habits, Lewis? So I thought I would share. That way, I didn't have to copy and paste the same thing anymore to everyone and reply. Now I can send everyone to this episode to listen to. So I'm going to break it down. And I've had different things that I've tried and tested over the years, different things that I used when I was playing sports that helped me achieve incredible results, that helped me break world records, that became All-American in two sports, that helped me achieve success at a professional athlete level on the USA national team in handball and to make the USA national team within nine months. So I had a lot of different things that supported me to gain athletic results in my life.

And then I've used some of those things and added new habits and routines for business results, health results, relationship results, spirituality, things like that since then. But I thought I would break this down into really three core parts. First, my morning routine and breaking down exactly what I do, the actions I take, the things I think, all that. Then talk about the night routine, what I do at night. And then also kind of go over an overview of general rituals before podcast interviews, before I do big press myself and go on bigger press like the Ellen Show or Good Morning America

or the Today Show, things like that, or doing a business meeting, interviews, other type of partnership deals before I go on stages, things like that in front of 5,000, 10,000 people. What are those routines that I do there? So I'm going to talk about kind of these three core areas of my life. And I'm super pumped to share with you because I don't think I've actually shared it all in one place before. Before we dive in, got to give a shout out to the fan of the week. Again, every week we give a shout out to someone who leaves a review over on iTunes. So if you want to get shouted out on the podcast, just leave us a review. You can do it on your podcast app as well on your iPhone or over on iTunes and just search the School of Greatness. This is from Sarah Justice of the Peace, who says this podcast is a must

listen. Lewis brings on the best guests and he empowers all his listeners to do great things. He started off as a pro athlete and now he's a lifestyle entrepreneur. It proves that anyone can do anything and you can always reinvent yourself. Absolutely you can. And Sarah, thank you so much for being the fan of the week and for leaving us a review. It really helps us spread the message of greatness to more people. All right, guys, I'm very excited. Let's go ahead and dive in. Again, make sure to take a screenshot of this and share it with me on Instagram right now. Tag me and tell your friends to check this out and

listen. lewishouse.com slash 589 to get all the links and information that we talked about from this podcast as well. Here we go. Let's dive into my success habits, rituals, and morning routine. I want to talk about the morning routine first. Now, this would be the ideal routine. In no way, shape, or form am I perfect or an ideal human being. I am flexible with a lot of this stuff. or an ideal human being, I am flexible with a lot of this stuff. I travel a lot. I've got different things that come up last minute. And as much as I would like to say at this stage of my life that I'm super disciplined and follow this to the T and everything is perfect, it's just not. In some seasons of my life, I'm much more disciplined. In other seasons, for instance,

when I'm on a book launch tour, traveling around the country, doing multiple cities in a few weeks, my rituals in the morning may not be as regimen because of the travel time of early morning call times for press and interviews and things like that. So this is definitely a seasonal thing. But I find myself when I follow through on these habits, rituals, and routines, that I am definitely much more prepared, productive, and optimal in my life, my business, my relationships, and everything. So I think it's okay for me when I get off for maybe a couple of weeks or if I'm not perfect for a few weeks, but I definitely notice that if I'm off for a month or two where I'm not doing any of my routines

or habits, that things are just a lot harder. Things don't come as effortlessly. I struggle to create those results and really struggle to have that balance and inner peace and fulfillment. I feel like a lot more anxious, stress, anxiety, things like that, and overwhelmed. So this is really an opportunity to feel a sense of clarity in your life, peace, sense of balance. I definitely believe that the habits you create, the rituals, the routines support your feeling of balance in the world. So here's my morning routine again at the optimal ideal situation. I like to wake up at 630 a.m.

Now, I love sleep. I love sleep. So for me, if I can sleep in till shoot 730,, 9. I would every single day. And this is probably one of my biggest challenges is going to bed early enough so that 6.30 isn't too hard for me to wake up. And that's one of my biggest challenges. But when I do go to bed early enough,

I wake up at 6.30 ready to go. And the first thing I do is breathe and give thanks that I'm alive another day. I'm constantly reminding myself that tonight could be my last night, that it could be all over for me. And I asked myself, did I give everything that I wanted to give that I try everything I wanted to try? Did I at least go for the things that I'm passionate about? Or was I living in fear today? Did I hold back? Did I not give my gifts to people? Did I selfishly confine myself inside, afraid, scared, and worried about what people will think about me? So I remind myself this.

And when I wake up in the morning, I just say thank you, a quick thank you. I breathe and I give thanks that I'm alive another day and have an opportunity to continue to share my gift and to pursue my dream. I express my gratitude. I express gratitude throughout all of the day whenever I think about it. But I try to express as much gratitude as I can because I believe that fulfillment inside comes from gratitude. And when we aren't living in gratitude, the opposite is not enough fear, resentment, anger, ungratitude, and that isn't fulfillment.

So if you want to feel fulfilled, live in gratitude. I get up and drink water. I think water is, again, the more I learn about the body, the mind, living gratitude. I get up and drink water. I think water is, again, the more I learn about the body, the mind, the soul, and how much we're made of water, I try to replenish it as much as possible because water is energy, water is life. And I could easily not drink water and then start to feel lightheaded later in the day. So I try to just drink it right away. I use the restroom pretty much after I drink water. I usually have to go to the bathroom and I clean my teeth. It's important to clean your teeth. And I'll talk about that in a second,

but I clean my teeth and then I make my bed and I create a clean space in my room. create a clean space in my room. Doing those three acts, really, cleaning my teeth, drinking a glass of water, and making my bed, it really cleanses me, right? It's a cleansing mechanism early on. You're cleaning out your mouth, your teeth, cleansing it. It also feels like an act of completion. For some, cleaning your teeth feels like a job, right? It's like, oh, I don't want to clean my teeth. So if that is the case, then doing a great job, cleaning your teeth for two minutes, you have one completed act for the day,

one productive act that improves your health and your life and makes you feel a sense of completion. Then when you drink water, you're optimizing your health, right? And I don't take supplements right now at this season of my life, but sometimes I do. It just kind of depends. So if you want to drink a glass of water, take supplements. I will do a green juice where I'll put some green powder in in the morning after my workout usually. But if you want to do your supplements, then that's fine. And then a clean bed. That's a clean space. You want to create clarity in your life every single morning.

And I believe having a clean bed creates a sense of clarity. And also that's your third act and accomplishment in the first 10 minutes. Drink the water. You're completing something for your health. Clean your teeth. You're completing something for your health. Clean your space. You're completing something for your life.

Three powerful things right away. May not seem like a lot. May not seem like anything. But it's very powerful. And it's something I do every single morning. Then I head out to a workout. My workout is one of the most important moments of the day. It really is where some of my greatest ideas in business and life and solving any problems come from.

When we are moving the body, the blood flows through the body, the heart is pumping, we are exfoliating and again, cleansing the body through sweat. The body is cleansing itself. You're getting out any toxins, any negative energy, any side effects, you're cleansing it out, lubricating the joints, strengthening the muscles, and your brain is now getting activated. When in doubt, always work out. The brain is now activated so I can start thinking clearer. I can start having better decision-making skills. Again, all of my ideas, some of my best ideas come from moving the body, working out. It is important. You're really cleansing yourself in four different ways when you do that in the morning as well. And some people don't think of

it that way, but when you really look at it, all that you get done in the first hour, hour and a half of cleansing the body, the mind, your space, the teeth, you know, fueling with water. That is a powerful, powerful morning. After the workout, and listen, the workout can be whatever it is you guys want to do. For me, I'll do a lift. I'll do a HIIT workout. I'll run. I like to mix it up. And again, it all depends on the season of my life.

I'll run. I like to mix it up. And again, it all depends on the season of my life. Then when I come back from the workout, I typically do a smoothie. And again, different ingredients based on the different season of my life, what I'm doing. Some is more protein rich, some is more recovery. It all kind of depends. But I like to fuel myself with a smoothie. And sometimes I'm actually intermittent fasting like I'm doing right now. And I'm not eating until about one o'clock. You know, I test different things. So some of these things change over time. After that, I take a shower, right?

So now I cleanse myself again. I clean the body, shower, shave, whatever it is I'm doing for that day. Cleaning, cleansing the body so that I'm fully ready for the day. After the shower, I meditate. And the meditation is another way to, again, cleanse the mind, cleanse the soul, and get clear on the intention for what I want to create that day, to visualize everything that I look to manifest that day. Who is the human being that I'm trying to become? What does my best self actually look like? If I looked in a mirror right now and I saw my optimal self,

the human being that I idolize as myself, the person that I've never become, but is looking at me back in the mirror, it's actually a reflection of everything I want to be. The way I want to look, the way I want to dress, the way I want to carry myself, the things I want to speak about, the energy I have in my heart, the smile I have, the confidence I have, if I can imagine that during meditation, then I become more of that person. I become more of the person I'm looking to be when I imagine and visualize that. And I put myself in a place of calm during meditation so that I can stay in a place of calm during confusion after meditation. Because we don't know what's going to be happening throughout the next 15 hours until we go back to

sleep. We don't know if we go out into the street, if someone's going to cut us off, or if someone gets mad at us, or if someone sends us a nasty email, or someone close to us gets upset at us, or whatever. We don't know what's going to happen in life. During my meditation process, it's a very specific process that maybe I will do an entire podcast around exactly what I do in my meditation. It's about 12 to 15 minutes long, kind of depending on the day. So if you're interested in actually having me go through my entire meditation process of the actual steps, the process, the things I think, the place I go in my mind,

and what I put myself into and through, then send me a message on Instagram at Lewis Howes and screenshot this and letting me know you want to hear me share my meditation someday so you can have it as well. Then I'll do that. But during this meditation, I'm visualizing who is the human being that I want to become? What is the dream that I have in my heart? And how am I going to bring this to life today? And I also reflect on, again, when things go wrong, how am I going to respond?

Do I want to be a human that responds out of frustration and anger or from a place of peace, calm, and love? And that's what I do during my meditation. And at the end of that, I move my body a little bit to kind of come out of the meditation. And then I'm off to taking on the most important task for the day. Sometimes I'm meeting with my team. Other times, it all depends on what I wrote down in my journal the night before of the three big things that I'm looking to take action on that day that will support my vision getting closer and closer. And so this is all based on

the vision I have for that season of my life, that six months or that year that I'm in in that moment. And I am intentional about what I want to create based on the vision of my life. And that's my morning routine. Simply put, it's really about getting yourself ready to handle anything that comes your way. All the good, all the challenges, prepare your mind, your body, cleanse yourself, optimize every element of it while keeping things simple at the same time. You don't have to do a million different

things because then that will feel overwhelming and you'll be like, ah, I can't do any of it. It's too many things. But if it's simply wake up, breathe, give thanks for another day, express gratitude, drink a glass of water, that takes 20 seconds. Use the restroom and clean your teeth, takes two minutes. Make a clean bed and space in your sleeping room. It takes maybe five minutes. Then off to a workout. This can be 30 minutes, guys. It doesn't have to be two hours.

You know, I do HIIT workouts that last 22 minutes sometimes. So you can spend 30 to 45 minutes total in and out stretching everything. You don't need to be in there forever. If you want to, you can be in there longer. Awesome. Then you come back, drink a smoothie or another glass of water, then shower and then meditate for 12 to 15 minutes. And then I'm ready for the day. And that's a powerful way to start my day. Now, let's cover the night routine. The night routine is, I would say, shorter. I've completed the day. I've done my best. I've given my all. I've followed through the strategy and the schedule that I have for the

vision of my life. And I've executed, right? I've showed up passionately, powerfully. Maybe I had a bad day, maybe I had a good day, but I've given my best. And what I like to do is I like to reflect in my journal, I've got a journal that I used, you can go to project evo.org. Again, project evo.org is the journal that I'm using. And you go through a little test to see what your brain architect is so that you can see which journal works best for your kind of brain and the way you think. And I track how I performed. I scale myself on how I perform.

I track it. I see if I completed the things I set out I would do. I see if I added some adventure and play in my life, if I tackled the top priority that I had for myself, and I cover it all in that book just so I can reflect and see what I did. I think sometimes we get into a place where we just go through the motions. You know, I had a busy day, but did you actually do what you said you wanted to do? Did you actually move anything forward towards your dreams or towards the vision of your

life right now in your health, your relationships, your career? Did you move things forward or were you just busy? And I think a lot of times people are just busy and they're not doing anything that is actually helping them in their vision. So you want to reflect on those things and not just, you know, watch TV and go to bed and do it all over again and have no vision. But I'm reflecting on if I did those things, rate myself one to 10, how did I rate on those areas of my life? And then I give myself notes, you know, feedback. Okay, this happened where someone got upset at me and I reacted and I wasn't, you know,

my best self. So my commitment to myself tomorrow is to be intentional about that. If that situation arises again, then I'm going to come with a place of calm, come from a place of joy, or at least a place of neutral response. And that's what I like to do, is to reflect. And then I schedule out the next day. I look at my calendar and I write down in the journal, okay, what am I going to do the next day? What are the top three priorities? What's the thing that I'm going to do that's going to bring me joy tomorrow? What's the thing I'm going to do that's playful tomorrow? What's

going to bring me the most fulfillment and fun? And I write down those things that I want to do. I think if we don't schedule things in our life, then they're not going to happen. So I really try to plan those out for just the next day. And then, you know, I brush my teeth. I use the restroom. I do all those things. I come into a clean space. My bed is made. It looks amazing. The pillows are fluffed. The sheets are tight. The comforter is clean and, you know, spotless and folded perfectly. And I look at that and I go, that right I did that this morning I made this look great this morning and it feels so comfortable to just pull back the comforter pull back the sheets and just slide my feet into this perfectly made bed it feels so good to know that yeah I I finish where I started. I started the day with a good mindset,

with a completed task, where I took care of my personal space. And I reflect back on that and I say, yeah, it feels good to get into this space that I created earlier today. It feels really good. Then I ask my girlfriend, I say, tell me the three things

you're most grateful for from the day. She reflects to me on those things that she's grateful for. I reflect back to her things that I'm grateful for. Then I pass out and I dream. I dream. I allow myself to dream and visualize the person I want to become. And that's my night routine. I try to keep it simple.

And again, based on the season of my life, the ideal time to go to bed for me is right around 11, 1130 p.m. I'm more of a night person anyways. So anytime before midnight is a good time for me to go to sleep. But I like to stay up late. So that's where I get to work the most is, you know, shutting down my mind from business or the things I need to do or what I want to create. Because I feel like I could work nonstop 24-7. That's just my fueled by my desire to impact the world, to make an impact and help people and to use my gifts to

the highest of my ability. So for me, it's more of a, okay, shut down from the phone, shut down from the computer and relax and allow myself to wind down a little earlier. That's the thing that I get to continue to work on, but that's my night routine. Now let's talk about before an interview, a big meeting, press, going on stage, you know, podcast interviews, things like that. What do I do? What do I do during those things? Now, if it's an interview, right? If it's an interview where I'm interviewing someone, then I really set my intention. I think the key is to be prepared and do my research on the person that I'm interviewing

or really the person I'm meeting if it's a meeting. I research them, find out who they are, what they like, how many friends we have in common, what other things we have in common that I may not know about. I'm constantly wanting to be prepared and to be knowledgeable of those things. And if you're doing any type of interview or meeting with a big potential business deal, you want to do your research. Do not go in blind. Try to do the best you can. I'm not perfect at this, but I try to watch a few videos. I'll go on Facebook, on LinkedIn, on Twitter, on Instagram, see their likes, find out if we have any other people in common and things like that.

It's just good to build that relationship first and it helps with everything else later. Shows people your care that you want to know about them and people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. So that's why it's important to do the research. Before I do any type of press or media or any type of interviews where I'm promoting myself, I take a chapter out of Brendan Bouchard's book where he talks about a lot bringing the joy.

He always says bring the joy. And I remember when I went on the Ellen show for the first time, I was terrified out of my mind. I was so nervous. And what if I mess up? And what if this is my only opportunity? And what if she doesn't like me? And what if I stumble over myself? And all these things went through my head because this was a big opportunity to go on the Ellen show, right? It was a dream of mine. And I just went back to this, you know, feeling of, I need to just come with my childlike self, be happy, be joyful, be passionate. And I think when you bring the joy and the passion, it's hard to fail.

And that's what I do. I set my intention of joy. Before I go on stage, how can I bring the joy? How can I bring the passion? Before I do an interview, how can I bring the passion? Before a business meeting, how can I bring the passion? Be joyful. People don't want to be around serious people all the time. They want to be around joyful experiences,

and they are much more forgiving if you don't have all the answers or you aren't that smooth in your words. If you're joyful and passionate, people are usually just going to want to be around that energy. So bring the passion. I also set a clear intention for a win-win outcome. Again, if I'm doing a media or press or a business meeting, how can I create a win-win outcome? Again, if I'm doing a media or press or a business meeting,

how can I create a win-win experience? How can I add value to the person who's interviewing me, value to the audience that's listening or watching this interview, or value to the business partnership that I'm going into? What's the win-win experience out of every one of these situations? If I go on stage for a big speech, where is the win-win? How can I add value to the audience and add value to the person who brought me to speak at this conference or this event? Where's the win-win? Don't make it about you, make it about win-win-win all around. And set a clear intention for that win-win outcome. Don't just say, how can I get the most out of this? How can we all rise collectively as a group, as a community, as watchers, as viewers, as partners,

so we all achieve what we want and come to these meetings or interviews or stages with a giver's mentality. I try to say, how can I bring the passion and how can I bring the joy and how can I be the biggest giver in the room? And based on the setting, you know, the biggest giver in an interview or the biggest giver in a meeting is someone who's curious, someone who asks great questions and who listens. You know, on stage, someone who is not trying to make them look themselves look amazing, but trying to add value to the audience. Sometimes before big events, I'll call a coach of mine. Sometimes I'll call Chris Lee, who's

spoken on the podcast many times, where I'm just kind of overwhelmed or stressed, and I'll just give him a call and have him ground me. I'll say, here's my intention, here's what I want to create, or I'm feeling a little nervous here, a little nervous there. And he just sets a clear intention and just reconnects me to my vision. I think when we are clear on our vision, then our intentions are that much clearer and our actions are that much more profound in these meetings, interviews, stages, and things like that. And that's the way I think about things. Really, before any of these big opportunities unfold, press shoots, media, stages, speaking, big meeting opportunities, I just want to be valuable to people. And I think the way you are a valuable asset in someone's life is if you're

loving, giving, joyful, passionate. You smile. And I think I use my smile. Use what you can. I use my smile. I use my joy. I use my passion to connect to people. And at the end of the day, life is about connecting. It's about relationships. And the key to those successful relationships is about being yourself, is being real, vulnerable, honest, open, joyful. That's what we all want. We want to connect with real people who see the good in us and who want us to succeed as well. These are some of my success habits, rituals, and morning routine and night routine. If you have any other questions about any of this,

just ask me, let me know. Again, share a message over on Instagram or Twitter at Lewis Howes. Let me know if you enjoyed any of these, what you enjoyed the most, where you got the value from this. And share with me your morning routine as well over on Twitter or Instagram, at Lewis Howes.

Again, screenshot this and post it out. Share it with your friends, lewishowes.com slash 589. We'd love to hear your feedback. And it means the world to me that you continue to show up and listen. Whether this is your first time listening to the podcast, thank you for being here. Welcome to the family of greatness. If this is your 589th episode, then again, thank you for sticking in the family, for constantly improving yourself and constantly looking to grow. You know, growth is one of the

keys to greatness and you continue to show up and grow, you're going to continue to get great results in your life and be on that trajectory to having a more powerful life. It means the world to me and my vision is that this reaches a hundred million people. This message of greatness reaches a hundred million people a week. We are about to come up to our five-year anniversary. I'm going to do a special episode coming up in a couple weeks. Five years podcast has been around, and we are just getting started, my friends. I love you so, so very much. It means the world to me that you're a part of this family, this community, and this movement of greatness. And the best way you can support is by leaving a review over on iTunes. If you

haven't left a review yet, we've got over 2,000 five-star reviews. I'd love to hear your feedback over there. You can open it up on your podcast app on your iPhone, or you can go to lewishouse.com slash iTunes, and I'll take you right to the show. You can watch over on YouTube and be a subscriber there. We've got hundreds of great video episodes over on YouTube if you'd like to watch those. Just subscribe to our channel. You get notified when we put great videos out. And you can follow over on Instagram,

at Lewis House, Twitter, at Lewis House, Facebook, at Lewis House. You mean the world to me. Your dreams matter because you matter. And as always, you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Outro Music