Here’s something to try. Google “8 things to do before 8am.” Endless posts about successful people and their morning habits…
There’s a ton of information on the internet of how to be successful. And a ton of people trying to sell you something, click on their call to action, or get you to sign up for their email list. Writing blog posts like that allows them to add you to their precious following. That’s all well and good. But comparing yourself to all the “successful” people in the world isn’t going to make you successful. Stop listening to them, and start doing for you.
What works for you might be different
It’s all well and good to try and mimic successful habits. There are definitely some habits that we should try to eliminate, and others we should build upon, in order to be the person we want to be. But habits aren’t one-size fits all.
For me, the first thing that comes to mind is dieting. I have tried multiple diets from vegetarianism, to veganism, to Paleo and keto. All of them had different effects on my body, and mind, but none of them I can say is perfect for me. What I learned by trying these diets were the foods that made me feel good, and the foods that did not. Exploring different diets allowed me to feel my body and find the right foods to put into my system. I won’t claim any of them make me successful, but each one taught me about myself.
Instead of doing things because successful people do them, do things because you want to find out how you react. Your reaction to a habit might be amazing, or it might be awful. You won’t know without trying, but try for you, not others.
Reading what success looks like is easy
It’s much easier to read a blog post, news article, or watch a video than it is to put habits into action. We can all think we’re capable of putting habits into practice when we read about other people putting them into action. It’s easy to think but much harder to do. Living your life within your habits is far harder than the authors let on. Yes, successful people might have those traits, but they’ve mastered them. They master them by doing them.
Reading about success is easier than achieving success. Instead of focusing on eight things to do before 8am it might be better to focus on one thing that’ll make you happier. Do that for 30 days and prove to yourself you can create a new habit.
You don’t know until you start doing
My before 8am routine probably needs some work. I constantly wish I had a couple extra hours. I wish I could wake myself up by 4am like the “successful” people do. I’ll get there. However, just because I didn’t wake up by 4am doesn’t mean I can’t accomplish something for the day. By doing stuff, I get invigorated and get into a working mindset. I see all the pieces that can fall into place and they help orient my daily tasks.
This doesn’t happen by thinking about what habits I need to add, and which I need to subtract. It happens because I’m doing. I’m working on something that needs to be solved. No article on successful habits will help me do the task at hand.
After putting in the work, then experiment
Once you start building habits, once you start taking care of your mind and body, and once you start putting words into action, then you can start to experiment. Much like my diet experiments you can start playing around with different habits.
How does going without caffeine feel? Should I add a protein shake to my morning routine? These questions can be answered for yourself, but they need to be combined with the habits you’re already cultivating. Some things “successful” people do might not work for you.
Become successful with your own habits. Try to optimize yourself, and you’ll soon become the expert on habits that make you successful.