5 things succesful people do before 7:00 am

Successful people come from all walks of life, yet they all have one thing in common: where others see impenetrable barriers, they see challenges to embrace and obstacles to overcome. By thinking outside the box and going against the grain, successful people rise above their limitations, and it all starts with their morning routines.

There are many ways to utilize the early morning hours effectively, but some of the best ideas come from ultra-successful. Here are five of my favorites.

1. They are wide awake: Successful entrepreneurs are known for waking up bright and early. Waking up early is a habit, which you must work on to maintain. When you’re awake before 7 a.m. you have the time to check the news, gather your thoughts, or exercise. This prevents you from rushing out the door every morning feeling frazzled and unfocused. Waking up early means that you have to stop hitting the snooze button by getting enough sleep each night – preferably between 7 and 9 hours. Besides ensuring that you’re an early riser, getting the appropriate amount of sleep improves your health, memory, learning, productivity, and mood.

2. They exercise: Exercise is another popular morning routine for successful individuals. Getting your body moving for as little as 10 minutes releases GABA, a neurotransmitter that makes your brain feel soothed and keeps you in control of your impulses, improvements in your behavior that you can measure with an emotional intelligence test.

3. Disconnect: When you wake up and dive straight IGNORE INTO e-mails, texts, and Facebook, you are far more likely to lose focus, and your morning succumbs to the wants and needs of other people. It’s much healthier to take those precious first moments of the day to do something relaxing, which sets a calm, positive tone for your day.

4. Set goals and priorities: set the goals and priorities that need to happen that day by writing down a list of your top three things for that day. Think about how you’re going to accomplish those goals while in the shower, jogging, or whenever you have quiet time to yourself. The most effective way to cross items off your to-do list is by starting with the hardest task, or the task that you’re dreading the most. If you keep procrastinating on those tasks you’ll keep pushing them back until tomorrow. Like successful people, get them done and over with now so that you can keep moving forward.

5. Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness meditation has become increasingly popular among highly successful CEOs. Its growth in the business world is largely due to the huge dividends it pays in productivity and overall well-being. Research shows that mindfulness fights off stress by reversing the fight-or-flight response, improves your ability to focus, boosts creativity, and increases your emotional intelligence.

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