5 Entrepreneurs Reveal How You Should Start Your Day
Every single morning is an opportunity for you to make a change. The change can be as small as eating a healthier breakfast or as big as changing your career. If you want to have a productive day you can be proud of, there are many small and big changes you can do immediately. To help you out we have seen how big entrepreneurs start their day, to inspire on how you should start your day.
1. Wake up earlier
A normal person requires about 8 hours of sleep. A motivated person can be fully energised with less. Virgin Group founder, Richard Branson, aims to get up at 5 am, no matter in which country he is in. He says that waking up early has many advantages. First, you get a head start on the rest of the world. Second, you give your body and mind time to transition comfortably from sleep to awake.
I am not saying you should start your day at 5 am necessarily, but if you wake up with barely enough time to eat breakfast, then something needs to change. Don’t shock yourself by waking up an hour early immediately. Start by simply waking up 15 minutes earlier for a few days and then gradually move up to one or two hours. Not only will you feel better and have more time to enjoy your day, but it is a great way to reduce stress.
2. Start the day on a positive note
Why would you allow a worry or concern to be the first thing you think about when you get up? The answer should be obvious yet many of us admit that our first thought in the morning is negative. Normally the phrase “Oh no! I need to go to work!“. You should start your day with a positive note, according to Tumblr founder, David Karp. To achieve this, he doesn’t check his email until he is in the office.
Finding a positive thought in the morning is not difficult. You could get one from your loved ones or check out The Fun Entrepreneur Instagram Page for inspiring messages every morning. Your general attitude is affected by positive and negative influences. Whilst you cannot always control negative things from happening you can definitely seek out positive ones.
3. Interview yourself each morning
This is a brilliant technique you should start your day by doing. Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, started every day asking himself a question at the mirror. He used to ask himself if that day were to be his last, would he still be doing what he was about to do? It is a simple, yet very powerful question. If he answered no for several days he would realise that something needed to change.
How often do you find yourself doing something you don’t enjoy? How often do you grumble about it? Now, how often do you take concrete steps to better your life? The morning is an ideal time to reflect on this. You are usually busy during the day and by night time you would be too tired. Remember, your emotional wellbeing depends on you finding a way to be successful doing what your body and mind are telling you to do.
4. Don’t let tomorrow be a surprise
In any job, but especially as an entrepreneur, tomorrow is a mystery. You can find new clients, get a complaint or lose an important member of staff. Anything can happen and it is impossible to prepare for anything. Nevertheless, having targets to accomplish on the day will ensure that no matter what comes up, your day would not have been wasted. This is the advice of American Express CEO, Kenneth Chenault.
Chenault lists three targets he aims to accomplish the next working day. He does them just before leaving the office. You should start your day knowing what you intend to get done. It will give you a sense of purpose and will allow you to feel that you’ve accomplished something by the end of the day. By going in without a plan you risk wasting a lot of time figuring out what you should do, and that would lead to an unproductive day.
5. Energize yourself before heading to the office
When you start your own business you will not have time for anything else. You are constantly thinking of how to develop your business and brand to become successful. While that is admirable, it will also affect your physical and mental health. That is why you should start your day with exercise. This is what Kevin O’Leary does every morning. The Shark starts his day with a cardio workout to get his heart pumping and his blood flowing to his brain.
The advantages of exercise are immense. Apart from living a healthier life and keeping illness away, exercise reduces your stress and boosts your creativity. Exercise can also be the positive thing you think about, especially if you manage to break a personal record. Early morning is the ideal time to exercise, since you won’t be taking time away from your busy day and won’t risk having any distractions.
There are many more things you can do to copy successful people. The important thing to remember is to physically get out of bed and not to hit the snooze button. Wake up tomorrow with a better start to your day.
