Habits – they are a great way to stay on track, improve your midlevel professional leadership skills, learn something new, etc. There never is enough time in the day to complete a to do list.
Lately, I started watching videos on the morning habits of great leaders just to see if I should incorporate any of them into my schedule.
I’m always looking for ways to improve.
Most of the videos I watch, blogs I read, google searches list “ x amount of habits for great leaders.” The lists are very similar.
Most lists contain the following actions someone should take to become a great leader. I don’t know about you, but these sound great in theory. I wonder if these are for single people without responsibilities. I have 2 cats. They want breakfast 1st thing in the am (before my coffee)! What if you have kids. Where do they come in? What about your spouse?
Here is the overall list of habits for successful (great) leaders you should do (or should you)?
- Rise early
- Exercise
- Meditate
- Practice positive affirmations
- Practice Gratitude
- Eat a healthy breakfast
- Read or learn something
- Plan or prioritize your day
- Connect with loved ones
- Set Goals
RISE EARLY
I’ve been an early riser my whole life. This is an easy one for me. I get up early so I can work on my business (feed the cats) and get my day moving. But what if you are a night owl.
According to Inc. magazine
Our biorhythms are largely inborn. You cannot change them.
Why would you mess up your sleep cycle by getting up early. Your brain is still sleeping. It would be counterproductive to complete any habit from the list above.
Winston Churchill, Jonah Peretti, Arron Levie, Alexis Ohanian, Tom Lehman, and Mark Zuckerberg were / are all night owls. They are or were very successful leaders.
EXERCISE
Do you exercise first thing in the am? If you have the time. But it doesn’t matter when you exercise, as long as you do!
PRACTICE POSTIVE AFFIRMATIONS AND GRATITUDES AND MEDITATE
3 in 1!
Always practice positive affirmations and gratitudes. This is the only one where you can multitask and still be effective. Old Dominion University web page states that research shows that:
Positive thinking can rewire your brain, changing the way you feel about things.
I thank God for everything (the good, bad and ugly) in my life.
EAT A HEALTHY BREAKFAST
Eating a healthy breakfast is also doable. What is considered healthy? Do you know, there are 115 National Breakfast Days? Just google national breakfast holidays. https://blog.thenibble.com/2024/01/02/a-year-of-national-breakfast-holidays/ Breakfast can supply energy for your body, replenish blood sugar and increase your energy levels and alertness. However, some people don’t like breakfast. Breakfasts that come in cartons (yogurt, cottage cheese, etc) provide an easy efficient clean-up.
I prefer coffee and a protein shake. Super easy and I can drink them on my way to work!
READING OR LEARNING SOMETHING
Next on the list is Reading or Learn Something.
Assessing your skills to improve your leadership credibility is a must. Once you know of a skill (or skills) to improve, make a plan to accomplish it. Then do it! A goal without an action is, well, really nothing. Even if you tell someone that you will accomplish a goal, that is still nothing. But once you accomplish it, then that deserves praise. Remember to take that accomplishment into the next level and do something with it.
For example: Your goal is to learn Spanish. You accomplish that goal. Now what? Find a job that needs an interpreter? Go to Spain? Put an action with your accomplishments.
TIP: Books on audio is just as effective as learning something from a book. You can also learn from any number of YouTube videos.
SETTING GOALS
I don’t agree with this being an early morning habit.
Goal setting is a task all by itself. What kind of goals? Professional, personal? How big? What is the primary reason for goal setting? Why do you want to set this type of goal? What will you do with it when you complete the goal? What if you don’t have any goals? This is a huge task and not to be taken lightly.
PLAN OR PRIORITIZE YOUR DAY
I don’t agree with this one as an early morning habit. Write these out the day before (or the week before).
Planning your day and putting it all in writing will help you sleep better as it alleviates your brain from the stress of your long to do list. It calms your brain (helping you sleep) by seeing your tasks on a piece of paper instead of swimming around in your head.
Tip: There are 4 ways to prioritize your goals and tasks depending on your life.
- Write your tasks and prioritize them from most important to least important.
- Write your tasks from hardest to easiest (or vice a versa).
- Write your tasks based on how much time it will take to do each one. You can either accomplish the ones that take the most time first or you can accomplish the tasks that take the least amount of time first.
- Write your goals and tasks based on deadlines. I have a day timer / planner with me at all times. When do you want to accomplish all of them?
What about you? Have you found any morning habits that work well for you? How do you tailor your routine to fit your personal and professional life?
I’d love to hear your experiences and insights at kathy@kathygademer.com.
