By: Sharran Srivatsaa, Author's original work

Morning Routines for Greatness

Establishing a consistent, thorough, morning routine is a cornerstone habit of success. But it doesn’t have to be something that has a ridiculous number of steps in order to make it work. Often times, I see those who come to me for advice becoming overzealous when they begin this process. At its core, your morning routine should be as simple as counting to 4. When developing your morning routine, start by asking yourself the following:

1. What goals do I have for my body?
2. What goals do I have for my mind?
3. What goals do I have for my spirit?
4. What goals do I have for my business?

Setting these four intentions at the beginning of the process helps frame everything, and it is important that you do not try to choose too many goals for each category. This is where we get overwhelmed. Developing a morning routine that is too aggressive in its scope is only setting you up for failure.

Remember...Your morning routine should prepare you so that you have the energy, drive, and vitality to accomplish all that you must do each day.

Once you have decided your four core basic goals, then you can deep dive into more specific goal setting.

I find that evaluating goals every 90 days helps to keep everything realistic, achievable, measurable and within one’s grasp. Having a short deadline to be accountable to helps immensely to sharpen focus, and this time frame allows one to re-prioritize rather than completely discard all goals if a change in direction is needed. Choose goals that you find challenging but not completely out of reach. Keep things sensible.

It is imperative that you narrow down your goals at this point. Having too many things you’d like to accomplish dilutes focus, and scattered attention is the enemy of greatness. If you have a rather large goal - it is so important to break it down into smaller goals. Breaking up large goals into smaller ones allows our brain to savor the dopamine hit we get from accomplishing things - and helps us crave the next one. Be sure to save the next steps in your plan for the next 90-day goal setting session.

Clarity is the ultimate goal at this point - you need to become crystal clear on exactly what you desire.

Once you have become completely clear on exactly what you want to accomplish, it’s time to manifest. This involves writing out your goals as if you’ve already achieved them - as if you’re 90 days in the future and celebrating your success. It’s also helpful to attach an emotion or a personal value to the goal.

For example, you may write out something like the following:

I weigh 163 pounds, I feel so healthy and love knowing that I will live a long healthy life with my wife and children.

I have 4 deals under contract, it makes me feel accomplished and proud to be the top producer in my office.

I have saved $10,000. Having this kind of discipline makes me feel as if I can accomplish anything.

I have three chapters of my book finished, I am so grateful I started writing and can’t wait to keep going knowing how many lives will be transformed by my message.

I bench press 220 pounds, I feel strong and confident.

Every morning, you begin your day by writing out these declarations in a journal, by hand, from memory.

When you commit to doing this simple practice, you will program your nervous system to expect success and you create a unique singularity of focus along with a powerful sense of clarity for your subconscious.

Now that you have your goals and a solid morning routine established, you must take the next step and fiercely commit to action.

What needs to happen every day in order to make these goals a reality? What steps do you need to take in order to be sitting where you want to be in 90 days? These actions need to be (1) attainable: you should have the capability to do it; and (2) accountable: meaning you should be able to say with a clear yes or no whether or not you did it. That’s it. Let's not overcomplicate our lives.

Write your actions out on a list and put the list where you can see it.

Accomplish the items on your list every day.

This is where the singularity of focus comes into play - Your focus is only this. Your priority is only this. Your commitment is only this. You are breathing, eating, sleeping, and meditating only this... because you want this so bad. You want to create this bigger and better future for yourself so much that everything else is irrelevant.

For example, your actions may include something like the following:

I wake up at 4:55 a.m. every day for the 5 AM Club.
I walk for 30 minutes every day.
I read 10 pages of an inspirational book every day.
I meditate for 10 minutes every day.
I write 1,500 words of my book every day.

Action drives momentum. Momentum drives results.

At this point, you have a solid morning routine that will bring you success beyond your wildest imagination, if you commit to developing it and performing the actions needed to accomplish your goals every day. It really is this simple.

Wondering if it actually works? Let me share a story with you.

After a recent keynote presentation, a young man approached me and wanted some advice. He was calm, composed, and confident. He stated to me that he had set some ambitious yet realistic goals for the future and wanted my one overarching piece of advice on making those goals a reality.

Now, I am the first one to tell you that I believe the “give me your top strategy” or “tell me one thing that could take me from x to y” type question is ridiculous.

If there really was the “one” thing we would all do it, right? We all know it takes a collection of ideas and commitments working in sync with each other as opposed to a silver bullet to accomplish our dreams.

But at the moment, I shared this answer with the young man.

I outlined the exact system I shared with you above, albeit in a much briefer synopsis.

Last week, this same young man reconnected with me and shared that he has already accomplished 1 out of his 7 goals for the year, just 30 days into the process. It’s so amazing to me that when people seek advice, set goals, and take consistent action, that anything is possible.

Please, reach out, share with me your value-aligned goals, your action steps, your vision for the future. I’d love to help you celebrate your wins!

Sharran Srivatsaa is the CEO of Kingston Lane, a push-button technology execution platform for real estate. Most recently, Sharran grew Teles Properties by 10x in 5 years and led its acquisition to Douglas Elliman.

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