Why Nailing Your Morning Will Nail Your Day (By Keye Wu)

Sometimes it's good to be an alumnus, especially when your brothers and sisters in your alma mater had done something proud and contributive to the world.

When I was researching about why we tend to have better self-control at the beginning of the day while we seem to lose willpower at night, I found an interested research from my lovely school - The University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom.

You may have heard about the claim that successful people start their days with a morning routine. But do you know the science behind why morning rituals can help us so massively when it comes to goal achievements?

Well, the reason why we have better self-control in the morning and why we should invest our mornings very carefully is because of something called ego depletion.

Basically, a study conducted by University of Nottingham found that self-control is a finite resource that determines how well we can consciously control our responses towards stimuli. But every time we exercise this self-control muscle, we will decrease our self-control capacity and this phenomenon is called ego depletion.

Ego depletion has a huge effect on our self-control, so as time passes throughout the day, we will find ourselves more difficult to control our behaviors, less confident in tackling challenging issues and less motivated to accomplish our tasks.

So based on this research finding, your morning is your best timing in the entire day to dominate your highest priority important tasks because your efficiency and mental resources are just going to decrease as time ticks.

The next question is, what should you incorporate into your morning ritual to jumpstart your day?

Here's my top 3 things I do to make sure I have a head start:

#1 Take a Cold Shower

This not only "shocks" my body and wakes me up. It also boosts my testosterone level so that I have a better drive, motivation and dominance needed to crush through my challenges.

An even better way is to alternate between cold and hot water when you shower, this helps your blood circulation a lot and brings immense health benefits.

#2 Drink 500ml of Lemon Water

After your sleep, you are dehydrated and it's essential for you to replenish your body system with fluids. Lemon water is excellent because its alkaline nature helps you neutralize the acidity in your blood.

If your blood is too acidic, your red blood cells will become sticky and have a lower oxygen-carrying capacity. That's when you feel tired, sluggish and demotivated.

#3 Exercise, Stretching or Breathing Exercises

You want to move your body in any shape or form. University of Bristol, in which I was also offered a chance to study, found that workers performed significantly better on exercise days because exercise helped re-energize and improve concentration, which made us calmer to solve problems.

If I don't go out and have a run, I normally at least do some deep breathing energy exercises at home with some meditation. The way you oxygenate yourself has a significant impact on how you feel at any given moment.

So is that all I do in the morning? No.

Are there more goodies I put in place? Yes.

Will giving you more overwhelm you and paralyze your action taking? Maybe.

Therefore, let's focus on implementing these 3 things in your morning first.

Do them.

Make them your new habits.

And go nail your mornings.

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