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  • The foundation of any great day starts with a great morning routine, and yours is holding

  • you back.

  • Let’s change that.

  • Dr. Jubbal, Medschoolinsiders.com.

  • What you do in the morning during the hour or so after you wake up sets the tone for

  • the rest of your day.

  • A good morning routine sets you up for success; a bad one sets you up for failure.

  • Here are eight morning routine mistakes that are holding you back, and what you can do

  • to fix them.

  • One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is not having a consistent morning routine.

  • Order breeds order and chaos breeds chaos.

  • Starting your day off feeling organized and prepared will give you positive momentum to

  • carry you through the day.

  • Even something as simple as making your bed when you wake up can have a profound impact

  • on the trajectory of your day.

  • As Admiral William H. McRaven said in his UT Austin commencement speech: “If you make

  • your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day.

  • It will give you a small sense of pride and will encourage you to do another task, and

  • another, and another.

  • By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.”

  • Every action you take in the morning sets up future actions throughout the rest of the

  • day.

  • Starting your day off with a few small wins gives you positive momentum to accomplish

  • bigger wins later in the day.

  • On the other hand, starting your day off with a few small losses halts your momentum and

  • sets you up for further losses.

  • Mistake number two is hitting the snooze button.

  • It may seem harmless to silence your alarm and sleep for another ten minutes.

  • In fact, it may even seem beneficial to get in a few extra minutes of rest when youre

  • feeling tired.

  • The reality is, though, that hitting the snooze button often does more harm than good.

  • When we sleep, we cycle through four different stages.

  • Stage one, stage two, and stage three are known as non-rapid eye movement or non-REM

  • sleep.

  • Stage four is known as REM sleep.

  • When we fall asleep, we first pass through the lighter stages of sleep, stages one and

  • two, before going into the deeper, restorative stages of sleep, stage three and REM.

  • Throughout the night, we cycle through these four stages of sleep completing one cycle

  • about every 90 minutes.

  • The problem with hitting the snooze button is that it disrupts the sleep cycle.

  • When you go back to sleep, you don’t necessarily pick up where you left off.

  • In other words, you might have cut yourself short on precious deep sleep only to return

  • to less restorative light sleep.

  • So the extra ten or fifteen minutes of sleep after hitting the snooze button is unlikely

  • to make you feel any less tired.

  • If you notice yourself feeling tired in the morning, hitting the snooze button every day

  • won’t fix the problem.

  • You need to get to the root of it and fix your sleep.

  • Are you going to bed early enough?

  • If so, how is your sleep quality?

  • Waking up tired in the morning is a reflection of the quality of sleep you got the night

  • before.

  • So instead of trying to fix it in the morning once the damage has already been done, you

  • need to fix the problem before it occurs.

  • You want to be proactive with your sleep instead of reactive.

  • I’ve done an entire video on the science of sleep and how to wake up feeling more refreshed

  • - link in the description.

  • Number three is not getting enough early morning sun exposure.

  • As humans we are diurnal, meaning that we are biologically wired to be awake during

  • the daytime and asleep during the nighttime.

  • One key hormone that helps regulate this biological rhythm is melatonin.

  • It helps set our circadian rhythm and primes our bodies for sleep come bedtime.

  • Research has shown that when people are exposed to sunlight in the morning, their nocturnal

  • melatonin production occurs sooner in the day and they have an easier time sleeping

  • at night.

  • This alone has been game-changing in me getting a better handle on my sleep onset insomnia.

  • I shoot for at minimum 2 minutes of morning sun exposure when I’m rushed, but ideally

  • at least 5 minutes and up to 10 when time allows.

  • Sun exposure also promotes the production of vitamin D, which is important for bone

  • and immune health.

  • As a society, we are spending more time inside and less time outside.

  • As a result, it is estimated that approximately 42% of Americans are vitamin D deficient.

  • Short, repeated sun exposure throughout the day has been shown to be ideal for increasing

  • vitamin D, so starting your morning with even a few minutes of sun exposure can be a great

  • way to jumpstart your vitamin D production for the day.

  • Mistake number four is checking your phone first thing in the morning.

  • While you sleep, your brain is able to work free from the distractions and overstimulation

  • of everyday life.

  • Your subconscious can focus on problems that you weren’t able to solve throughout the

  • day and can explore creative solutions to overcome them.

  • When you start your morning with a screen, however, you hinder thedownloadprocess

  • from occurring.

  • It also puts you in a reactive state rather than a proactive one.

  • Instead of being intentional with your morning and emotional state, you are reacting to all

  • the nonsense going on in the world.

  • As Matthew Walker, Professor of neuroscience and psychology at UC Berkeley, explains, when

  • you check your phone first thing in the morning, you let a flood of anxiety wash onto you.

  • This is problematic not just because it’s a bad way to start your day, but because you

  • train your brain in a sort of Pavlovian way to expect a rush of anxiety when you wake

  • up.

  • And this anticipatory anxiety is enough to negatively impact the quality of your sleep.

  • For many of us, checking our phones first thing in the morning has become so deeply

  • ingrained that it can be a difficult habit to break.

  • When implementing any habit change though, the best way to approach it is to start small.

  • Start by committing to wait five minutes after you wake up to check your phone - maybe after

  • you brush your teeth and use the bathroom for instance.

  • Then after a couple of days, extend it to ten minutes, then twenty minutes, and so on

  • and so forth.

  • Ideally, you should give yourself about an hour after you wake up before you check your

  • phone so you have adequate time to complete your morning routine free from distraction.

  • Mistake number five is neglecting your hydration and nutrition.

  • While you sleep, you lose water not only from normal metabolic processes but also in the

  • air that you exhale and by evaporation through your skin.

  • Since we are asleep and aren’t taking in any fluids, we aren’t replenishing the water

  • that we are losing.

  • For this reason, it’s common to wake up feeling dehydrated.

  • This is also why youll often notice your urine is quite concentrated in the morning.

  • An important part of any morning routine is to replenish the water youve lost while

  • asleep.

  • I make sure to keep a large water bottle filled near my bed, as it decreases the friction

  • to stay hydrated.

  • This way, I don’t have to go through the trouble in the morning to go to the kitchen,

  • grab a cup, and fill it up.

  • If youre one who regularly forgets to drink water in the morning, I strongly recommend

  • that you do the same, or pick up an overly enthusiastic interest in tea.

  • If you want to learn more about the unappreciated beauty and enjoyment of tea, check out this

  • intro video on my personal channel - link in the description.

  • After youve rehydrated yourself, the next piece of the equation is nutrition.

  • When it comes to breakfast, there are two types of people: those who eat breakfast and

  • those who don’t.

  • I believe that both can be viable options depending on the person and their situation.

  • I currently follow a 16/8 time-restricted feeding schedule and usually don’t start

  • my feeding window until 11 AM - several hours after waking up.

  • That being said, if you are going to eat breakfast in the morning, avoid processed foods like

  • sugary cereal, pop tarts, or sweetened yogurt.

  • These foods may make you feel good initially, but they often lead to a crash shortly thereafter.

  • Instead, try to eat a more balanced meal containing a mix of complex carbohydrates, proteins,

  • and fats.

  • This type of meal will be slower digesting and will provide you with more sustained energy

  • throughout the day.

  • Mistake number six is missing out on morning movement.

  • If there’s one habit I never miss, even going back all the way to 2012, it’s getting

  • my body moving every morning.

  • Over the years I have developed my own custom stretching and mobility routine and have completely

  • fallen in love with it.

  • I’ve noticed that when I do this as a part of my morning routine, I stand with better

  • posture, have more energy throughout the day, and simply feel better.

  • These beneficial effects were even more noticeable when I was a resident surgeon and had to spend

  • long days standing in the operating room or clinic.

  • Given the compounding effects of starting your day off with movement, it’s almost

  • silly not to do this every morning.

  • Spend just a couple of minutes stretching in the morning while you wait for the shower

  • to heat up or while you make your coffee.

  • Stick with it for a few weeks and I can almost guarantee that you won’t need me to tell

  • you the benefits because youll feel them for yourself.

  • If you want to see my exact stretching routine that I follow every single day, I have an

  • entire video on my personal channel going over it - link in the description.

  • Mistake number seven is missing out on the opportunity to practice mindfulness.

  • Our lives are full of distractions.

  • Between the news, social media, text messages, and zoom meetings, our attention is constantly

  • being pulled in different directions.

  • Outside of the morning, there are few opportunities for us to take a quiet moment, sit down, and

  • be alone with our thoughts.

  • For some people, mindfulness can mean following a guided meditation.

  • For others, it may mean going for a walk outside without distraction.

  • For you, it may mean something entirely different.

  • I won’t go into the full details of how regular mindfulness practice can benefit you

  • in multiple ways; however, Tim Ferriss notes that over 80% of his guests of world-class

  • performers start their days with some form of mindfulness practice.

  • Coincidence?

  • I think not.

  • Finally, morning routine mistake number eight is not setting intentions for the day.

  • There are many different ways you can go about doing this.

  • Some people prefer to do visualization practices and envision what they want to do later that

  • day.

  • For me, I prefer to use a journaling app which auto-populates a custom template that I fill

  • out each morning.

  • This morning template includes writing about three gratitudes, three long-term goals, today’s

  • 3 targets, and 3 affirmations.

  • This simple practice takes no more than 3 minutes, and it primes me for the day ahead

  • by getting me into the right mind space.

  • This is the journaling template that works for me, but feel free to experiment and find

  • what vibes with you.

  • If this video has motivated you to implement a better morning routine, remember to start

  • small and celebrate the small wins.

  • Try adding or modifying one element at a time and experiment for yourself.

  • And don’t get discouraged if things don’t stick immediately.

  • Keep experimenting with and refining your routine until it becomes something that you

  • look forward to every morning.

  • Take pride in your morning routine, and I can assure you that itll be an investment

  • that continues to pay dividends.

  • Thank you all so much for watching.

  • If you enjoyed this video, be sure to check out my video covering the Anatomy of a Perfect

  • Morning Routine or this other video.

  • Much love and I’ll see you guys in that next one.

The foundation of any great day starts with a great morning routine, and yours is holding

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