It’s all about accountability systems

So your day’s probably dragging out, you’re on your third coffee, you’re lost in space struggling to regain focus to stay productive for the rest of the day, and it’s not even lunch yet. Well, what if I told you that there is a way you can stay alert, focused, and on top of your game every single day? You probably wouldn’t believe me right? Nonetheless, you will read this as you are always trying to find more ways to be productive in your life, and this article just might have the ticket. What I am about to show you is indeed one of the absolute best ways to have a productive day, every day.

Forget the coffee, the 5-hour energy, the mid-day power nap (Although it can be nice), and all the other hacks people try to sell you. I am not selling anything here. What I am doing is teaching you guys a method that I use every single day to have the highest productivity and focus that I can have, and it works, very well. When it comes to being productive I have tried it all, and the best way to have a productive day starts with doing the right things as soon as the day starts. That doesn’t necessarily mean as soon as the sun rises, it simply means, as soon as you wake up, whenever that may be. For me, my days start very early.

So the key to this is very simple, and that’s to have rituals. Rituals that get you into the right mindset. The problem with being productive is typically because your mind is not set, right? I mean think about it. Try to think of the times when it’s hard for you to stay focused and on task. Usually, you are scatterbrained, and when that happens you tend to run short on time. So logically you think that the best way to get things done is to multi-task. Studies have shown that people who multi-task ironically end up getting less done than those who don’t. What also happens is that when one thing doesn’t have your 100% attention, it tends to lack in quality. So the key to being productive is to be present in what you are doing and have the right mindset. But how in the world can you control your mindset?!

The best way to get into the right mindset for anything is to perform a series of events that empower specific emotions in your body. Motion creates emotion, and your mind is nothing but a bucket full of them. So the key is to get these emotions in balance. When your emotions are in balance you will become much more focused, and that’s how you stay productive. So what I like to do is go through specific routines or “rituals” to get my emotions in balance. For me to have an overall productive day it starts with my morning routine.

I developed this routine after learning it from a well-known life coach named Stefan Pylarinos. Now, I don’t know if he created this himself, or if he too learned it from someone else, but I did not create the concept of a morning routine. I learned it from him. However, I wanted to go a little more in-depth with the process and show you how to truly make the most of it in your life. This concept is designed around my “7 key Investments For A Successful Life“. The image you see below is the exact routine that I go through every morning. It can certainly be done in less time, but I don’t like being rushed, and I like to really take my time and make sure I make the most out of everything in my routine.

This is a very old version of my ritual. It has evolved but most of these things are still things I do today.

My Morning Routine (A dry-erase board works great. I eventually created better digital systems and improved my routine over the years, but a dry-erase or even paper are just fine when starting.)

So you might be wondering what some of this stuff means, such as “Feed Your Mind”, “Incantations”, or “Driving Force”. So now I’m going to break down this routine piece by piece for you.

• Smile, Breathe, Hydrate, Stretch – When you first wake up in the morning, your body needs a few things, and as simple as they sound most people skip every one of these things. Mornings are often an unpleasant time for most of us. Who likes waking up and having to leave a warm comfy bed to go to work, right? So the very first thing I do when I wake up is put a big smile on my face, even if I am not necessarily in a happy mood. The act of smiling will naturally make you feel better. The next step is to breathe, not like you normally do, but do some deep breathing exercises to really open up your lungs and oxygenate your body. After that, you need to hydrate. Go grab a big glass of water, and drink it. You have been asleep for probably 6-8 hours. Your body is begging for water and oxygen. After all of that give your body a good stretching from head to toe. Do not skip any of these.

• 30-50 Jumping Jacks – The next step in my routine is to get my blood flowing with a little high-intensity workout. I like to do jumping jacks because it is a full-body exercise. Some people (including myself) like to use what’s called a rebounder, which is a mini trampoline. There are handfuls of benefits from the up-and-down motion of a rebounder. Such as low impact on your joints, and it also helps your digestive system. These are both great things in the morning. I don’t know about you, but I’m a pretty stiff guy in the mornings. Having a rebounder helps tremendously to loosen me up without really having a lot of intensity. It helps wake you up because you can ease into it. This process is just a method to get your blood flowing.

• Incantations – These powerful things are how you affirm that you are a beast. At least that’s how I see them. Incantation is just another word for affirmation. These are little sayings that you say out loud with confidence that help boost your morale such as, “I am a money magnet”, or “I am destined for success and nothing is going to stop me from achieving it”. You want these sayings to have power behind them and do not forget to SAY THEM OUT LOUD.

• Empowering Questions – These are questions that you ask yourself that are designed to empower your emotions and make you feel good. These questions might consist of “What am I going to do today, that will help me succeed tomorrow?” or “What am I doing differently than everyone else to stand out?” Make these questions very thought-provoking so that you become “Empowered”. Say these out loud.

• Driving Force – This is simply the reason behind why you do everything you do. Your “Big Why”. What is driving you to be the best you can be? Is it your kids, your desire for success, money, or just the want to be the best? What drives you? Say this out loud also.

• Feed Your Mind – But Ian, it’s impossible to feed your mind you say…well, not really. The idea is to feed your mind knowledge. People are power, and knowledge is the key to persuading people to be on your team. Knowledge helps you have a leg up on your competition. The way I feed my mind is by reading books or watching educational videos.

• Review Goals & Plan Day – One of the most important parts of setting yourself up for success is making an effort to plan the way you are going to spend your time. Most people let their schedules run them and they don’t feel like they have control over their time. It’s your life, make sure you control how you spend your time. Learn how to “Time Block“.

• Accountability Call – The biggest thing a lot of people struggle with when it comes to achieving their goals is holding themselves accountable for sticking to the plan. When it comes to accountability you are your worst enemy. So find a friend with similar goals and values as you to be an accountability partner. This way you can push each other to success and make sure one another isn’t slacking on their goals. I do a daily accountability call. Multiple in fact, I have an accountability partner for business and fitness.

• Workout – After all of the above is complete, it’s time to hit a solid workout. Now for me, fitness is a bigger goal of mine. So sometimes I workout multiple times per day on top of being an avid MMA student. You might not have the same goals, none the less you still need to exercise. This is a crucial part of the routine. Exercise helps to release all those “feel goods” inside your body that make you naturally feel better. I like to use my morning workout time to be more cardio-based as I normally will do a harder workout in the evenings. My morning workout is normally a 30-45 minute fast-paced session with high-intensity exercises.

• Shower/Breakfast – After everything is finished it’s time to head home and take a good shower. I like to provide myself plenty of time in the mornings to make sure I’m not rushed and end up skipping things. When it comes to showering and getting ready for the day when you are rushed you can tend to forget things like cleaning your ears, brushing your teeth, fixing your hair, etc…But when you have enough time you can make sure you don’t miss anything. You will have time to fix your hair the way you like it instead of throwing on a hat for a change. Trust me, it makes a difference, and you will feel much more complete knowing you didn’t miss anything in the morning. After my shower, I like to prepare a nice healthy breakfast. Breakfast is often said to be the most important meal of the day. So I make an effort to make sure it’s a good one. While I eat breakfast I will catch a little news on TV or watch a quick episode of one of my favorite shows, but be careful not to get lazy and fall asleep on the couch.

So now you have done an incredible amount of stuff. Maybe even more stuff than most people get done in an entire day, and for me, it’s still really early. At this point, I am ready to start my work for the day. I have a very planned & structured day. So at every hour, I know exactly what I am doing, on any day of the week. By “Time Blocking” it allows me to know exactly when I am to be doing specific things.

The quote that states “If it’s not on your calendar, it doesn’t exist” is 100% true. So be intentional about your success, and your time. Time is the most valuable thing we have, so be sure you are surrounding yourself with people who add value to your life. Negativity is the enemy of productivity. It will suck away all of your willpower away if you allow it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my morning routine, and I hope you make an effort to give it a try. You don’t have to do the same thing, but I highly encourage you to at least create your own and see how it works in your life. You can also do routines throughout the day to maintain a higher productivity level. Do an evening routine geared towards making sure you have a great night. Either way, you are going to see massive increases in your productivity. If you have done this and have great results let me know in the comments! Also, if you gave it a shot, and it didn’t work for you, I’d be glad to hear about your experience as well.

Furthermore, if you genuinely feel like this is pretty basic. I have more advanced strategies for an optimized life inside of our training course, Operation Optimize. It’s one of the best training programs around for this kind of stuff. Check it out if you got any value from this post, you will be blown away with the real training course.