How do you “Win the Day”? Football coaches are notorious for being early risers, in fact, Jon Gruden is known as “Jon 3:11,” because that’s what time he wakes up in the morning. As I have researched early morning risers in football, I’ve noticed that not all coaches have a routine to start the day that actually sets them up for success. It’s interesting to note that many coaches will head to the office early just to get started before their opponent because they feel the pressure and grind of the profession or to show their players that they are up before them. They get to work early to start grinding away at the demands of the day. But what if there was a better way?
"Your first ritual that you do during the day is the highest leveraged ritual, by far, because it has the effect of setting your mind, and setting the context, for the rest of the day."
Why does one bother to get out of bed in the morning? If you are like most football coaches, you drag yourself out of bed because you have somewhere to be or something to take care of at the office. Given the choice, most people would just continue sleeping. Hit the snooze button and then run to the office and react to the demands of the day.
The saying, “You Snooze, You Lose” may have a special meaning in our profession.
If you are just snoozing every day, when are you going to develop yourself into the football coach you want to become? All these dreams wasted into the world of slumber. What if your coaching career could finally be something that you can’t wait to be alert for? Take the reins of your dreams and be proactive in developing the career path you aspire.
"When you wake up each day with determination, you'll go to be with satisfaction."
When you wake up early each day, you join a small percentage of high achievers who are living their dreams. By simply changing your approach to becoming an early riser with purpose, you will literally change the path of your career. Don’t just take my word for it. Here are a few famous early risers: Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and my fellow Greek, Aristotle. Here’s a list of 24 successful people in the business world that are known for being the “early bird, that catches the worm.”
What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “early morning ritual”? Don’t think of this in a religious context. I see it as a prescribed procedure for a particular result – a “recipe” if you may. Rituals do not always produce the intended results, but they do increase the probabilities. Before you design your morning ritual, here is an article on the 10 benefits of rising early, and how to do it.
ACTION: To get in the habit of waking up earlier. Set your alarm a half an hour sooner than you currently do. Repeat this for 3-4 weeks and you’ve gained 2 hours for yourself to win the day. Ease into it.
Here are seven steps to developing your morning ritual.
You pretty much do the same things every day. Maybe it’s as simple as you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock three times before you get going. Then you make a cup of coffee, brush your teeth, take a shower…
You have a recipe that is producing the results you are already getting. What are the key components of your ritual? From the time you wake up until the time you start your day. Be honest and write it down.
If your current ritual is achieving the results you want, don’t change it for the sake of changing. But, if you see an area to get that extra edge, then consider changing your routine.
This is when it gets interesting. Begin with the end in mind, as Stephen Covey used to say. Fast forward to the end of the process. Ask yourself, “How do I want to feel when I’ve completed my early morning ritual?” What state do you wish to be in? This is the target you are trying to hit!
My target: "I want to feel connected spiritually. I want to be optimistic, strong and sure of myself. I want to be energized and devoid of stress. I want to be resourceful to accomplish my mission in life."
This is my favorite part. Put it all in there. Brainstorm a list of everything you wish to include in your early morning ritual. Everything from drinking a cup of coffee, getting dressed, reading your Bible or an excellent book… it could be any number of things. Your list will be different than mine, I will share that with you later. Now, identify how much time each activity will take. Then arrange your list in the appropriate sequence, this will let the force of habit work for you.
Here is a sample a friend of mine uses…
Make the bed. (5 minutes) Make coffee. (5 minutes) Be Still. (15 minutes) Pray. (15 minutes) Read the Bible. (15 minutes) Journal. (15 minutes) Plan the day. (5 minutes) Exercise. (45 minutes) Eat breakfast. (10 minutes) Shower and dress. (20 minutes)
NOTE: My friend is in the season of his life where he can spend two and a half hours conducting his morning ritual. He doesn’t have small children and he is at a point in his career where he can benefit the most from this lengthy routine. I personally don’t spend this much time, but I just wanted to give you an example.
You’re never going to get it perfect. Get in the game and just start.
You don’t have to be a slave to your morning ritual. Keep adjusting to align with your goal. Don’t just go through the motions. Be intentional about it. You should never dread this routine.
Every night before you go to bed here are three important tasks to reduce distractions that may show up when you awake…
Here’s how it works:
As you sleep, you go through different phases, ranging from deep sleep to light sleep. The phase you are in when your alarm goes off is critical for how tired you will feel when you wake up. Since you move differently in bed during the different phases, Sleep Cycle can use the microphone or accelerometer in your smartphone to monitor your movements and determine which sleep phase you are in. Sleep Cycle wakes you when you are in your lightest sleep phase. Sleep Cycle was developed using proven sleep science and years of research and development. (Excerpt: Sleep Cycle App)
Here are a couple of links for the iPhone and Android. Try it, you’ll be surprised as to its effectiveness.
In this season of my life, I have a three-year-old son so conducting my morning ritual at the office works best.
As promised here is how I currently conduct my morning ritual…
This routine takes an hour and a half once I get to my office.
Now it’s time for you to get started. Make the effort to adjust your current morning ritual so you can win the day!
What is your morning routine? How can implementing the advice above improve your morning ritual?
Leave a reply and let me know!
Social Distancing has changed the way we operate in running our football program. Most coaches are home working online, helping to run the household, homeschooling children, and also doing their best to make progress toward an impending football season.
Tim Ferriss’ book, Tribe of Mentors, got me to thinking about how successful people get their day going with morning rituals. In his book, he interviews all types of successful people and asks each of them questions regarding their life. One of these questions is, How do you start your morning?
As a head coach, it’s vital to have a plan and to work toward your ultimate destination. When I was a young assistant coach at Kansas State University, I was fortunate to sit in staff meetings with Bill Snyder as he created the greatest turnaround in the history of college football.
Over the years I have worked in cubicles, open work environments, and individual offices. If you are fortunate to have your own office, I would like to share with you a process that I have gone through to create an optimal workspace.
In the Spring, the coaching carousel slows down and you can reflect upon the lessons learned from this turbulent time of the year when coaches are hired, fired and moving from place to place at an unprecedented pace. In speaking with an Athletic Director friend of mine, he made mention that he wondered if football coaches are ever really happy where they are…
