"Mornings are where the magic happens."
Adam Kreek
Founder Built for Hard
- Date
Rituals Aren’t Woo-Woo. They’re Fuel.
posted in Built For Hard
Adam Kreek
Most people treat the first hour of the day like it doesn’t matter.
It does. How you start sets the tone for how you lead.
I used to think morning rituals were for monks, yogis, or those entrepreneurs who somehow enjoy making kale smoothies at 4:30am while grinning like serial killers.
But then I entered my Corporate Athlete era.
Gone were the structured schedules and recovery cycles of elite sport. Instead: hotel rooms, airport terminals, stale air, and speaking gigs that ran late into the night. My alarm would go off in some anonymous city and I’d feel like a broken man crammed into a stiff suit.
If I didn’t have a morning ritual, I’d lose the day before it started.
So I built one that could flex with the insanity of my life.
Here’s what mine looks like—most days:
- Wake up and enjoy just lying there for a minute.
- Journal in my stoic journaling app.
- Get dressed in workout clothes laid out last night
- Move. Push-ups. A short run. Stretching (man do I feel tight).
- Get outside. At least 10 minutes. Sun, air, gravity, breath.
- Eat oatmeal and eggs. Simple. Repeatable.
- No screens for the first 30 minutes—unless it’s music or spoken audio that primes me for joy, strength, courage.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
Your body wakes up before your brain. Your habits wake up before your motivation.
If you start with pleasure, you win. It’s not about willpower—it’s about joy. That’s why rituals stick.
Some people start the day with YouTube and Instagram reels. That’s fine. I’d rather you binge “primitive technology” videos at 5am than doomscroll at midnight. Morning indulgence? Recoverable. Night-time rabbit holes? Catastrophic.
My kids helped too.
Once we had baby #2, then child #3 my morning ritual stopped being a nice-to-have and became a survival tactic.
Sure, I tried gentle wake-up alarms and sunrise lights. But my wife didn’t appreciate the 5:30am mood lighting. (Apparently, “glowy robot apocalypse” is not her aesthetic.)
So I returned to basics: small wins add up.
Still not convinced? Let’s go elite.
Tony Robbins jumps into a 57° plunge pool every morning. The Dalai Lama rises at 4am to bow and meditate before listening to the BBC and eating toast. Tim Ferriss uses cryotherapy. I'm often using the cold side of a hotel room floor.
I have a friend and client who recently set the rule that he does not check email before 9 am. Its changed everything for him. No mid afternoon crashes.
Point is: early hours are sacred. Don’t flood it with chaos.
And if you’re saying, “I don’t have 10 minutes,” then—sorry—you don’t have a life.
“The mind is the kite. Breath is the string.”
Your turn.
How do you manage the first hour of your day?
Try something. Anything. Just make it repeatable. Systems beat heroics.
Master your morning, and the rest will follow.
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Adam Kreek is on a mission to positively impact organizational cultures and leaders who make things happen.
He authored the bestselling business book, The Responsibility Ethic: 12 Strategies Exceptional People Use to Do the Work and Make Success Happen.
Want to increase your leadership achievement? Learn more about Kreek’s coaching here.
Want to book a keynote that leaves a lasting impact? Learn more about Kreek’s live event service here.