Do you set yourself up for failure every morning? If you hit the snooze button over and over, yes, but you didn’t know that until now. Two years ago, I was in your situation. It was my dream to be a successful person, you know, the type of person who always seems motivated and gets things done in no time. I always knew that getting up early would change my life, but the problem wasn’t getting up early, it was sleeping early.

As you can relate, I thought I didn’t have what it takes to have an amazing morning routine that in a couple of years will morph into a success story. It was just a dream that I wanted, yes it was, not anymore!

Do these statements sound familiar to you?

• I will wake up early tomorrow.

• I have slept late, so I should sleep more.

• I don’t do anything useful in the morning anyway, so why do I have to get up early?

• I’m just not the right person for growth and success, I lack discipline.

If you relate to one or all of these and are nodding your head, this guide will definitely save you from the struggle.

I won’t even mention the agonizing impacts of wasting your mornings because you’re living them. Let’s start with the benefits and how those benefits will change your life for the better.

The first and the best, getting up early will give you mental strength. You’re probably saying, “I get up early every day to go to work or school, and there’s no mental advantage!” Well, I have some questions for you: what do you do when you wake up? Go through your emails? But social networks? Or are you in a hurry to get to work/school on time? Another question: what do you do for yourself? To have mental strength, you must work on yourself. According to a study contacted by the American Psychological Association, having a good routine at the beginning of the day will reduce depression, anxiety and stress. More than that, it will increase your level of satisfaction that will turn into happiness.

Second, a good starting routine will provide you with physical benefits. For example, I do a hundred push-ups after I wake up (of course, it’s not the only exercise I do throughout the day), which jumpstarts my energy for the day. I am not suggesting you do push ups, you can practice yoga or even go for a walk. Another physical benefit of having a good morning routine is consuming fewer calories. I did an experiment with a group of twenty people, ten of us slept late for the next month, while the rest slept early. As a result, late sleepers ended up eating more because when you sleep late you get hungry, so you tend to eat more, which over the years leads to obesity.

Third, a good start always brings spiritual rewards. Visualizing your success gives you inner peace. I remember visualizing myself freelancing and earning enough money to travel while I worked. And that gave me enough motivation every day to work for my ambitions, therefore my relationships with people improved both at home and at work. When you work for what you envision today, at some point you will make it a reality. Of course, practicing visualization is not the only way to have inner peace. Meditation, journaling, or making a list of things you are grateful for will also help.

Of course, there are many other benefits of getting up early, but in my opinion, the ones on top are dominant over other benefits. What more are you going to ask for if you are mentally strong, healthy as a model and at peace with yourself, right?

I hope you’re ready to build your own awesome morning routine! No, don’t say, “but I’m not a morning person.” It all starts in your mind, so change your thinking and be positive by getting up early. “Beliefs we hold that are so deeply ingrained that we don’t even realize they guide our attitudes and behaviors,” said author Ramit Sethi. In simple words, what you believe is your reality. So, you better start believing that you are an early riser.

Your morning routine doesn’t start in the morning; starts the night before. Here are five things you need to do to build a habit from the ‘Habit Starter Checklist’ written by Rob Norback. First, always remember the habit you want to create, in this case it is getting up early. Secondly, break it into small parts to make it easier and possible for you to make a routine decision regarding your new habit. For example, what activities will you include in your morning routine. Third, know what rewards it will bring you. How I Did This I wrote how creating and following a morning routine will improve my life on a piece of paper and read it every day. Fourth, visualize your success with your morning routine. Finally, record the progress, it will definitely encourage you to continue.

If you have trouble sleeping due to stress, anxiety, and uncertainty (worry about the future) of the future, as I have in the past. I highly recommend that you write down negative thoughts like these on a piece of paper, then fold and tear it, and finally throw it away. By doing this, you drive negative thoughts out of your head and physically do something to them that is extremely relieving.

Another useful activity to relax before going to sleep; deep breath, silence your inner voice, so that it does not bother you; think of good things, read a book, write in a journal, or look forward to an amazing night’s sleep. There is no certain way to relax before bed, you can find what works for you by trying them out.

It’s time to chase your dreams and since the day starts in the morning, you need to have a good morning routine. Start by getting excited, I think this is the first thing you should do in the morning. ‘Today is going to be the most productive day of my life’ this is what I tell myself when I wake up. You can come up with different ones for yourself, like ‘I’ll be at my best today’, you got the idea.

Every time I wake up and I get up, I get out of bed and start doing push-ups right away, of course there are many other exercises you can do. For example, sit-ups, walking, jogging, even dancing, do whatever you want for about twenty minutes that fills you with energy.

Cold water is the enemy of sleep, if you can take a cold shower do so, however if not just wash your face with cold water. Do you feel awake? Now say what you are grateful for, you can make a list if you want. This is what I am grateful for:

• Being able to wake up

• Live the life I always dreamed of

• Do exercise

• Delicious breakfast

• Friends

• Go to the movies and have a good time with my partner.

• Being able to finish my projects on time

Read them all out loud (of course, yours will be different), by doing this, you tell yourself that you are a successful person, therefore, more achievements will come your way today.

Take your time when creating your morning routine, creating my current morning routine took me two years. At first I set my alarm clock for 5 am and thought it would give me more energy and productivity. On the contrary, it gave me nothing but drowsiness, when you do something little by little your chances of success are more likely. Let’s say you normally wake up at 6 am the next day at 5:45. Then, gradually work toward your wake-up time goal by setting your alarm clock 15 to 30 minutes earlier. In short, start small, be persistent, and you will achieve your wake-up time goal.

Like I said before, take your time, I didn’t build my winning morning habit in one day but in two years. Don’t put too much into your morning routine when you’re starting out, I made that mistake. I read books, meditated, exercised, worked; however, it did not fill me with happiness and I thought many times about giving up. Build your perfect morning routine gradually, for example, exercise, after exercising it becomes a habit, read a book after exercising. You don’t get the whole building in one day, you build it and it takes time.