3 Morning rituals from an Entrepreneur of Influence that you’ve never heard… By Douglas Vermeeren

As an entrepreneur, how you start your day will generally dictate the results you will create throughout the day. And your first activities of the day will generally create the momentum for the rest of your day. Therefore, if you are to be an effective Entrepreneur of Influence your activities must be planned and achieved carefully.

Often time’s people cite ideas like get up early, exercise, eat a healthy breakfast, don’t start by checking emails as a proper beginning to the day. While some of these ideas are useful, they are only a small scope view into what the top business leaders do on a daily basis.

There are many well-intentioned materials, programs and website out there that share these ideas. When you as an entrepreneur wonder why you’re not seeing the same success, it becomes evident there are many powerful activities and rituals that are missing. These missing rituals will make a massive difference in your ability to succeed and grow your business.

I had the chance to conduct first-hand and in-person interviews with more than 400 of the world’s top business leaders. I found some interesting patterns emerge in their morning rituals and daily routines. These were people who create multi-national brands and how are worth millions and billions of dollars. However, these are real results-driven ideas that will help small businesses and entrepreneurs create more power and result in their day.

If you would like to be an Entrepreneur of Influence you will need to add these activities to your day as well.

I would like to share three things that I observed top business people do in their morning rituals that no one else is talking about.

1. Activities & Objectives

Each morning they list and review their activities for that day and consider the objectives of those activities. Top business leaders recognize that their most important asset is time and the best way to use that time is to create specific outcomes. They don’t simply review their schedule nor make a to-do list. The business leaders that I observed also identified which of these activities could be delegated or removed from their schedule if they did not solve a purpose. Going into these activities with purpose also made everything more effective.  Meetings were also shorter and more precise. Telephone calls or visits with clients, team members or others had stronger results and higher levels of outcomes were produced. Also, finding purpose in the meetings helped in establishing boundaries around things that were important and protected the business leaders from distraction which eliminated time-wasting interruptions and unplanned emergencies. 

As I had taught this first strategy to this in our Entrepreneur of Influence Business training programs we have seen individuals increase their profits and effectiveness by upwards of 167%. When you recognize the real return on the actives you are allowing in your daily activities you start giving your focus where it will reward you the most.

2. Review & Consider expenditures and purchases 

You’ve probably heard that if most businesses struggle, especially in their start-up phases it will be with cash management. What I have observed with new entrepreneurs is that they generally lack the insight or the discipline to know how to manage cash flow. Most purchases happen with the same impulse buying partners they have experienced in their personal lives. As a result, most of the purchases to grow their business are generally not well thought out or considered.  When it comes to cash management most entrepreneurs need to slow down and be more careful. 

The top business leaders that I observed generally have some rules set up around spending. For purchases under a certain amount of money, directives were given, especially if spending was delegated to other people as well. For expenses over a certain amount, more thought was required. In some cases, where multiple individuals were involved or the companies were larger purchases need to be approved by a group. 

Even if you are a solopreneur or small business you need to have spending considerations as part of your morning rituals. You need to know ahead of time each day what you have to spend, what you would possibly spend it on, for what purpose you would spend it on and consider careful exceptions to the rules you set up in case anything special or necessary appears that you didn’t think of.

Where possible you should also slow down your spending process and be more considerate of every purchase you will make.

An area of caution I see many entrepreneurs react in self-damaging ways when this principle is shared. When they hear about morning cash flow planning like we are talking about here it is natural to look for ways to stop spending altogether. That is not what I am saying, there are many things you should and must buy if you want your business to thrive and survive. What I am talking about is finding more purpose behind the things you buy. Strengthen your business through correct purchases that are thought through and smart for business.

3. Preparation 

The final activity I would like to share is about preparation. Top business leaders spend a great deal of their morning in preparation for everything that must follow in the day. For example: If you have a meeting with a client during the day you should return to your notes and the objectives for that meeting. If you have to speak with a supplier or a distributor you should do the same. Every meeting, training, interview or interaction should be reviewed and your preparation should be revisited. In business, you can never prepare enough! Your performance and your profits will always be a reflection of your preparation.

If you will add these three deliberate activities to your morning rituals you will see improvements in the clarity in your business and your profits.

Over the last two decades, Douglas Vermeeren has conducted extensive first-hand research into the lives of the world’s top achievers. He has the success strategies of top business leaders from Nike, Reebok, Fruit of the Loom, FedEx, KFC, United Airlines, Microsoft, Disney, and others to share with you. ABC television and FOX Business refer to him as the modern Day Napoleon Hill.  He has authored 3 books in the Guerrilla marketing series and is the CEO of Entrepreneur Influence. He is a regularly featured expert on FOX, CNN, ABC, NBC, CTV, CBC, The Huffington Post, NY Daily News, and others.