Install your “apex operating system”

Over the course of three decades of research, we have learned what practices will allow anyone to sustain peak energy and focus all day long. While anyone can do it, each person’s way of doing it will differ. There is no “one size fits all” method, but everyone can find the method that works for them.

For example, what does it take to set your energy and focus at 9 out of 10 in the first hour after you wake up? Researchers have found that how you begin your morning strongly influences how you feel in the afternoon and evening.

So think about the best first hour you have ever had. What did you do? Did you wake up at the last possible second, or earlier than that? What did you think about and envision? Did you sip a specific beverage or eat a specific food? Did you step outside for a few moments? Did you move or exercise, and if so, how? Did you glance at your schedule to see how it matched up with your goals?   Did you plan ahead with ways to sustain your energy and focus?

Tomorrow morning, re-create your best-ever first hour. Observe exactly what you feel, and then across the day think back about it. Then, the day after tomorrow, start testing ways to top it.