Juliet Collados is a Cornell University Plant Based Nutritionist🥑and a Personal Finance Junkie🌱
A couple years ago, a video went viral on Youtube called The “1 Billion Dollar Morning Routine”. It was made in partnership with Jim Kwik who is a multi-million dollar “brain coach” and American entrepreneur and it claims to explain the habits of some of the most successful people in the world…aka billionaires.
I had three initial reactions upon watching the video for the first time:
- This seemed super time consuming
- At the same time, this was not the bougie, Goop style itinerary I was expecting
- I was skeptical of how these items were meant to translate into (potentially) having more money in my pocket
Maybe I had listened to too many podcasts on manifestation and financial independence but, as they say, curiosity is made of doubt and inquiry so I decided that the routine was worth a try for a couple of weeks.
Boy was I pleasantly surprised with the outcome!
Just a little bit of background: At the time, I had an offer on an investment property and while I was already in a stable financial position to make that investment, I was also eager to make a little extra money on the side to help make up for some closing costs.
The Routine
First, let me break down the actual morning routine for you, as presented by Jim Kwik in the video I linked above. Fair warning, it is lenghty:
- Wake Up Early
- Recall Your Dreams
- Make Your Bed
- Drink A Tall Glass of Water
- Take Vitamins/Probiotics
- Meditate for 20 minutes/breathing exercises
- 1–2 minutes of movement
- Take a cold shower
- Do Your Normal Routine (brush teeth, do hair etc)
- Make a tea
- Write in Journal
- Write “feel better” list
- Write “to be” list
- Read 20–30 minutes
- Make Smoothie
- Start Your Day
Like I said…this seemed time-consuming. When you finally get to the last step, that is when you are meant to actually start your day but just this list looked like it was going to take up the majority of my morning! Just the meditation and reading alone add up to almost an hour.
However, I persevered. Because of lockdown I was working at home and didn’t have to plan this around a commute, so I just set my morning alarm a little earlier to give myself an extra hour or two in the morning.
After diligently completing this morning routine for a few weeks, I came to some definitive conclusions of what I did not enjoy, what I did enjoy, and last but not least what led to an increase in my income.
Items To Pass On
To my surprise, there was only one item that I really did not find beneficial and that was recalling my dreams.
The idea behind recalling your dreams, according the Jim, is that it helps you recognize what your subconscious is doing through the day. This sounds kind of cool in theory, but for me personally I either just could not recall my dreams at all or they were so non-sensical I just felt like I was wasting time trying to assign some sort of meaning to them.
I am sure that some people would have far more success with this, but I personally did not find it beneficial.
Items That Were Beneficial Physically
I loved how this morning routine had a huge focus on physical health (and arguably mental health with all of the journaling).
Ensuring that I was hydrated every morning and moving my body was an excellent way to start the day, but the real kicker was the cold shower.
If you are familiar with Wim Hof at all then you have likely heard of the benefits of cold therapy. While Wim Hof is the face of cold therapy, there isn’t a huge amount of scientific evidence to back it up.
It is something, however, that athletes have sworn by and the little evidence that there is on the topic claims that it can improve circulation, deepen sleep patterns, spike your energy levels, reduce inflammation, and aid the immune system.
As painful as the cold showers were, I did in fact feel like a million bucks afterwards.
Money aside, this morning routine did leave me feeling physically in tune with my body not only in the morning but throughout the whole day which I believe led me to make better decisions throughout the day.
What Made The Financial Difference
Ok, so what made the big difference for me and led me to making extra money?
The journaling and meditation.
As corny as it sounds, taking that time every morning to zero in on my goals and dreams, what I was grateful for, and what I aspired for, really helped me to set my intentions for the day.
I quickly came to realize that perhaps one of the biggest differences between your average person and the unicorns that are billionaires, is perhaps that they prioritize their time differently. Personally, while I was completing this morning routine I found the following:
My priorities shifted — the number one was no longer “reporting to the boss” and instead it become allowing myself to dream and envision before anything else.
Is that all it takes? Maybe that’s where it all starts?
All of us have big visions for the future, but I often find that mine get lost in a sea of non-specific thinking and I lose sight of what I needed to do to make that vision happen.
On the one hand, I found that the meditation gave me time to dream and envision my ideal self, while the journaling gave me time to zero in on actionable plans.
My vision was to invest in more real estate to help me create passive income and eventually live a life independent of relying on a salaried 9–5 job. I decided that any extra income I am able to make on the side would obviously be helpful in covering some real estate costs.
My plan (that I created during my journaling) was to test out 3 different side hustles to see which was most profitable and determine which to pursue long term. These additional earnings would go towards savings for closing costs or down payments.
I ended up writing an entire article that details all 3 of the side hustles, but in short, I tried:
- upselling Ikea items which earned me $1155
- selling personal items which earned me $940
- furniture flipping which earned me $795
By setting time aside in my morning to focus on my goals I was able to create an easy and actionable plan that earned me an extra $2890.
Additionally, because I turned my side hustle test into an article, I have also been making money off of that. That article now has approximately 4,000 views and has earned me $172 and counting. While that isn’t any crazy amount of money, it is money that was created as a result of me practicing the Billionaire’s Morning Routine.
Final Thoughts
In total, I made an extra $3062 after starting to practice the Billionaire’s Morning Routine.
Although I was very skeptical at first, I appreciated that the morning routine forced me to put time aside for my goals whereas on any other day I would not have given these thoughts the time of day and I would have given priority to work.
While I can’t promise that you will automatically start making more money after trying this morning routine, I can say that it is a well-rounded routine that at the very least puts an emphasis on both physical and mental health.
source: https://medium.com