A Good Morning Creates A Good Life

<p>The Stoics believed in the power of ritual, particularly at the beginning and the end of the day. For them, routines and rituals were not productivity hacks, but ways of living. In a world where so much was out of our control, committing to a practice we did control was a way of establishing and reminding ourselves of our own power. It was about preparation. It was about creating peace. </p><p>We recently talked to Amy Landino—who reads <a href='https://dailystoic.com/?utm_source=convertkit&amp;utm_medium=convertkit&amp;utm_campaign=good-morning-good-life'><em>The Daily Stoic</em></a> each morning—about her book <a href='https://geni.us/MBhwOz'><em>Good Morning, Good Life</em></a>. A title whose essence the Stoics would have likely agreed with. If you can win the morning, you can win the day. Amy told us that it doesn’t matter if you have an hour or only five minutes, if you’re home or on the road, if the kids have you up at the crack of dawn or you sleep in until your body’s clock naturally wakes you—there are three keys to a good morning:<br/><br/><em>1. Movement — Do something to move your body. You can be ambitious and hit the gym right away. I prefer just a few simple stretches and massaging the muscles on my face. When you move your body a little, you wake up.</em></p><p>Or, <a href='https://dailystoic.com/letters-from-a-stoic/?utm_source=convertkit&amp;utm_medium=convertkit&amp;utm_campaign=good-morning-good-life'>as Seneca said</a>, &quot;Hold fast, then, to this sound and wholesome rule of life...The body should be treated more rigorously, that it may not be disobedient to the mind.”<br/><br/><em>2. Mindfulness — It&apos;s too easy to pick up the phone or turn the TV on when you don&apos;t have anything else to do. Instead of resorting to those things, start with a practice that helps you generate your own original thoughts or ideas. Meditation works for some people. I prefer stream-of-consciousness writing in a journal for 3 pages to get all the random annoyances and bad dreams off my brain so I can