How do Billionaires use Their Time to be so Successful? 

A morning routine for me makes a huge difference to my day. When I don’t stick to my routines (which are doable no matter where I am), my mental health suffers. 

Recently, I came across the Billionaire Morning Routine. Often, they come across to me as something only men who have a wife at home doing it all can do. Or someone already wealthy enough to afford a nanny/housekeeper to assist in getting kids ready in the morning.

My Situation: Pregnant, 4 kids, Business, Study, Everything…

As a mother of 4, who is also 6 months pregnant, these routines look ambitious. With teens, a 7-year-old stepdaughter who does not live with us, a 9-month-old AND Mr Aspiring Millionaire in another state, barely contactable for 4 months, I have a lot on my plate already.

I also manage all our finances, a couple of businesses, am studying, can’t get my son into childcare yet (on the waitlist) and everything else e.g. visa application, all life paperwork that needs to be done etc. 

Having been a single mother of 2 previously, life feels like that again. Mr Aspiring Millionaire is not financially providing, I am. He is also unavailable for emotional support or anything else right now. We barely get to say good morning or good night. So, it is extremely similar to my previous single mother life, only with extra people I have to provide for and extra work to do.

What is the Billionaire Morning Routine?

The Billionaire Morning Routine includes:

Wake early
Recall your dreams
Make your bed
Drink a large glass of water 
Take vitamins/probiotics
Meditate for 20 minutes
1 to 2 mins exercise/movement
A cold shower 
Your usual get ready routine
Make tea
Journal
Write your to feel list
Write your to be list
Read for 20 to 30 minutes
Drink a brain food smoothie

Seem like a lot? Some mornings it certainly felt that way. But at the same time, most of these were habits I already tried to implement in my life, not in this order though. 

Wake Early

Most morning routines I see consist of people getting up at 4 or 5 am. I’ve never been a morning person per se but I am trying. Since the sun is up around 5 am now, I am waking naturally to it.

Some mornings, my son wakes too. As cute as he is, I do wish he slept those mornings until 6 am to give me an hour. 

The key to getting up early is going to bed early too. Switch off screens an hour or two before you plan to go to bed. Have a wind-down routine so when you get to bed, you sleep easily. This is where I fall apart. My night routine is a mess but I am working on it. 

Recall Your Dreams

Usually, I have the most vivid, wild dreams friends and family have ever heard. When I was younger I kept a journal to write in when I woke. I haven’t done this for years but now have one sitting on my bedside table.

The reason behind recalling your dreams is because our dreams are our subconscious processing things. Sometimes they can have meaning and help you work things out. 

Make Your Bed

Making your bed first thing means you have already achieved something for the day. Another perk is every time you walk into your room it looks tidier and you are less likely to want to crawl back into it. 

Ask my parents, this is something I have been hopeless with my whole life. Mr Aspiring Millionaire often didn’t have a bed so rarely made it either. Since my son sleeps in the cot next to the bed, I don’t want to make it and accidentally wake him.

Some mornings when he woke up with me, I did it before heading downstairs. Other mornings, if he was not awake, I did it later when he got up. 

Drink a Large Glass of Water

Our bodies are mostly water. Overnight, we sweat and get dehydrated so need to refuel. Drinking a large glass of water is extremely beneficial for overall health and is super quick. 

Being pregnant, I am encouraged to drink a glass for myself and a glass for my baby. My preference is to keep 2 glass bottles of water in the fridge (they are 800ml each) plus one with a herbal tea bag, totalling 2.4L I will drink throughout the day, sometimes more. 

Plus, I have a separate glass for taking my vitamins. If I am active, I drink more as well.

Take Vitamins/Probiotics

Gut health is directly linked to overall health. Years ago, I was paralysed on and off for 7 months with level 10 pain. Meaning pain so intense I would blackout. It happened again in early 2017. I know it is connected to stress and gut health.

Vitamins and probiotics help with this. Foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut and other fermented foods have probiotics which I eat regularly. Taking pills and drinking kombucha also helps increase the probiotics I consume. 

For other vitamins, I take Elevit for the pregnancy, along with iron and magnesium because my pregnancies drain that from me. Evening primrose oil and fish oil are two more I take which when I do it properly are great for my hormones and overall mental health. 

Talk to your doctor or see a nutritionist or naturopath or other professional for advice before launching into a bunch of vitamins. Get a full blood test done to see what you actually need. 

Meditate for 20 Minutes

Meditation clears your mind, helps you focus and often provides unexpected answers. Every single successful person I know practices it. It also helps you stay calmer which makes decision making easier. 

This was possibly the hardest part for me to implement. I kept worrying my son would wake up or when he was awake, I couldn’t do it. Meditation is easier for me to do during one of his naps or before I fall asleep. 

Personally, when I couldn’t do it, I found as long as I managed at least 5 minutes or did some yoga or EFT, I still saw the benefits. 

1 to 2 mins exercise/movement

Get moving. Whether it’s squats and push-ups, a quick yoga stretch or star jumps, do something. Since I live in a 2 storey home, I am going up and down my stairs a few times. I also aim to do squats before my shower every day. 

A Cold Shower 

So many people struggle with this part. When we were in Vanuatu, we had no hot water. The same for the Solomon Islands. Coldwater doesn’t bother us too much although since being in Australia again, I refused cold showers. 

Cold showers wake you up! I found it better than anything to wake me up and get me focused first thing in the morning. 

My first morning I did not plan well since I needed to wash my hair, shave my legs etc. Which meant I would switch the cold on, get wet, turn it off, do what I needed, turn it back on and repeat that process. 

Whereas when I have hot showers, I let the water keep running as I do it. So this saves money on water as well as helps me wake up and focus. 

Your Usual get Ready Routine

Hair, makeup, get dressed, brush teeth, whatever you do to get ready of a morning, do it after your shower. 

If I’ve washed my hair, I like to allow it to almost fully dry before finishing it with a dryer and brush to straighten it. So usually, I do half this routine, finish whatever else I am doing then dry my hair quickly before my teenagers go to school. 

Make Tea

The process of making tea, if done with loose tea leaves is therapeutic for some people. Since I drink cold herbal tea, I tend to prep that bottle and pop it in the fridge for this step. 

Journal

Journal your thoughts out, plan your day and focus on what you want in life. Goals don’t happen unless they are written down and acted upon. By writing them down, you are setting your mind to work to make them happen and confirming to yourself daily, this is what you will do. 

With the Billionaire Routine, I began journaling morning and night. Nighttime journaling was reflective where as in the morning I was writing about what I will do and the life I want. 

Write Your “To Feel” List

How do you want to feel? Happy, confident, productive, calm? Write it down.

Write Your “To Be” List

Along with how you feel and your other journal writing, what do you want to be?

Read for 20 to 30 Minutes

We learn so much when we read. Choose any book and read for at least 20 to 30 minutes. I always have a book with me and read it often. My aim is to read a book a week, always. 

Drink a brain food smoothie

Brain food smoothies have berries, non-dairy milk e.g. coconut or almond and other beneficial ingredients such as avocado and spinach. 

In mine, I add a scoop of collagen, a teaspoon of cinnamon and sometimes chia seeds too. If adding chia seeds, drink it quickly as they expand.  

How Did I Go With the Billionaire Morning Routine?

With mixed results, I persisted for a while. It was not too different to my regular morning routine (when I got to do that) but I wouldn’t do it forever. I truly believe while it was beneficial, creating your own morning routine is more important. 

Day 1

I threw up in the middle of yoga so that was less than ideal. With virtually no morning sickness during my pregnancy, this was unusual for me and I suspect it was simply not enough food, too much water and my vitamins making a bad stomach combination. 

Because of that, I cut yoga short and got in the shower. That’s when I realised, I need to wash my hair, shave my legs and usually, I do a full body scrub on that day of the week. So I did it all, despite the cold. 

That morning I managed to complete the routine, cold shower and all before my son woke up. 

I felt great all day and could see why people do it. 

Day 2 

My son decided to wake up at 5 am which meant it took almost 2 hours to complete the routine, combined with taking care of him. I juggled doing the bits I could while feeding, changing and taking care of him.

This morning made me feel only those with a nanny or extra help can truly do this sort of routine. I felt a little defeated but the rest of the day went fairly well. 

Day 3 

I was exhausted. Again, my son woke at 5 am and my teens at 6 am. This morning was a mess as so much was going on and my son did not go down for a nap until 10 am. He was clingy, grizzly and when he finally dropped, so did I. I finished the routine at lunch.

Day 4 

A hot mess is how I would describe it today. I was emotional, exhausted and barely got through the day, let alone being able to do the morning routine. I tried but it was a miserable failure today and I felt it by the end of the day.

Part of this would be the fact we returned from a trip only a few days ago and are still trying to settle back into a routine. This means, our sleep is all over the place. My stress levels go through the roof when I don’t get enough sleep, motivation falls off the face of the planet, I eat bad and it’s a vicious cycle because the next day is always worse.

Day 5

I did not even bother trying the routine this morning. I knew where I was at mentally and since it was my son who woke me, I just tried to get on with things as best I could.

I think this is the reality many mothers face when trying to juggle everything. Some days it simply becomes too much. 

On the upside, while I didn’t get the morning routine done, I did finally get a block of time to work and sorted out a lot of other things. Including an evening routine, I know used to work for me.

Day 6

Again my son was up early making it harder this morning. However, I did what I could then headed out for 4 hours to work without the kids. 

This morning, while journaling, I had an epiphany of sorts. It certainly lightened my load and made me see a clear path to obtaining what I want. 

Day 7

Another day where it felt impossible. I gave up trying to get it done in the morning specifically and juggled a lot. The morning routine is not ideal for me but I do find incorporating as much of it as I can into my day is beneficial.

What Will I Keep Doing?

It was an interesting experiment. Overall, I can see the benefits of all of it and when I do have a solid morning routine, I am definitely calmer, happier and a better person. Problems are easier to solve, I feel healthy, I eat better and take care of myself.

However, this morning routine isn’t the one that made me feel or behave at my best. It is similar to my original morning routine and I will definitely adapt my routine having done that. 

My Morning Routine

Wake with the sun. Since I don’t work outside the home and I am doing a better evening routine as well, I am asleep earlier in the evening and naturally arising around 5 am. 

Recall my dreams in my dream journal which I keep next to my bed now. 

Make my bed when my son wakes up. Glance around the room and do a quick tidy of anything if necessary too e.g. take washing downstairs. 

Drinking a large glass of water will always be part of my morning routine. I don’t drink coffee so this is my wake up. 

Breakfast of either a smoothie or a smoothie bowl or similar. Once I have had this, then I take my vitamins and probiotics. I can’t do it the other way around. 

EFT every morning. Even if it’s only a 5 minute one, I will do EFT for whatever I feel inspired to in the morning. 

Yoga which I use as part of my meditation. During my yoga I can often visualise the life I want, clear my head and heal from past hurts. 

A cold shower I discovered wakes me up so I will continue with this. I live in Noosa, Queensland which is a warm climate. If I lived in a cold climate I don’t know if I could do it. 

My usual get ready routine which includes a full dry body brush and 10 squats before my shower. Twice a week a full coffee body scrub. Every day I file my feet and massage moisturiser into my whole body.

Each morning and evening I do a skincare routine, brush my teeth and do my hair and makeup. At some point in the morning, I open all the curtains, windows and doors to allow fresh air and sunlight in. Then I turn on the diffuser to give my house the scent I love. 

Journaling every morning including my to feel and to be list. Along with drawing a self-care card for the day to focus on. Adding at least 3 things I am grateful for and 3 things I want to forgive. 

Reading I do throughout the day and before I go to bed so I might not continue that in the morning for more than 1 page or 5 minutes. 

What does your morning routine look like? Have you tried the Billionaire Morning Routine?