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The Morning Routine

To give you a little introduction on this routine, first note down that this is intentionally designed to be uncomfortable. I am aware that not everyone will want to wake up at 6 o clock in the morning on a sunday and take a cold shower at 7 o clock. But the reason i am doing this ties back to the discipline i am building and refining every day, see Opus Nihil.

We, as humans are different from animals because we are able to choose to go beyond our instincts, while animals are unable to. It is our ability to choose, and to use tools that is making us the peak of evolution on this planet. But the less you are exerting your ability to choose, and to use your body and mind as your own tools, the less you are human. We are "Human beings" only when we know how to be, if you don't know how to be, then you're just a "human creature", no different from the rest of the animal kingdom.

This routine, although it may seem to be very simplistic, has 2 key elements in it. You will wake up early every day, even on the weekends, and you will take an uncomfortably cold shower shortly after waking up. Nobody in their right mind wants to do that right ?

The reason behind it is that the first thing you must do in the morning is exert your ability to choose, no matter what the body or mind wants, we are not talking about building habits in the conventional sense, we are talking about dissolving habits. Normally you would want to wake up later, you would want to turn up the heat. But doing so means that you are giving up control, That is why we are bringing back control, to dissolve your habits.

There is one thing you need to remember before you start. The first step is the hardest, but the next one is easier, and the next one even easier. Don't underestimate your body and mind's ability to adapt. Personally the hardest part for me was to wake up that early in the weekend, but now, 2 months in, there's nothing hard about it anymore, it is simply part of waking up now.

So give yourself some time to adapt to it, maybe start your day at 8 o clock in the weekends initially, and the next week start it at 7h30, and the next week at 7h00, until you arrive at 6h00. I feel like this is optimal due to the amount of work i can squeeze into the morning when i start to work on my personal projects from 7h00 to 12h00, so in my opinion it is totally worth the effort.

The First Hour

To start the day, you need to setup an alarm. Mine is set to ring at 6:00 in the morning (yes, even in weekends), because that way i have at least 60 minutes total to prepare myself for the day.

That is because at 7:00 in the morning, i must be out of the house.

Workdays:
-6h00: wake up (only one alarm, place it far away from the bed)
-6h30: yoga session ends
-6h45: cold shower ends
-7h00: out of the house
-7h30: ready to work on personal projects
-9h00: ready to work on work projects

Truth is i am working a typical 9 to 5 job, yet i arrive this early at the workplace to work on personal projects first. Priotizing morning work is ideal because this is when you function at your best. pack the most important/complex tasks of the day in the morning, because that's when you usually can get the most things done.

Weekends:
-6h00: wake up (only one alarm, place it far away from the bed)
-6h30: yoga session ends
-6h45: cold shower ends
-7h00: ready to work on personal projects

Yes, waking up at 6 AM during the weekends is going to be though at first, but this is part of the discipline aspect. As far as i'm concerned, saturday is the same as friday as either way i am working on something. Either i am working on personal projects, or i am working on the work projects.

This is a choice that one must make at some point; do you want to sleep your life away, or do you want to actually get up early and accomplish things for the world ?

This ties back to the concept of discipline over comfort, first thing in the morning: are you waking up because your body and mind feels like it ? are you waking up because you must do so ? or are you waking up at a certain time, because you chose to do so, regardless of what your body and mind wants ?

Preparing the Body and Mind

First thing in the morning you must do is get control over your own body, using Yoga.

Now if you're not used to it (meaning, not flexible enough), you may not be able to do every posture correctly, that's not a problem, no need to force it. just try to do each posture as best as you can do it. the idea is that you must work to get your body into a certain geometry, intentionally.

This is done out of the logic that this Body shouldn't get to do what it wants, it should do what YOU want it to do. That's all it is about, first thing in the morning: get control over your own body.

Once the body is under control, head over to the shower. and if you have read my previous tutorial, you know where i'm going with this.

Turn that temperature knob to your current "uncomfortably cold" setting. Your body may not initially like it, nor would your mind either, but why does it matter what they want, especially when you know the many benefits of cold exposure ? You know it is good for your body and mind, so you do it regardless.

The second thing in the morning that you must do after getting control over your body, is to get control over your mind. You can do so very easily with a cold shower. Intentionally start the temperature at your "uncomfortably cold" setting, and take your time to clean yourself.

Make it last 10 or 15 minutes if you can, and make it your new normal.

The water is perfect, just the way it is.
It is ME who must accept it.

In that situation of stress, see if you can breathe slowly, and through your nose only. If you want to dig deep into yourself, mentally (and slowly, following the breath), repeat the Nihilism mantras:

The Three Nihilism Mantras:

Opus Nihil: to dissolve your compulsions
Inhalation: I want nothing,
Exhalation: I need nothing

Scio Nihil: to dissolve your beliefs
Inhalation: I know nothing,
Exhalation: I know nothing else

Sum Nihil: to dissolve your identities
Inhalation: I am nothing,
Exhalation: I am noone

You can repeat them a few times, then once you're done, it should be around 6h45, leaving you 15 minutes to get dressed and leave to go to work.

Sidenote: yes i didn't forget to mention "having breakfast" because there's none. Leaving your stomach empty at the beginning of the day is totally intentional as this is part of making sure that your body goes into a natural, internal cellular purification, which doesn't happen when your stomach is processing food. 2 meals per day (one at noon, and one in the evening) are enough for you to survive just fine.