Week 7: What I Learned This Week — Win the Morning

The most valuable lesson I learned this week is that a better life starts with a better morning. Arthur C. Brooks — a Harvard professor and "happiness scientist" — argues that you can’t leave your mood to chance — you have to engineer it.

I watched two different videos this week where he talked about how important it is to win the day by winning the morning.

Brooks categorizes people into 4 profiles based on their intensity of positive and negative emotions. Understanding your type helps you manage your productivity:

1. Cheerleaders — People with high positive and low negative emotions; naturally upbeat and optimistic.

2. Judges — People with low positive and low negative emotions; calm, steady, and unflappable.

3. Poets — People with low positive and high negative emotions; deeply feeling and introspective.

4. Mad Scientists — People with high positive and high negative emotions; intense, passionate, and emotionally reactive.

Brooks identifies as a Mad Scientist, meaning he must aggressively manage his morning routine to maintain high well-being and productivity.

Brooks believes winning the day requires winning the morning. He said, “If you get up before dawn, you’ve already won the day because that actually gives you better concentration, better focus, and better creativity.”

But what if you’re not a morning person? Brooks says that is okay — you can become one. Being a morning person is 60% environmental and 40% genetics, so everyone can become a morning person. It will be harder for some, and Brooks says he never wakes up without an alarm clock.

Brooks said the second part is getting a good workout in. He recommends walking for an hour without devices outside. It wakes up the right hemisphere of your brain which is what you need  for a sense of meaning. Brooks gets a 1-hour workout every morning that is a combination of strength training and conditioning in his gym in his basement.

Brooks said he gets another 5 miles of work throughout the rest of the day — about 10,000 steps.

He also takes in a lot of caffeine throughout the day, he tries to get around 60-70 grams of protein in the morning and non-fat Greek yogurt that is good for mood management and focus.

But the foundation to winning your day is winning your morning by getting up early and getting a good workout in.