Start your morning slow. 🐢
And no—I don’t mean start your morning lazy.
Hitting the snooze button three times.
Scrolling your phone before your feet hit the floor.
Avoiding the morning until urgency forces action.
That’s not slow. That’s stressful.
Starting slow is intentional. It’s calm, not careless. It’s choosing your pace instead of being dragged into the day.
Here are three things I’ve begun doing to truly start my mornings slow—and they’ve made my peace and focus more tangible every single day:
1. Start your day the night before
If you wait to start in the present moment, you’re already behind—and doing more work than necessary.
When your morning has no structure, your brain spends its first energy making decisions instead of executing them. That’s exhausting before the day even begins.
Set yourself up for success by doing the work before the work:
Lay out what you need
Decide what matters tomorrow
Remove friction before it shows up
A calm morning is usually the result of thoughtful preparation, not luck.
2. Whatever you’re doing—do it well
Multitasking feels productive, but it fractures focus and drains energy.
Instead:
Be fully present in the task in front of you
Understand its purpose—why it matters right now
Let go of the need to rush just to feel busy
Busy and productive are not the same thing.
Depth beats speed. Presence beats pressure.
3. Protect the asset—
YOU
In Essentialism, Greg McKeown states—and backs with research—
“The greatest asset we have to make an impact in the world is ourselves.”
If that’s true (and it is), then protecting your energy, body, and mind isn’t selfish—it’s strategic.
Recovery is non-negotiable if you want to maintain or improve performance
Mental performance influences physical performance, which then feeds back into mental performance—they are not separate systems
Some reminders we tend to forget:
Sleep is a primary driver of peak performance
Muscle gain and fat loss are largely hormonal, not just caloric
Movement supports mental health first—the body follows
Momentum is created by moving; confidence is a byproduct of action
Chronic isolation and disconnection from real human interaction is more damaging than smoking and drinking combined
Protecting yourself means honoring all of this—not just the workouts.
The takeaway
Starting your morning slow isn’t about doing less.
It’s about doing what matters—with intention, presence, and respect for your capacity.
When you protect your energy, you protect your ability to show up fully—for your work, your health, and the people who matter most.
Call to action
Tonight, choose one thing to do that will make tomorrow morning calmer:
Prep
Plan
Go to bed earlier
Put your phone outside the bedroom
Small choices create momentum.
And momentum changes everything.
