What are the best morning rituals

The best morning rituals are those that are customized to your personality, your definition of "happy," your values, your goals, things you feel most passionate about, and of course the time you have available in the early hours of the morning.

Here are 7 morning rituals that can give you a great start to your day:

Keep a gratitude journal. For five minutes each morning, write 3 things you are grateful for today: it can be something as simple as a roof over your head, food in the fridge, a warm bed, running water, a positive relationship with people you love the most, etc. Practicing gratitude about what we have going for us can restructure our brain to focus on positive things, which sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Always have breakfast. If you're pressed for time, pick something simple that doesn't require any cooking and that takes 5-10 minutes at most to put together. A breakfast gives you energy and it's fuel for your brain. A great example is a combination of protein, fruits, and healthy fats (such as nuts): it can be oatmeal or yogurt with granola, fresh fruit, walnuts (an excellent brain booster) and almonds.

Devote time to prayer or meditation. Before the busy part of the day begins, you might want to find a few minutes of quiet time for cultivating your spirituality and for saying your prayers. Also, if you’d like to declutter your mind of thoughts and prepare it for the day ahead, try meditating. With an app called Headspace you can do a guided 10 minute meditation; once you complete 10 sessions you can move on to the next levels, at 15 and 20 minutes each, or you can stay with 10 minutes if that's all the time you have.

Get moving. To really wake your entire body up, pick any type of physical activity. It can be a session at the gym, or it can be something shorter and even more simple: a morning yoga routine, a set of hindu pushups, a 20-minute power walk or a brisk run before hitting the shower. The goal is to be consistent; smaller chunks of activity can give you energy, and you can always supplement them later in the day with another 30 minutes of walking during your lunch break or a workout later in the afternoon.

Do your deep work EARLY. This is work that requires a lot of concentration. Some scientists call this the brain’s peak performance time, and it's roughly 2-4 hours after we wake up. So, for example, if you wake up at 6, your peak times are between 8 and 10 a.m. Instead of checking emails and your social media feed, block this time off for your analytical brain to perform the most complex tasks that require a lot of focus.

Develop a nighttime routine to get plenty of rest. Waking up early shouldn’t mean you cannot have enough sleep. In fact, chronic sleep deprivation can be a strain on your nerves, reduce your cognitive abilities, impact your concentration, and even reduce your IQ. You can train your brain to wind down at the same time each evening to signal to your body that it's time to sleep, by (a) setting a bedtime alarm on your phone about 30 minutes before you need to sleep, and (b) following a simple nighttime routine that can help you unwind better.

Final tip: Get excited about all the things you can do early in the day.

I recommend listening to a podcast that will seriously get you to rethink the way you look at mornings. It's called Achieve Your Goals and it's hosted by Hal Elrod, the author of a book called The Miracle Morning. It is an in depth guide to structuring your mornings so that you have more time to do what makes you feel happier, to be more productive, and to get closer to your personal goals.