The Eye of the Hurricane: The Morning Routine That Keeps Me Calm Building Two Companies

My CEO morning routine takes about 20 minutes, costs almost nothing, and is the reason I can stay calm while building two companies at once. It isn't about productivity hacks. It's about showing up centered before the chaos starts.

Here's the picture I keep in my head. A hurricane is violent everywhere except the eye, and the eye is calm. Running a startup is the hurricane, where things change by the hour, and my routine is how I stay in the eye so I can make good decisions instead of fast, angry ones.

The routine, minute by minute

I do this every morning. I don't skip it when I'm busy. Busy is exactly when I need it most.

1. Fuel (3 minutes): Athletic Greens, then black coffee.
2. Move (5 minutes): stretching.
3. Read (2 minutes): one page of 365 Days of Tao and one page of Robert Greene's The Daily Laws.
4. Learn (10 minutes): I start my learning audio and finish the rest on the drive.

That's it. No guru. No expensive app. Every piece of it can be done in a kitchen.

Then I press play: 20 minutes of learning audio

My learning audio is 20 minutes a day, every day. I press play at home, and it goes wherever I go.

From there it's some busy work, getting the kids ready, getting myself ready, and driving them to school. Then I drive to the office and either finish the audio or make calls. The drive isn't dead time.

Why two books, one page each

Both books have one page for every day of the year. That's the point. I'm not trying to finish a book. I'm trying to start the day with one idea worth thinking about.

One is about calm. The other is about power and people. Reading both every morning keeps me honest on each side.

Habit stacking: how I keep upgrading it

Time is the one thing I can't make more of, so I stack habits. Each new piece attaches to one I already do. My learning audio rides on the school run and the drive to the office, two trips I'm making anyway.

I don't overhaul the routine. I add one technique, keep it if it works, and drop it if it doesn't. It's the same way I run a company: Do, Learn, Grow, one small upgrade at a time.

Heat and cold

A few times a week I add hot and cold. Usually 20 minutes in the sauna and 4 to 5 minutes in the ice bath.

It works for me. It clears my head and resets my mood faster than anything else I've tried. If you want to try it, talk to your doctor first and start small.

What the routine actually protects

People think a morning routine is about health. It is, but that's not the main reason I guard it.

• My decisions. When I'm centered, my meetings are calmer and more focused. I react less and think more.
• My family. I have three daughters. My routine is done before I get them ready and drive them to school, so I'm fully present with them instead of half-checked-out.
• My marriage. I'm not sure my marriage would have survived running a startup without these routines. I'm there when I'm there.

I also shut work down on Saturdays and spend the day with the kids, and my wife and I keep a date night every two weeks. Those go on the calendar first. Everything else fits around them.

Time blocking: how it actually happens

You don't find time for this. You block it.

My routine has a spot on the calendar like any board meeting. Same with family time. If it isn't blocked, the day will eat it. The day always does.

"I don't have the time or money for this"

I hear this a lot. Here's my honest answer.

It doesn't cost money to stretch, read one page, or get some sunlight. It costs about 20 minutes and a decision. The first step is yours to take.