How I ensure a successful morning, every morning

The morning hours, just after I wake up, are the most important hours of my entire day.

Why? Because these are the hours that control what type of day I’m going to have.

Is it going to be a lazy day? Or is it going to be productive?

Am I going to get a little extra work done? Or do the bare minimum?

Is it a relaxing day? Or is it stressful?

Is it good or bad?

open or full?

Successful, or not?

All of this depends on what type of morning I have—and that’s why it’s so important for me to spend these hours wisely…

Because the success of my day at large is entirely dependent on the success of my morning.

But how do I ensure that every morning a success?

Writing the rat race away

Life is crazy. We all know that.

Because life these days isn’t actually life: it’s just one big rat race.

Everyone is running from point A to point B as fast as they can; doing everything they can to stay focused on the prize; pushing themselves to run harder—faster. Never satisfied with where they’re at. Always wanting to be more, better, greater.

The end goal is what’s important—and anything that get’s in the way of achieving that goal is to be avoided.

What a horrible way to live. What a soul sucking way to work. Who in their right mind would want to run in a race like that?

It sounds horrible and exhausting and… And it sounds… Oh…

… it sounds like the exact same way so many of us think about writing.

Great.

The words that magically make you a better writer

What made the Knights Templar special?

Is it that they were better trained than the average foot soldier? Is it that they had better equipment? A proper war horse? Was it simply in their highborn pedigree? Something in their blood that just made them superior to those around them?

Nope…

Sure, their equipment and training gave them an edge in battle. That’s not what makes a knight special though. A common spearman could potentially distinguish himself in battle, despite being less trained and under equipped, and earn knighthood for himself. Not likely to happen, but it could.

So then what was it? What set the Templars apart and made them one of the most respected military orders in history?

The answer is so simple that you might miss it entirely:

The Templars had a code.

Yup, that’s pretty much it.

Oh, sure, they were decent fighters, and they were also respected for their prowess on the battlefield; but following this code is what set their order apart from the rabble. And as a result of keeping the code, the Templars elevated themselves to legend.

The bad news is that the order eventually fell despite their code.

The good news is, we writers have a chance to learn from these knights and replicate their success (earning glory, respect, a sense of pride, and potentially, a livable income doing what we love) without repeating their failure.

All we have to do is to follow a code of our own.

So, you want to be a writer? well, you shouldn’t.

Do you know what it means to be a writer?

The answer to that question may surprise you—because if you’re reading this right now, you likely either A: currently call yourself a writer, or B: would like to some day call yourself a writer.

So before I go any further with this, I want you to take a moment and try to define what a writer is. Write it down, keep it close by, because your going to need it in a few minutes when I show you why you’re completely wrong about what it actually means to be a writer, and why you really shouldn’t call yourself one.

Are you not entertained?

We all know the iconic scene from the movie Gladiator: when Maximus (then known as The Spaniard) defeats six opponents single-handedly in just over one minute.

He had given the crowd the blood that they wanted, but as the dust settled after the one-sided battle, he wasn’t rewarded with the thundering applause he had come to expect—instead his actions were met with shocked silence. Frustrated at this lack of reaction, Maximus hurls his sword into the stands, spreads his arms wide, and asks the question that would be forever immortalized in the minds of 90’s babies around the world.

“Are you not entertained?”