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Want to be rich? Billionaires on their morning routine 'secrets to success'
Ever wondered how some of the richest people in the world start their day? Well then you’ve come to the right place.
From Mark Zuckerberg to Jeff Bezos, here’s how some of the most famous names on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s billionaires start their day.
Research from the World Economic Forum has previously suggested the 14 things successful people do before breakfast.
Mark Zuckerberg
In the same Facebook Live Q&A Zuckerberg denied he was a secret lizard person, the Facebook founder revealed the first thing he likes to do in the morning.
“The first thing I do is look at my phone. I look at Facebook to see what’s going on in the world. I check my messages; I look at Messenger and WhatsApp.
How long does he spend doing that?
“It depends on what is going on in the world. On a calm day it’ll probably be no more than a few minutes.
“It’s a pretty sad situation to be honest. I have contacts and I can’t see very well. And before I put my contacts in I often look to see what is going on Facebook … I’m very near-sighted to so I have to (holds pretend phone close to his face).”
He added: “I was never a morning person, Max [his first child] is definitely turning me into a morning person. She’s like a pterodactyl!”
Does he work out?
“I try to go for a run or work out, that’s a good way to start the day,” he said.
Zuckerberg reportedly gets up at 8am every morning and wears the same outfit to save time on deciding what to wear.
Sir Alan Sugar
The rags-to-riches Apprentice boss admits there is “no such thing as a typical week in his life”. He often leaves his house in Chigwell, Essex, before 6am and is usually driven to where he needs to be.
Sometimes he starts his day with a 50-mile bike ride through the Essex countryside before heading to the office, he revealed to British Airways Business Life.
“I’m able to operate from any location, whether that’s at home, in the office or at either of my houses in America and Spain. This allows me to take on far more activities than I could in the old days of turning up to the office at nine in the morning and being there until six o’clock at night.”
Sir Richard Branson
The English business magnate admits he likes to get up early, describing it as “a habit which you must work on to maintain” in a blog post.
“I have always been an early riser,” he wrote.
“Over my 50 years in business I have learned that if I rise early I can achieve so much more in a day, and therefore in life.
“Sleep is incredibly valuable for a busy life, and I try to get it whenever and wherever I can – especially when I’m flying. But founding a business comes with a lot of responsibility, and one of the most important things I can be is accessible. Getting up and at it early gives me time to get on top of things, and chart my day effectively.”
He added: “No matter where I am in the world, I try to routinely wake up at around 5am. By rising early, I’m able to do some exercise and spend time with my family, which puts me in a great mind frame before getting down to business.”
Jack Dorsey
The Twitter co-founder, worth a reported $2.3 billion, before shares in his both his tech companies dropped, revealed his morning routine in a Q&A with Product Hunt.
“Up at 5, meditate for 30, 7 minute workout times 3, make coffee, check in (with his companies),” he said.
“I look to build a lot of consistent routine. Same thing every day. Allows a steady state that enables me to be more effective when I do have to react to something out of band.
“Blackout shades help,” he added. “I sleep from 11-5am usually. Blackout shades help. Meditation and exercise!”
Bill Gates
According to the New York Times, Bill Gates usually starts his day by spending an hour on the treadmill in his private gym, sometimes watching educational DVDs as exercises.
He also likes to get seven hours sleep.
“Even though it’s fun to stay up all night, maybe taking a red-eye flight, if I have to be creative I need seven hours,” he told The Seattle Times.
“I can give a speech without much sleep, I can do parts of my job that way, but in thinking creatively, I’m not much good without seven hours.”
Jeff Bezos
The billionaire usually starts his day between 7 and 8 am, according to Jeff Bezos: Amazon.com Architect, by Tom Robinson.
“Before heading to the office, Bezos exercises on his treadmill. While exercising, he reads the morning newspapers. At work, Bezos tries to avoid being in the office all day.”
This is why procrastinating at work actually makes you more creative.
14 things successful people do before breakfast
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Wake up early - according to Laura Vanderkam, 90% of executives wake up before 6am on weekdays. PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, for example, wakes at 4 a.m. and is in the office no later than 7 a.m. Meanwhile, Disney CEO Bob Iger gets up at 4:30 to read, and Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey is up at 5:30 to jog
- Drink water instead of coffee. Drinking water in the morning apparently helps you feel more alert, rehydrates your body, and kickstarts your metabolism
- Exercise - beyond the fact that exercising in the morning means they can’t later run out of time, Vanderkam says a pre-breakfast workout helps reduce stress later in the day, counteracts the effects of high-fat diet, and improves sleep
- Work on a top-priority business project
- Work on a personal-passion project
- Invest in family time, like reading stories to the kids or cooking a big breakfast together.
- Connect with spouses before you are tired from the day's activities
- Make your bed - this leads to a happier and more productive day
- Network over coffee
- Meditate to clear your mind
- Write down things you're grateful for
- Plan and strategise for the day ahead - Using the mornings to do big-picture thinking helps you prioritize and set the trajectory of the day
- Check your email
- Read the news