Have you ever wondered what highly successful people do on Monday mornings? While it’s easy to dismiss their routines as just another part of their privileged lifestyle, successful individuals make intentional choices. They set the tone for their week by adopting habits that set them on a path to success.

Contrary to popular belief, success is not created by luck but by working hard towards a specific goal. Monday morning routines are an essential part of this hard work. They set the mood for the rest of the day and the rest of the week. Here’s a list of Monday morning habits that highly successful people develop:

1. Wake Up Early – Set Your Alarm For 5am

One of the most practiced habits of highly successful people is waking up early to make sure they have plenty of time to complete all of their tasks. Waking up early also ensures they are not late for any of their scheduled events and have sufficient time to take care of personal chores before diving into their workload.

Michelle Obama, in an interview with Oprah, shared that she wakes up early to take care of herself before her day starts. She stated, “Well, I just started thinking, if I had to get up and go to work, I’d get up and go to work. If I had to get up to take care of my kids, I’d get up and do that. But when it comes to yourself, then suddenly, ‘Oh, I can’t get up at 4:30.’ So I had to change that.”

Success is all about maximizing the hours of the day granted to us. Sleeping the day away diminishes the opportunities for success.

2. Meditate – Start With Just 5 Minutes

Monday morning meditation or prayer are great tools to envision success. It’s essential to quiet the mind and allow positive energy to flow in as soon as you wake up. Start by meditating for 5 minutes and, over time, increase it to half an hour per session. Such practices can answer unanswered questions, lead the way to success, and set the tone for the day.

According to Oprah, who meditates twice a day for 20 minutes, “I walked away feeling fuller than when I’d come in. Full of hope, a sense of contentment, and deep joy. Knowing for sure that even in the daily craziness that bombards us from every direction, there is — still — the constancy of stillness. Only from that space can you create your best work and your best life.”

Silent mediation or concentrating on silence and one’s heartbeat is one way to meditate. Another way is to do guided meditation. There are plenty of free guided meditation videos on YouTube, ranging from positivity meditation to weight loss meditation. Reading 10 Steps to Meditate Anywhere is an excellent guide to learn more about meditation.

3. Get Motivated – Personal Development Is Key

Highly successful people get motivated first thing on Monday morning. They read personal development books, watch inspirational videos, and listen to motivational speakers. Even 15 minutes of inspirational content on Monday morning can set up one’s day and week for success.

Tony Robbins suggests the Power Hour to highly successful people such as Fortune 500 CEOs, legends in entertainment, and even athletes like Chuck Liddell. The Power Hour includes reading, studying inspirational material like quotes and stories, strategizing, exercising, and meditating each morning.

Some of the books that have helped successful people include Infinite Self by Stuart Wilde, The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle, Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony Robbins, Manifesting Change by Mike Dooley, The Success Principles by Jack Canfield, You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero, and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

4. Fuel Your Body – Food Is Energy

Highly successful people know the importance of eating nutritious food first thing in the morning. Healthy food provides energy and gets the mind and body ready for the day. According to Business Insider, Richard Branson eats a fruit salad and muesli (a mix of rolled oats, fruits, nuts, seeds, and milk) in the morning.

Some ideas for healthy breakfast include one egg, two servings of egg whites, orange juice, and a flax seed bread toast. A protein smoothie or shake, fruit and Greek yogurt parfait, a peanut butter and banana sandwich, quinoa and fruit bowl, or apple slices dipped in peanut butter are all excellent options.

5. Get Active – No Gym Membership Required

Highly successful people know that getting the body active is imperative on Monday mornings and throughout the week. Exercise helps the body wake up and oxygenate, activating all the cells and preparing them for the day ahead. Exercise is known to positively affect not only the physical body but also to keep the mind sharp.

Barack Obama shared with WebMD, “The rest of my time will be more productive if you give me my workout time.” If you don’t have a gym membership or any workout equipment, all you need is your body and some space to do bodyweight exercises. With the right type of exercises, you only need 20 minutes for a good workout in the morning.

Performing high-intensity exercises such as burpees, squat jumps, lunge jumps, and lateral jumps targets multiple body areas at the same time. Here’s an example of a 20-minute bodyweight exercise:

20 Minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) – Set your timer for 20 minutes and take about a 30-second break between each exercise.

– 10 Burpees
– 10 Push-ups
– 10 Jump Squats
– 10 Chair Dips
– 10 Lateral Jumps
– 10 Wide Push-ups

6. Connect With Your Team Face To Face

Many small businesses work remotely, making communication through email or other types of technology the norm. Highly successful people connect with their teams face to face. Steve Jobs used to have Monday morning meetings and believed that “in this digital age, when we think we can do things by email and Skype and online chats, it’s really important to bump into people face to face, to hash things out, to look them in the eye, to yell at them and scream at them, and then to hug them and to know emotionally what they’re thinking.”

7. Only Tend To Urgent E-mails

Most email accounts are bursting with emails on Monday mornings. Highly successful people tend to only urgent emails in the morning. Going through a long list of random emails can waste a lot of time first thing in the morning. You can set up filters in your email account or get an email app for your smartphone to quickly go through your mailbox to separate urgent and non-urgent emails.

In conclusion, being highly successful is a habit-forming practice. Starting the week right is integral to this practice. Follow the habits of successful people: wake up early, meditate, get motivated, fuel your body, get active, connect with your team face to face, and only tend to urgent emails. These habits will set you on the path to success, both in your career and personal life.