If you do these 10 things every morning, you're more disciplined than 90% of people

Mornings make or break my day.

Not because I wake up perfect and peppy (I don’t), but because I’ve learned that a few small, repeatable moves set the tone for everything that follows. As James Clear likes to say, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

If you’re curious whether your mornings are quietly building serious discipline, run your routine against these ten checks. Do a handful of them consistently and you’ll feel the difference. Do all ten, most days, and you’ll start to feel like you’re steering the ship.

Let’s dive in.

1. Create a quiet buffer before your phone

Do you reach for your phone before you reach for your thoughts?

A disciplined morning starts with attention management. I don’t check messages, news, or social for the first 30–60 minutes.

That tiny buffer is where I reconnect with my own priorities. Some days I sit up in bed and breathe; other days I pad to the kitchen and put on the kettle. The point is: I choose my inputs, not the other way around.

If you’re tempted to “just peek,” park the phone in another room overnight or set a Do Not Disturb schedule that ends after your buffer. You’ll be amazed how quickly your mind stops sprinting in someone else’s lane.

2. Make your bed like it’s a micro-win (because it is)

It takes less than a minute, but it signals something huge: I finish what I start.

When I worked as a financial analyst, early mornings meant spreadsheets, forecasts, and a thousand tiny decisions.

Making my bed became my first clean line item—done, closed, moved forward. It’s not about perfection; it’s about identity. You’re the kind of person who puts things in order. That story compounds fast.

3. Move your body before the day moves you

I don’t always do a full workout; sometimes it’s a 10-minute mobility flow or a quick jog around the block. On trail-running days, I go longer. The rule is simple: I break a sweat or at least elevate my heart rate.

Movement is momentum. It sharpens your focus and lowers friction on the next disciplined choice—like cooking a real breakfast instead of inhaling whatever is within arm’s reach.

Pro tip if you’re plant-curious: a banana, a handful of oats, and peanut butter blended with soy milk is the fastest pre- or post-move fuel I know.

4. Put first things first (on paper)

Every morning, I write down the one task that, if completed, would make the day meaningfully better. Then I list two small supporting actions. That’s it. Three lines, tops.

I used to carry long to-do lists from day to day like an anxious turtle shell. Now, I practice ruthless prioritization. The discipline isn’t in doing everything; it’s in choosing the right thing and protecting it from noise.

If your brain loves to negotiate, put time blocks on your calendar—especially for deep work—and honor them the way you’d honor a meeting with someone you admire.

5. Eat deliberately, not reactively

Discipline is a chain reaction. A calm breakfast can yank your whole morning out of the chaos spiral.

I keep a short, rotating breakfast menu so I don’t waste decision power: tofu scramble with veggies, chia pudding with berries, or avocado toast with hemp seeds and a squeeze of lemon.

Quick, protein-forward, and colorful. Do I get fancy sometimes? Sure. But most days, my plate is predictable—on purpose.

The trick is to prep the night before: chop veggies, soak chia, or set your oats. That way, the morning you meets the past you who cared enough to make it easy.

6. Use an implementation intention

As noted by psychologist Peter Gollwitzer, ‘implementation intentions’—if-then plans—turn vague goals into concrete actions.

I keep one or two if-then statements taped inside a cupboard:

• If I’ve poured coffee, then I sit for 5 minutes of breathwork before I sip.

• If it’s a run day, then I lace up as soon as the kettle clicks.

This sounds tiny, but it dissolves friction. Your brain doesn’t have to debate—your plan already decided.

7. Do a five-minute tidy to reset your environment

Clutter is a silent tax on attention.

I set a timer for five minutes and put away whatever landed where it shouldn’t—mail on the counter, shoes by the door, yesterday’s water glasses that somehow formed a committee by the sink.

It’s not deep cleaning; it’s returning the room to “ready.” A ready space invites disciplined action. A chaotic space invites scrolling.

8. Practice one deliberate discomfort

Discipline grows when you do something a little hard on purpose. I rotate between a 60–90 second cold rinse at the end of my shower, a short bodyweight circuit, or 10 minutes of writing before I’m fully caffeinated.

The point isn’t to suffer. It’s to teach yourself, daily, that you can feel something uncomfortable and still act with intention.

Angela Duckworth calls this “grit”—passion and perseverance for long-term goals (her TED talk is a great intro).

Start microscopic. One push-up. One minute. One page. The discipline is in the showing up, not the length of the session.

9. Say your priorities out loud (to yourself)

It’s awkward until it isn’t. I literally say: “Today, my job is to protect deep work from nine to eleven, be kind when I’m rushed, and fuel with real food.”

Why out loud? Because it interrupts autopilot.

It makes your values audible and gives your future self something to measure against at noon when the snack drawer starts whispering and the inbox is on fire.

If talking to yourself feels wild, whisper. Or write one line on a sticky note. What matters is that you externalize intent.

10. Close with a 60-second “systems check”

Right before I start the meat of the day, I run through a quick checklist:

• Hydrated?

• Calendar aligned with priorities?

• Top task parked on my desk?

• Snacks prepped so lunchtime me won’t panic-eat?

• Phone still on Do Not Disturb?

This takes less time than reheating coffee and saves an hour of derailment later. Systems beat motivation. And they’re built, morning by morning, with boring little moves like these.

A few power tips to make these stick

Shrink the target. If your ideal morning takes 90 minutes and you currently have 20, build a 20-minute version that hits the essentials: phone-free buffer, 5 minutes of movement, one prioritized task, and a quick tidy. Consistency beats volume.

Decouple identity from perfect execution. Miss a day? You’re still a disciplined person. Your identity is defined by the trend line, not the outlier.

Stack habits. Attach a new action to an existing one: After I brush my teeth, I fill my water bottle. After I make coffee, I write my one top task. Habit stacking is the scaffolding that makes change less squeaky.

Automate the boring. Lay out workout clothes the night before. Pre-program the coffee maker. Keep your journal and pen next to the kettle. The fewer choices you make at 6 a.m., the better choices you’ll make at 2 p.m.

Leave room for life. Kids, weather, travel, deadlines—real life barges in. Discipline isn’t rigidity; it’s adaptability. On chaotic days, I keep the nucleus: no phone for 15 minutes, two minutes of breath, one line of priorities. It’s amazing how even a tiny core keeps me steady.

Why these 10 things work together

They remove friction, protect attention, and reinforce identity. Combined, they build a loop:

1. You decide what matters before the world tells you.

2. You act on small, pre-decided moves that build momentum.

3. You see yourself follow through—and that reinforces the story that you’re disciplined.

4. That story fuels the next morning’s discipline.

William James once wrote that our lives “are but a mass of habits”—and the ones you perform early in the day set the arc for the rest of it. When your mornings are designed, the rest of the day doesn’t have to be wrestled into submission.

So, if you’re doing most of the ten above—even messily—you’re already ahead of the curve. And if you’re not? Pick one to start tomorrow. Then another next week. In a month, you won’t just be doing a new routine; you’ll be becoming someone new.

I’ll be right there with you—breathing before coffee, moving before emails, and building the kind of mornings that quietly carry me the rest of the day.