The first hour of your day is a sacred time.

It defines the course of the rest of the day. It’s time only for yourself. And it’s when your mind is most susceptible and whatever you engage it in, affects you strongly.

I believe that if you change your morning ritual, you can change your life.

Especially if you spare ten minutes for writing down what’s on your mind.

It’s a successful technique because each of its elements is powerful. Here they are:

1. Early morning.

Establishing a routine is so worth it. But there’s something absolutely amazing about doing it in the early hours.

All great people, the creative ones, those in the business world, and everyone who can be considered productive, know the benefits of a morning routine.

It helps you kickstart your day, get stuff done, fill yourself with energy and positive thoughts and get out there more confident and fresh than ever.

2. Writing.

You don’t need to be a writer, or to even enjoy the process.

But if you start doing it, if you start writing down the things that go on in your head all the time, you’ll do the right thing.

It’s a therapy. It helps you get things out and even find out new things about yourself.

3. Journal.

If you want to write short stories, work on your book, make poems, blog or create content that you’ll eventually share with others, leave it for later.

Because the routine I’m talking about here is specific – it includes getting up early, sitting down, eliminating distractions and writing down a few pages with personal notes.

It’s all about you. No one else. The others are probably still sleeping at that time.

So be brutally honest and write down the exact thoughts you have at this moment. Do that for a few minutes.

Share ideas that pop up in your mind, something you dreamt about, dreams or goals, opinion on something that bothers you, the tasks you have to do today, which ones are more important and why, what makes you happy and what doesn’t, etc.

You may feel some resistance in the beginning, if you don’t write regularly. It’s normal. That’s how the body and mind react to every new behavior we introduce to them.

But keep doing that for a week and you’ll find yourself being more open-minded, writing more freely, having more to say, and feeling much better after that.

After some time you’ll start feeling some changes:

  • you’ll look forward to writing in the morning;
  • you’ll have an established morning routine;
  • you’ll focus more easily;
  • the problems later in the day won’t affect you that much any more, nor will people and their drama;
  • you’ll be more creative;
  • you’ll begin to prioritize and know what’s essential;
  • you’ll leave the house energized;
  • your mind will be clearer;
  • keeping a journal will help you organize your thoughts;
  • it will make you see your life from another point of view;
  • you’ll come up with new ideas.

A good life consists of good days. If you start each one of them with energy, focus, positive attitude and successful rituals, you’ll surprise yourself by the progress you’ll make in a few weeks and that will affect so many other areas of your life.

And if you add to that the simple and yet brilliant habit of journaling your thoughts in the early hours, you’ll change your life in more ways than you can imagine.

And if you want to see how someone successful actually does that, here’s what Tim Ferriss writes about right after he wakes up.