Thursday Thoughts on Leadership: The Importance of a Morning Routine

This week my travels found me first in San Diego for Mike Ferry’s Production Retreat. It was an incredibly motivating event and I was fortunate to attend with my good friend, Allan Dalton, former CEO of realtor.com and current COO of Real Living Real Estate. The enthusiasm of the crowd was electric!

Gino Blefari, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices with Allan Dalton, COO of Real Living Real Estate in San Diego for Mike Ferry’s Production Retreat.

Next, it was off to Atlanta for the 2018 kickoff event and awards show for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties, led by Dan Forsman, president and CEO. I have to say, I’ve attended many kickoffs in my career and this was one for the books … from the passion of the 1,200+ agents in attendance, the elaborate set-up on the stage, to the organization and structure of the event, everything was executed perfectly to set up the Georgia Properties team for an incredible year.

At the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties kickoff and awards event.

From Atlanta I headed to New York City for Inman Connect 2018, a conference that brings together more than 4,000 real estate professionals to learn, grow and of course, connect. While in New York, I had the opportunity to spend some time at the VaynerMedia office and at the headquarters for The Wall Street Journal. (I can’t say exactly what we were doing there but I can say you should attend Sales Convention and find out.)

At the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties kickoff and awards event.

In Manhattan, I also had a chance to meet with Ellie Johnson, president of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New York Properties and speak with her team. She’s a fantastic, visionary leader and her agents all possess that same drive to succeed. I was honored to deliver my mindset routine talk during my visit to the New York Properties office and it reminded me of the importance of a good morning routine, no matter how busy your schedule gets. Having a regular morning routine gives structure to your life—even in the whirlwind of delayed flights, long meetings, traffic jams—and sets you up for a great day. As Marcus Aurelius once famously said, “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

A recent survey conducted by Yahoo! Finance asked 17 CEOs what time they start their morning. Almost 80% said they wake up at 5:30 a.m. or earlier. (I am in that group for sure.)

Another commonality among those surveyed was that more than 70% of the CEOs said they perform exercise in the morning. A solid morning routine always involves physical activity as well as a healthy diet. You must keep your body as fit as you keep your mind.

So, what’s the message? As we dive head-first into accomplishing our Wildly Important Goals of 2018, let’s all pledge to keep that all-important structure in our busy schedules by implementing a good morning routine that sets us up for a productive, successful day ahead. You’ll find that very quickly, days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months and in no time at all, if you maintain a regular morning routine that begins right when you wake up, your entire year will be filled with the kind of motivating energy you need to achieve your goals.