Primed for Success: 30 Days Testing Tony Robbins' Morning Routine
“It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.”
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to adopt the habits of some of the world’s most successful individuals?
Last years, I’ve been exploring and fine-tuning my own habits for energy, health, joy and success. After exploring the teachings and habits of Marcus Aurelius (check out the results here), I turned to modern-day powerhouse Tony Robbins for inspiration.
For 30 days, I decided to test the morning routines of this renowned author, entrepreneur, self-help guru, and philanthropist. Known for his unparalleled energy and drive, Tony Robbins has inspired millions worldwide through his seminars like Unleash The Power Within and his Netflix documentary I Am Not Your Guru.
Tony’s passion and mindset have always intrigued me and last week, I was lucky to be able to attend his 4-day seminar Unleash The Power Within. He was seriously ill yet was showing tremendous amounts of energy, another testimonial for what he masters like no-one else: high-energy states. To understand his methods better, I integrated six of his key practices into my daily routine. Below, I share my experiences, insights, and ratings for each habit.
Here’s the lineup of habits I tested:
Cold Therapy
Breathing Exercises
Gratitude Practices
Visualization of Success
Priming
Movement
1/ Cold Therapy
Tony famously starts his day with a plunge into an ice bath.
It has become very popular in the last years thanks to people like Wim Hof, and for good reason.
Impact
The immediate effects are incredible: a burst of energy, an adrenaline rush, and the distinct feeling of being alive. Good to know is that cold therapy has gained scientific support for its health benefits as well, including reducing inflammation and strengthening the cardiovascular system.
It’s also a great mental exercise. Let’s face it—no one enjoys the thought of stepping into freezing water. But that’s exactly what makes it so rewarding. Conquering this challenge first thing in the morning boosts your self-confidence and sets a winning tone for the day. And the more you do it, the easier it gets. After a while, you start anticipating the reward as well, slowly starting to enjoy the thought of stepping into freezing water.
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2/ Breathing exercises
To boost energy and calm the mind, Tony uses various breathing exercises, including the breath of fire to wake up and energize the body. At the bottom of the article, you can see him explain how he does it. If you explore this habit, check some general videos on the breath of fire to make sure you execute it in the best possible way.
Impact
The immediate impact was subtle—I felt slightly more energized afterward. But I’m convinced of the long-term benefits for your body. These age-old yogic practices carry inherent advantages. It stimulates the digestive system, clears the airways, and purifies the body. It also activates energy and engages muscles in your lower abdomen and pelvic floor—often underutilized yet crucial for a strong, energized body.
A little extra: I always drink a glass of water before the exercise, which then feels like a gentle cleanse for my stomach.
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3/ Gratitude
Tony doesn’t practice traditional "doing nothing" meditation. His meditation focuses on breathing, gratitude, healing and success visualization. After the breathing exercises, he reflects on three things he’s grateful for, big ànd small (make sure to include as least one small thing so you learn to appreciate the everyday things more).
Impact
Gratitude is phenomenal. It’s one of the most profound positive emotions and one of the simplest gateways to happiness. You can read more about this in another blog post.
If you combine gratitude with the next step in this routine—visualizing success—you’re starting off in a state of high vibration, making the success you visualize easier to attract.
Consciously reflecting on things to be grateful for every day has a significant impact on how I view life and how I feel on average. Starting the day with gratitude immediately adds positivity and helps put the day’s potential "challenges" into perspective. It’s such a powerful tool that it’s the first thing I focus on when my alarm goes off. My usual first thought: “I’m grateful for a new day and another chance to give my all on this beautiful planet.”
It’s also a great antidote to our spoiledness, over-complaining and sense of entitlement. We often forget how lucky we are.
Tony also adds a healing practice right after the gratitude part, imagining light coming into your body healing you, as well as what in Buddhism is called a Metta (loving kindness) meditation, in which you send out light and love into your environment and wishing all of those near and far from you well.
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4/ Visualization of Success
The next step in Tony’s meditation process, after breathing, gratitude and healing / loving kindness, is visualizing success. He focuses on three goals he wants to achieve and visualizes them as if they’ve already been accomplished.
How to Visualize Effectively
The key to powerful visualization is fully stepping into the moment of success and truly feeling it. Emotions generate more powerful energy than thoughts alone and activate your manifestation power (see the gratitude section above). Seeing and feeling yourself as successful in your desired outcomes is almost indistinguishable to your brain and body from actually achieving them, which sets a subconscious process in motion that basically makes you more aware of all the things that can help you in achieving your goal, thanks to your brain's Reticular Activating System (a topic for another blog post).
Impact
This is a habit that likely can’t be fully evaluated after just 30 days. However, I’d already been practicing visualization before this experiment and am convinced of its power as I’ve had several instances now where my visualizations have become reality (one example here).
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5/ Priming Yourself for Positivity and Energy
All of the above is what Tony does to prime himself for positivity, energy and success. So priming is basically the outcome of the above habits but I also see it as a habit in itself that you can practice throughout the day. And it’s one I truly enjoy.
While the physical aspect of energy is covered with movement (see below), it’s important to understand that your mindset can also significantly impact your energy levels. For example, even if you feel physically tired in the morning, approaching the day with a smile, not overthinking the tiredness, avoiding unnecessary drama, and focusing on something like “today is going to be a great day” can often shift your energy level. This works both ways: if you constantly think, “I’m tired” or “I don’t feel like it,” it will negatively impact your mood and energy.
By focusing on “today is going to be a great day” for example, you’re essentially priming yourself for positivity. You shift your focus from negative thought patterns to positive ones, which often leads to genuinely feeling better.
(Side note: if you’re already aware of when you have negative or unhelpful thoughts, you’ve done 70% of the work)
In this blog post (NL), I’ll dive deeper into why it’s so important to consciously focus more on the positive aspects of life. When you make this a regular habit, you’ll notice it becomes easier over time.
Surround yourself also as much as possible with positive friends, listen to and watch inspiring stories, smile more, read uplifting articles and books, and train yourself through mindfulness and meditation to quickly identify negative thoughts so you can work on them. (Here are 4 tips to get started with meditation.)
Impact
Priming your mind and body is one of the most effective ways to boost positivity and energy. While it takes conscious effort, the results are undeniable: a brighter outlook and an elevated mood throughout the day.
The long-term impact of this practice is enormous. By consistently working on focusing on the positive, you raise your happiness baseline—your average level of happiness—to a higher level.
It’s important to acknowledge that it won’t always work (as with any new habit), and that’s perfectly okay. Deeply ingrained thought patterns don’t change overnight. But as with any habit, repetition and consistency are the keys to success.
Also, this is not about fake positivity. This is about allowing what is ànd at the same time creating the capacity or skill to quickly shift states.
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6/ Movement
As you will learn over and over in Unleash The Power Within, your physiology is the easiest way to shift your state. Movement and how you sit and stand are easy ways to bring more energy into your life.
Inspired by this, I did 3 things:
Pay more attention to my posture.
Create mini-bursts of movement throughout the day when I felt my energy dropping (push-ups, squads, jumping, dancing, tapping my chest).
More short, powerful workouts during this Tony-month. A quick heart rate spike, a good sweat, and a challenge for the lungs, usually with a HIIT or strength workout, or a run after work. In the mornings, I kept it gentler with 30 minutes of stretching or yoga.
Impact
The small bursts of movement, especially dancing and tapping my chest, really helped to re-kindle energy.
PS, it’s easier to act yourself into feeling than to feel yourself into action.
In the evenings, whether I was tired or unmotivated, I always felt better after a workout. My energy state would often shift from fatigued to feeling energized. It also contributed to a sense of pride and gave my self-confidence a noticeable boost.
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Conclusion
Starting the day with the breathing, gratitude, visualization of success and stretching or yoga is simply delightful. Adding in a cold plunge regularly is amazing as well. We are putting our health (mental & physical) first and that is incredibly rewarding.
Beginning the day with the most important things in your life sets a powerful tone—it reinforces your priorities and shapes your identity, which is not to be underestimated.
Each of these habits is fascinating in its own way. I find it powerful that Tony combines a couple of powerful elements in more or less 10 minutes (breathing, gratitude, healing, loving kindness, visualization), allowing you to set yourself up (priming) for a great day. As he says, if you don’t have 10 minutes, you don’t have a life.
Tiny improvements or changes in your life can lead to a incredible results in the long run. That’s the power of habits. With this morning routine plus more movement and conscious priming throughout the day, you’re creating new habits that can transform your life.
The more you explore personal growth, the more you’ll notice recurring themes in trainings, books, and teachings. And one that always comes back is the power of a morning routine that combines mind(set), body, and a positive vision for the present and future. This concept dates back as far as Stoic philosophy in 300 BC.
Personal transformation is about small changes that create a huge impact over time. And there’s no better way to achieve this than with a powerful morning routine.
What now?
A lot of this probably isn’t new for most people. The challenge is to actually do it. Unfortunately, we oftentimes know what we need to do, but we don’t do what we know. Check out this blog post to understand behavior change and habit creation better.
Play around with these habits. Try a few. Do something (small) and see for yourself how a morning routine can positively influence your life. And as with any habits that help you live life to the fullest: hold onto them!
You can also dig a bit deeper and read books like The 5AM Club or The Miracle Morning, or check out my article on Marcus Aurelius’ morning routines. But make sure you turn knowledge into action.
Let me know how it goes in the comments or on my social media channels (Instagram , Facebook or LinkedIn).
And if you’d like support in bringing about positive change in your life, feel free to reach out and see what coaching could mean for you.
PS: you can also join our free Self-Development Book Club if you want extra inspiration and some accountability (the next book on the list is Atomic Habits by James Clear, zoom session planned for 19 December 2024, perfect addition to this article).
Jan Aquarius - Live. Grow. Matter.
#becurious #becourageous #beyourbest
And a small extra gift for those whole like reading, some extra inspiration linked to this topic:
Disclaimer: this article is for informational purposes only and is based on personal experiences with the habits discussed. It is not intended as medical advice. If you have any medical concerns or conditions, or if you’re unsure whether these practices are right for you, please consult a healthcare professional or your doctor before trying them.
Check this video if you want to hear Tony explain the different components of the priming exercise: