So.

You want to up the energy in your mornings. Maybe you’re a team leader and you want to factor in some new and exciting concepts into the group, maybe you want to come to work comfortably willing to impress the big guys, or maybe you just really need to start your days better. But, either way, you’re struggling. The mornings are hard, tiring.

I’m not some energy guru here to expound the merits of an obscure power, but I am a morning person. I’m the guy who’s bouncing around 24/7 without a single cup of coffee, and the one who shows up to the cafeteria with a loud Hello, how are you? Awesome!

So, here are 9 tips for you to conquer your mornings and set yourself up for a fantastic day.

1. Pick the song in your playlist that gets you going— and I mean, like, really going— and dance like you’re at the greatest concert of your life.

Put some earphones in, go in a room where no one will see you, and go. When I say dance, I don’t mean bobbing your head or shaking your hips a little. I want you to explode. I want you to move as if you were a string puppet and the puppeteer was a five-year-old with five bagfuls of candy in him. Dancing like this gets your blood going, shakes the morning fatigue from your head, and accentuates the mood that the song sets for you.

2. As you go about getting ready, engage in what I like to call oratorical randomization.

“Man, those windows use tabloids to crank up grass in light bulbs, which means the protein in my mom’s cow purse didn’t lick the teabag on Tuesday night.”

You want to bring a creative idea to the morning business meeting? This is how.

Yeah, I know. Odd. But effective. Think about it: when you wake up, your brain is like sloth running on the seabed with a boulder in his claws. There’s a sluggishness present that only seems to go away with time. Well, believe me, saying three random sentences like the one above will break up that sluggishness immediately. Weave memories, immediate observations, and random thoughts together and make some crazy sentences up, and you’ll bring something new to the table. Express your inner weird.

3. Change your alarm and put your phone as far away from the bed as possible.

In my experience, a song with a dirty drop is the best morning alarm possible. You don’t have to choose an EDM song, but that genre of music caters towards drops that get people moving.

4. Turn off your alarm, and then start getting ready— no social media.

For at least fifteen minutes. It may seem nice to start off your morning with those little pings of satisfaction from the various likes or retweets or texts, but all you’re doing for ten to fifteen minutes is lying in bed looking at a screen. When you’re done, you put the phone down and then what? Do you speedily get up and starting getting ready? Of course not. You rub your face and groan and begin debating how long you can lie in bed until you really have to get up.

5. Stretch.

Do it. Your muscles are sleepy too. Wake them up.

6. Amp yourself up by talking to your reflection.

Let yourself know that you look smoking today. Ask yourself what you’re going to do today, what objectives you’re going to accomplish. Have a full blown conversation with the mirror, about whatever comes to mind.

A lot of what gets the day going in the morning is interaction. So many people spend the first two hours of their day in complete, moody silence, and that’s no way to wake yourself up. So talk! Break that silence. It doesn’t matter that you’re speaking to yourself. You are the greatest person you know, and in interacting with yourself, you can access and work through thoughts that are harder to get to when they remain in your head.

7. Ok, fine— if you don’t want to talk to yourself, call up a friend.

Have a friend call you as your alarm. Make sure your ringtone is something that will wake you up, but you and your friend can switch off every day calling each other and waking each other up with a conversation on what your plans are for the day, how you’re feeling that particular morning, or about whatever crazy dream you had.

This tactic works because it makes you responsible for someone other than yourself. If you don’t wake up on time on a day that you’re supposed to call your friend, your friend wakes up late and his day starts off on a bad note and it’s your fault. That sounds a little harsh, but the point is responsibility and accountability. Powerful traits to have, and practicing them as soon as you wake up? Advantageous, no doubt.

8. Compliment someone— anyone.

It might be the person that gives you your coffee in the drive-thru. It might be that little girl with the adorable jacket on the subway. It might be your boss, or one of your employees.

As soon as you can while still making it genuine, compliment someone on their dress, their attitude towards you, or whatever it is they’re doing for you. Making someone smile in the morning is such a wonderful feeling, for both you and the complimentee, and it can really change someone’s entire day.

9. If none of these tactics were too odd, then create an odd ritual for yourself.

I start off my days learning six new words and I spend around ten to twenty minutes writing sentences using those words. A little nerdy, I know, but it certainly gets my head going.

It doesn’t matter what it is, it can be small or something weirdly sophisticated like learning new vocab, but engaging in a personalized ritual will give you something familiar to do in the mornings, something more exciting than brushing your teeth or taking a shower. Making it odd, too, will help, because it will break up the monotony that mornings are so often composed of.

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So go forth my friends, and make the mornings the best parts of your day!

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