5 Ways Professionals Can Boost Their Online Reputations

5 Ways Professionals Can Boost Their Online Reputations5 Ways Professionals Can Boost Their Online ReputationsPersonal branding isnt just for celebrities. It applies to you, too Consider this More than one-quarter of Americans now believe that they are more likely to make a first impression online than at a party or social engagement. Thats according to a survey by Domain.ME, the provider of the .ME domain extension, and Wakefield Research.prnewswire.com/news-releases/is-your-good-personenpersonenname-at-risk-survey-of-americans-reveals-import...? Your brand is made up of your online and offline reputations, based on the words and actions you use. Despite that, 79 percent of Americans have not tried to manage information about themselves online, according to the survey. You already have a reputation among the people know you. Ask trusted friends what words they would use to describe you. If your reputation is good, all you need to do is to reiterate and reinforce these words an d concepts in your position updates, LinkedIn profile, resume and online conversations. Dont ignore your online reputation or dismiss social media altogether. In fact, 51 percent of hiring managers use search engines to research candidates, according to a CareerBuilder survey.? Furthermore, 35 percent of employers said they were less likely to interview a candidate they couldnt find online.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=5%2F14%2F2015id=pr893ed=12%...? 1. Google yourself. It isnt hard. You use Google every day. Just search for your name by enclosing your first and last name inside quotes like this Your Name. Most people will not venture past the information on the first page, so pay special attention to the results you find there. Is the first page the best information about you? In other words, if someone were researching you professionally, is this what you would want them to find? Carefully study the first five to ten pages of search results, write s Susan P. Joyce, an online job search expert, on Job-Hunt.org. Look for anything negative that an employer would see associated with your name (even if it is NOT about you). Joyce calls this defensive Googling. It helps you identify and remove any digital dirt mentioned about you. job-hunt.org/guides/google/defensive-googling-method.shtml? Only 22 percent or about one out of five of those surveyed report that the information that appears in an online search ?is exactly what they want people to know about them, according to the Domain.ME survey. Oftentimes, when people search for their names online, they find inaccurate or outdated information, share their name with someone else or discover embarrassing or reputation-damaging information about themselves. Of the survey respondents, 93 percent did not have an alert set up for their name. Dont become the victim of negative digital dirt. 2. Create alerts. Google makes it easy to set up alerts. Go to google.com/alerts and type in yo ur name inside quotes. That tells Google to search for those exact words. Once you set up your alert, youll receive an email whenever your name is mentioned online. 3. Buy your domain name. This is a really easy way to stand out because only 6 percent of Americans have purchased a domain address that includes their name, according to Domain.MEs research. Having a website under your name improves where you rank in online search results and lets you control the content on your site. It typically costs less than $20 per year. Visit a domain registry, such as Namecheap.com, Name.com or Hover.com, to see if your name is available. Years ago, .com was the only extension to use, butyou have many more options today. 4. Push good content online. One of the best career-building strategies is to regularly push out good content either written by you or shared from the people you know. Sadly, only 8 percent have created online content to improve search results or reputation, according to Domai n.ME. The easy way to do this is to write blog posts and share professional work-related status updates on all of your social media channels. The real takeaway here is to be aware that anything you put online can be used against you. 5. Build a website. Once you own your domain, you want to put something there. Website building has become easier today. You can use one of many tools, such as WordPress, to set up a personal website. Create your own from scratch if you know how to do it. Consider your website a primary online resume and update it every six months or so. Include the link to your website in your email signature, within your LinkedIn profile and in any bio you create across social media. Having one spot you control is one of the best long-term strategies active careerists can maintain. A standout statistic from the Domain.ME survey is that 93 percent of respondents hadnt created online content, such as a personal website, to improve search results or their reputation. Begin today and youll be in the small minority of standout candidates.

10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins schedule that will double productivity

10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins schedule that will double productivity10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins schedule that will double productivityBenjamin Franklin is best remembered as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, but he achieved much mora in his lifetime. During Franklins 84 years alive, he invented the lightning rod,made significant discoveries in physics and population studies, wrote best-selling books, composed music and played the violin, harp and guitar at a high level, foundedmany civic organizations, including the University of Pennsylvania, and much more.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreHow did Franklin achieve so much more than his contemporaries, given he had the same 24 hours each day to get things done?The answer to this question lies in Franklins daily schedule.Heres how it works, including 10 lessons that will double your productivity this we ek.Create a list of values to live byBefore putting pen to paper on his daily schedule, Franklin created a list of virtues to live by.He referred to ansicht as his 13 virtues a list of values designed to help guide his daily schedule.Heres the list of Benjamin Franklins 13 virtues1. TemperanceEat elend to dullness and drink not to elevation.2. SilenceSpeak not but what may benefit others or yourself. Avoid trifling conversation.3. OrderLet all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time.4. ResolutionResolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.5. FrugalityMake no expense but to do good to others or yourself i.e. Waste nothing.6. IndustryLose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions.7. SincerityUse no hurtful deceit. Think innocently and justly and, if you speak, speak accordingly.8. JusticeWrong none, by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.9. ModerationAvoid ext remes. Forebear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.10. CleanlinessTolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes or habitation.11. ChastityRarely use venery but for health or offspring Never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or anothers peace or reputation.12. TranquilityBe not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.13. HumilityImitate Jesus and Socrates.Franklin arranged each virtue in order of importance, and instead of tackling all of them at once, he planned to fix it on one of them at a time and, when I should be master of that, then to proceed to another, and so on, till I should have gone thro the thirteen.Each day, Franklin would track his progression on one virtue, in a little book- which had a page allotted for each of the virtues- and in the evenings, he would put a mark next the virtue if he committed a fault.At the end of each week, Franklin would review the number of faults committed against the virtue, and would only mov e onto building the habit of the next virtue, if no faults were committed.By creating a list of values to live by, Franklin laid a solid foundation to build a daily schedule that aligns with them, and directs his time and energy in the right direction.Benjamin Franklins daily scheduleYou may delay, but time will not.? Benjamin FranklinInBenjamin Franklins autobiography(audiobook), he breaks down his simple daily schedule for peak productivityFrom Ben Franklins AutobiographyHere are the 10 most important productivity lessons from Franklins daily schedule1. Keep it simpleThe first thing to note about Franklins daily schedule is its simplicity.There are only six time blocks scheduled for each day, and one of these blocks includes sleep- an obvious necessity.Theres no overwhelming to-do list of things to get done. Its simple, ruthlessly focused on the essential, and highly effective.Its easy to underestimate thepower of simplicity, even though its the hidden driving force behind peak pr oductivity.2. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each dayOne of Franklins most popular mantras was early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,and according to this schedule, he definitely lived up to it.Each day, Franklin woke up early at 5am and went to bed early at 10 pm, for a total of 7 hours of sleep each night.Its important to note however, that what matters most isnt the time you go to bed or wake up, its the consistency of your sleep schedule.By going to bed and waking up at the same time each day, youlltrain your brain to problem asleep fasterand improve the quality of your sleep.3. Spend quiet time aloneShortly after waking up, Franklin would take a shower and then addressPowerfull Goodness. In other words, hed spend some time in prayer or meditation.This dailyhabit of solitudegave Franklin the much needed clarity and focus to plan the day, and follow through on his plans.4. Set your intention and plan for the dayEach morning, before going to work, Franklin would set his intention for the day with an important question What good shall I do this day?Then hed pick a virtue to focus on, and begin to contrive days business, and take the resolution of the day i.e. to plan his day.Setting an intention and creating a plan of action each morning, ensures that you stay focused on your most important task and avoid getting easily distracted by the minutia, and other people during the day.5. Dedicate time to learningIn Franklins daily schedule, he sets aside some time to prosecute the present study, which means hed spend time on an independent personal project separate from work.Most likely, this wouldve been time spent reading either books or papers.Alternatively, you could spend this time learning a language, playing an instrument or on your hobbies.6. Create time blocks for deep and shallow workTo plan his day, Franklin createdtime blocksto manage his time effectively and protect his day from unexpected interruptions.Specifical ly, Franklin allocated two four-hour time blocks- from 8am till 12 pm, and from 2pm till 6 pm- for deep work and uninterrupted focus on his most important tasks.Likewise, Franklin allocated a two-hour time block- from 12 am till 2 pm- for lunch and shallow work i.e. reviewing his finances.By creating time blocks in this manner, Franklin finished his most important tasks for the day, when he had themost energy to do so.7. Put things back in order after workAfter a long tiring day at work, its easy to walk away from our work space and leave things in a disorderly manner, only to return back the next morning to clean it up before getting back to work.Even though this saves time upfront, it wastes valuable time, willpower and energy, that couldve been spent working on important tasks straight away.To avoid this problem, Franklin made sure to clean up his work space and put things back in order before leaving the office each day.This ensured that Franklin had enough willpower each mornin g, to tackle the tedious tasks in the long day ahead.8. Schedule downtimeAfter work each day, Franklin would clean up his work space, eat dinner, and spend the rest of the evening relaxing listening to music and catching up with his friends.Downtime isnt a waste of time. Its a powerful productivity tool for re-energizing the brain and body, in preparation for the challenges of the next day.9. Reflect on your day in the eveningsJust before going to bed, Franklin would reflect on his day and ask himself an important question What good have I done today?After noting down what went well, and what didnt go so well during the day, Franklin would look to change and improve his daily schedule.Likewise, an evening audit of your daily productivity will help you to uncover time-wasting activities that drain your energy, and improve your daily schedule for better productivity.10. Dont aim for perfectionIn the bookDaily Rituals How Artists Work(Audiobook), Currey explains that Franklin himself s truggled to stick to his daily scheduleHe was not naturally inclined to keep his papers and other possessions organized, and he found the effort so vexing that he almost quit in frustration. Moreover, the demands of his printing business meant that he couldnt always follow the exacting daily timetable that he set for himself.What matters most isnt perfectionism, its improvement. As Franklin emphasizedI was surprisd to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish.Celebrate your small wins and avoid beating yourself up when you fall short of your plans, because at the end of the day, its the effort that really counts.Failing to plan is planning to failBenjamin Franklins daily schedule is a simple, highly effective template for improving your productivity.Even though it was created over 300 years ago, it contains timeless principles that will help you to avoid the distractions of the verfallen world, and stay focused on you r most important tasks.Tweak and experiment with Franklins daily schedule to find what works best for you, but remember in the words of Benjamin Franklin, what matters most isnt the contents of the plan, its the decision to make a plan in the first placeIf you fail toplan, you areplanning to failMayo Oshin writes atMayoOshin.Com, where he shares the best practical ideas based on proven science and the habits of highly successful people for stress-free productivity and improved mental performance. To get these strategies to stop procrastinating, get more things by doing less and improve your focus,join his free weekly newsletter.A version of thisarticleoriginally appeared atmayooshin.comas10 Lessons From Benjamin Franklins Daily Schedule That Will Double Your Productivity.FOOTNOTES

You make or break your life between 5-7 in the morning

You make or break your life between 5-7 in the morningYou make or break your life between 5-7 in the morningWhile serving a humanitarian and ecclesiastical mission at the age of 20, I learned potentially the fruchtwein important lesson of my life. How you spend your morning determines your success in life.How you spend your morning determines who you will become.How you spend your morning determines whether you become world-class at something, or remain merely average.How you spend your morning is the difference between making tens of millions of dollars and making less than 100 grand.How you spend your morning determines how well youthinkstrategizeprioritizespend your timechoose your friendschoose your loverchoose your careerperform in your workinfluence the worldI didnt understand how important my morning was at the beginning of my mission. But it quickly became very apparent.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Sati sfaction, Neuroscience, and moreAs a missionary, the first several hours of the day are dedicated to getting ready, studying, and planning.After a few months in the mission field, I leidiced that fruchtwein missionaries dragged themselves out of bed, and dragged themselves through their studies.My experience was different. For the first time in my life, I experienced the power of learning. I felt the nourishment of feeding my mind and soul. To quote Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.I started waking up earlier than prescribed to read more and more. Rather than reading one hour each morning as recommended, I was reading three or four.Within six months, it became apparent that my thinking and teaching abilities were accelerating at rocket speed. I began to stand out as a missionary.The following quote by Jeffrey Holland became crystal clear to meI frequently say to missionaries in the field, You make or break your mission every morning of your life. You tell me how those morning hours go until you are on the street in your mission, whatever time it is you tell me how those hours go, and I will tell you how your day will go, I will tell you how your month will go, I will tell you how your year will go and how your mission and your life will go.You make or break your life between 5 and 7 a.m.Lose an hour in the morning, and you will spend all day looking for it. - Richard WhatelyIf you lose an hour in your morning, youll spend your whole day looking for it.If you spend your day looking for the most important time youve lost, youll be spending your whole life on a lower-level path than you could have had.If you dont prioritize and maximize your morning hours, youll always be left wondering what your life could have been.Youll never know what you could have had.Youll never watch yourself accelerate and advance at rates that are possible, but binnenseem impossible.Youll always tischsettle fo r less in your choices, relationships, eating, environment, income, and life.- - - Given the fact that most people reading this article operate on a 9-5ish schedule, the hours before 9 a.m. are significant.Moreover, many people reading this article have kids and other responsibilities that are immediately pressing upon them, usually around 7 a.m.If you start your day at 7 a.m., youve already lost the most important hours of your day. Youve already lost your chance to radically separate yourself - intellectually, emotionally, spiritually - from the masses.When you upgrade yourself intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, youre enabled to see the world from a more elevated plane. Youre empowered to deal with the difficult and challenging emotions required for growth and evolution. You quickly learn how to work with people, solve problems, and create an amazing lifestyle where youre making great money.What do you do between 5 and 7 a.m.?If you could give yourself two hours, ev ery morning, solely dedicated to learning, thinking, planning, meditating, praying, and writing in your journal, your life would change.These are the best things you could do with your morning time.How a rolle spends the hours of 5 to 7 a.m. are a pretty clear indicator of how successful theyll be. Is this always the case? Of course not. Are there certain circumstances, such as people who work night shifts, when these exact hours dont apply? Sure.But for most people, the hours of 5 to 7 a.m. make or break their entire life.How do you spend the hours of 5 to 7?Do you spend half of that time sleeping?Do you sleep the entire duration?Do you spend that time working out?- - - How you start something is very important. Prevention is far better than rehabilitation. Starting right is much easier than correcting course.Consequently, how you start your day is extremely important. It is indeed possible to correct your course mid-way through the day, but lets be honest, it doesnt often happen . Momentum - good or badeanstalt - is hard to reverse.Waking up at 5 a.m. isnt enough, then, if you wake up at that time and you start yourself down a non-optimal path.First things should come first.Some things are good, other things are better, and other things are best.Given that your morning hours are your most important, you shouldnt dedicate those golden hours to activities which are merely good. As Jim Collins has said, Good is the enemy of great. Similarly, Dallin Oaks has said, We should be careful not to exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave little time for that which is better or best.Every person has 24 hours per day.However, what each person does with those 24 hours determines who they become and what they do.How you spend your 24 hours is the difference between making tens of millions of dollars and living paycheck to paycheck.How you spend your 24 hours is the difference between being happy and being miserable.There are endless choices y ou could make. Endless activities you could engage in. Endless people you could surround yourself with. Endless goals you could pursue.John Maxwell has written, You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.fruchtwein choices are bad choices.Most activities are unimportant.There are a lot of things which are good. But those activities should NOT come first thing in the morning.Research confirms the brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex, is most active and readily creative immediately following sleep. Your mind is clearest in the morning. Your energy is highest.A lot of people wake up first thing and head to the gym. This is certainly a good activity - it will wake you up and get you moving.But fitness is not the most optimal thing you could do in the morning. Research confirms that you workout better with food in your system. Your workouts will be far more productive and powerful if you do them in the late morning or early afternoon, as opposed to first thi ng in the morning. Lunch-break work out.If youve already accomplished more in your morning than most people do in a month, youll be SO PUMPED to workout. Youll push yourself so much harder. Youll feel so much more fulfilled. Youll feel so good it will feel like beating the system - which is actually what youre doing when you live on your own terms.Your workout should be a mental break - a way to break up your day. The physical and mental can push each other upward. Once you workout, you give your mind a rest and allow your subconscious to synthesize and organize all the work youve done throughout your morning.Indeed, stepping away after several hours of hard thinking is where youll get your best insights. Dont waste those epic insights by working out first thing in the morning Instead, workout during the afternoon and get even more insights WHILE YOURE working out as a byproduct of the thinking and mental work youve done that morning.Another benefit of working out later in the day is that it does energize you - and thus you can add a couple extra hours of good mental energy that you wont get if you exercise first thing in the morning.So what should you do first thing in the morning?If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. - Ralph Waldo EmersonIf you want to quickly set yourself unbekannt in life, you should make it your first priority to read lots of really good books. If you spend 12 hours per morning reading, youd read 50100 books per year. Do this for 510 years, and as they say, youll become an overnight success.In our incredible age of information and technology, its never been easier to access information. Of course, its also never been more distracting.There are many REALLY REALLY good books. There are also MILLIONS of books that arent that great.The quality of books you read matters. To quote Ryan Holiday, If you read what everyone else reads, youll think like everyone else thinks.Some books are classics for a r eason.Some books have shaped culture for a reason.Some books are continually recommended by people who have achieved wealth and success for a reason.And when you start really reading, youll be guided by the books themselves. The right books will pop-up and stir your heart. Youll intuitively know - I need to read that book, which will then lead you to the next book and the next.Youll begin making important connections that other people havent made.Youll be able to shape culture yourself.Youll be able to make influential change - first in your own life, then in your family, then in your circle of friends, then in your work and community, and eventually, youll be able to influence and shape the whole world.Reading isnt enough though.You need to spend plenty of time thinking, meditating, praying if so inclined, and writing in your journal.Rather than just reading for 12 hours straight, its good to shift between reading, thinking, and writing down your insights. Listening to audiobooks makes this process even easier.While either listening or reading, its good to allow spaces of time to really think about what youre learning, and to measure what youre learning against your current worldview, priorities, and goals.Hopefully, if youre open to learning, youll allow what youre reading to alter and enhance your current mental model. Youll allow your learning to hone and improve your current priorities, goals, choices, and daily behaviors.Thus, while youre learning, its good to ponder and think about the goals youre currently pursuing. Writing your goals down in the morning, and emotionally visualizing their completion is powerful. Its awe-inspiring and humbling to read old journal entries and realize that many of your former goals have since been attained and accomplished.While listening to or reading powerful information - your mind will be primed to get lots of really good ideas. Especially if youve developed skills in meditation, thinking, and prayer.While listenin g/reading, youll get lots of REALLY GOOD ideas about how you can better accomplish your goals. Ideas will come to your mind about how you can better help the people in your network accomplish their goals.Youll want to immediately act on these ideas. The longer you hesitate, the more likely you will be to forget about your key insight. The longer you wait, the less power your idea will have.When a brilliant idea sparks, start writing. Dont just put it on the back-burner. Follow the idea and see where it takes you.Its usually the idea after the idea that really matters. But most people take their ideas for granted, or they just continue their reading.No.When you get a core insight, pause and reflect. Pull out your journal and begin connecting that idea with your most pressing goals and priorities and relationships. Quickly, another connection will be made. A deeper insight will present itself. Eventually, youll stumble upon something very practical. Something youll need to act on imme diately.That something may be a conversation you need to have. It may be an article you need to write that morning. It may be something you can do for someone to dramatically move the needle.You need THAT insight. The one that leads to immediate action and makes immediate impact on what youre trying to do.This is how you make quantum leaps, day-by-day, in your progression. When youre getting powerful insights that improve how you live, your life changes. Thats why learning every day is so important.If you read good books every morning, visualize and strategize your goals, and write your insights in your journal, youll have an amazing life.Youll become a highly creative person.Youll be a brilliant decision maker and strategist.Youll become financially successful.Youll learn from your mistakes, and not continue the same unhealthy patterns.Youll elevate yourself while most people continue small lives of regret.What do you do between the hours of 57 a.m.?Join the 5 a.m. clubIf you haven t yet joined the 5 a.m. club, you dont know what youre missing. Its the equivalent of me telling you how good a certain chocolate cake is. You can only really know if you taste the cake yourself.You wont know how motivating, clarifying, and empowering it is until you experience it yourself. Your identity and personality are shaped by your behavior. Change your choices, change your life.Will waking up early sometimes suck?Absolutely.But if it doesnt suck, its not worth doing. Robert Greene explains in his book, Mastery, that you can learn to love this internal resistance. In his words, You find a kind of perverse pleasure in moving past the pain this might bring.And if you immediately put yourself in a different environment - the fog and tiredness will go away within 5 minutes.Drink a huge cup of water and go somewhere you can be alone. Throw your shoes on. Wake yourself up and deal with the few moments of pain in order to unlock a life most people could never imagine.Ready to upgra de?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThisarticlefirst appeared on Medium.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong peopleYou make or break your life between 5-7 in the morningWhile serving a humanitarian and ecclesiastical mission at the age of 20, I learned potentially the most important lesson of my life. How you spend your morning determines your success in life.How you spend your morning determines who you will become.How you spend your morning determines whether you become world-class at something, or remain merely average.How you spend your morning is the diffe rence between making tens of millions of dollars and making less than 100 grand.How you spend your morning determines how well youthinkstrategizeprioritizespend your timechoose your friendschoose your loverchoose your careerperform in your workinfluence the worldI didnt understand how important my morning was at the beginning of my mission. But it quickly became very apparent.As a missionary, the first several hours of the day are dedicated to getting ready, studying, and planning.After a few months in the mission field, I noticed that most missionaries dragged themselves out of bed, and dragged themselves through their studies.My experience was different. For the first time in my life, I experienced the power of learning. I felt the nourishment of feeding my mind and soul. To quote Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.I started waking up earlier than prescribed to read more and more. Rather than reading one h our each morning as recommended, I was reading three or four.Within six months, it became apparent that my thinking and teaching abilities were accelerating at rocket speed. I began to stand out as a missionary.The following quote by Jeffrey Holland became crystal clear to meI frequently say to missionaries in the field, You make or break your mission every morning of your life. You tell me how those morning hours go until you are on the street in your mission, whatever time it is you tell me how those hours go, and I will tell you how your day will go, I will tell you how your month will go, I will tell you how your year will go and how your mission and your life will go.You make or break your life between 5 and 7 a.m.Lose an hour in the morning, and you will spend all day looking for it. - Richard WhatelyIf you lose an hour in your morning, youll spend your whole day looking for it.If you spend your day looking for the most important time youve lost, youll be spending your whole l ife on a lower-level path than you could have had.If you dont prioritize and maximize your morning hours, youll always be left wondering what your life could have been.Youll never know what you could have had.Youll never watch yourself accelerate and advance at rates that are possible, but seem impossible.Youll always settle for less in your choices, relationships, eating, environment, income, and life.- - - Given the fact that most people reading this article operate on a 9-5ish schedule, the hours before 9 a.m. are significant.Moreover, many people reading this article have kids and other responsibilities that are immediately pressing upon them, usually around 7 a.m.If you start your day at 7 a.m., youve already lost the most important hours of your day. Youve already lost your chance to radically separate yourself - intellectually, emotionally, spiritually - from the masses.When you upgrade yourself intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually, youre enabled to see the world from a more elevated plane. Youre empowered to deal with the difficult and challenging emotions required for growth and evolution. You quickly learn how to work with people, solve problems, and create an amazing lifestyle where youre making great money.What do you do between 5 and 7 a.m.?If you could give yourself two hours, every morning, solely dedicated to learning, thinking, planning, meditating, praying, and writing in your journal, your life would change.These are the best things you could do with your morning time.How a person spends the hours of 5 to 7 a.m. are a pretty clear indicator of how successful theyll be. Is this always the case? Of course not. Are there certain circumstances, such as people who work night shifts, when these exact hours dont apply? Sure.But for most people, the hours of 5 to 7 a.m. make or break their entire life.How do you spend the hours of 5 to 7?Do you spend half of that time sleeping?Do you sleep the entire duration?Do you spend that time worki ng out?- - - How you start something is very important. Prevention is far better than rehabilitation. Starting right is much easier than correcting course.Consequently, how you start your day is extremely important. It is indeed possible to correct your course mid-way through the day, but lets be honest, it doesnt often happen. Momentum - good or bad - is hard to reverse.Waking up at 5 a.m. isnt enough, then, if you wake up at that time and you start yourself down a non-optimal path.First things should come first.Some things are good, other things are better, and other things are best.Given that your morning hours are your most important, you shouldnt dedicate those golden hours to activities which are merely good. As Jim Collins has said, Good is the enemy of great. Similarly, Dallin Oaks has said, We should be careful not to exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave little time for that which is better or best.Every person has 24 hours per day.However , what each person does with those 24 hours determines who they become and what they do.How you spend your 24 hours is the difference between making tens of millions of dollars and living paycheck to paycheck.How you spend your 24 hours is the difference between being happy and being miserable.There are endless choices you could make. Endless activities you could engage in. Endless people you could surround yourself with. Endless goals you could pursue.John Maxwell has written, You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.Most choices are bad choices.Most activities are unimportant.There are a lot of things which are good. But those activities should NOT come first thing in the morning.Research confirms the brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex, is most active and readily creative immediately following sleep. Your mind is clearest in the morning. Your energy is highest.A lot of people wake up first thing and head to the gym. This is certainly a good activit y - it will wake you up and get you moving.But fitness is not the most optimal thing you could do in the morning. Research confirms that you workout better with food in your system. Your workouts will be far more productive and powerful if you do them in the late morning or early afternoon, as opposed to first thing in the morning. Lunch-break work out.If youve already accomplished more in your morning than most people do in a month, youll be SO PUMPED to workout. Youll push yourself so much harder. Youll feel so much more fulfilled. Youll feel so good it will feel like beating the system - which is actually what youre doing when you live on your own terms.Your workout should be a mental break - a way to break up your day. The physical and mental can push each other upward. Once you workout, you give your mind a rest and allow your subconscious to synthesize and organize all the work youve done throughout your morning.Indeed, stepping away after several hours of hard thinking is where youll get your best insights. Dont waste those epic insights by working out first thing in the morning Instead, workout during the afternoon and get even more insights WHILE YOURE working out as a byproduct of the thinking and mental work youve done that morning.Another benefit of working out later in the day is that it does energize you - and thus you can add a couple extra hours of good mental energy that you wont get if you exercise first thing in the morning.So what should you do first thing in the morning?If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. - Ralph Waldo EmersonIf you want to quickly set yourself apart in life, you should make it your first priority to read lots of really good books. If you spend 12 hours per morning reading, youd read 50100 books per year. Do this for 510 years, and as they say, youll become an overnight success.In our incredible age of information and technology, its never been easier to access information. O f course, its also never been more distracting.There are many REALLY REALLY good books. There are also MILLIONS of books that arent that great.The quality of books you read matters. To quote Ryan Holiday, If you read what everyone else reads, youll think like everyone else thinks.Some books are classics for a reason.Some books have shaped culture for a reason.Some books are continually recommended by people who have achieved wealth and success for a reason.And when you start really reading, youll be guided by the books themselves. The right books will pop-up and stir your heart. Youll intuitively know - I need to read that book, which will then lead you to the next book and the next.Youll begin making important connections that other people havent made.Youll be able to shape culture yourself.Youll be able to make influential change - first in your own life, then in your family, then in your circle of friends, then in your work and community, and eventually, youll be able to influe nce and shape the whole world.Reading isnt enough though.You need to spend plenty of time thinking, meditating, praying if so inclined, and writing in your journal.Rather than just reading for 12 hours straight, its good to shift between reading, thinking, and writing down your insights. Listening to audiobooks makes this process even easier.While either listening or reading, its good to allow spaces of time to really think about what youre learning, and to measure what youre learning against your current worldview, priorities, and goals.Hopefully, if youre open to learning, youll allow what youre reading to alter and enhance your current mental model. Youll allow your learning to hone and improve your current priorities, goals, choices, and daily behaviors.Thus, while youre learning, its good to ponder and think about the goals youre currently pursuing. Writing your goals down in the morning, and emotionally visualizing their completion is powerful. Its awe-inspiring and humbling t o read old journal entries and realize that many of your former goals have since been attained and accomplished.While listening to or reading powerful information - your mind will be primed to get lots of really good ideas. Especially if youve developed skills in meditation, thinking, and prayer.While listening/reading, youll get lots of REALLY GOOD ideas about how you can better accomplish your goals. Ideas will come to your mind about how you can better help the people in your network accomplish their goals.Youll want to immediately act on these ideas. The longer you hesitate, the more likely you will be to forget about your key insight. The longer you wait, the less power your idea will have.When a brilliant idea sparks, start writing. Dont just put it on the back-burner. Follow the idea and see where it takes you.Its usually the idea after the idea that really matters. But most people take their ideas for granted, or they just continue their reading.No.When you get a core insig ht, pause and reflect. Pull out your journal and begin connecting that idea with your most pressing goals and priorities and relationships. Quickly, another connection will be made. A deeper insight will present itself. Eventually, youll stumble upon something very practical. Something youll need to act on immediately.That something may be a conversation you need to have. It may be an article you need to write that morning. It may be something you can do for someone to dramatically move the needle.You need THAT insight. The one that leads to immediate action and makes immediate impact on what youre trying to do.This is how you make quantum leaps, day-by-day, in your progression. When youre getting powerful insights that improve how you live, your life changes. Thats why learning every day is so important.If you read good books every morning, visualize and strategize your goals, and write your insights in your journal, youll have an amazing life.Youll become a highly creative person. Youll be a brilliant decision maker and strategist.Youll become financially successful.Youll learn from your mistakes, and not continue the same unhealthy patterns.Youll elevate yourself while most people continue small lives of regret.What do you do between the hours of 57 a.m.?Join the 5 a.m. clubIf you havent yet joined the 5 a.m. club, you dont know what youre missing. Its the equivalent of me telling you how good a certain chocolate cake is. You can only really know if you taste the cake yourself.You wont know how motivating, clarifying, and empowering it is until you experience it yourself. Your identity and personality are shaped by your behavior. Change your choices, change your life.Will waking up early sometimes suck?Absolutely.But if it doesnt suck, its not worth doing. Robert Greene explains in his book, Mastery, that you can learn to love this internal resistance. In his words, You find a kind of perverse pleasure in moving past the pain this might bring.And if you imme diately put yourself in a different environment - the fog and tiredness will go away within 5 minutes.Drink a huge cup of water and go somewhere you can be alone. Throw your shoes on. Wake yourself up and deal with the few moments of pain in order to unlock a life most people could never imagine.Ready to upgrade?Ive created a cheat sheet for putting yourself into a PEAK-STATE, immediately. You follow this daily, your life will change very quickly.Get the cheat sheet hereThisarticlefirst appeared on Medium.