How Cities (and Leaders) wake up in the Morning
I get to watch a little part the city of Phnom Phen wake up from my hotel window. While there's some element of activity all night long - sometime around 5:00 AM this fascinating city begins to hit its morning rhythm.
The motor bikes are first. Then pedestrians. The street food vendors soon show up and begin lighting fires and setting up shop.
Motor bikes and mopeds are then joined by cars (they have louder horns) and soon by larger trucks (with even louder horns).
The small coffee shop across the street opens.
In hot places (like Phnom Phen) this daily rhythm begins early in the day, while cities who hold some semblance of cool tend to liven up a little later in the morning.
The morning routine of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and that of Greenville, SC are both very different. But they are both
Every city has a wake up ritual - this is fascinating.
Phnom Phen fully awake.
Every person should also have a wake up ritual - this is important.
Leadership begins with my determination of when I get up in the morning, and how I get up in the morning. It's a mindset issue. And if leading from the back begins with leading yourself - when and how you get your up in the morning becomes an important thing.
Negatively speaking - some things I don't want to do first thing in the AM:
Check email
Check social media
Text
Fiddle with my phone
Here's my ideal morning routine:
- A liter of water with two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
- A walk with dogs
- Coffee
- Analog reading (from the Bible and usually from another non-fiction book of importance to me at the moment)
- Analog journaling
- Writing time
There are two things about a morning routine I find to be of equal importance: What you do and consistency.
Make sure what you are doing is valuable for the mind and/or for the body. Exercise, yoga, writing, reading, thinking, calorie intake. It's all important. You determine what is the best for you right now.
Then once the determination is made - do it.
Every day.