5 DAILY RITUALS

THAT HELP ME
WIN THE DAY
NIKHIL PANDEY

CAPTAIN S I N B A D
A STOICISM MORNING
ROUTINE —
INTRODUCTION
Tim Ferriss is one of the most recognized faces in personal development
and has a pretty well-organized morning routine that he advocates.
I decided to give it a go and see how it affected my productivity, and after
trying his as well as other morning habits in conjunction with the
philosophy of stoicism, I’ve developed a list of my own 5 daily rituals that
help me win the day.

To those of us who continue to strive to improve our daily habits, through

breaking the negative ones and establishing positive ones; to push
through the difficult days where we may not always come out on top
knowing tomorrow is another chance to get back on track and rebuild our
habits — to us I say, greatness is coming.
1. MEDITATE —
“Mind is a reservoir for numerous powers. By utilizing the resources which
are hidden within it, one can attain any height of success in the world. If the
mind is trained, made one-pointed and inwards, it also has the power to
penetrate into the deeper levels of our being. It is the finest instrument that
a human being can ever have.”

— Swami Rama

The majority of the guests on Tim Ferriss' podcast, creative geniuses

mentioned in the book Daily Rituals, and world class people in all walks of
life have a meditation practice. Meditation lowers anxiety, improves
creativity and discipline, increases focus, and naturally helps you make
more right decisions. For the most part, I meditate every day for about 40
minutes. This is often broken up into two chunks, once after a morning
jog, and once in the late afternoon.

I find that meditation after jogging - or any other form of light exercise -
can be very beneficial. Your brain will have more oxygen flowing through it
afterwards, and I can usually go deeper into my meditation as a result.

MORNING MORNING AFTERNOON

JOG 20 MINS MEDITATE 20 MINS MEDITATE 20 MINS
2. EXERCISE —
Building from the first daily ritual of meditation, the second daily habit of
cardiovascular exercise is incredibly beneficial. Going for a jog or lifting
light weights for example, for 20 minutes each morning — starts the
production of a neurotransmitter called BDNF which is considered
Miracle Gro for the brain.

Not only does the brain become oxygenated, but light cardiovascular
exercise in the morning can also stave off tiredness, improve your mood,
and essentially wake up your sleepy brain. If you pair the first habit of
meditating after you exercise, you will be deeply primed to win the day.

In addition to its daily mental benefits, establishing exercise as a morning

ritual can also help with maintaining your long-term physical health. Small
habits can lead to huge results over time, and the most common excuse
for a lack of daily exercise is not having the time to do it. 20 minutes of
exercise in the morning will not only prepare you mentally and physically,
but also leaves the rest of the day open.
3. MINDSTORMING —
We often create limitations for ourselves simply by the questions we fail
to ask. But when chasing your most important dreams, it can be
rewarding to write out your biggest goal in the form of a question, such as
"What can I do to double my salary within the next 6 months?" You then
would spend the next 5-10 minutes coming up with as many responses to
that question as possible. At least 20 responses is ideal.

Don't judge your answers — simply review your list and resolve to act on at
least one of those ideas. If you do this often enough — ideally every day —
you will notice radical progress towards the objectives you've listed.
4. COLD SHOWERS —
FIRST THING IN THE MORNING
This one is a bit esoteric, but I do believe in the power of cold exposure
yielding enormous benefits. This is especially true in the context of "the
transmutation of sexual energy," an idea I would talk a lot about in the
early days of my channel, but have since let go of when it comes to
content development.

WITH THAT BEING SAID — I do still believe in it, and one of the most
powerful ways to implement this process is to take a cold shower first
thing in the morning.

Outside of the wishy washy, cold showers have long-held scientifically

documented benefits such as increased metabolism, burning of
subcutaneous brown fat, reduced depression/anxiety, increased
alertness, and much more.

COLD SHOWERS CAN HELP WITH:

✓ INCREASED CIRCULATION
✓ INCREASED ENDORPHINS
✓ INCREASED METABOLISM
✓ INCREASED ALERTNESS
✓ BURN SUBCUTANEOUS BROWN FAT
✓ REDUCED DEPRESSION & ANXIETY
5. 3 HOURS OF WORK —
ON YOUR “HIGHLIGHT” OF THE DAY
I think it's suboptimal to think you can put in 12-14 hour days, or even work
8 hours completely effectively, on all important tasks. Tim Ferriss has
often encouraged his readers to ask themselves, "What would I work on, if
I could only work 2 hours per week?" The answer to this question is very
telling. Out of all the things you do, there's only 1 or 2 things that are
significantly more important than the rest. It is vital that you do those
things with the utmost effectiveness.

Now luckily, we aren’t limited to just 2 hours per week — I'd be pretty bored
if I wasn't permitted the opportunity to work. However, I don't set
aggressive work aims — just 3 hours per day.

This doesn't mean I don't do more in the day. There's meetings, emails,
errands, exercise, and more. But each day has a "Highlight of the Day,"
which is the only thing that needs to be finished to make that day a
complete win. If you can get that highlight done, the day was a success.
Without it, the day was nothing.

I strive my utmost to spend those three hours on the "Highlight of the

Day," every day of the week, of the month, of the year. This single practice
has drastically improved my life.