The Morning Routine That Changes Everything

A morning routine works because your subconscious mind is most receptive in the first 20 minutes after waking — before the phone, the scrolling, and the outside world get a vote. The method here is simple: write a short affirmation sheet by hand each morning in past tense, pair movement with calming audio or affirmations, and read your intentions back with real feeling. Do it consistently and the effect compounds — one good morning becomes a good week, then a good month, then a different year.

The Law of Expectation▶ Watch from 0:01

Good morning, and welcome to today's video — wherever you're tuning in from. In yesterday's video we talked about affirmations: using certain speech patterns and words to focus the mind and direct your attention.

We're tapping into what I call the law of expectation. It's not overthinking things — it's a calm, complete knowingness that what you're working toward is going to happen. Understanding this, and applying it consistently, is what starts to change the results you're getting. Don't overlook yesterday's video — don't overlook the power of the spoken word, of using your voice and your affirmations to focus your mind on exactly what you want.

The flip side matters just as much: you can just as easily affirm the things you don't want, and your mind doesn't filter that out for you — it doesn't check in and ask if you're sure. What you consistently focus on and say out loud tends to come back around. The choice is what you put in, in the first place. So discipline yourself to keep your affirmations positive and focused on exactly what you want, and in today's video we're going to expand on this a little more.

Make Daily Planning Your Ritual▶ Watch from 2:21

Some people write autobiographies, others keep diaries — but the problem is that it's all past tense. It encourages you to keep revisiting what's already happened instead of building what's ahead. If you're serious about achieving what you want in life, take some time and make daily planning your ritual.

The method is simple: a blue pen and a small notepad. In the mornings, after this video, take five minutes and write out your desires and goals for the day — in past tense, as if they've already happened. Here's an example.

'Today is the best day of my life. This is the day I have awaited. I'm thankful for all the positive people who've engaged with me today, and the wonderful circumstances that have come to me directly. I'm driving the car of my dreams, and I excel greatly in my field of work. In my sphere of reality I attract money easily, and the joy of my internal wealth flows into the external. Today is truly beautiful, and I had a positive impact on other people's lives.'

There's a lot packed into that short paragraph: the power of the spoken word, living from the end in mind, expressing gratitude for something before it's even happened. Notice that every word choice is positive — the ideas we're focused on are what we want, not what we don't want. Most mornings I write by hand, with a blue pen on white paper — there's something about the deliberate, slow act of writing that keeps you present with what you're actually saying, in a way typing doesn't.

Programming the First Twenty Minutes▶ Watch from 4:50

This is something I've been doing consciously for a while now. I have a routine built around a favorite song about waking up ready for the best day of your life.

I'd listen to it first thing in the morning. Your subconscious mind is wide open for the first 20 minutes of the day, and it's especially receptive to whatever you expose it to in that window. Most people grab their phone and start scrolling social media the second they wake up.

I made a different choice. I have a smart speaker programmed so that when I say "good morning," it plays that song automatically — a short, upbeat track about waking up ready for the best day of your life. That's the first thing I hear, before anything else has a chance to get in.

It's essentially auto-suggestion: you're telling yourself, first thing, how today is going to go. You're setting an expectation for how the day will look, feel, and unfold. Use a trigger like that first thing in the morning.

One habit I picked up from years of studying this material: the moment you wake up, get out of bed and say, "Today is going to be a great day. Thank you." It doesn't matter whether you feel good or bad, or whether you woke up late — you say it and you move. That's the discipline behind it. What are you choosing? Understand that your subconscious is wide open in those first 20 minutes, and you can use that window to set the tone for your whole day.

Writing It Down, Reading It Back▶ Watch from 7:50

Bring it together with affirmations, gratitude, and expectation — expect exactly what you want. Write out one sheet every morning and hold true faith that your day is going to be brilliant. There's only this day, no other. Keep each page, and read it back to yourself with enthusiasm.

To take the ritual further: at the start of every month, gather up the pages from the month before — about 30 of them — and burn them outside, at night. There's something to physically letting go of what you've written: a small ceremony that marks the page as complete and clears space to start the next month fresh. I want to break down one word in particular here: enthusiasm.

Read these pages out loud every day with enthusiasm, with emotion, with the expectation that what you're reading is going to happen — with the belief that it's already yours. Then, at the end of the month, you start over.

Take all of them, put them together, and burn them. Start the new month with a clean slate — 30 days, 30 new sheets of paper — and do this every single month. Now let's talk about audio and movement.

Movement and Audio▶ Watch from 9:49

Pairing audio with movement is a powerful way to reinforce this reprogramming. The simplest version: about 15 minutes of jogging, once a day, with the right audio playing. Classical music, natural sounds, and instrumental music work well — you can also use recorded "I am" affirmation audios.

Moving your body — increasing blood flow and oxygen — pairs well with this kind of mental focus. If you jog, walk, or work out, mix it with the power of the spoken word: affirmations, calming music, audio that lets you tune out and just focus inward. It's two techniques brought together, and the combination reinforces both.

When you're jogging with "I am" affirmations, repeat them in your mind and let yourself actually feel the sense of power behind them — that's where the real reinforcement happens.

The Power of Handwriting▶ Watch from 11:56

Let's dissect this a little more — I want to talk about the power of writing, because it's overlooked. We're bombarded with technology: laptops, iPads, iPhones, everything in between. It's so easy to just digitize your life — type your affirmations into Notes, post them to Twitter, and move on.

But there's something to the physical act of writing that typing doesn't replicate — the hand simply moves differently, and more deliberately, than your fingers do on a keyboard. Writing in blue ink on white paper keeps you more present with what you're actually putting down. Don't type your goals. Don't type your notes.

Get out of the habit of digital note-taking. Get back to a blue pen and a plain piece of white paper. Writing causes thinking. When you sit down with a pen and paper to write out your affirmations, your goals, the things you're working toward, you stay connected to it in a way that typing doesn't give you.

You're thinking about what you're writing as you write it. You're seeing it as you write it. Then you read it back, and you say it out loud again. That repetition — write it, see it, read it, speak it — reinforces it more than any single pass at a keyboard could.

Technology has conditioned us to want speed and efficiency — writing feels slow by comparison, typing feels faster and more organized. Don't be that person. Piece of paper, pen, write it down: your goals, your dreams. I've noticed that the most successful people I've come across almost always have notepads and pens around them — they're always writing things down. I can only speak to what I've observed firsthand, but it's been consistent enough that I take it seriously.

Building the Month▶ Watch from 15:10

Understand the power of the spoken word, and the power of writing things out. What you consistently expect starts to show up — and when you study this and really understand it, a kind of quiet confidence comes with it. You stop taking the position of "why is this happening to me, I just don't get it," because you understand why things are unfolding the way they are. Master the principles, and you start to master your days.

Making the shift from digital note-taking to writing by hand — blue pen, white paper, writing your affirmations and goals and dreams out longhand — matters. So does starting your day a certain way: with the law of expectation.

Start your day with a routine, a ritual, something that affirms what you want. It focuses your mind. You're thinking, feeling, and acting from a state of completion about how your day is going to go.

This one small change compounds. One good day, done consistently, becomes two days in a row. Do it for a week and you've had one great week of waking up a certain way. Do it for four weeks and you've had a great month. Do it for twelve months and you've had an incredible year — all from one decision, one change: 20 minutes in the morning.

You decided to program your subconscious for the day. That's a powerful concept. Get into a routine like an upbeat morning song, or something similar — "I am" affirmations, or your own recorded voice affirming your goals, played back on repeat. Build that into your morning and start your day programmed for success. Thank you again for joining us on this episode — I'll see you in the next one.

It's time to elevate your self-image. If this resonated with you and you're ready to study these principles in a more structured way, start with The 5th Basic, or explore more at maisonelevee.com.