The early bird gets the worm. We’ve all heard the saying, but the truth is that to get that worm, you need to start your day right, not just early. Some of the most famous and successful people have established crack-of-dawn habits that are similar in many ways. So read on to see whether your morning looks more like Oprah’s or Donald Trump’s.
Barack Obama
44th President of the USA
Rise and shine: before 6 a.m.
Morning Routine: Obama has a strict morning work out routing, starting out each day with strength and cardio training at 6:45 a.m. He then breakfasts and helps send his daughters off to school. Rarely a morning coffee drinker, the former president prefers orange juice, green tea or water. He also likes to minimize time spent on small decisions such as clothing, so plans what to wear the night before. When he was president, he spent up to an hour every morning, reading the national security briefing and four or five newspapers.
Donald Trump
45th President of the USA
Rise and shine: Pre-dawn
Morning Routine: Does his hair. Not a joke. He said he washes it in the morning, lets it dry over the course of an hour, and then gets to combing it into his trademark quiff and keeping it in place with hairspray. It might not be fair to call tweeting a morning habit since he does it so much throughout the day, but he regularly uses his social media account well before 7 a.m. He’s not into breakfast and avoids coffee and tea. And he claims not to exercise.
Jack Dorsey
Twitter and Square CEO
Rise and shine: 5-5:30 a.m.
Morning Routine: Up before dawn to meditate for 30 minutes; does three reps of a seven-minute workout; followed by coffee. He sticks to this routine relentlessly in order to manage both of his listed companies, managing to put in an 18-hour day tirelessly because of it.
Michelle Obama
Former First Lady of USA
Rise and shine: 4:30 a.m.
Morning Routine: Works out every day, often alongside her husband, and only after that gets the girls up and packs them off to school. She admits that she had to motivate herself with the reasoning that if she didn’t take time out for herself, who would? And it forced her to get up early to fit in her exercise regime.
Oprah Winfrey
Media Proprietor, Actress, Talk Show Host, Philanthropist
Rise and shine: 5:30 a.m.
Morning Routine: 20 minutes of meditation to clear her mind and help her focus. She then hits the treadmill while playing Scrabble on her iPad against the computer. After a protein-packed breakfast, she’s in the office by 6:30 a.m.
Robert Iger
Disney CEO
Rise and shine: 4:15 a.m.
Morning Routine: Iger is up before dawn, seven days a week, no matter where he is in the world. It's a time of day when he feels he can be his most productive without too much interruption. He bikes and does an aerobic workout for 45 minutes twice a week, and also works out with a trainer, lifting weights. He’s in the gym by 4:25 a.m. and in the office no later than 6:30 a.m.
Steve Jobs
Late Apple CEO
Rise and shine: Before 6 a.m.
Morning Routine: Known for one simple motivational morning tactic that he revealed at a Stanford commencement address: “If today was the last day of my life, would I be happy with what I’m about to do today?” If he responded ‘no’ too many days in a row, he knew something needed to change
Photo captions (from left to right)
1. Barack Obama, 44th President of the USA. Image credit: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com
2. Michelle Obama, former First Lady of USA. Image credit: Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com
3. Robert Iger, Disney CEO. Image credit: Photo Works / Shutterstock.com
4. & 5. Image credit: Thinkstock