Five Boring Habits That Run My Life

A few months ago, a friend of mine called me. She had just taken over her father's business, and she was going a thousand miles an hour, listing everything that was wrong with it. The employees, the customers, the money, all of it. I told her to slow down. I told her to breathe. I told her we would fix it, and I meant it, because I remember exactly what it felt like to be in her shoes.

There was a stretch of years when I would drive to work in the morning with my mind already racing. I wondered whether I could actually fix the car sitting in the bay, whether a pissed off customer was waiting for me at the counter, whether my people were even going to show up that day. I carried those thoughts everywhere I went, and I assumed that was just what owning a business felt like.

Those thoughts are gone now. Getting rid of them took a lot of work over a lot of years, and none of that work looked impressive from the outside. People ask me what habits made me a better leader, and they are usually expecting some productivity hack or leadership trick. My real answer sounds boring. That is exactly why it works.

1. Wake up at the same time every day.

I get up at 3:30 in the morning, every morning. A lot of people talk about consistent wake-up times, and I understand why it sounds like recycled advice, but waking up at the same time every day teaches you something deeper than discipline. It teaches you to become predictable and accountable to yourself before anyone else is even awake. There are no excuses at 3:30 in the morning, because nothing has happened yet that you can blame.

I tell everyone that anyone who messes with my wake-up time or my sleep becomes my number one enemy, and I mean it. That is how seriously I protect this habit.

2. Take care of yourself, mentally and physically.

Going to the gym or going for a walk gets rid of stress and whatever else life hits you with that day. When you are young, it is easy to tell yourself that you can suck it up and keep going, and for a while that actually works. The older you get, the less stamina and energy you have to burn through, and taking care of yourself stops being something you do when you have time. For me, at some point it stopped being optional, and I am better at my job because of it.

3. Hold a daily take five with your team.

Every morning, I gather my team for a short meeting we call the take five. It takes a few minutes, and we cover three things every single time:

• We set expectations for the day, so everyone knows exactly what is expected of them before the first car rolls in.

• We train on something, even if it only takes five minutes. Small improvements every day add up over years.

• We practice transparency with each other. Our business is built on trust, and trust with customers starts with trust inside the team.

Five minutes does not sound like much. Multiply it by every working day for years and it becomes the culture of the shop.

4. Cut way back on drinking.

I am down to maybe one drink a month, sometimes one drink every two months. I was never a big drinker, and that is exactly what makes the math worth looking at, because the drinks that catch up with you are the ones that never feel like drinking. Consider what a completely normal week of business life can look like:

• A three or four day trip with four business dinners and two drinks each adds up to eight drinks.

• One dinner out at home after the trip brings the total to ten.

An ordinary week can reach ten to fourteen drinks without a single moment that feels like heavy drinking. It adds up so gradually that you never notice it happening. It slows your brain and your body down, it adds some fat, and you quietly stop operating at your best while telling yourself nothing has changed.

5. Spend time alone.

I like my alone time, whether that means walking by myself, listening to something, or just thinking. I know plenty of people who cannot stand being alone with themselves, and I understand it, because your own company forces you to sit with your own thoughts. I am happy with myself, and I believe learning to enjoy your own company is one of the most underrated skills a leader can build.

Why boring wins.

None of these habits will change your life on their own. The power comes from doing them consistently, day after day, year after year, until they stop being habits and start being who you are.

My life looks like this: I wake up, I go to the gym, I take the dog out, I read, I go to work, I go home, I eat, and I sleep. I do pretty much the same thing every day, and I would not trade it for anything, because the routine gives me peace. I love what I do, I have my goal, and I have a clear direction. In my experience, boredom shows up when you have no idea where you are going. I know exactly where I am going.

That is what I told my friend on the phone that day. When you have dealt with enough people and enough situations, you learn to stop reacting to extremes. John Maxwell teaches that every bad situation has a lesson in it, and as long as you learn the lesson, it stops being a bad situation and starts becoming a valuable one. She is learning her lessons now, the same way I learned mine.

Some people look at my life and see it as boring. I look at it and thank God I have no surprises. Nobody wants to wake up to a blown-up inbox, angry customers, and employees stealing from the business. I would rather know exactly what I am getting every single day, because that certainty gives you a confidence that no hack can.

Every one of these habits exists to protect the main thing.

Keep the main thing the main thing.