Newsletter #9
Introducing the 30-Day Morning Routine Challenge
Hi there,
I’ve been writing these fortnightly newsletters for just about 4 months now. I love writing. And these newsletter formats are just about the right length for me to explore a topic in some detail, without (hopefully) boring everyone to death.
But today’s newsletter is a bit different. It’s part information, part sales pitch.
As you’ll be aware, my book is now available to buy. And many of you have been kind enough to do so. I also know that many of you have started reading it. And a number have already finished it. Thank you to everyone for the kind words of praise as well as the thoughtful, constructive feedback.
The thing with publishing books is that once you’ve finished writing, that’s it. It’s not like a website or WhatsApp message. You can’t go back and change it once you’ve pressed the button and sent to print. You have to live with what you’ve written.
I’ve noticed a few grammatical errors and the odd missing word in the book. And if I had the opportunity to re-write some of the passages, I definitely would. But the biggest challenge is dealing with my constantly curious mind. I’m always reading. I’m always learning. I’m always open to new ideas. I’m always keen to improve
And one part of the book that I think I could substantially improve upon is Chapter 9; Cultivating the Habits of Happiness. I think I’ve done a reasonable job at trying to articulate the idea of creating a morning routine in words. But I’m not sure it’s as effective as it could be in getting people to actually ‘do’ the habits .
So I’ve had an idea.
I’ve created a product to support the book!
And that product is the 30-Day Habits of Happiness Morning Routine Challenge. If you want to cut straight to the quick and see what the challenge looks like you can read all about it by clicking here; The Habits of Happiness 30-Day Morning Routine Challenge
If you’re sold on the idea, you can register to be part of the first ever cohort from that link.
If you’re not sold on the idea, I’d love to know what I could do to improve it. What could I do that would motivate you to put the morning routine into practice? Simply reply to this email and give me your thoughts.
And if you want to know why establishing a morning routine is so important, please read on.
It’s time to wake up to your full potential
When I finally came face to face with my addiction and accepted the help on offer, that help came in the guise of a spiritual solution. As I’ve written about before, I hated the idea of anything to do with spirituality. The notion of me becoming a spiritual person felt so…well, boring. I couldn’t have been less enthusiastic if I tried.
But I knew it was necessary.
So too did the people who were guiding me back to sanity and health. And because they knew I was resistant to change, they bundled all the important stuff into a morning routine that made it easy for me to remember what to do (a combination of wellbeing and spiritual practices designed into one structured routine) and when to do it (every morning).
I didn’t necessarily like doing it. But I did it anyway because I was desperate to rid myself of the need to drink. Slowly but surely, the bundle of practices that I carried out every morning had a magical effect on me. That morning routine was the gateway to the path out of misery and the foundation of my future happiness.
Reflecting back on those early days, weeks, and months of establishing a solid morning routine in my life, I’ve come to believe something both simple and profound: the first hour of your day holds disproportionate power. That’s when your mind is most receptive. That’s when your willpower most abundant. That’s when your intentions are wholesome and potent.
I now firmly believe how you spend the first part of your day has huge influence on everything that follows. When you start the day well, the rest of your day is built firmly on solid emotional, mental and spiritual ground. Days built that way lead to weeks built that way. Which lead to months and years built on foundations that can be trusted
The compound effect is miraculous.
But my path to this discovery wasn't straightforward. Six years ago, I couldn't imagine voluntarily waking up before I absolutely had to. "I'm not a morning person," I'd insist, as if this were some God-given truth about my inner nature rather than a habit I'd fallen into over the decades.
The resistance I felt to doing the morning routine wasn't unusual – it was just my comfort zone fighting to maintain the status quo. What I didn't understand then was that on the other side of that resistance lay a whole new world of possibility, wellbeing and happiness.
So what’s going on? Why is this morning period so important?
I know the morning routine works. I’ve experienced its potency first hand. And I would love everyone to experience that potency too. But I’m pretty sure most people will have the same resistance to getting up early as I had. So I feel I need a more compelling story. Something that may convince others, that may convince you, to experiment with a new structured early morning regime.
I’ve believe that compelling story comes in the form of three fundamental truths about happiness and what we need to do to achieve it.
Truth Number 1: True happiness doesn't flow from external achievement.
In my book, I spend quite a large part of the first few chapters establishing the difference between conditional happiness and spiritual happiness. Our current culture leads us to believe that happiness is found ‘over there’ in ‘things’, ‘people’ and ‘situations’ that we currently don’t have in our life. ‘Things’ like more money. ‘People’ like new partners. ‘Situations’ like new jobs. Once we obtain these things we think we will be happy. This is conditional happiness. We make our happiness conditional on us getting these ‘things’, ‘people’ and ‘situations’.
But this is a lie. It’s simply not true.
Harvard's Grant Study, the longest longitudinal study in history (spanning 80+ years), reveals that these external factors – career success, wealth accumulation, reputation and status – account for less than 10% of life satisfaction.
What really matters, what makes up the remaining 90% of our satisfaction with life, is the quality of our inner experience. Our ability to be present. Our capacity for connection – with ourselves as well as others. Our sense of wellbeing. Our self esteem. And our ability to learn. These are our inner human needs.
Truth Number 2: To experience enduring happiness, you must dedicate time each day to meeting our inner human needs.
So if our inner world is the key to enduring natural happiness, we need to attend to it. We need to invest in it. But we generally don’t do that. Our lives are too busy. We’re too busy chasing all those external factors.
That’s where daily routines come in. Not only do they help us to remember to invest in our inner worlds every day, but by doing them consistently we start generating compound effects. Daily improvements that build upon each other; day after day, week after week.
People with consistent routines showed 35% lower cortisol spikes in response to daily stressors, and 28% better performance on complex cognitive tasks.
That’s the beauty of compounding. In another study, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that after just 30 days of a consistent daily routine, participants showed measurable changes in brain plasticity – their brains were literally rewiring for greater resilience and satisfaction. Small effects building up slowly over time. That’s what daily consistency delivers.
Truth Number 3: How you approach waking up each day is crucial because it sets the tone for everything that follows.
The final part of the compelling story comes in doing the daily routine in the morning. Making it the first thing you do helps nurture an enduring positive inner experience by creating what researchers call "positive affect priming." When we begin our day attending to our inner landscape through practices like journaling, gratitude, or meditation, we activate neural pathways associated with wellbeing that then influence every subsequent interaction.
Prime your inner world at the start of the day and you’re priming the 90% that matters for the rest of the day.
Studies show that people who spend just 15 minutes each morning in quiet reflection, whether through meditation, prayer, journaling, or simply sitting in stillness, report 47% higher levels of life satisfaction compared to those who start their day reactively.
This isn't about forcing a false positive mindset on ourselves. It's about creating space for what's already there. Our true, soulful selves are naturally peaceful, contented, fulfilled and joyous. We just need to allow all that inner goodness to emerge naturally.
The Wisdom of Beginning Intentionally
Morning routines aren't about cramming more into your day. They're about creating a spacious beginning that allows your true self to emerge.
Consider these practices, each validated by decades of research across multiple disciplines:
Gratitude practices shift our baseline negativity bias. Neuroscientific studies show 21 days of morning gratitude journaling creates lasting changes in the anterior cingulate cortex, enhancing emotional resilience.
Meditation, as little as 5-10 minutes a day, increases grey matter in the hippocampus (memory and learning) while decreasing it in the amygdala (fear and stress response).
Movement, whether gentle yoga, walking, or more vigorous exercise, triggers release of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which researchers call "Miracle-Gro for the brain."
Visualisation activates the same neural networks as actual experience, priming our brains for positive outcomes and enhanced performance.
Affirmations, when grounded in reality rather than fantasy, strengthen neural pathways associated with self-compassion and growth mindset.
Journaling engages both hemispheres of the brain, integrating analytical and creative processing, leading to what researchers call "increased cognitive flexibility."
These are great practices in isolation. But when you combine some, or all of them, in to a structured way of starting your day, you are designing a framework and pathway for lasting wellbeing and spiritual happiness.
The research is clear. Here’s what happens when you commit to beginning each day more mindfully and intentionally:
Physical wellbeing: 30% stronger immune response, better sleep quality, lowered blood pressure
Mental health: 41% reduction in anxiety symptoms, 28% improvement in cognitive function
Emotional resilience: 35% better stress management, increased emotional intelligence
Spiritual connection: Deeper sense of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment (I’d like to say 100% here to keep the stats going but God doesn’t work in percentages!!!)
What I’m saying here is that people with consistent morning routines report what researchers call "eudaemonic wellbeing" – a profound sense that life itself is meaningful, regardless of circumstances. Regardless of the ‘things’, ‘people’ and ‘situations’ we do or do not have.
This is spiritual happiness. And it can be yours if you’re willing to invest in a morning routine every day.
The invitation
I hope you get the picture. I hope the story and the fundamental truths are compelling enough for you.
The science is clear. The benefits are tangible. The practices are simple.
What's missing is simply the decision to begin.
Every new day offers a fresh start. Every morning is an invitation to invest in the best version of yourself there could possibly be. There is a daily opportunity to walk the path towards a much happier future.
The question isn't whether morning routines work – the evidence is beyond doubt. The question is whether you are ready to experience the profound shift that happens when you start your day connected to what matters most?
Your future self is waiting. And that future begins on Sunday 1st June if you’re up for it.
It’s time to wake up to a new morning ritual. It’s time to wake up to your full potential.
Until next time,
Simon