The morning makes the day!

What do Anna Wintour, Marie Kondo, Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin and Dalai Lama have in common? They all start the day very consciously, with a certain ritual. The routines differ greatly, but they have one thing in common: they all take some time for themselves in the morning before they start working through their to-do list.

I've compiled my favorites for you as inspiration for your own ritual.

1. Make your bed

There's a lot more to this seemingly mundane first task of the day than meets the eye. William H. McRaven, Admiral of the Navy Seals, even wrote a best-selling book with this very title. The basic message behind it is, do the little things right first, or you'll never get the big things right. How true...

2. Move and meditate

Sufficient movement, and for this you don't have to run a marathon but you do have to work up a sweat, reduces stress. This makes the most sense in the morning because the level of the stress hormone cortisol is highest then. The meditation that follows helps you to relax, center yourself and get mentally fit for the day. On myALLY you will find short sequences of five to ten minutes for this purpose, so that you can put together your own individual program.

3. Have breakfast

Even when we sleep at night, our body is working at full speed. It therefore makes sense to fill up your energy stores for the day with a nutrient-rich breakfast. A portion of porridge would be ideal. But for those who, like me, don't like that at all, toasted bread with honey or jam will do just as well. The main thing is that you like it. Eating should be fun first of all.

4. Focus yourself

Steve Jobs looked in the mirror every morning and asked himself the same question: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I plan to do today? And whenever the answer was 'no' too many days in a row, I knew I had to change something."

Benjamin Franklin's question to himself, on the other hand, focused on the day ahead and was, "What good can I do today?"

The Dalai Lama prays the Bodhisattva prayer for humanity every morning.

Great, right?!

Decide on a routine, provide a sense of accomplishment, and make it a ritual.

Every new action you want to integrate into your life starts with a decision. Decide to change something, define what exactly and start tomorrow! But don't overwhelm yourself. Has your morning looked like this: get up, shower, get ready, get out of the house, coffee to go and into the day? Then getting up an hour earlier and doing everything on the list is probably too much. Decide on one item on the list and keep it short. Five minutes every morning is better than running out of steam by the third day. You can expand once the first step is in place.

The literature does not agree on how long it takes to integrate a new ritual. We recommend to "pull through" a new routine for at least 40 days without interruption. After that, you can take stock and make any necessary adjustments.

If you would like to be inspired by other people's morning rituals, you can find more than 300 interviews on the topic at www.mymorningroutine.com.