S2 E48: 6 Morning Protocols for More Energy, Focus, & Happiness

You’re listening to The Wealth Mindset Show where Hixon Zuercher Capital Management’s team of finance professionals, portfolio managers and a life coach come together to tackle complex topics in finance and retirement planning so you don’t have to. From investment strategies and wealth management to tax planning, retirement income, and aligning your money with your values and purpose, The Wealth Mindset Show offers the tools to thrive.

 

Austin Wilson:

All right. Hey, hey, hey. Welcome to The Wealth Mindset Show where the Hixon Zuercher team will have conversations on managing wealth, navigating retirement and making smart decisions for a secure, meaningful future. I’m Austin Wilson, Chief Investment Officer at Hixon Zuercher Capital Management.

Josh Robb:

I’m Josh Robb, Director of Wealth Management at Hixon Zuercher Capital Management. Joining us today is Scott Miller. He is our life coach here, and he is bringing us a topic that he has used in some other talks about morning protocols.

Austin Wilson:

Morning protocols?

Scott Miller:

Yes.

Josh Robb:

This is a beginning of a series because he has some other protocols for the evening and different parts of your life.

Austin Wilson:

Stay tuned for the evening.

Josh Robb:

I’ll stay tuned for that.

Austin Wilson:

Yes, that’s right. Exactly.

 

[0:59] – Life Updates: Engaged Daughter & Fall Weather

Josh Robb:

We’re not going to hit all of it. We’re just going to focus on the morning. But before we do, any updates? We always like to just see what’s going on with life.

Austin Wilson:

Yeah, with life. Scott?

Scott Miller:

Oh, life updates?

Josh Robb:

Yes.

Scott Miller:

Oh, well, this last weekend, my middle daughter, Madelyn, got engaged.

Josh Robb:

That’s awesome.

Austin Wilson:

Congrats.

Scott Miller:

Big news in the Miller family. So shout out to Madelyn. Madelyn used to work here.

Austin Wilson:

Yes, absolutely. She was a very…

Josh Robb:

She edited this podcast.

Austin Wilson:

Edited this podcast.

Scott Miller:

That’s exactly right. So big news and that’s exciting for us.

Austin Wilson:

Awesome.

Josh Robb:

Well, congratulations to her. I know we’re excited for her-

Scott Miller:

Absolutely.

Josh Robb:

… in that next stage of her life.

Scott Miller:

That’s right.

Josh Robb:

I don’t know if we can top that, Austin.

Austin Wilson:

I don’t really have much going on. Everything is good. Gearing up for fall. I’m glad it’s not 90 degrees anymore.

Josh Robb:

That’s right. I was out-

Scott Miller:

It’s nice outside.

Josh Robb:

… at a flag football game. My daughter was cheerleading for that and it was rainy, cold and 50 degrees. I’m like, “This is fall.”

Austin Wilson:

This feels like fall.

Josh Robb:

Ohio fall weather. Yes. We made it finally.

Scott Miller:

We really switched gears here.

Austin Wilson:

I actually, when I was able to put on a sweatshirt and shorts, I knew we were in, really we’re in for it here.

Scott Miller:

That’s good.

Austin Wilson:

And I leave the windows open at night right now.

Scott Miller:

That’s comfortable.

Austin Wilson:

And I sleep so good. So that’s coming to the evening protocol.

Josh Robb:

That’s the evening protocol.

Scott Miller:

Talking about cooler, cooler environment, cooler climate. So

Austin Wilson:

Yes, we’re going to talk about morning.

Josh Robb:

Yes, morning.

Austin Wilson:

Morning protocol.

Josh Robb:

On wake-up.

 

[2:16] – Our Morning Routines & Why They Matter

Austin Wilson:

Scott, get us started. How you begin your day can really have an impact on everything in between, right?

Scott Miller:

Yeah, it really does. What we do in those first few hours in the morning can really set the table for really that entire day and having a good, productive day. So that’s really what we’re going to be talking about. Tell me a little bit about your guys’ routine. What about your morning routines? What do you guys do?

Josh Robb:

And this idea came from Arthur Brooks, right?

Scott Miller:

Yes. Right.

Josh Robb:

So that’s where he had a whole book on this, right?

Scott Miller:

Yeah. He’s a social scientist that’s done a lot of research and a lot of data on this. And so he put out a lot of these protocols, these six morning protocols that I’ve tried to follow actually in my own life. I’m having a difficult time doing it. And it’s also where we’re going to, when we talk about the evening protocols, so it really comes from Arthur Brooks.

Josh Robb:

Oh, wow.

Scott Miller:

So I want to give him the credit.

Josh Robb:

Without looking ahead, my routine, alarm goes off in the morning, I get up, first thing I do is my devotions. And so start the day with that. Depending on the time of the year, so school is in session right now, my wife does an amazing job getting them ready, getting food. Every once in a while I help pack lunches when it’s needed, but not normally. But my morning, it’s devotions and then usually I’m around with the kids. Don’t always eat breakfast, which is one of those things I know I need to work on. But if we have breakfast, I’ll eat breakfast then and then get ready and head to work. I usually don’t drink coffee until I get into the office. So at that point, I’ve been up for probably two to two and a half hours before I have my first coffee.

Scott Miller:

We’re going to talk about that actually about delaying caffeine and delaying coffee.

Josh Robb:

That’s my routine.

Austin Wilson:

And for me, alarm goes off 4:45. I usually roll out of bed, it’s before 5:00, but it takes me a minute to get my bearings about me. But five o’clock I go downstairs, Bible study first, eat a banana and then do my Bible study because the banana I use to fuel my workout which starts at 5:30. Workout from 5:30 to 6:30 and then I get done about 6:30 every day and I have my protein shake, breakfast, Greek yogurt, milk, protein powder. That’s pretty much all that goes in there. And that’s my breakfast. And then usually I’ll watch the news a little bit, wake up a little bit until I get a shower and get ready for work to get in here. So it’s pretty regular routine. I try and keep it six days a week that way. My workout routine is six days a week, consistent, three days of lifting, three days of running. And it feels pretty good.

Scott Miller:

Okay. Excellent. What does yours look like?

Austin Wilson:

Coffee when I get here. Coffee not until I get here.

Scott Miller:

The six protocols that we’re just about ready to talk about, I do all of those for the most part every morning. However, they’re out of sequence. So that’s what’s been really hard for me. And we’re going to talk about that as we get into these.

Austin Wilson:

Sequence matters.

Scott Miller:

Sequence in the morning protocol, it really does and really following, especially the one about coffee. So we’ll get to it.

Josh Robb:

All right. So why don’t you jump in? So first of all, morning protocols, this is just your, like we talked about your routine that you have, protocols, just the steps that you do in the morning. It matters because you said it sets the stage for the rest of your day, can affect your mood, can affect your productivity.

Scott Miller:

That’s right.

Josh Robb:

It’s important. So let’s start with that. What is the first thing you want to do when you get there?

Scott Miller:

Well, let me just give a quick framework for all this. We’re going to talk a lot about this rhythm that our bodies go through in the 24-hour cycle, the circadian rhythm. It’s amazing the way that our bodies have been created. It really is a response to both light and darkness. So really the sun and the moon regulate a day as we all know, but our bodies are designed to do that too. And so our bodies are designed to wake up to light and to go to sleep with darkness. And so, if you think about it, we sleep for about eight hours in that 24-hour cycle, so about 16 hours that we’re talking about, we have maybe an eight- to 12-hour day period. So really what we’re talking about when we talk about morning protocols, what are those two to three hours that you’re going to be doing that are going to lead up to that productive portion of your day, that eight to 12 hours?

And then, when we talk about the evening protocols, we’re going to talk about the two to three hours before sleep, how we can get productive sleep and all that. But really what we’re talking here, how can you have a productive day? How can you have more energy? How can we find a boost in our emotions and positive emotions? And just really having a great day, what we would consider of just thinking about mood, energy, all those types of things.

Josh Robb:

And you mentioned that rhythm we fall, time change and even traveling-

Scott Miller:

Yes, right. Time travel (jet lag).

Josh Robb:

… moving between one side to another.

Scott Miller:

Think about how that messes up your cycle. Yes.

Josh Robb:

And it’s like, “Why?” We have the same number of hours in the day, but your body is on a rhythm and when you disrupt that you feel it. And when we were over on the West Coast, that three-hour time change was brutal to adjust to. And it was interesting because had been a while since I’d experienced something like that and we’re waking up at 4:00 AM because it’s seven o’clock our time.

Austin Wilson:

You feel like you’re sleeping in.

Josh Robb:

And it’s like, “What is happening here? What is going on?” And your body is like, “This is it. Let’s go.”

Scott Miller:

I know.

Josh Robb:

And you have to tell your body to-

Scott Miller:

It’s so messed.

Josh Robb:

… adjust to something new.

Austin Wilson:

I think the circadian rhythm thing is super interesting too. Light should wake you up and help you go to sleep when it goes away. But with family schedules, I’ve found that to be very, very challenging.

Josh Robb:

Families don’t follow that rhythm.

Austin Wilson:

And I can’t stay in… My family is very routine in terms of what time they all get up, but I can’t have any time to get any of the things that I need to check off in the morning done if I wait until the sun comes up. If you wait until the sun comes up sometimes, that’s eight, nine o’clock.

Scott Miller:

That’s right. Exactly.

Austin Wilson:

I have to…

Scott Miller:

Depending on where we are in our seasons. Yes.

Austin Wilson:

So I’ve found that is not… I have to try and go outside if I can later in the morning, but I can’t do that. And that’s the hard part. So it’s interesting.

 

[8:17] – Protocol 1: Experience the Brahma Muhurta

Scott Miller:

Well, that leads us to number one. So if you want to talk about-

Austin Wilson:

Yes, number one.

Scott Miller:

… get into now the six protocols, you brought us into this, Austin. So the first one is actually called Experiencing the Brahma muhurta. So the Brahma muhurta is actually, it’s a Hindu practice. I’m not advocating Hindu practices necessarily here, but it really just means waking up before the sunrise. So it’s technically an hour and 36 minutes that you’re to wake up.

Austin Wilson:

That’s right on there.

Scott Miller:

Don’t ask me why an hour and 36 minutes. But of course with the Hindu practice, it’s related to meditation and prayer and all that. But it’s really about… I mean, think about it. We all love to see the sunrise.

Austin Wilson:

That’s right.

Scott Miller:

We go to the beach, we go to a mountain to watch the sunrise or whatever. There’s something to that. It’s setting the stage for our bodies to wake up. And so it’s really that idea of it leads to, again, just more positive moods. Think about when you were a teenager, do you remember when you could sleep in, you woke up kind of grouchy.

Josh Robb:

Which one related to the other? Grouchy teens are a thing.

Scott Miller:

You went right through that sunrising period of time. And so really the first one is pretty simple. It just means getting up. And I think we all talked about that routine, 5:00 AM. I think you said-

Josh Robb:

The winter.

Scott Miller:

Did you say 4:30?

Josh Robb:

No, that was-

Scott Miller:

Oh, that was you. Okay. And again, waking up before the sun comes up, I think there’s just-

Josh Robb:

I’m closer to 6:00. That’s where I’m at.

Scott Miller:

It’s a real benefit to just, again, waking your body up. So that’s number one.

 

[9:55] – Protocol 2: Get Physical

Scott Miller:

Number two is, after then you’ve spent a little bit of time acclimating yourself, watching that sun rise at some period of time. The next one is get physical. So it’s about exercise. So I think you leaned into that, Austin. I try to do this. I went through a regimen in May where my wife and I ran or walked a 5K every day in the month of May. It was a little challenge that we did. So we got up first thing in the morning and I really leaned into this whole protocol when we were doing that. And so the first thing I did was got my stuff on and I went out and exercised. And so there’s some really benefit to just getting your body moving. You see that.

Austin Wilson:

I take Sundays off of working out, so I don’t work out on Sundays. And I do feel slightly less energetic because I haven’t moved first thing in the morning. I like the recovery part of it, but there’s something about when you finish that, you’re awake, you’re ready to go, your blood has been moving, your circulation is great, and you’ve got some sweat going. And I think there’s a lot of benefit to that. And doing it, I know a lot of people work out later in the day. It doesn’t fit my schedule. It fits great for me to do it first thing, and I think that that is aligning with your plan here, so that’s good.

Josh Robb:

And that’s before eating? Is that what…

Austin Wilson:

Yeah.

Scott Miller:

Yes.

Josh Robb:

You suggest work out prior to eating?

Scott Miller:

Workout first because it helps to really wake up our bodies. We’re going to talk about the chemical that’s present when we first wake up in the morning, and so it’s getting rid of the drowsiness and getting our bodies to release some endorphins and just really increasing energy and increasing mood overall. So that’s number two, thinking about that.

 

[11:36] – Protocol 3: Get Metaphysical

Scott Miller:

The next one is get metaphysical. So the next one is then, I think all three of us mentioned that to some degree, having a devotion time or just a time to think beyond ourselves. So again, you’ve exercised, you’ve woken your body up, you’ve seen maybe that it’s starting to get light outside. And again, some of these can be combined. So a lot of times I’ll be out walking or I’ll exercise and I’ll be praying at the same time. So some of these steps can be done-

Josh Robb:

Together.

Scott Miller:

Together.

Josh Robb:

Where you’re on a walk when the sun is rising.

Scott Miller:

Yes, exactly. So this is really good to just get outside, think about the spiritual aspect of your life, think about where you fit in this world, think about your why, your purpose in life. I think it’s probably okay, again, just meditation maybe on a passage in the Bible or just thinking about a thought that you thought about. It’s going to be some of the time that really puts all of life in perspective. Do you guys find that too in your quiet time and how important that is to-

Josh Robb:

It definitely helps to recenter on, because you can get so caught up in your details or the tasks you have to do to, like you said, step back and look at the bigger picture of what am I actually doing here? What is my purpose and remembering those pieces versus just, “Here’s my to-do list for today and I got to get this checked off and that checked off.” It does help refocus.

Austin Wilson:

I found it so much more beneficial to do it in the morning and get your day started on a positive note, on a note where you’re-

Josh Robb:

That’s right.

Austin Wilson:

… maybe you’re encouraged with scripture, you’ve had some time with the Lord. All these things are great. Praying with your wife, I’ve been trying to incorporate that a lot more as well rather than waiting until the end of the day. So I’m giving God my best energy first.

Scott Miller:

Yes.

Austin Wilson:

Instead of doing it-

Scott Miller:

It’s like the first fruits thing. It’s exactly-

Austin Wilson:

Imagine trying that at 9:30 at night.

Scott Miller:

Yeah, right.

Austin Wilson:

There is no… I’m going to be like…

Scott Miller:

You’re exhausted. It’s just… Right. Yes.

Austin Wilson:

So doing it first thing, I think it makes a lot of sense just mentally.

Scott Miller:

Okay. Well, let’s go on to number four.

Austin Wilson:

Number four.

Scott Miller:

So again, we’ve talked about watching the sunrise. We’ve talked about complete movement.

Josh Robb:

Physical.

Scott Miller:

Moving our bodies, exercising, and then the metaphysical part of it. Now we want to talk about caffeine.

 

[14:03] – Protocol 4: The Magic Bean

Josh Robb:

Caffeine.

Scott Miller:

We want to talk about what we call the magic bean.

Josh Robb:

The magic bean.

Scott Miller:

This is the one that I struggle with so much because my first instinct is I want to get up in the morning and have that coffee. It’s just-

Josh Robb:

It’s joy.

Scott Miller:

This is really a-

Josh Robb:

It is good. It’s so good.

Scott Miller:

Here’s the science behind it really, really quickly. Adenosine is a chemical that is in your body that helps regulate your sleep. So just think about this chemical that our bodies release that helps to slow down your heart rate. So you think about when you’re sleeping, I mean everything slows down, right? Your brain activity, your heart, your circulation, everything is slowing down. This is the chemical that is present, that helps us all night long regulate our heart rhythms and all that. Well, when you first wake up in the morning, that chemical is still there. That’s why, when we wake up, we’re kind of drowsy-

Josh Robb:

It takes a minute.

Scott Miller:

… and we’re still a little bit tired. Well, what happens if you… And of course, exercise then helps get rid of that chemical because that’s what we need to happen. If you put caffeine into your system first thing in the morning, the caffeine will block the receptors to get rid of that chemical. So what’s happening, unfortunately, I did it this morning, I drank coffee right away, and so that chemical now is still in my system. And that’s why the afternoon, once the-

Josh Robb:

That crash.

Scott Miller:

… caffeine wears off, you have the afternoon crash. So if you can delay caffeine for 60 to 90 minutes, that’s the sweet spot.

Josh Robb:

What it takes to start working that out.

Scott Miller:

Yes. If you can do that, and I just want to say I’m a testimony to this. When I do this, I have so much more energy. I feel like, even in the mornings, I just have more energy, but especially in the afternoons, I just don’t have that afternoon crash.

Josh Robb:

Good to know.

Austin Wilson:

I typically wait until we get here, because first of all, I think we have excellent coffee. The coffee maker is great, coffee is great. So I typically wait until I get in here to have a cup of coffee. I do, and where I’m not perfect at this either, is that on lifting days, I have a little pre-workout, and that does have caffeine in it. Because I’m starting, I’m trying to get myself going at 5:30. And I’m like, “Oh my goodness, I need a little extra focus.” But I see the point of that. That makes a lot of sense. Drinking a lot of water will help too.

Scott Miller:

Yes.

Josh Robb:

Yes. Hydrate.

Austin Wilson:

Drinking a lot of water really helps.

Scott Miller:

And that’s a lot of maybe what you can substitute in that first hour to hour and a half. And I do want to emphasize it’s not just coffee, but they’re energy drinks too.

Austin Wilson:

Oh, for sure. Oh, anything. Anything with caffeine.

Scott Miller:

Even the younger generation are consuming probably the energy drinks first thing in the morning, and that’s just the absolute worst thing you can do because you’re just keeping that chemical in your system. It was designed to regulate your sleep, and at some point, that chemical-

Austin Wilson:

It’s going to work its way-

Scott Miller:

… is going to show up, right? It’s got to work its way out of your system.

Austin Wilson:

You know how to avoid that afternoon crash-

Josh Robb:

You fell asleep. Oh.

Austin Wilson:

If you’re going to have it, just have more coffee.

Scott Miller:

Yeah, right. Well, then it’s an ongoing-

Austin Wilson:

And then it’s just a cycle.

Scott Miller:

Yeah, it’s a cycle.

Austin Wilson:

And you’re ruining your sleep, which we’re going to talk about again. We’re going to ruin your sleep. So we don’t want to do that.

Scott Miller:

That’s exactly right.

Josh Robb:

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Now let’s get back to today’s episode.

 

[18:18] – Protocol 5: Tryptophan Time

Scott Miller:

Okay, let’s get on to number five.

Austin Wilson:

Number five.

Scott Miller:

Number five is time to eat.

Austin Wilson:

Oh, my favorite.

Scott Miller:

Tryptophan time. So we call it tryptophan time. Tryptophan, what do you guys think about when you think about that chemical tryptophan? Do you-

Josh Robb:

I don’t know.

Austin Wilson:

I don’t even know the word.

Scott Miller:

Okay.

Austin Wilson:

I like breakfast.

Scott Miller:

That is the chemical that is present in turkey. So a lot of people-

Austin Wilson:

It makes you sleepy.

Scott Miller:

Yeah, it makes you sleepy. So actually, there’s a myth behind that. It’s actually more related to all the mashed potatoes, the massive amount of food that you eat at Thanksgiving.

Josh Robb:

The carbs.

Scott Miller:

And then you turn football on and you just…

Austin Wilson:

I’ve heard the amount of turkey you actually have to eat to have any measurable effect from that you can’t even eat.

Scott Miller:

Yes.

Josh Robb:

Challenge accepted.

Scott Miller:

So it’s not the tryptophan, but you actually need that in the morning. So now you need protein. That’s the biggest thing. And not fatty stuff, not fatty meats.

Josh Robb:

Lean.

Scott Miller:

So lean meats, you want to stay away from bacon, unfortunately. I love bacon.

Josh Robb:

Or moderation.

Scott Miller:

Or moderation.

Austin Wilson:

Josh…

Scott Miller:

Okay. For me personally, I think you said this too, Austin, Greek yogurt which is-

Austin Wilson:

Yeah, I love Greek yogurt.

Scott Miller:

… what I start out with, which is high in protein. So again, we’re looking for protein-rich things, eggs, Greek yogurt-

Austin Wilson:

Eggs are good.

Scott Miller:

… protein machines, nuts, peanuts, things like that, cottage cheese. These are really good. And again, what we’re doing here is we’re boosting up our time to what’s going to be probably the most productive time of your day.

Austin Wilson:

Absolutely.

Scott Miller:

It’s going to be the next few hours. So again, you need that protein after you’ve exercised, you’ve done the metaphysical part of it, you’ve maybe introduced a little bit of caffeine into you. Now you’ve got to have some protein to get your morning going.

Austin Wilson:

So if you wake up and instantly have a cup of coffee and a donut, like a lot of people, you’re striking two boxes-

Austin Wilson:

… which you should not be doing.

Scott Miller:

And the sugary diet is that’s what we drift to, right?

Austin Wilson:

Oh, yeah.

Scott Miller:

And then again, that’s a double whammy.

Austin Wilson:

I know.

Scott Miller:

Because you’ve introduced now caffeine and glucose, just sugar. And that’s not a good combination.

Austin Wilson:

It’s going to create… It does not end well.

Josh Robb:

It does not end well.

Austin Wilson:

Your afternoon will be rough.

Scott Miller:

That’s kind of the American thought process, isn’t it, for a lot of cases?

Austin Wilson:

I do think what you eat first thing is huge. I’m a big proponent of Greek yogurt, protein powder, milk, put in a protein shake. On the weekends, my kids and us, they eat great. Tons of eggs.

Scott Miller:

Eggs.

Austin Wilson:

Eggs, eggs.

Scott Miller:

Eggs, so good.

Austin Wilson:

Or put cottage cheese in your eggs, whatever you can do.

Scott Miller:

Oh, okay. Cottage cheese in the eggs. Okay.

Josh Robb:

It works like scrambled eggs.

Austin Wilson:

Yeah. It works out great. Little extra protein, a little smoother. It’s really, really good. So that’s what we do at our house. We’ll eat it as eggs, just the five of us.

Scott Miller:

And even if you can just get that in your digestive system first, the high protein materials, maybe a donut later in the morning, that would be better timing really. So maybe just delaying that a little bit, making sure that you get that high protein first.

Josh Robb:

I love donuts. I do enjoy it, but I found that, you’re right, I feel better throughout the day if the donut is not the first thing that I eat. So if you come in the office here, every once in a while, we have donuts. If I wait until 10:30, 11:00 to have that donut, I’ve eaten food, I’ve gotten into the day, and then that sugar doesn’t have as big of an impact on me throughout the afternoon as it would if it was the first thing I consumed. I think you’re right.

Austin Wilson:

I think the key is to view those things as not breakfast.

Josh Robb:

Yes.

Austin Wilson:

View those things as a treat.

Josh Robb:

A snack.

Austin Wilson:

The breakfast should always be something with actual sustaining qualities. That is something that’s supplemental.

 

[21:51] – Protocol 6: Get into the Flow

Scott Miller:

Okay. And that leads us to our sixth and final step or protocol.

Austin Wilson:

Last but not least.

Scott Miller:

Is get into the flow. If you do those first five, and I think the biggest one really is the caffeine part of it and delaying that. But again, getting yourself some good protein, you’re going to find that the next few hours are going to be some of the most productive times of your day. And what I would really think about is scheduling that more right brain activity. So creativity, creating ideas. This is when you’re going to have your most energy and some of the mundane tasks, maybe more in the afternoon, like answering emails or maybe some more of that kind of stuff.

Josh Robb:

Problem solving is what you want to do early.

Scott Miller:

That’s right.

Josh Robb:

Because you need more focus.

Scott Miller:

Your best meetings, your best brainstorming, your best creativity, all your vision casting, all of that is going to be those next couple of hours.

Austin Wilson:

That makes sense.

Scott Miller:

And that’s just when your body and your brain is really going to be kicking in. It’s just going to be one of the best times of your day.

Austin Wilson:

And that’s counterintuitive too, because what do you do when you get to work first thing?

Josh Robb:

Check your emails.

Austin Wilson:

Check your emails, check on all this other stuff.

Scott Miller:

It’s actually what you should do later, right?

Austin Wilson:

You should really set a calendar block or whatever, an hour or two later, and then boom, “I’m going to write a blog when I get in the morning.”

Scott Miller:

That’s exactly right.

Austin Wilson:

Or whatever. Do some deep research.

Scott Miller:

Yep.

Austin Wilson:

That’s a good thought.

Scott Miller:

The creativity, the writing part of it, the thought process, just thinking about the big picture and all of that, it’s so much better to do that first thing in the morning.

Austin Wilson:

Have you guys found that, as you’ve gotten older, you’ve become more morning people or less morning people?

Josh Robb:

I am less only because of the… I used to be able to get up easier. I didn’t drink coffee for the longest time.

Austin Wilson:

Oh, I remember.

Josh Robb:

And some of my kids broke me on that and the exhaustion. And you supplement good rest with stimulants to try to just get through that season. And then we’re heading out of that, my kids are older and getting better, consistent sleep, but I feel like the mornings are harder than they used to be for me. But seasonal, I think, for that as well.

Austin Wilson:

What about you?

Scott Miller:

I think for me, it’s the opposite. I think when I was younger in my twenties, especially when I was in school, I was highly productive at night. That’s when I did my best studying. Mornings were awful for me. I would say I was not a morning person, but boy, as I have gotten older, it’s just completely flipped. I mean really, after dinner, we’re going to talk some about those evening protocols. It’s just, I’m pretty much done in the evenings, it’s really hard for me to focus or to concentrate. But boy, mornings are great. I love getting up in the mornings. I just feel a lot more energy, so it has switched really for me.

Austin Wilson:

I think that’s us as well, Jenna as well. We’re even to the point where we try and keep relatively early mornings even on the weekends. And we would rather, instead of staying up and being together and watching TV or a movie, we would just get up the next morning at 5:30 or six o’clock and have some TV time hanging out ourselves because we prefer how we feel when we do that versus trying to make yourself stay awake at night and just go, “I hate this. This is so not worth it.” So definitely becoming more of a morning person. And I-

Josh Robb:

There’s not a lot of sports on early morning though, unfortunately.

Austin Wilson:

Just watch it from the night before.

Josh Robb:

Football.

Austin Wilson:

That what I do. Is I’ll watch a-

Josh Robb:

Monday Night Football.

Austin Wilson:

… there’s a race the night before, it ends at 9:30, 10 o’clock, I’m “I’ll just watch that tomorrow morning.” Get up and watch it at 5:30 or whatever. But that’s awesome. Well, thanks, Scott.

Josh Robb:

Yes. We look forward to the next one where we will be talking-

Austin Wilson:

Evenings.

Josh Robb:

… about evening protocol.

Scott Miller:

We’ll talk about evenings.

Josh Robb:

We’ll bookend it.

Scott Miller:

A little bit more to that, but I’m telling you, the sleep is a big deal. It’s such a important aspect in having good sleep. In the dental world, I dealt with a lot of this, so we’ll have a little bit to talk about sleep in general before we get into the nine protocols, but it’ll be a really good episode.

Austin Wilson:

Absolutely.

Josh Robb:

Thank you again.

Austin Wilson:

Well, stay tuned for our upcoming episode on evening protocols. If you found value in our conversation, don’t forget to subscribe to the Wealth Mindset Show Podcast on whatever platform you’re listening to so you don’t miss an episode. Also visit thewealthmindsetshow.com for more resources, or if you’re ready to check out what we do at Hixon Zuercher, visit hzcapital.com. Otherwise, stay in touch and we’ll talk soon.

Josh Robb:

All right. Talk to you later.

Austin Wilson:

Bye.

Scott Miller:

Okay.

Austin Wilson:

Bye.

 

Thank you for joining us at the Wealth Mindset Show, where we tackle the complexities of finance and life planning to help you align your wealth with your values. We hope today’s conversation provided value and clarity as you navigate your financial journey.

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