Stuck In A Rut? Reclaim Your Mornings, Change Your Life

I’ve got a confession to make.

I’ve failed to live up to my standards.

This newsletter was born from a mission to help you, my reader, to master peak performance—so you can do more, earn more, avoid burnout, and enjoy life to the fullest.

To help you show up at your best every day.

And I’ve made progress.

I published nine articles, leveled up my writing, and received incredible feedback from many of you.

But this was supposed to be a weekly letter.

And in the last 44 weeks, I’ve hit “send” only nine times.

This 20% “success rate” is far from the consistency I expect from myself.

Yes, I allowed myself to ramp up slowly because of the steep learning curve.

But that grace became a bit of a trap.

And over the past few months, I hit a serious rut.

I fell behind.

And felt like I was letting you and myself down.

So I did what most people do: I applied pressure.

“Get back on track.”

“You have to catch up.”

“Write faster.”

Sometimes it worked.

But more often, it backfired—fuelling a cycle of procrastination.

Eventually, enough was enough.

I decided to make a comeback to enjoying the process.

But it felt daunting.

Then, I remembered a quote from one of my mentors:

So I hit ‘pause’.

I let go of the pressure to publish weekly.

I gave myself room to reflect.

I used my quarterly review at the start of July to do this…

You Either Win or You Learn

One of my core beliefs is that:

Benjamin Franklin put it another way:

So I decided to treat this slump not as failure, but as feedback.

An opportunity to learn, grow, and adapt.

I asked myself:

What’s been getting in the way?

The disconnect became clear when I audited my calendar.

Your calendar is a scoreboard—it never lies.

It should be instantly obvious—even to a stranger—what your true priorities are just by looking at it.

Mine told me a clear story: I wasn’t prioritizing my writing as much as I needed to.

I was squeezing it into random blocks, often late in the day, and after much delay, when I was fatigued.

Some weeks, I barely wrote at all.

I gave too much time and energy to other meaningful—but-lower-priority projects:

Spiritual development. Emotional mastery. Trail running competitions. Building my brand on X (formerly Twitter).

I had broken the #1 rule of peak performance…

Putting First Things First

In a world designed to distract you, your most important goals are constantly under attack.

It’s easier than ever to get hijacked by external demands.

To drift into other people’s agendas and forget your own.

Messages. Meetings. Fires.

Fleeting impulses that don’t move the needle.

But here’s the truth:

You need to live intentionally, not reactively…

If you want to be captain of your life—instead of autopilot—you need to defend your focus.

A key principle of peak performance is that:

Without clarity, you drift.

Without it, you become a passive actor in your own life, allowing your environment, others, and past patterns of behaviour to dictate your life.

You can read more about this in my 3-part ‘Clarity’ deep dive (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).

But knowing what matters is not enough.

It’s just the first step.

And it comes down to how you choose to invest your time, energy, and attention.

You must structure your days to reflect your values. Your goals. Your non-negotiables.

Knowing I had been distracted, I asked myself my favorite comeback question:

No need to reinvent the wheel.

And the answer came immediately…

Start Your Day With Deep Work

This one habit was the foundation for all my biggest wins.

Whether it was crushing exams, getting in shape, launching a program, or my previous newsletter writing streaks—they all started with deep work first thing in the morning.

This meant focused, distraction-free time on my most important task—the one that moved me closer to my goals faster than anything else.

It was a non-negotiable.

No distractions. No debating. No exceptions.

Why morning?

Because that’s when your energy, willpower, and clarity are at their peak.

That’s when getting into flow is easiest.

If you leave it until later, your probability of success drops significantly.

Because it has to compete with everything else.

Emails. Meetings. Messages. Mental fatigue.

Before the rest of the world wakes up and has a chance to hijack your attention.

This was the cheat code I had forgotten, but only temporarily.

Because I’m reclaiming it right now.

I hope you do as well...

Set Yourself Up For Success

So here is your reminder:

This way, you win your day before it even begins.

No email.

No meetings.

No notifications.

No busy work.

And definitely no scrolling on your phone.

Just you, your full focus, and the thing that moves your life forward.

And by the way, it doesn’t need to be work-related.

It can be time with your family. Working out. Learning a new skill. Reading. Meditating.

Anything that deeply matters to you.

You know this already.

You’ve done it before and felt the difference.

Books, studies, and top performers have been repeating this for decades.

This is not new advice.

But it can be **life-changing if you’re not already doing it consistently...

If it’s not a non-negotiable part of your personal Peak Performance System.

So why don’t more people do this?

It’s because they only look at the cost—the “effort” it would take…

“I’d have to wake up earlier.”

“I want to relax in the morning.”

“I’d have to give up my comfy morning routine.”

They fall for this illusion of “sacrifice”.

And forget to look at the benefits.

As did I—until I thought deeply about the benefits in the process of writing this article.

Once I started to focus on why this is a great idea, it worked like a charm.

I’m back in momentum now, with my first article in six weeks.

And it all starts with this…

Your Early Win Sets the Tone

When you start your day with a win, everything changes.

You feel lighter and more at peace.

More in control.

More confident.

This makes the rest of your day more enjoyable and productive.

From this higher state of mind, it’s easier to slash through your remaining tasks.

Whose accomplishment will feel like a bonus on top of that initial win.

You’ll be less stressed. Rush less. And get into flow more easily.

Now compare that to the opposite.

That nagging guilt of procrastination that lingers at the back of your mind when you don’t do what you know you “should” do.

That heaviness builds hour by hour.

That 4 p.m. dread when you still haven’t done the thing.

And you have to force yourself to start when you’re already tired.

It feels ten times harder.

It takes longer.

And the quality of your work is lower.

It’s a horrible trade.

Instead, rip off the band-aid in the morning.

Look at it this way:

The hardest part is getting started.

Once you start, you’re golden.

Everything is easier when you’re in momentum.

You feel pride.

And that energy bleeds into everything else.

Compared to that sense of feeling ‘behind’ every day, it’s a world of a difference.

The good news is that it gets easier over time.

So to recap…

Own your morning.

Protect your focus as if your life depends on it, because it does.

Channel your best energy into the things that matter to you.

When you win your morning, you win your day.

And when you win enough days in a row?

You change your life.

Next Steps

1. Watch out for next Tuesday’s article—I’ll walk you through a simple, step-by-step process to implement this morning deep work routine sustainably.

2. Reflect on your past wins.

   • When were you most consistent?

   • What morning habits supported that?

   • And what impact did it make on the rest of your life?

3. Share this article with someone ready to make a comeback.

4. Subscribe for powerful, practical performance insights every Tuesday.

PS: Want a second pair of expert eyes on your Peak Performance system?
Book a free 1:1 audit here.

Let’s build a life you don’t need a vacation from.

Ovi