Narrator: Imagine it’s 5:00 a.m. While most of the world is still asleep, Steve Reinemund, the former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, is already on his treadmill, running four miles. After his workout, he doesn't rush into the chaos of the day. Instead, he spends time in quiet reflection and prayer, reads the news, and then sits down to eat breakfast with his teenage children. Only after nurturing his body, his spirit, and his family does his workday begin. This deliberate, structured morning stands in stark contrast to the reality for many, which often involves a frantic battle with the snooze button, a rushed coffee, and a reactive dive into a flood of emails, starting the day already behind.

This gap between a reactive morning and a proactive one is the central territory explored in Laura Vanderkam’s book, What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast. Vanderkam, a time management expert, argues that the quiet hours before the day’s obligations take hold are not just empty time to be endured, but a powerful resource. They hold the key to accomplishing the things that matter most, the very activities that are so easily pushed aside when the world starts making its demands. The book reveals that how we choose to spend these first few hours doesn't just set the tone for the day; it can fundamentally reshape our careers, our relationships, and our lives.

Narrator: The common struggle to stick with good intentions—like exercising after work or tackling a difficult project in the late afternoon—is not merely a failure of character. According to the research highlighted by Vanderkam, it's a predictable outcome of how human willpower functions. Willpower isn't a constant, stable trait; it's a finite resource, much like a muscle that becomes fatigued with overuse.

This concept was vividly demonstrated in a famous experiment conducted by psychologist Roy Baumeister. He brought hungry students into a lab filled with the aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. One group was allowed to eat the cookies, while another group was instructed to resist the temptation and eat only radishes. Afterward, both groups were given a set of unsolvable geometry puzzles to see how long they would persevere. The results were striking. The students who had been allowed to eat the cookies worked on the puzzles for an average of about 20 minutes. But the students who had been forced to exert their self-control by eating radishes instead of cookies gave up in just eight minutes. They had depleted their willpower resisting the treats, leaving them with less mental energy to tackle the frustrating task that followed.

Vanderkam argues that our entire day is like this experiment. From the moment we wake up, we face a continuous stream of decisions and temptations that drain our willpower: choosing a healthy breakfast over a sugary pastry, navigating traffic, dealing with difficult colleagues, and resisting the urge to check social media. By late afternoon, our self-control "muscle" is exhausted. This is why the resolution to go to the gym at 4 p.m. so often crumbles in the face of a good excuse. Successful people understand this dynamic, even if only intuitively. They don't fight against their own biology; they leverage it by scheduling their most important, discipline-heavy tasks for the morning, when their willpower is fresh and their resolve is at its peak.

Narrator: In personal finance, a core piece of advice is to "pay yourself first"—to put money into savings before paying bills or discretionary spending. Vanderkam applies this same logic to time management. The most effective morning routines are built around activities that are important for long-term success and happiness but are not necessarily urgent. These are the tasks that have no external deadline and will never scream for attention, making them easy to postpone indefinitely.

Vanderkam categorizes these "pay yourself first" activities into three main buckets: nurturing your career, nurturing your relationships, and nurturing yourself.

Nurturing a career isn't about answering emails; it's about strategic thinking, deep work on a challenging project, or learning a new skill. Nurturing relationships isn't just being in the same house; it's about creating moments of genuine connection, like the family breakfast Steve Reinemund prioritized. And nurturing yourself involves activities that replenish your physical, mental, and spiritual energy.

A powerful example of this principle is the story of Reverend Al Sharpton. Faced with a demanding schedule of travel, media appearances, and activism, he recognized that his health was a critical but easily neglected priority. Instead of hoping to find time for exercise, he made it the first order of business. He established a non-negotiable routine of waking up at 6:00 a.m. to work out in his apartment building's gym. When traveling, his staff was instructed to book hotels with gyms so the routine would not be broken. By paying himself first with this hour of exercise, he not only lost over one hundred pounds but also ensured he had the physical stamina required for his high-pressure life. He seized the morning for an important, non-urgent goal before the rest of the world could claim his time.

Narrator: The book emphasizes that transformative change doesn't come from occasional, heroic bursts of effort but from the quiet power of consistency. Vanderkam quotes the novelist Anthony Trollope, who said a habit "has the force of the water drop that hollows the stone. A small daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labors of a spasmodic Hercules." Successful people don't just wake up early; they build powerful rituals that run on autopilot, conserving their precious willpower for more significant challenges.

This pattern is not an anomaly but a common thread among high-achievers. To illustrate this, Vanderkam points to a survey conducted by James Citrin, a leader at the executive search firm Spencer Stuart. Curious about the habits of top leaders, Citrin polled twenty executives he admired about their morning routines. Of the eighteen who responded, he found that the latest any of them regularly woke up was 6:00 a.m. They weren't waking up to get a head start on emails; they were using the time for exercise, reflection, and focused work—the very activities that build long-term success.

By turning these activities into a fixed ritual, they remove the element of decision. There is no internal debate about whether to exercise; it's simply what happens at 5:30 a.m. This automation is key. It transforms a willpower-draining task into a simple, low-friction habit, ensuring that the most important personal and professional investments are made before the day has a chance to interfere.

Narrator: Recognizing the power of mornings is one thing; successfully changing them is another. Vanderkam provides a practical, five-step process for anyone looking to overhaul their morning routine.

First, Track Your Time. For one week, keep a log of how you spend your time, in 30-minute or one-hour blocks. This provides an honest, data-driven look at where your time actually goes, often revealing that late-night TV or social media scrolling is what's truly preventing an earlier bedtime.

Second, Picture the Perfect Morning. Instead of just thinking about what you should do, envision what an ideal morning would look and feel like. Would it include writing a chapter of a book? Meditating? Going for a run? Having a relaxed breakfast with your partner? This vision becomes the goal that pulls you forward.

Third, Think Through the Logistics. This is the practical step of bridging the gap between vision and reality. It means planning ahead: laying out workout clothes the night before, preparing lunch ingredients, or finding a gym that opens early. It’s about systematically removing the friction that makes a new habit difficult to start.

Fourth, Build the Habit. Vanderkam stresses that habits aren't formed overnight. The key is to start small, focus on one new habit at a time, and make it enjoyable. She shares the story of Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage, who trained himself to be a morning person by creating a ritual he looked forward to. Each morning, he would start his day by writing a short email to a friend or family member expressing gratitude. This small "win" created a positive emotional state that made it easier to get out of bed and started a cascade of success for the rest of the day.

Finally, Tune Up as Necessary. A morning routine is not a rigid, unchangeable contract. Life changes—a new job, a new baby, a new goal—and routines must adapt. Vanderkam shares her own experience of having to give up her beloved morning runs during pregnancy. Instead of abandoning her morning time, she repurposed it for writing and family connection, shifting her exercise to the afternoon. The goal is not perfect adherence to a single plan, but a flexible commitment to using the morning hours intentionally.

Narrator: The single most powerful takeaway from What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast is that time is a choice. While we cannot control all the demands placed upon us, we have far more agency over our schedules than we often believe. The morning offers a unique, protected window of opportunity to exercise that agency. By seizing these hours for what is important but not urgent, we shift from a reactive posture—letting the day happen to us—to a proactive one, where we happen to the day.

Ultimately, the book presents a compelling challenge. It asks us to look at our lives and identify the activities that would truly make a difference if practiced consistently—the strategic project, the daily workout, the quality time with loved ones. The hours to accomplish them are there, before the sun rises, available to everyone. The only remaining question is: What will you choose to do with them?