I have not always been an early riser. Times have changed, I like keeping a positive outlook and keeping fit, waking up early is a habit that you must work on to maintain. I have learned that if I rise early I can achieve so much more in a day and therefore in life. Sleep is incredibly valuable for a busy life and I try to get it whenever and wherever I can. Getting up and at it early gives me time to get on top of things and chart my day effectively.

I try to routinely wake up at around 5am. By rising early, I am able to do some exercise and spend time with my family, which puts me in a great mind frame before getting down to business.

Here we look at how people kick start their days, this is the morning routine of Kelly Slater.

Morning routine

The creature in habit is pro-surfer Kelly Slater, who likes his smoothies vegan and his fruits digestively compatible. This interview was taken by Mickey Rapkin 

"I’m not really an early riser. I like to get my eight hours and I like to stay up late at night. If I want to get up and surf, maybe I’ll get up at like 7 or 8 and look around for surf.    I generally start my day off with hot water and lemon–to cleanse the body out after sleeping. I read about it and it seemed like a good idea.    I make a lot of smoothies with fresh fruit that I’ve frozen–I generally stick with fruit in the morning. Last month here in Hawaii, a big banana tree fell across the street and I grabbed a bushel of 50 mini apple bananas off the street and froze them up for smoothies.

I do vegan smoothies–it’s just fruit and almond milk or a coconut milk. Sometimes it’s just the fruit. I do quite a lot of green smoothies and mix in sprouts. Greens will digest with fruits pretty readily.

I wouldn’t eat a grapefruit and an apple together. When it comes to fruit, I try not to mix citrus and non-acidic fruits because they won’t digest properly. If you get into reading about food combining and how your stomach processes different foods, you see it’s important not to mix certain foods together. You try not to mix protein and carbs because they’re digested with different acids and alcalines in your stomach. This isn’t something I strictly adhere to! But if I am in that really serious contest mode or health mode, this is what I’ll do.   

Sometimes I wake up and need a giant breakfast of two eggs and pancakes. It’s enjoyable. But, in the long run, I try and think about health and what I’m going to feel like when I’m 50, 70, 80 years old. If you don’t want to get old and have your kids taking care of you, you should probably be thinking about that right now.   

I’m not in the water as much as you would think–maybe half the days. Sometimes I just jump in the water and don’t eat first. If the waves are really good, I have trouble even bothering putting food in my mouth unless I know I’m going to be surfing for a long time and have to eat something. Surfing is the best way to wake up."

Showing gratitude is a good habit that will make you happy and keep you motivated.  Trust me, there is always something to be grateful for. Write down three things in your training journal that you appreciated during your morning activity.  For example; I am grateful for my training partner being committed, the beautiful weather today and my good health.

Read the full interview by Mickey Rapkin here