[0:00]Hey everyone, welcome back to on purpose. Today is about how to reprogram your mind before 8:00 a.m. I want to share with you the most practical science-backed morning routine that I could find and I actually tried myself. Here's something nobody tells you about your morning. The first 60 to 90 minutes after you open your eyes is neurologically speaking the most programmable window of your entire day. Your brain is literally in a different state. It's transitioning out of theta and alpha brain wave patterns, the same frequencies used in hypnotherapy, into the waking beta state you'll spend the rest of your day in. And what do most of us do with that window? We hand it over. We pick up our phone, we scroll through someone else's priorities, someone else's outrage, someone else's curated highlight real. And we wonder why we feel behind before the day has even started. Today, I want to share the most practical, simple, genuinely achievable morning routine I found. One that I tried myself. One built entirely on neuroscience and peer-reviewed research. And I promise you, there's no ice baths at 4:00 a.m. No two-hour rituals that require monastic training, just six small surprising science-backed steps that take about 45 minutes total. And that anyone, night owls included, can start tomorrow. And here's what I love about each one. There's a clear reason why it works at a biological level. When you understand the mechanism, you're not relying on motivation. You're working with your brain, not against it. Let's get into it. I know, mornings are something we all struggle with and I want to be honest, I've struggled with them as well. It's not easy for me to wake up energized and early. Sometimes I want to stay in bed. Sometimes I want to scroll through and end up doing that as well. And so I've worked really hard on developing some of these habits that have changed the way I feel. I want you to go through your day feeling ready, energized and prepared, and I've found that when we do certain things, we actually end up doing the opposite. So let's start with the most controversial thing I'm going to say today. Hitting the snooze button is one of the worst things you can do for your brain in the morning. Here's why. When your alarm goes off, your brain is finishing its final sleep cycle, usually REM sleep. The phase critical for memory consolidation and emotional processing. When you hit snooze and drift off for another 9 minutes or nine times, your brain starts a brand new sleep cycle that it cannot possibly finish. You're essentially fragmenting your sleep into useless chunks. Research on sleep inertia, that's the scientific term for that groggy, disoriented fog you feel after waking, shows that fragmented sleep from snoozing actually worsens cognitive function. We're talking about slower reaction times, impaired memory, and reduced executive function. You're not getting rest in those extra minutes. You're creating neurological confusion. The internal clock, controlled by a tiny brain region, gets conflicting signals, and the grogginess can linger for hours. So what do you do instead? I'm going to share something with you. It's a little weird, but I want you to try it. I want you to try something called the future you is calling alarm. Now, I've never loved the word alarm. Because we think about alarms as a fire alarm, when there's an alert, when there's some danger. Imagine you're actually shocking yourself to wake up out of danger. But try the future you is calling. Before bed, record a 10 to 15-second voice memo, pretending you're you from six months in the future. It could even be that morning. Not motivational fluff, make it oddly specific and slightly dramatic. For example, hey, it's you. I'm literally standing in the kitchen of the life you wanted. Don't hit snooze, today is one of the days that got me here. Also, you still hate rushed mornings. Right? That's just an example. Set that recording as your alarm. And here's why this works. Your brain doesn't expect your own voice. It breaks the autopilot. Future you creates curiosity instead of dread. It reframes waking up as time travel, not obligation. And you could put your phone outside your bedroom and only allow yourself to hear the ending of the message if you stand up and walk to it. What I find fascinating about this example is that we're completely tricking the brain. Right? Usually you think we have to force ourselves out of bed. Usually we have to find a way to get that energy. When you hear your own voice in the morning that says, it would mean so much for us to wake up right now because if we wake up right now, we'll actually be really happy. Because guess what? There's a voice in your head telling you, go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, and we're not strong enough to fight it in our head, and that's why the alarm does that for you. Right? Having an alarm that's your voice telling you the reasons you want to wake up, the amazing day you want to have, the life you want to build, to encourage you specifically, is actually allowing you to externalize that powerful voice, that motivated voice, that conscious voice before the subconscious takes over. The subconscious is saying, just fly in, hit the snooze button, sleep in more, it doesn't matter, it won't make a difference. And your conscious mind at that time is switched off, it doesn't have the ability to fight back. So use your conscious mind to create a conscious alarm. I also want you to seriously consider moving your alarm across the room if you need to. The physical act of standing upright triggers a blood pressure change that signals wakefulness to your brain. But the voice note alarm is key. It's a micro decision that becomes a macro habit. Step number two. Now you want sunlight in your eyes, the free drug. This might be the single most impactful thing on the entire list, and it costs you absolutely nothing. Within the first 30 to 60 minutes of waking up, get outside and expose your eyes to natural sunlight for 10 to 20 minutes. Now, I know that sounds like a long time. You could have your morning coffee, you could do a small workout outside, you could pace and take a phone call if you wanted to. Not through a window ideally, not through sunglasses. Outside, with the light hitting your retina. Here's the science, and it's genuinely fascinating. Your eyes contain specialized cells called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, or IPGs if that makes it any easier, that have almost nothing to do with vision. Their job is to detect ambient light and send timing signals directly to the part of the brain that's the master clock I mentioned earlier. That signal does several things simultaneously. First, it triggers a healthy pulse of cortisol. Now, before you panic, cortisol gets a bad reputation as the stress hormone. But the morning cortisol awakening response is not the same thing as chronic stress cortisol. Research published in multiple peer-reviewed journals shows that this natural morning surge, which peaks about 30 to 45 minutes after waking, promotes alertness, supports immune function, and sets the emotional baseline for your entire day. About 77% of healthy people experience this response, and light exposure amplifies it in the right direction. Second, that same light signal tells your pineal gland to start the 14-hour countdown to melatonin production. That means morning sunlight doesn't just help you wake up, it directly programs better sleep tonight. It's a 24-hour investment disguised as a 15-minute walk. Third, and this one surprised me, research on office workers found that those who got significantly more bright light exposure before noon scored substantially higher on cognitive performance tests after just five days. Five days. And separate work from Northwestern University found that people who got the majority of their light exposure earlier in the day had lower body weight compared to those who got light later. So here's the practical step. Walk outside for 10 to 20 minutes after waking. Combine it with your coffee, your dog walk, or just standing on your porch. On overcast days, you're still getting significantly more luxe. That's the unit of light intensity, than any indoor light provides. If it's pitch dark when you wake up, use a 10,000 lux light therapy lamp positioned at eye level for 20 to 30 minutes. And skip the sunglasses during the window. Regular glasses and contacts are fine, but your eyes need that full-spectrum light input. Obviously, don't stare directly at the sun, just to point it out. But light exposure's huge. It's, it's helping you sleep better, it's helping you wake better, it's helping you have better energy. And here, I know what you're saying, Jay, how do I get 10 to 20 minutes? I get it. Even if you can start with one or two. If you can start with one or two minutes, it will make a huge difference in your life and I hope you'll give it a go. Step number three, the 90-second cold shock. I promise you no 4:00 a.m. ice baths, but stay with me. Before you skip ahead, I'm not going to tell you to take a 20-minute ice bath. I'm going to tell you to do something much simpler and honestly, much more interesting from a neuroscience perspective. At the end of your normal shower, turn the water to cold for 60 to 90 seconds. That's it. Here's what happens in your body during those 60 to 90 seconds. Cold water activates your sympathetic nervous system, the fight or flight response, which triggers a rapid release of norepinephrine and adrenaline. These are the same neurotransmitters responsible for alertness, attention, and mood elevation. It's essentially a natural stimulant. But the more interesting research is about what happens after the cold exposure. A study looking at cold water immersion found that cortisol levels and negative mood ratings were both measurably lower three hours after just 15 minutes of cold exposure. So the initial shock wakes you up, but the downstream effect is actually a calmer, more resilient baseline for the rest of your morning. And here's the really compelling finding. Research on people who did regular cold exposure just two to three times per week for 12 weeks showed that their cortisol response to the cold dropped significantly after only four weeks. The body's adapted. But critically, researchers believe this adaptation generalizes. Meaning your body may also become better at managing cortisol responses to other stresses, work stress, relational stress, the daily chaos of life. You're essentially training your nervous system to be less reactive. There's also a lesser known benefit to delaying caffeine. which pairs well with this step. If you drink coffee too early, you interfere with that natural clearance process and you're more likely to crash later. Delaying your first cup by 60 to 90 minutes means the caffeine hits when your body actually needs it, and the effect lasts longer without a harsh drop-off. Here's the practical step. Put your phone in another room before bed, or a minimum keep it face down with notifications silenced until you've completed steps one through five.
[11:54]Use a cheap alarm clock instead of your phone alarm. If you need to ease into this, start by delaying your phone check by just 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and build from there.
[12:51]Replace the scrolling with your sunlight walk, your movement, your journaling. Fill the space with intention rather than reaction. And if you're a coffee drinker, experiment with waiting 60 to 90 minutes after waking before your first cup. I promise your afternoon self will thank you. Thank you so much for listening. I know that you might not be able to do all six of these steps tomorrow, I don't want you to.
