In this episode of the Brendon Show, Brendon Burchard argues that a consistent morning routine can reduce daily stress by roughly 20%, a statistic he attributes to high‑performers worldwide. He outlines his own hour‑long routine, divided into three 20‑minute segments: (1) hydration and physical movement (yoga, calisthenics, qigong, or mobility work) to awaken the body; (2) a reading session focused on personal development, psychology, or philosophy, combined with verbal activation—reading aloud or reciting purpose statements or scripture—to boost positivity and life satisfaction; and (3) a planning and visualization phase using his "High Performance Planner," where he answers a set of morning questions, reviews scheduled blocks, and mentally rehearses each meeting or task to perform with excellence. Burchard emphasizes that the routine’s core elements—physical activity, positive mental input, and proactive planning—are what drive the stress‑reduction effect, not the specific content of each activity. He acknowledges flexibility, suggesting shorter intervals can work if the three pillars are present. The episode closes with a community call‑to‑action: listeners are urged to share the episode, use the #growthday hashtag, rate the podcast, and remember that each morning offers a second chance for growth.
Chapters
First thing morning routine. Lock it down. If you start your morning lockdown similar routine in a thing that gets you in a good place, I promise you we can immediately wipe 20% of your daily stress away. That's the stat. Did you know that high performers worldwide with a consistent morning routine that correlation morning routine and daily reported stress drops by 20% and we think you don't need it. No, I, I, I know you don't.
Think you need it.
I don't. I'm so, I'm, I'm an active and amazing person. I can show up and get things done. I know you do too. I'm just here to suggest you're leaving stuff on the table if you don't put this in play. No one in this room needs it, but everyone in this room, at least statistically drops 20% of the stress off of you by having a more sol routine that brings positivity and preparedness for the day. Positivity and preparedness for the day. Simple things in the science, positivity and preparedness. Everyone's got their own way. You all know mine probably by now. I do an hour every morning in three different 20 minute segments. When I wake up, I drink 20 ounces of water. Bam. I go and I do 20 minutes on the floor of yoga or vinyasa flow or calisthenics or just mobility work. I just move for 20 minutes. It's not my morning, it's not my daily workout. It's just opening my body, opening breath, elongating spine, trying to find source, just using my body and breath to wake up. Sometimes it's just qigong and mobility work, but it's I move for 20 minutes, I set the timer, just move. Then I go out. I chase the cat down the hallway. She likes when I chase her. I don't know what that's about, but just taste the cat. I don't know why I get the I get the high performance planner and I get a book. I go over to my little chair where I sit and I park at the chair. And sometimes I might have a green tea or just another water or I might have my shake, depending on what my day is scheduled. But what's most important is for the next 20 minutes, I read something that is positive. I read something that is positive for me. That's personal development, that's psychology or philosophy. Those are my favorite things to read in the morning. Personal development, psychology or philosophy. Always reading those three things. I just, I love that stuff. And I also, at some point in that reading, do a Verbal activation, meaning I read out loud. I read out loud. People who pray in the morning out loud read greater life satisfaction than those who just pray. When you activate your voice, it's a different feeling. So I'll say just two or three. I'll just repeat two or three. I'll find two or three lines I like. Or sometimes I'll read scripture. I'll find something I just repeat. And I like to do that. Some of you guys know, like, I'll repeat my purpose statement. Sometimes I'll just say that over and over out loud. Annoyingly, right out loud. Don't care who is listening. I'm just gonna say it out loud then. The last 20 minutes, I sit there with the high performance planner and plan and visualize the day. This is huge differentiator for me. Tons of people don't get this when I talk about online, so please let me be specific here. Most of the time there's like already blocks of time scheduled for the day. So I. The high performance planner. And if you don't use one, that's fine. Ask yourself questions or 10 questions to get yourself in the right frame of mind. So I ask myself questions to get myself in the right frame of mind. Those are the morning questions in the high performance plan. Then I look at the blocks of the day. And when I look at them, I don't just go, oh, I have that meeting with Sarah at 2:00'. Clock. No, I go, oh, meeting Sarah, 2:00'. Clock. How would I do that with excellence? It's not about knowing the meeting is there. It's about preparing to do the meeting with excellence in advance. This is why in personal development we talk about visualization. I'll just sit there and I think, okay, Sarah meeting. What are we talking about? Oh, yeah, she's trying to get the team to do this thing. Okay, God, let's see. What would be pros and cons of that? How can I do well here? What's she dealing with that I know about? What's the angle on this? What's my intention there? Okay, next. And I'll just literally do that for every block of time. Oh, I'm working on my keynote for an hour there. Okay. What's that about? Oh, that's about I'm doing a leadership keynote for a company. Right. Okay. Some things that would be good for that. And I literally just close my eyes. I think through each one. I'm not doing the work per se, but how many know I'm doing the work, you know what I'm saying? That's my secret advantage. It's not that I know what's happening during the day more than everyone else, which I think is also true, but I visualized it before it happened. Before you have a meeting with me. I already had the meeting with you hours earlier. Anyone follow that before you have a meeting with me? I already had it in my mind. I already had it before I do a live cast. I already did the live cast in the morning in my mind. It's not that I spent equal time on it.
I just.
It doesn't take much. Like I said, It's 20 minutes for me every day. Takes me about seven minutes to fill out questions in the high performance planner. I spent about 13 minutes just visualizing the day. How many of you think this is a different way to approach the day than maybe you do? Yeah, I'm not saying it's right or perfect. I'm saying that's just mine. Maybe you can't do the full 20, 20, 20, 20. Maybe you have to do five minutes here, five minutes there. I'm just here to tell you whatever it is, if you can get those elements of physicality, of positivity and preparedness into your day, and we do that every day, the science shows, we knock off 20% of what you call stress. That's unbelievable. Who would love to have 20% less stress? I'm like, that is unbelievable. That is life change. I'm here to tell you it will change your results. It will change how the day feels.
Okay, my friend. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Brendon Show. Tell some people about this episode. It's on each of us to spread positivity and empowerment during these times of chaos and negativity. Right? So I'm asking you to be the dealer of hope and personal growth and education in your tribe. So take a screenshot right now and share the screenshot and this link to this episode with three of your friends today. Post it on social media. Use the hashtag growthday. That's growthday, because that's the name of my company and we're always giving away prizes to our community. If you'd like to help me personally, then please rate and review the podcasts on Apple Podcasts. Give us some stars, cheer us on, Leave a review. Because believe it or not, that stuff actually really does help. And I read all of them. So my last thought for today, please remember, you are stronger than you think and the future holds good things for you. Tomorrow can be an inspired day. Every new morning is a second chance Every day is a great day to grow. We're thankful to have you here in the Growth Day community, so be sure to go deeper with us@growthday.com.