Brian Gubernick argues that early mornings and gym sessions aren't what drive success, but rather the deeper structure underneath them. He walks through his daily ritual and explains how a predictable routine eliminates decision fatigue, freeing mental energy for business. Lock one part of your day into a fixed schedule for 30 days and notice how often you negotiate with yourself.
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Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. I got a text just the other morning that I think, uh, other people might be, might be curious to ask and might be interested in hearing my response. The, the question was, or I'm sorry, the text read, hey, this is probably a dumb question, which it was not, but hey, probably a dumb question, but do you think that you getting up so early and going to the gym plays a huge role in your success? So this, the text was, do you think that you getting up early and you going to the gym is what is what's playing a role in your success? First and foremost, thank you to the sender for, for, for calling me successful. Um, I try hard, right? And I think I have some wins and some losses. Fortunately, I've had a few more W's than L's. And so yeah, there's, there's been some success there. But thank you for, for the, uh, recognition. I appreciate it. Back to the question though. I think it's a really fair one and it, and it deserves a real answer, not like an Instagram Reel sort of answer. So I want to be kind of direct about this. The short answer is no, getting up early and going to the gym does not play a role in the success. Short answer, no, the gym is not the reason. The gym, however, is evidence of of what I believe actually does lead to success. Let me explain. If I've personally had more success than some other people, it is not because I wake up early or because I work out. Yeah, they're contributing factors, I guess, but they're not the drivers for, for the success. The success has to do with the structure and the discipline and the routine that are baked into, built into almost everything I do. So the early gym session or the early run, they're just part of the equation. What matters more is, is this: there's very little guessing that goes on in my typical day. I would guess that 3/4 of my days follow the same, almost the same exact schedule. And it's not because I lack flexibility. It's, it's because I really value predictability. Because what I found is that predictability reduces friction, and friction is what, is what drains me. It's what drains my batteries. I think it's what drains most people. So let me make this a little bit more concrete. Most days, I'm going to wake up at the same time. When I wake up, I'm going to go drink the same thing that I drink every morning. We've talked about it here at No Days Off that, you know, salt, electrolyte, you know, water, things of that nature. I'm going to walk for a mile, usually with the dog, and I'm going to follow the same route. Then, I'm going to work out and then, I'm going to do my other morning stuff like the cold plunge that we've talked about and the red light and the longevity stuff that I'm all into. And then, I'm going to start my day. My calendar is pretty heavily blocked and my weeks have all sorts of rituals that are baked into them. I also say no to a lot of things that disrupt that flow, disrupt that rhythm. Now, sometimes I allow for some disruption. That's probably the other 25% of the days where I'm not nailing it. But even when I allow for it, it is intentional. So, for me, this isn't like— this isn't about optimization. It's actually more about removing decisions. See, I'm not deciding if I'll work out. I'm not deciding when I'm going to start my day. I'm not really deciding what comes first. Those decisions for me were made a long time ago. Now, I think this matters because most people underestimate how exhausting it is to constantly decide, to make decisions. They burn a tremendous amount of mental energy on things that, in my opinion, shouldn't require energy. They think about When am I going to wake up tomorrow? Should I work out? What kind of workout should I do? What should I prioritize? What should I say yes or no to? And by the time real decisions in their business or in their leadership, by the time those things start to show up, they're already depleted of energy. Well, my experience that, you know, and this is experience over time, of course, My experience is that routine really solves that. Having a routine solves that, not because it's impressive, but because it's just so much more efficient. And I think that's why the gym in this text, I think it's why the gym gets misunderstood. People might see or hear of the behavior, the visible behavior, or they hear about that behavior and they assume that, hey, maybe that's the lever and it's not the lever. The lever is consistency, specifically consistency without negotiation. Now, there's another part of this that I think matters, especially for people in similar life stages as me. This level of routine requires saying no an awful lot, saying no to things a lot. See, being transparent with you, I don't have a huge social circle right now. I just don't. Like, I have at different points in my life. Right now, I, I have some really key relationships, relationships that matter to me. But in terms of quantity of, of social relationships, I'm probably at an all-time low. But I want to be really clear on this. That's not an accident. This is just the chapter of life that I'm presently in. I've got my kids and my wife, my family. I have my health. I have my business. And those 3 things take precedent right now. Now, when my kids are grown up and my business and my income, those things matter less to me. Well, then guess what? I'm gonna, I'm gonna reprioritize. See, to me, I don't perceive that as loss. What I think about— think of it as is instead intentional sequencing. I think the mistake people make is trying to optimize everything at once, and it's just not possible. You can't do that. So you choose what matters right now, and then you build your routine around that. Now, one thing I want to be really, really clear about, it's important. My routine, my personal routine does not need to be replicated. I don't, I don't think that everybody needs to wake up early. I don't think that everybody needs my habits. I do think that everybody that wants to have success or anybody that wants to have success, you need a routine. You absolutely need one. Whatever it is, it should reduce the guessing. It should reduce the negotiation that you have with yourself. It should create structure and it should fit your life. It should fit your world and, and your priorities. Routine, in my opinion, is not about control. It is so much more about just simple clarity. So my action items for you as you leave this, this podcast today, I want you to look at your day. And I want you to identify where you're guessing unnecessarily. Where are you guessing? Where are you making decisions unnecessarily? Your wake-up time, your workout time, your lead generation time, your planning time, whatever it may be. Pick one of those areas and lock it in for the next 30 days. So instead of thinking about what's my day look like tomorrow, I, I guess I could wake up at 7:30, or, uh, I'm busier, so I gotta wake up at 6. Just pick a time. Let's make 6 AM your wake-up time. And then what do you do right after you wake up? And then what's next? And what's next on your perfect day? So, action 1, pick one of those areas, just one, and lock it in. Action item number 2, I want you to pay attention to how often you're negotiating with yourself. Recognize that every time you mentally say, oh, maybe later, maybe later I'll do that. That's, that's friction. When you, when you create routine though, you remove friction. So pay attention to how often you're negotiating with yourself. So as we wrap up, it is not the gym. It's the structure. It's the discipline. It's the repeatable routines. The gym is just visible proof that those sorts of things exist, at least in my life. And for me, it's paid dividends. Keep in mind that this whole No Days Off movement, it isn't about doing more. What it's about is building systems that work even when your motivation is a little bit lower than you wish it was. I think that that's the real advantage. That's all I have for you today. The No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.
