In this solo motivational talk, Travia Steward explains how an intentional morning routine can "win the morning, win the day." She argues that motivation is not constant and must be generated each day through purposeful actions that align with one’s purpose. Travia outlines her own one‑hour routine, beginning with grounding and a homeostasis check (thoughts, emotions, anxiety), followed by meditation, prayer, and stretching (often accompanied by her pets). She then moves into journaling or gratitude reflection, recites personal affirmations (declarations), and reviews short‑term goals (3‑month, 1‑month, weekly) with occasional visualization. She emphasizes understanding the deeper purpose behind these actions, linking them to her mission to inspire others. Physical activity is scheduled the night before—cardio or strength—and performed within the first 90 minutes of waking to increase adherence. Throughout, she stresses the importance of planning, using tools like a smartwatch step counter, and refusing to be a reactive participant in others’ schedules. The talk concludes with a call to allocate at least an hour each morning to these practices, framing it as a deserved investment in personal health, wellness, and purpose.
Chapters
I am Travia Steward, and I want to help you move past barriers and obstacles that are preventing you from getting what you want in life. This is Breakthrough. Win the morning, win the day. A quote by Tim Ferriss. I ascribe to that thinking. For me, starting my day off the way I desire sets the tone for the entire day. It fuels my vision for my life, as well as the motivation for me to fulfill my purpose. You see, the morning can give you that motivation you need to take the rest of the day, take it by the horn and, and, and create it to be the best of your day. So your whole day is exceptional. And so many times we get behind the 8-ball and, you know, we do things like we oversleep. And then once we oversleep, we don't feel like doing anything. And then once that happens, we don't work out. We don't want to talk to other people. We get pissy about any and everything. And now we're not happy in life. We're just going through the motions. And then this pattern becomes the norm, all because we woke up on the wrong side of the bed. All because we were not intentional about our mornings so that we could create our day and win. But when we talk about waking up motivated, we don't just wake up motivated, right? What motivates us to begin with? What is the reason one has for acting or behaving, behaving in a particular way? No one has motivation 24/7, right? We have to generate that motivation. You see, motivation for me is generated when I feel good and my desire to fulfill my purpose is present and I'm allowing it to guide me like that North Star. And there are some times when even if, you know, I'm not being intentional, I could— something could happen out of the blue, something unexpectedly, something surprise, you know, you know, that, that, that gives me a jolt of motivation, you know, because I'm feeling good, I'm feeling happy, right? Like, you know, maybe I bought a lottery ticket and I wasn't sure about the numbers, but then the next morning, you know, your spouse is standing next to the bed surprising you with the news. Well, that could be a jolt of motivation. But more often than not, that really doesn't happen for many people, does it? So we have to take responsibility for how we feel each and every day, how we go about our day. What is it that we need to do to fuel our tanks so we're ready to win the day? We've all heard that putting a focus on movement is important in your day. We spend so much time sitting in front of computers and at our desk. And I, for one, know that if I'm not intentional with how I create my day, including my physical activity. You know, I wear a smartwatch. You know, it has a step counter on it. And if I'm not intentional and I haven't planned time, created space in my day, there are days when I might have less than 2,000 steps the entire day. You know, I work from home, so I walk to the office, I walk to the kitchen, I walk to the back, to the office. And back, right? I do go to the bathroom sometimes. So yeah, so that's not a whole lot of steps if you're— if what you're doing is sitting at your desk a lot. So what works for me in the morning is me grounding myself, because first of all, you guys hear me talk about homeostasis all the time. I have to know what's happening in my body before I can create, so I gotta see what's showing up. So I ground myself. I figure out what my thoughts are. I check in with how I'm feeling. Is there any anxiety? Is there any stress present? How am I feeling? And then I do a meditation and a prayer. I do this while I stretch. I'm on the floor. You guys have— those of you who follow me on social have seen how we have a cat and a dog. And the cat will come in here every time it's time to meditate and stretch. It's like it's her time too, right? And I do that for me because that's what works for me. That's what fuels me and helps me to feel good. And then right after that, I might journal, or sometimes I, I meditate on what I'm grateful for. And then the next thing in that process that fuels me is I look at my list of declarations, and these are affirmations that I'm declaring. I learned that from bipartisan, right? And you're declaring these things of who I am and how I want to show up today. And so the next thing I do is, because I'm generally on a mission to improve and better myself, I always want to continue to grow and evolve. I review my goals, my 3-month goals, my 1-month goals, my weekly goals. What are the things that I need to be focused on that I'm keeping top of mind that I need to make sure I am proceeding through these things, right? Because it doesn't just happen just because I, I thought about it one day and never revisit it. Sometimes that time can include visualization, you know, and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I don't, I don't have to. I don't feel like I need to do a visualization in that moment. I only do that when I want to. So I give myself what I need to get myself up to that 9 on a 10 scale of homeostasis. And I also think of why I want these things. What is my greater purpose? What it feels like to have all those things. And, you know, that, that, that fuels me with the motivation to keep going because my purpose on this earth is to inspire and empower as many people as possible to live the highest vision for their lives without settling. And I think about that, and I think about that as I fuel myself because there's a purpose here bigger than me. And the night before, or even the day before, I would have already determined if the day is going to be a cardio day or strength training day. And if it's a cardio day, I like to get that done within the first 90 minutes of waking because for me, the sooner the, the sooner it happens, the greater the possibility of actually doing it. And you see, all of this that I just explained to you, the morning routine, I can do all of this less than 1 hour a day. My health and wellness is my top value, and I prioritize it, and it is worth it. I deserve to give myself 1 hour a day. What do you deserve to give yourself in the morning so that you can set your day on the right foot. Don't leave it to chance. Don't be a reactor to everyone else's schedule, everyone else's demands. Create the day that you want to be beginning in the morning. So as Tim Ferriss says, win the morning and we win the day. Peace. Thank you for listening, and I hope you have a Fantastic day, and I appreciate each and every one of you.
