Waking up early has become common advice in self-improvement circles. After all, it makes sense. Waking up early gives you time where you can focus and get things done before dealing with pesky distractions. As you rise before the majority, you’ll find a strange sense of tranquility that motivates and inspires you. But why take my word for it? Read on to see how some of the most powerful men and women spend their mornings.
1. GE CEO Jeff Immelt
Jeff Immelt has a rock solid morning routine. He rises at 5:30AM and does cardio while watching and reading the latest news. This allows him to get his exercise in (which is important for a lot of reasons), all while consuming information that will contribute to decisions he will make throughout the day.
2. Xerox CEO Ursula Burns
Ursula wakes up at 5:15AM and immediately gets started on her email. She also spends an hour in the morning on personal training. Diligence, hard work, and being an early riser all have contributed to her earning the #22 spot on Forbes’ Power Woman list.
3. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz
Of course you know Starbucks. There’s one practically every block, there’s always a crazy line, the environment is incredibly hip, and everyone working there seems to be amazingly happy. Who’s behind all this? Howard Schultz.
In order to pull all this off, Schultz starts out early – getting to the headquarters at around 6 or 6:30 AM. Before that, he fits in a workout or even a bikeride.
4. Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne
Bringing Chrysler back from the dead as American car companies struggled to stay afloat, requires time and skill. Sergio Marchionne did it by starting early – he wakes up at 3:30AM every morning. This also allows him to interact with those in European timezones.
5. PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi heads up PepsiCo – one of the largest beverage companies in the United States. She gets her day started at 4AM and is at the office by 7AM.
6. Former General Motors’ CEO Dan Akerson
Dan Akerson would wake up every morning around 4:30AM in order to stay in contact with GM companies overseas. This allowed him to help resurrect General Motors.
7. Hain Celestial Group CEO Irwin Simon
Irwin Simon may be the king of morning productivity. He begins at 5AM to keep in touch with overseas offices. Then he exercises, walks the dog, and prays all before he arrives at work. Sometimes he fits a meeting in there, too.
8. Square CEO Jack Dorsey
Co-founder and co-creator of Twitter. CEO of Square. Wall Street Journal’s 2012 Innovator of the Year. A net worth of more than 2 billion. All of this describes Jack Dorsey, an entreprenuer based out of Silicon Valley. How does he manage to do all of this?
Well for one, he wakes up every morning at 5:30AM to meditate and go for a 6 mile jog. This gives him a headstart that allows him to push above the competition.
9. Richard Branson, founder and chairman of the Virgin Group
Richard Branson is sixty years old and still going strong. He wakes up at 6:00AM every morning to get a nice jog in before he starts his day. As a founder of more than 400 companies (under the Virgin moniker), it only makes sense to look to him for wisdom.
10. Apple CEO Tim Cook
Coworkers describe Tim Cook as being first in the office and the last out. He wakes up around 4:30AM. Not surprising for the man running the world’s most valuable company.
11. Disney CEO Bob Iger
Bob Iger is CEO of Disney, perhaps the most known name in entertainment. In order to keep the company pushing out some of the greatest films he wakes up at 4:45AM. From there he’s off to the gym at 5, and at the office by 6.
12. Starwood Hotels CEO Frits Van Paasschen
Frits Van Paaschen runs one of the largest hotel chains in the world. He’s running at 5:50AM and starts working by 6:30.
13. Brooklyn Nets CEO Brett Yormark
You’ve got to be on your game as one of the youngest CEO’s in the NBA. Brett Yorkmark does this by waking up at 3:30AM to get to the office by 4:30.
14. GM CEO Mary Barra
Taking the reigns of GM as the first female CEO at the company, Mary Barra has to be at peak performance. She’s at the office by 6AM to get started on her day.
15. Former president George W. Bush
He’s not a business CEO, but he did become the most powerful man in the world. Even if you don’t agree with his political views, his work ethic is most definitely present. George W. Bush was known for being at the oval office by 6:45AM and holding meetings as early as sunrise.
Convinced you should become an early riser? Check out this article for some tips on how to wake up happy.
