As a leader, you understand the importance of creating good habits; your habits can either help or hurt your success in life. Habits form good, regular routines that put you on track to accomplish your significant life and business goals.
Highly successful leaders create healthy habits throughout the day, but what creates success are the habits they’ve developed in their nighttime routines. Some of the most successful leaders in the world focus intentionally on their nighttime habits. They set themselves up for success each night by creating routines that help them wake up energized, ready to accomplish their goals and clear on how they’ll spend each day.
“With so many things constantly bouncing around in our minds, having a nighttime routine is not optional; it’s required,” says Blake Nubar, co-founder and CEO of Laptop Freedom. “It’s important to wind down. Calming your mind is key to a restful night’s sleep—the type of sleep needed to enhance productivity, reduce stress and keep your health in check. Remember: The goal at night is to ready yourself to conquer the following day. Forfeit this, and you are setting yourself up for failure.”
Nighttime routines of 5 successful people
Here are the habits and nighttime routines of successful people that you can incorporate into your own routine. End your night well-rested and, by extension, set yourself up for a successful start to your day. Borrow the success playbooks of these well-known leaders.
1. Michelle Obama
The former first lady has a schedule that’s busier than most, even after her time in the White House. Having a good routine and healthy habits help Obama accomplish more without burnout or stress.
She sees her nighttime as an opportunity to prioritize self-care and self-development. Her nighttime routine includes family game time (when her children are at home) and talking to former President Barack Obama about their happenings. She follows up these activities with a good night’s sleep.
2. David Goggins
After a full day of working and exercising, the retired United States Navy SEAL, ultramarathon runner and ultra-distance cyclist’s workday ends around 4 p.m. Goggins spends his evenings with family before prioritizing rest. He uses a couple of those after-dinner hours each night for stretching and planning for the next day. “I’m thinking about all these obstacles that may come up,” he says. “Basically, a lot of us aren’t prepared for life. We get up, willy-nilly, and just hope life is gonna happen.” Through his extensive stretching routine, Goggins preps for a “prepared mind” state, giving him a running start on the next day.
3. Sara Blakely
The billionaire SPANX founder is a wife, mother and booked businessperson. She runs a company with hundreds of employees, which generates approximately $400 million a year.
After a full day, Blakely is intentional about her nighttime routine. She spends the evening with her children and then puts them to bed. Every night, she takes a bath and lights a candle as a way to power down from a hectic day—she sees value in turning off work mode.
4. Jeff Bezos
The Amazon founder maintains a bustling schedule as one of the wealthiest people in the world, even after his departure from the powerhouse company.
Famous for being an advocate of getting good sleep, Bezos prioritizes eight hours of sleep. “I think better; I have more energy; my mood is better,” he says. Another surprising addition to his nighttime routine? Bezos likes to wash dishes. This mundane yet necessary task sets his nighttime routine in motion.
5. Tim Cook
Apple’s billionaire CEO is known to be a person of intentional discipline. He’s a busy business leader who runs one of the largest companies in the world and receives a reported 700 emails a day, a majority of which he reads.
Since Cook is known to wake up between 4-5 a.m., he’s in bed by 8:45 p.m. He spends his evening powering down and doing so with Apple’s recently released Vision Pro mixed reality headset.
Create intentional nighttime habits
Modeling success from those who’ve achieved it is a great way to ensure you’re taking the necessary actions that bring success into your life.
Business leaders are intentional about winding down and getting enough sleep. Their nighttime routines tend to be focused on planning, relaxing and self-care. These business leaders have built some of the largest companies in the world, but they’re not always “on.”
Toyin Crandell, founder and CEO of Money Mindset SHIFT and host of The Millionaire Money Podcast believes in being intentional about creating successful habits.
“If we all could do the same thing and get the same outcomes, why do some business leaders scale businesses to multimillions in a few years and others aim for it but never get there even after 15 to 20 years?” she says. “It’s the nighttime habits that distinguish what success a business leader can accomplish. Be intentional about creating success habits.”
You deserve a life where every goal and dream becomes a reality. You’ll get there with hard work, starting with establishing nighttime habits and the routines you create.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of SUCCESS Magazine. Photo courtesy of White House Photo/Alamy Stock Photo
