“If it has to happen, it has to happen first.” That’s the advice of Lauren Vanderkam, an American journalist who’s written an e-book about what the world’s most successful people do before breakfast.
Her point is clear, do the most important thing in your life within an hour of waking up and you’ll be happier and more successful.
Vanderberg is a terrific counterpoint to yesterday’s great piece by my News Ltd colleague, Sarah Michael who revealed what successful people do in their first hour of the working day.
Michael’s piece is choc-full of practical advice, like using your first hour at work to get the really hard or tricky stuff done and making use of your commute time.
But what I really want to know is what those aforesaid wildly successful people do before they get to work. Stuff like what they eat for breakfast and whether they run for an hour before 6am. Or do they play with their children, or completely abandon all sense of routine whatsoever and watch cartoons.
The “what do successful people eat for breakfast” element is partly answered by American Bon Appétit magazine, who’ve compiled a terrific list on famous people’s first meal of the day.
Some great examples: rapper Ice Cube, who eats leftovers for breakfast. Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson, who drinks Earl Grey. And actress Maggie Gyllenhaal who eats either yogurt or hamburgers.
Most also include a little wrap of the kinds of activities they squeeze in before clocking in at work. A personal favourite has to be this from actress, Aubrey Plaza:
“Also in the mornings, I stare at myself in the mirror for a while and say, just to myself, “don’t f**k this up.”
Until recently I thought this obsession with other people’s lives was potentially quite embarrassing; less about being curious and more sign of weakness.
Then I read this piece by Guardian journalist Oliver Burkeman and discovered that not only was I not alone, this obsession could be explained in an eloquent way.
Here’s how he put it: “The best defence I can offer is that poring over others’ schedules makes me, in a fruitful way, more conscious of my own; experimenting with the tricks I learn is fun, and making daily tasks a little more entertaining surely isn’t a crime.”
The only thing Burkeman doesn’t admit to is the pretty significant degree of nosiness amid all this fascination with the daily minutiae of other people’s lives.
Much like peeking through the cupboards at a house inspection or reading a colleague’s email over their shoulder, being intrigued by the daily habits of strangers is just mindless brain fodder that tickles your curious side.
That said we probably shouldn’t be too proud to take one or two of their tips on board.
But seriously, what do you eat for breakfast? Tell me on Twitter: @lucyjk
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