Morning Routines of Leaders: Habits from the Founders of Qualia

'What is Your Morning Routine?'

We asked the founder's of Qualia, "What is your morning routine?" because our morning routine (or lack thereof) tends to make or break our whole day. The most successful people have the habits that keep them consistently on track towards what is most meaningful to them. Starting the day off with positive habits creates a ripple effect through the whole day. 

We wanted to give you a glimpse into the morning routine of our very own at Qualia, our co-founders Jordan Hall and James Schmachtenberger. Everyone benefits from a routine unique to them that contributes towards their own version of success. We hope the routines from these leaders inspire you to create your own habits that will lead to all day focus to tackle life’s tasks with purpose.

Qualia CEO James Schmachtenberger's 5-Step Morning Routine 

1. Meditate Usually I start my day with a short meditation while I’m still in bed. Sometimes I’ll do a guided meditation using one of the popular apps and other times I’ll meditate with a mantra or a focus on breath.

2. Write in a Gratitude Journal After that I usually do a gratitude journal. I’ve recently started doing that with an app instead of pen and paper. I found an app called 5-Mins-Gratitude that has a series of fields you fill it in the morning and before bed to help focus attention on gratitude.

3. Take Supplements Once I get up I start with taking my supplements (including Qualia Mind and Qualia Life.

4. Get Moving I usually do a yoga practice about 3 days per week and other days I’ll either do weights or a stationary bike. I have a punching bag that I use on days when I’ve feeling more ambitious. 

5. Take a Cold Plunge About half of the days in a week I’ll hop in my cold plunge as well before I start my workday.

James Schmachtenberger is the CEO and co-founder of Qualia. He has been a lifelong entrepreneur, educator, and social activist in the wellness and technology fields. James’ was motivated to start Qualia Life by his own personal struggles to withstand the mental and emotional exhaustion common in fast paced entrepreneurialism. He’s looking forward to sharing many of the tools and techniques he’s developed from a lifetime of holistic health education and experience across a multitude of wellness industries.As TedX speaker, activist, serial entrepreneur, and champion of empathetic solutions to global challenges, James has established himself as a leading voice in advancing society to a more humane tomorrow.

Jordan Hall's 7-Step Morning Routine 

1. Get Woken Up By a 2-Year Old I start my day with being awakened by my 2-year old daughter.

2. Hydrate Then I start the Espresso machine and drink a glass of water.

3. Get Centered After that I’ll do yoga, meditation and a Spacial Dynamics routine. Then I will settle on what is the most meaningful thing to contemplate this morning.

4. Drink Coffee I pull two perfect shots of single origin espresso, mix 1:1 with 185 degree alkaline water and 1/2 tbsp. butter. Then I drink this while contemplating the most meaningful thing.

5. Begin Working on What Matters Most If some action emerges, move to that action. If no action emerges and the space for contemplation has passed, move to the stack of things that are to get done. Begin to do things on the stack. Interleave with "Zoom" calls (collaboration) as scheduled.

6. Eat a Keto Breakfast I’ll eat something, and usually Venessa is experimenting with some kind of keto superfood.

7. Exercise Outside Walk or ride a bike outside. In either case, a "walking meditation" of 30-60 minutes.

Jordan Hall is the Executive Chair and Co-Founder of Qualia. He had previously built multiple disruptive tech companies. He is entrepreneur and angel investor with a focus on the internet and digital media space. Having received his law degree from Harvard and practicing for all of 93 days, he sought greener pastures, becoming an advocate for “efficient, collaborative, open” models of information dispersal. He Co-founded DivX, Inc. (Formerly, DivXNetworks, Inc.), the digital media giant, in 2000 and served as its Chief Executive Officer & Executive Chairman through 2007. Previously, he served as Vice President of MP3.com, where he was responsible for developing and implementing MP3.com, business and content development model. Jordan was on the Board of Trustees for the Santa Fe Institute and is involved with numerous other institutions and boards. Jordan shared many of our concerns facing large scale civilization trends. After trying our first formulation of Qualia, Jordan was so impressed by the difference it made for him, that he agreed to form a startup with us so people all around the world could access this daily standard of mental performance.

A Healthier Life Through Complex Science

Everyone must develop their own highly personal morning routine, as what is good for one person might not be for someone else. In any case, science has illuminated some activities that could have universal benefits because of our shared physiology. With advances in scientific methodologies, our potential to understand the complex interconnectedness in the human body and mind is constantly increasing. At the same time, science is revealing new, and sometimes unexpected, ways that our bodies interact with and respond to the environment. As we learn more and more about these topics, we bolster our potential to live healthier—and maybe even longer—lives. A healthy, science-based, morning routine is an excellent personal laboratory for us to individually explore how new habits can positively affect us on a personal level.