I just got back from SXSW in Austin, Texas. SXSW is a ten day technology, film, and music festival — a convergence of creativity and ideas (and late nights, parties, and networking). It’s a gruelling marathon for its participants and attendees. This was my seventh or eighth SXSW and I’m happy to say, also my best. Why? Because I maintained my morning ritual.

Every productivity blog talks about morning rituals. I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon and say, “Yay, morning rituals — do them!”. It’s not quite that easy. No matter what anyone tells you, like everything else that’s good for you and takes sacrifice, morning rituals require willpower and discipline. But as all of my gurus say: Your morning sets your day, which sets your week, which sets your year, which sets your life (or something like that).

During grad school, I waited tables at a restaurant famous for their breakfasts. I had to be at work by 6 AM. I’ve never been a morning person. In retrospect, it kind of amazes me that I got any tips at all. Friends would ponder my decision to work early mornings as I spilled coffee and grumped about. I’d never been one of those happy, smiling kids eating their Cheerios every morning. Getting up any earlier than absolutely necessary didn’t seem to be in my DNA. How did I turn into an early bird?

Part 1: Forming a habit

My morning ritual started off with a bet. I really wanted to keep a journal but for some reason couldn’t do it. I’m sure it goes back to someone reading my diary or something when I was eight. I couldn’t do it. Finally, I asked a workmate (yes, a workmate) to be my accountability partner. I set myself up in Stickk and set my non-compliance punishment (I would donate money to some right-wing fascist organization), and we were off! I wrote in my journal for ten minutes on my morning bus ride. When I got to work, Nicole looked at my journal to make sure there was some writing, and then she checked a box on Stikk. After a month, I was hooked, my habit had formed. Mission accomplished.

Do something every day for thirty days — even if you don’t want to.

Part 2: Getting up early

I’ve been trying to meditate off and on for many years. I’d taken classes, set aside time at work, and made a special little corner in my apartment. No luck. One day over coffee, my friend Weaver told me to get my ass out of bed fifteen minutes early and just to it!

When you’re blatantly challenged, as opposed to passive aggressively challenged, it’s hard to ignore. What’s fifteen minutes after all? So I got up fifteen minutes early and meditated for ten minutes. And then I found that I wanted to meditate longer, so I got up twenty minutes earlier. Turns out that if you take baby steps, it’s not that hard to get up a little early.

My morning routine these days is rock solid. I do it every weekday and a modified version while I’m on vacation. There are areas I need to work on (my weekend routine), but my mornings get me energized and centered for the rest of my day.

Start small and build the habit. Add to your routine incrementally until it’s second nature. You’re the only one who will know when you’ve nailed it.

Getting started in five easy steps:

1. Decide the one small thing that will really kick-start your day.
2. Determine how long it will take.
3. Set your alarm X + 5 minutes early (get X from #2 above and add five minutes).
4. Do it.
5. Repeat.

If you need it, get an accountability buddy (or use one of the thousands of tools out there). You can even try the Seinfeld technique.

My morning ritual and your morning ritual will be different. That’s okay. Morning rituals changes over time; that’s also okay. As with everything in life, there’s an ebb and flow to what will work and what won’t. That’s where you get to be creative. That’s what makes life interesting — we’re all different and we all respond differently.