Do You Know Marcus Aurelius Routine

After trying Marcus Aurelius’ morning routine for the past 28 days, it feels like it has started to change my life for good. Now, you may be saying, how would you know what Marcus does every single morning? Well, I did some intense research, and I came up with fourth different things that I think Marcus Aurelius would have done every single morning!

Now that I have seen a positive change from the morning routine of Marcus Aurelius, I also want to share it with you. So let me know if there’s anything else you would have thought he did in the morning in the comments.

1 – Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

The first thing I do every now and then is to sleep on the floor. I have reached this assumption based on this quote:

“Set aside a certain number of days during which you shall be content with the Scantiest and cheapest fare with coarse and rough dress. Then say to yourself: is this the condition that I feared?”

One of the main differences I’ve noticed since I started doing this is that I’m generally just less scared of my comfort zone. The reason for this is simple – Every single morning, I’m purposely doing something that’s outside of my comfort zone!

So in a way, I am telling my subconscious brain not to be so scared of leaving that comfort zone. In other words, you expose your brain to the worst-case scenario, and it learns that it was not as bad as it appeared!

Another thing I do in the same context is taking cold showers. I go ahead to the bathroom, take off all of my clothes, and turn the shower all the way down to cold. Then I get in the shower and stay for a minimum of 1 minute (60 seconds).

Now, why do I do this? Well, aside from the health benefits, the main reason I do this is that it helps with clearing my mind. In fact, it feeds this intense desire and burning passion within me to go out there and crush the day.

2 – Negative Visualization

The next thing that I have been working on is Negative Visualization or negative meditation. This is a process where you sit down and start imagining all of the different things that could go wrong in your life… Marcus Aurelius talks about this a lot in his quotes and public talks.

Let’s take a look at the quote which helped me discover Negative Visualization:

“What is quite unlooked for is more crushing in its effect, and unexpectedness adds to the weight of a disaster. The fact that it was unforeseen has never failed to intensify a person’s grief. This is a reason which ensures that nothing ever takes us by surprise. We should project our thoughts ahead of us at every turn and have in mind every possible eventuality instead of only the usual course of events.”

So what I actually do for negative visualization is I sit down for a set period of time for 5-10 minutes. Then I start to hunt around for things that are going on in my life… Things that go wrong enough that it’s going to cause me an electric shock of motivation.

Benefits of Negative Visualization

Now why do I negatively visualize, and why did Marcus Aurelius done it?

Well, the first benefit is that it helps you mentally prepare for the future as you think of all the things that could go wrong. And once you have experienced that negative event in your mind, it will hurt less when it actually happens. Why? Because your mind will already be prepared!

Another benefit of thinking about all the things that could go wrong is that it helps you avoid them. Why? Because you already have thought about them and made a plan to avoid them!

For example, let’s assume that I negatively visualized myself crossing the road and getting hit by a car. So the next time I am crossing the road in real life, I will be more aware and attentive. This will, in turn, lower the chances of me getting hit by a fast car!

This technique can also help with overcoming negative beliefs. But if you want more information on this topic, then I recommend you to check out the Overcoming Negative Beliefs training program from NeuroGym!

3 – Journaling

We all know that Marcus Aurelius journals through his meditations… But I started journaling a year ago, and it has completely changed my life.

Some of the benefits I have experienced from journaling includes more energy, decreased grief, clear thinking, and helping me feel more grateful.

I think no one would want to miss out on any of these benefits mentioned above! Another plus point is that it doesn’t take a lot of time or even energy to write journals!

4 – The Time Factor

The next thing I do is that I remind myself of the importance of time.

I start by telling myself that my potential is unlimited or at least my potential is almost unlimited… This means that I can do whatever I want to. And my potential is not capped by any external factor apart from me and myself!

When I tell myself that my potential is limitless, I am automatically filled with this energy to go out there and crush it. The reason for this is simple –  If you harness all of your energy into doing good in the world, then you realize that time is an ethical decision.

We all have equal time in a day… Now you can either channel it into something positive or negative. Deep down, we all have the potential to do amazing things. So when you are not doing those amazing things, you’re wasting that potential!

Once you start thinking like that, you will stop wasting time on gaming, watching random YT videos, and so on. Instead, you will start to spend that time doing something amazing and reaching that potential where you will help and impact the world!

Make sure you let me know in the comments if Marcus Aurelius would have done anything else that I haven’t included here.