Before-Ten Personal Wins Routine
Win the morning personally before business calls begin.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 94%
Brad Sumrok protects the period before 10 a.m. as personal time rather than starting with calls. He wakes around 6 a.m., has coffee, writes what he wants to achieve that day and why, and looks ahead to the week. He then reads a Bible verse for grounding, exercises by alternating weight training, running, and yoga, and eats breakfast. The mechanism is to sequence reflection, planning, grounding, movement, and nutrition before external demands can take control of the day. Sumrok describes these activities as personal wins that happen before any Zoom meeting or business call. The routine is structured around his morning peak rather than copied from a universal schedule, and its practical boundary is the protected pre-10 period.
Origin
Extracted from Coffeez for Closers
Core principles
- 01Protect the hours before business demands arrive
- 02Plan both the day's outcomes and the reasons behind them
- 03Create personal wins before taking meetings
- 04Treat physical health as a foundation for work
How to run it
- 1
Protect the early block
Reserve the hours before 10 a.m. for personal preparation. Keep business calls and Zoom meetings outside that block.
Pro tip Place the routine in your natural peak hours; Sumrok uses about 6 a.m.
Watch out Starting with meetings removes the protected space the routine depends on.
- 2
Plan outcomes and reasons
Outline what you want to achieve that day and why it matters. Look ahead to the week when useful.
Pro tip Do the planning when your mind is freshest rather than forcing it at night.
- 3
Ground your attention
Read a short passage that reconnects you with your beliefs and perspective before work begins.
- 4
Move your body
Complete a workout, rotating among suitable forms of strength, cardio, and mobility work.
Pro tip Use options that can continue while travelling, as Sumrok does from hotels.
- 5
Fuel before business
Eat a nutritious breakfast, then enter the workday after the personal wins are complete.
Watch out Treating health as optional undermines the foundation of the routine.
In the wild
After flying from Miami, Sumrok says he will still exercise from his hotel the following morning. His routine is portable: coffee and planning, a grounding Bible verse, exercise, and breakfast before business activity.
→ The protected personal block continues even when travel changes the setting.
Common mistakes
Planning at the wrong energy point
Sumrok does not force planning at night because he is not a night person; he places it in his morning peak instead.
Letting calls take the first hours
The routine creates personal wins specifically before Zoom meetings and business calls begin.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders and investors who control their early schedule and do their best thinking in the morning.
Not ideal for
People whose work or caregiving schedule prevents a protected morning block.
From the transcript
“before 10 o'clock every day is me time”
“I outline what I want to achieve for the day and I and I outline why I want to achieve it”
“you got to start the day with some me time and some personal wins”
From the episode
Apartment Investing ft. Brad Sumrok
Brad Sumrok