The Daily Rituals of Great Minds
Part One
I have become a bit obsessed about the daily work patterns of famous people. I liken this interest to my interest in biographies: it’s fascinating to see how someone who changed the world thinks and acts on a daily basis. Voyeuristic? Maybe. Informative? Like you wouldn’t believe.
My new morning habit is to read a single chapter out of Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey. The book’s premise is dead simple: it explains the daily rituals of 161 inspired minds – authors, playwrights, philosophers, scientists, mathematicians – particularly the self-discipline required to be great and navigate life’s frequent and annoying obstacles.
If anything, I find this book’s themes quite constant: diligence, discipline, set wake up/work times, and even a little bit of patterned self-medication. The book is truly fascinating, and you should buy it. My suggestion would be to get the hardcover, and pass on the Kindle version unless you are a 100% pure ebook hound. You want this one on your nightstand.
Part Two
In keeping with the above, here’s a website that’s equally fascinating: The Daily Routines of Famous Creative People. Don’t let the term ‘creative’ think this doesn’t apply to you: whether you write for a living or make presentations or run multiple businesses, creativity is part of what you do. Don’t fool yourself.
This site gives a daily timeline of about two dozen famous minds, from 12 AM running through the rest of the day. The graphic is below, but you need to visit the site to click around the graphic (it’s interactive) to see exactly what each person was doing in each segment. It’s awesome.
If nothing else, I find digesting information like this forces me to be more conscious of my own daily habits, much like reading about top athletic performers made me think about my own training and incorporate some new ideas.
Always be learning. It’s a secret to growth and performance I wish I learned 15 years ago.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
