How Making Your Bed Might Change Everything

Personal Development

I am not your Dad, Ria is not your Mom, and we’re not telling you how to live.

We’re offering shortcuts through the lily pads and helping us all make better decisions at the junctions on the river of life. Every morning we all have the same river junction staring us in the face: do we go left and make our bed, or do we go right and start the day without.

Ria grew up with a single mom, so making her bed wasn’t optional, neither was making her lunch, and taking care of herself. That’s where her “discipline” came from.

I was an athlete, and for me it was the discipline of early mornings, practice, and routine that shaped how I showed up.

What we both learned is that the small, consistent habits can end up becoming your character.

Today, I’ll share:

⏳ Estimated Read Time: 6 minutes

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Is it a Chore or a Habit?

When I was younger, I thought making my bed was just a chore my parents cared about, but I’ve come to see it as the first win of the day.

As an entrepreneur, that small act of creating order reminds me that even in the challenging times, there are ways to build positive momentum - and it helps set the tone for everything else.

I haven’t always been this way. Over time I’ve grown more “disciplined”, mostly because I understood a few key details:

Entrepreneurship and life are filled with uncertainty.

Revenue fluctuates, competitors pop up, and customers change their minds without warning. When so much of your day is unpredictable, routine becomes a stabilizer.

Making your bed each morning is a small act that brings consistency to the chaos.

Great entrepreneurs rely on routines that maintain momentum regardless of how they feel that day.

Every entrepreneur has days that go sideways. The investor pulls out. The product launch falls flat. A key employee resigns. In those moments, it is tempting to be overly critical of yourself. Look back without ego, but then apply that to the now and the future.

The same applies to the daily routine. Some mornings you will skip the small habits. Some days you will wake up late, scramble to your desk, and forget all about the bed.

Ria and I don’t make our bed everyday. (Don’t tell our kids this) We miss days, and so will you. But every day is a new opportunity to build.

The important part is perspective. Missing one morning - or all your mornings until today - does not define you. What you do today is the turning point of Now.

There is a reason the phrase exists.

Every decision you make creates the conditions you live in later. You get out what you put in everyday.

If you build a company on shaky values, eventually those cracks show up in culture. If you cut corners with product quality, it will catch up with you in customer trust.

On the other hand, if you make thoughtful decisions rooted in discipline and care, the rewards show up in time. The bed you make in the morning is the bed you sleep in at night, and who doesn’t love to get into a made bed at the end of the day :)

Habits have ripple effects far beyond their starting point.

A made bed can inspire you to clean your desk, which can lead to a more focused work session, which can lead to a new idea.

In business, small habits ripple outward too. The way you start a meeting influences how your team communicates. The way you respond to feedback determines whether people will be honest with you again.

Momentum works both ways. Positive discipline creates upward spirals. Neglect creates downward ones. Making your bed may seem like a personal act, but it radiates outward.

We enjoy our lives more because of the hard work we do. The beer tastes better after a hard day of work. Work hard, play hard has been a philosophy for a long time.

The word discipline has a negative connotation. That’s why I’m putting it in quotations. The act of being “disciplined” doesn’t mean doing something difficult. Think of it as your standard, your expectation, or your routines.

If you label yourself as a “disciplined” person, you really are setting yourself up for failure. You’re giving your life rigidity, pressure, and defined. Be honest with yourself, make your bed, move towards your goals, and you’ll enjoy life that much more going forward.

When you think about your current routines, what is the equivalent of making your bed in your business? What is the small, consistent act that sets the tone for everything else you do? (Reply to this email and let me know - we read all replies).

Updates and Opportunities

Why We Sleep - changed my appreciation and understanding of the sleep. The Benefits at a time when I was struggling to sleep. Thank you Matt Walker.

The Power of One More - A book given to me by my buddy Dan Martell. The book shares Ed’s philosophy and story and encourages us all to do just a little more, and the outcomes will be more than you ever imagined. His example is one more rep in a set, or one more phone call at the end of the day, and the compounding effect of those “one more” events or actions.

Canadian economy shrinks 1.6% in 2nd quarter. Canadian economy running a deficit with a shrinking economy is a red flag. We are so blessed with a nation of resources and innovation, can anyone see around the corner to what is next?

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How Hotelier Jeff Klein Mastered the Hospitality Formula. This is an incredible listen and learn from someone who understands who the multiple of details makes of the whole user exepreince. Tip of the Cap to you sir.