The number-one way to set yourself up for success in the morning is simpler than you might think. Learn the most practical way to protect your morning energy and start your day feeling better. If you often wake up and feel a little stressed or like something feels off—this will help a lot.
Meet your Teacher
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Transcript
Hey everybody, I am getting ready to go speak at an event and I wanted to jump on here and tell you my number one tip. For having better mornings. And honestly, It's not all that complicated because it's not waking up at 5 a. M. , It's not journaling for an hour, It's not making some 12-step morning routine that only works if you don't have a job or kids or a life. It's this, This is the number one thing that will help you in the morning. Is to check yourself before you check your phone. Check yourself! Before you check your phone. And before you go saying, Well, Wait a minute, I use my phone as an alarm. I have people to take care of, But I use my phone on insight timer and I only use it for guided meditations. Hang tight. Because I think I'm going to explain this morning tip a little differently for you than you might expect. I have guided thousands of people through this tip. It's actually what I'm speaking about today, Which is what inspired me to come tell you all about it. And the thing is, Is that most people, That I work with, Say. They don't have time. To meditate every day. They don't have time. To do something intentional every morning. But most of us are doing a 10-minute Instagram or TikTok or email meditation every morning. We're doing a texting meditation every morning. We're doing a let me see who needs something from me before I even know what is happening in my own self meditation every morning. And I say that with love because I know how compelling the world can be. And it's like, You know, You wake up, Your alarm goes off, You grab your phone. It's like you check just one thing. Just one text, And then one email, And then one headline, And then one notification, And then one post, And suddenly your day has started before you have even had a chance to arrive in your own body. Before your feet even touch the floor. Your nervous system has already been invited into 10 different conversations that have nothing to do with your own natural inner state that you would have woken up with had you not seen or been exposed to that thing right away. And so this is an important metaphor that I want you to think about that will help you understand this. Your mind in the morning is like the front door of your house. When you first wake up. You have a choice about who and what you let in to your house. But when you grab your phone first thing in the morning and start looking at everything, It's like opening your front door before you even got dressed. And your boss walks in, The news walks in, Your ex walks in, The group chat walks in, Some stranger's perfect vacation walks in, Somebody else's emergency walks in. And now everybody is there standing in the living room of your mind telling you what matters. Before you've even had a chance to ask yourself. That's why this is so important because what you experience in the first few minutes after you wake up can have a real influence on your mood, Your attention, And your emotional state. And this is not just like woo-woo stuff. This is not just personal growth stuff. You all know, Those of you who follow me know that I'm a bit of a science geek. And what science has proven to us over and over again is that when you wake up, Your brain and your body are transitioning from sleep into wakefulness, And your cortisol naturally rises to help you meet the demands of the day. And in that transition, When your brain is still coming online. Your brain is known to be more impressionable. More easily pulled. And not because you're too weak or too sensitive or you're too much of an empath. It's because you're human. Have you ever woken up? Look to your phone. Seen a stressful email or some fear-mongering headline, And then somehow you were still feeling it or thinking about it hours later. Or you might just feel like you feel like a little bit off throughout the day, But you can't really figure out why. That is not random. It's because of one of the first things you might have saw in the morning. That you may not even remember that you saw. So there was another study where people who watched just three minutes of negative news in the morning, Just three minutes. Were 27% more likely to report having an unhappy day. Six to eight hours later, Three minutes. And it affected them six to eight hours later. Three minutes, That's less time than it takes to make some coffee. So when I say check yourself before you check your phone, I'm not saying your phone is evil. I'm not saying don't use your phone as your alarm. I'm saying don't let the world check in with you before you check in with you. Don't let the world check in with your emotional tone before you do. Before you check your messages, Check your body. Before you check your email, Check your breath. Before you check the news, Check your heart. Y'all got me preaching on here today. Before you ask, What does everybody need from me today? Ask, What do I need from me today? That is the practice. Put your hand on your heart in the morning. And just ask, What energy do I want to bring into this day? Not as discipline, Not as punishment, Not as a rule, Just as a few sacred moments where you belong to yourself. Before you belong to anyone else. So I want to end this video with giving you a super practical tip that has absolutely changed my life. And as I've mentioned, I've given this to like people all over the world and they always report how much it helps them. And so now I'm gonna give it to you. So this is the practice that I've been doing personally for over a decade. Okay, So I use my phone as an alarm in the morning. My phone is next to me in the morning. It's the first thing that I touch. But I have something on my phone set up called morning focus mode. And my golden rule is this, I do not allow myself to check anything, No message, No notification. I don't even see a notification. I do not let anything in the outside world check in with me until I have finished what I've decided is my morning practice. For me, It's morning meditation. And so even if that practice that day, If I'm in a rush, It's only five minutes, That's okay. The key is that it doesn't have to be long. It just has to happen. You have to check in with yourself before the world starts telling you what matters. Before the world starts telling your nervous system. What matters. And so what I want you to do. So that you can make this very realistic for you. Instead of making your morning a no phone zone, Just make it a sacred phone zone. So on an Android, I'll talk about Android and iPhone a little bit here. I know there's many phones. On an Android, You can use focus mode, Which will allow you to pause all the distracting apps and silence their notification. And on an iPhone, You can go into your settings. This is what I do. And then go into focus. And from there, You can choose inside of this focus mode, Which people can get through, Which apps are allowed on your phone. And you can even set this up on a schedule. And so mine is set up so that at 7 a. M. Automatically, My morning focus mode turns on automatically. I don't even have to touch it just after my alarm rings. So you can set this up in the settings on your phone. Found. And on mine even, The only apps, The only apps, When I wake up and turn off my alarm, The only apps that I can see on my phone are Insight Timer. My notes and my voice memos. Cause sometimes I get song ideas that I like to like voice record everything else. Every other app is hidden. Every notification is silence. I can't even see the little notification icons. You can turn all of that off in your settings. So if you didn't know that before, I really hope this helps you so that you can set it up in a way that works for you. And maybe you need to get in touch with somebody or you have emergency contacts that you need. So maybe you allow calls from those contacts or maybe you allow the one or two people who you care for or who you really need to talk to to reach you, But you silence all the apps and all the other people. Before you do your practice. So obviously the exact steps may look a little different depending on your phone, But the intention is the same. Let your phone support your morning practice. Let me say it again. Let your phone support your morning practice instead of hijacking it. That way, Your phone doesn't become the enemy. Becomes the doorway into your practice. And I'm just so grateful because we have so many practices here on insight timer that you can enjoy. Uh, I have so many short ones and long ones and guided meditations and intention setting practices, You know, Whatever can help you start the day from the inside out. And we're so grateful to be here, Uh, To support you in this. And we're so grateful that you're here. And so tomorrow morning, Before the world checks in with you, What are you gonna do? You won't check in with yourself before the phone, Before the noise, Before everybody else's needs. You're going to take a breath. Come home. Because meditation only takes a few minutes. You have time. You just have to choose yourself first. All right, I gotta go. I love you all so much. This is Justin Michael Williams signing out. And I'll see you in the next practice. Bye for now.
4.9 (1 287)
Pam
July 5, 2026
Loved that!! Thank you so much for all those tips and for stressing how important it is to think of yourself first each morning. I love listening to you because you always make me laugh and feel so energized. ❣️❣️🙏
James
June 27, 2026
Very sound that I enjoy doing each day. Thank you 🙏
Dianne
June 26, 2026
Justin hits the mark AGAIN! I am so grateful that I found him and I encourage Justin to continue ideating and sharing! The world will continue to benefit by you! I know I do! Thank you🙏🏻
Jane
June 25, 2026
I needed this!! Thank you!
Jennifer
June 25, 2026
Thank you! I really needed this reminder.
Emilse
June 25, 2026
I totally agree! Excellent! Thanks Justin!!!🙏💝
Deena
June 25, 2026
Fantastic!
Diba
June 25, 2026
As always. So much wisdom. Love it. I turned on Focus.thank you. I appreciate you.
Martha
June 25, 2026
Check in with myself before I check in with the world IS so important. Today is only day two after quite a while away. Great to hear your message this morning as I’m checking in with Self. Peace
Waffle
June 25, 2026
Oh wow Justin, you hit the nail on the head with this talk! Opening up my phone and looking at my notifications first thing always feels like opening a floodgate of people & information energy, and I'm not ready for it yet. I want to remember to take the time to bring myself back into the world of wakefulness slowwwwwly because just like on an airplane, you can't help others [with their masks] before you help yourself. Thank you, friend 😌
Owen
June 25, 2026
Great advice. 🌄🧘🏾♂️😌🙏🏿☮️
Mark
June 25, 2026
When it first started I thought it was the intentions one and I already heard it, but it isn't, it was a very good session and good idea
Donna
June 25, 2026
This was one of the best Insight Timer videos I’ve had the pleasure to experience. I love your energy and I love your direct communication. I look forward to watching everything you upload here. Have a beautiful day, my friend.
Melissa
June 25, 2026
I really think this is beneficial. I enjoyed it and found it helpful. I think it’s insightful and you should keep doing what you’re doing. Thank you for this video. I think it’s absolutely necessary to check in with yourself and listen to yourself
Lynne
June 25, 2026
Great advice thank you. I’m going to put focus mode on now.
Adi
June 25, 2026
Thank you for your bright light and wisdom in this world ✨✨
C.M.
June 25, 2026
I just love JMW! Thank you for this I’ve been using focus for years but never thought of setting it for first thing.
Michelle
June 25, 2026
Excellent and a wonderful reminder to start the day with yourself first!
Sharon
June 25, 2026
Loved it thank you
Gigi
June 25, 2026
Great!
