The smallest daily rituals can be transformational if not ignored. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn explores the idea that what do everyday, when you least feel like it, builds grit unlike anything else.
Rob Artigo: Ray, I know this is a rhetorical question for you because I know the answer already in advance, but I’m going to ask it anyway. When you were CEO of Micrel for 37 years, if your morning routine was broadcast to your teams or the biggest competitors in your field, would you feel proud or embarrassed?
Ray Zinn: I’d be very proud.
Rob Artigo: I thought so. So you start out with a workout and then of course we know that you do the tough things first. Why do the smallest daily rituals done when you least feel like it build more grit than the biggest one-time heroic effort?
Ray Zinn: Well, because it’s the little things that build into big things. And so if you don’t exercise, if you don’t eat right, those sound like little things, but at some point it’s going to affect your health and your health is going to affect your ability to perform your job. Practicing and developing these little habits, as you would, they’re very routine, but they’re very important because little things become big things. We’ve read recently about a lot of airline crises that were associated with little mishaps happening along the way that caused our catastrophe.
So don’t minimize your daily routine. When you get up in the morning, I would start out with a good workout routine, either jogging or weightlifting or doing something that will help build your body physically because that strengthens you mentally also. Then have a good meal, a good breakfast in the morning, getting prepared for the day as you would. So early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. That’s an old saying. But those daily habits, those little tidbits of things that you do will be the ones that strengthen you.
And so it’s little bad habits also that can lead to some big bad habits. In my experience, a bad habit only takes a few weeks to develop and a good habit takes a few months. Avoid those little bad habits because they will become the wrinkle in your armor, as you would, and preventing you from succeeding as an employer or employee or as a father or a mother or whatever. Having those good little habits are the ones that are going to strengthen you and will keep you as a good, productive, functioning individual.
Rob Artigo: Yeah, it seems like a bad habit could be not just in the morning, but in the afternoon. I mean, if your habit is to go to happy hour every day after work, that’s going to weigh on your body a lot. And it’s another one of those things that once you start doing it, it’s really hard to stop. It’s a bad habit and it tends to be a problem for you. So Ray, how did doing the tough things first in the morning change I guess the power dynamic between you and your own excuses for the rest of the day? I mean, there must have been a time when you kind of switched from winging it to thinking, “I’m going to do the tough things first.”
Ray Zinn: Well, we started about that good little habits in the morning. If there’s something you don’t want to do, then do it first. I learned to love the things I hated. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but loving the things you hate disciplines you in doing things that you don’t like doing and doing them well. So I focused on if there’s something I said, “Oh man, I don’t want to do that,” I did it first thing, got it out of the way so that the rest of the day went smoothly.
So even to this very day, this very moment, I can tell you that I focus on what … And when I get up in the morning or even the night before, I think about what is it I don’t want to do today? I know it sounds strange, but I say, “What is it I don’t want to do?” And that’s when I jump on that one, get it done first. And I can tell you that I have no regrets, and this is true, even at my advanced age, I don’t have any regrets. And I can tell you that I love things that I hated to do in the past.
I’m learning to write music and I hated that. But I’m learning. I mean, I’m focusing on doing that, even though I hate it. It’s like tap dancing. Somebody said, “Hey, how about at your advanced age as a great grandfather, how’d you like to learn how to tap dance?” I wouldn’t. That would not be on my list, but I would do it just because I want to learn to like something that I didn’t think I would like. So again, we tend to do things we want to do and avoid the things we don’t want to do. So what we got to do is learn to accept as part of our routine doing things that we don’t want to do.
Rob Artigo: So final question, and it’s a tough one, I think. Why does I just do it every day, no exceptions, sound so simple yet it feels really hard to accomplish?
Ray Zinn: Because it’s a routine. Getting into a routine, and we’re not talking about a rut, This is different than a rut, we don’t want to get into a rut. We’re talking about a good routine. Having that established good routine, exercise, eat good meals, go to bed early, wake up early, have a time with your family, and just developing those habits that are routine, but good, good routine, is key to being successful.
Rob Artigo: Well, for the listeners, rate this podcast and follow it. It’s a very popular podcast, but it could be more popular with your help. And also, if you want to join the conversation and continue your daily education, go to toughthingsfirst.com. There’s all kinds of information there. Ray is all over social media, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and he has books. He has the Tough Things First. Also, the Zen of Zinn series one, two, and three coming soon. The Zen of Zinn Daily, which you are going to absolutely love. And on sale now, The Essential Leader: 10 Skills, Attributes, and Fundamentals That Make Up the Essential Leader. Thanks, Ray.
Ray Zinn: Thanks, Rob. Good to be with you.
