IT’S SAID THAT WHAT WE DO BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 6:00-9:00AM DEFINES WHO WE ARE. THE MORNING ROUTINE IS WHAT STARTS THE DAY FOR SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. WHETHER IT’S HAVING THEIR COFFEE OR TAKING A COLD SHOWER, EACH OF THEIR MORNINGS ARE FILLED WITH TASKS THAT NEED TO BE ACCOMPLISH TO BE SUCCESSFUL THAT DAY. WE SIT DOWN WITH SOME OF TODAY’S MOST INTERESTING AND INSPIRING PEOPLE TO SEE HOW THEIR DAYS STARTS…
B
IRCH COFFEE BEGAN AS AN IDEA OF TWO INDIVIDUALS’ DESIRE TO LOVE WHAT THEY DID FOR A LIVING. JEREMY LYMAN AND PAUL SCHLADER STARTED BIRCH COFFEE AFTER THEY HAD FELT STUCK AND WERE READY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IN A WORLD OVERRUN BY SMART PHONES AND NEWS FEEDS, THEY WANTED A BUSINESS WHERE PEOPLE CAME FIRST. THEY’VE TURNED THAT DREAM INTO A NEW YORK SUCCESS STORY, AND THEY’RE READY TO SHARE THAT WITH ANYONE WHO’S AS HUNGRY (OR THIRSTY) AS THEY ARE FOR MORE THAN JUST THE STATUS QUO. THESE AREN’T YOUR NORMAL COFFEE CONNOISSEURS. THEY ARE METICULOUS ABOUT THEIR BREWING AND IT SHOWS. STOP IN AT 1 OF THEIR 8 LOCATIONS IN NYC AND SEE WHY THEY’VE BEEN A SUCCESS.
I WAKE UP AT…
JEREMY: Around 5:30am pretty much daily. No alarm clock necessary as I have two pitbulls with limited spatial awareness.
PAUL: Between 6 and 6:15am respectably, depends on when my little dude gets up.
HOW MANY HOURS SLEEP DO YOU TYPICALLY GET?
JEREMY: In an ideal world, 7. In reality between 5.5 – 6.5
PAUL: Usually between 6 and 6.5. The goal is 7-7.5
TYPICALLY MY GROOMING REGIME CONSISTS OF…
JEREMY: Well, flossing, brushing my teeth and taking a shower would be the minimum. If you want to know what brand deodorant I use, that’s reserved for the lucky ones.
PAUL: Showering, brushing teeth, eye cream, lotion, Toms deodorant, Aveda hair and skin product. This sounds a little too Patrick Bateman 😉
WHAT DOES THE EVERYDAY UNIFORM LOOK LIKE?
JEREMY: Ahhh, thank goodness it’s whatever I want. Usually kicks, jeans and a t-shirt. If I’m going totally casual, I’ll wear a baseball hat.
PAUL: Depending on the day, it’ll either be a T-shirt with shorts or jeans or a button down in the fall-winter with jeans.
COFFEE? TEA? WATER? OTHER?
JEREMY: Black drip if it’s below freezing outside. Cold brew with a touch of cream all other days.
PAUL: During the summer, I have cold brew when I first wake up, followed by water then coconut water after the gym. I usually cup coffee throughout the day so always a bit of coffee and espresso.
WHAT DOES BREAKFAST LOOK LIKE?
JEREMY: Generally a shake. I’m quite the banana and strawberry fan so I can’t usually go wrong there. And a cup of coffee of course.
PAUL: Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola or oatmeal and fresh fruit. Sometimes I splurge and get an egg and cheese wrap.
WHAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT YOU MUST DO EVERY MORNING?
JEREMY: If I want to maintain a clean and odor free apartment, walk and feed my dogs.
PAUL: Kiss my wife and kids goodbye. It sounds corny, however my day just doesn’t start the same if I don’t.
WHAT PRODUCT OR THING COULD YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT WHEN YOU WAKE UP?
JEREMY: I suppose it’s my morning coffee. The truth is I can but I just have to power through the mini headache I’ll get but, when you work in an office that has over 20 thousand pounds of coffee, it’s hard to say I ran out of coffee…..
PAUL: Coffee, come on.
HAS YOUR MORNING ROUTINE CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?
JEREMY: It has absolutely evolved. For a while it seemed like there simply weren’t enough hours in the day so I needed to extend it. Waking up much earlier made the most sense. I started hitting the gym in the am instead of evening and this also got me an earlier jump on my work day.
PAUL: Greatly! I was inspired by how my business partner was going to the gym in the morning vs. the afternoon or evening and since I’ve started, my days have become more productive and enjoyable.
WHEN YOU DON’T FOLLOW THIS ROUTINE, HOW DOES THAT AFFECT THE REST OF THE DAY?
JEREMY: It’s purely a mental impact. I’ll rearrange things so I hit all the points I wanted to for the day but it’s also critical that I just accept the fact that I missed my routine, and move on. There is no real need to dwell on it. I’m not infallible so reminding myself of that in and of itself is a solid meditation for me.
PAUL: I’m pretty comfortable with allowing myself some slack now, whereas a few years ago I would beat myself up for not living within this perfect routine everyday without fail. I’m much happier now that I allow myself space to adjust as I need.
DO YOU FEEL LIKE HAVING A ROUTINE HAS BEEN ESSENTIAL TO YOUR SUCCESS?
JEREMY: Absolutely. But what I believe is more critical is being comfortable with change and not being too hard on myself if I trip up. Learning from everything I do is what is critical to my company’s success. If I am not learning every day, I’m not growing as a human. Plain and simple.
PAUL: It’s been very helpful. It allows me to have a clear cut goal when I wake up. I’m someone who works best with structure. This provides me the right start to my day while allowing me some flexibility if need be.
