You may have heard from many successful business leaders, motivational speakers, or other impactful people how a morning routine can make a difference.

After 2 years of having a morning routine and adjusting it in a way that serves me, I have come to agree. It is a way to accomplish a lot early on in my day and start it on my own terms.

So how do you create a morning routine? Here are 7 steps:

Pick an activity you want to add to your morning.

If you want to start creating a morning routine, I recommend starting with why you want to. Is it to start the day feeling productive? Make sure certain things don't get lost in your day? Get some exercise in? Bring a moment of quiet? Pick an activity that contributes to what you want to get out of your morning.

Place it before or after something you already do in the morning.

It can be hard to start a new habit or routine right out of the blue. By attaching it to something you already do, it makes the new activity feel a little more manageable. Placing it before or after, say brushing your teeth, can make the new activity feel like it fits more naturally into your morning.

Figure out what time you need to wake-up.

You are adding things to your morning, so it usually warrants an earlier wake-up time. Give yourself more time than you think you need the first couple of days you try your routine, and then adjust based on what you learn. Also, consider if your wake-up time is now significantly earlier, therefore, you may consider going to bed earlier the night before.

Do the morning routine

You did all the planning, now make it happen. Try to do the morning routine without any judgement and just see how you feel.

Evaluate if the new activity made your morning better.

Whether it succeeded the previously intended purpose of making you feel productive or creating a moment of quiet or not, ask yourself if the activity made your morning better. Plain and simple. If you're in-between as to whether it made it better or not, give it a try for a couple days and you'll likely get some more clarity.

Adjust your morning routine accordingly.

Based on what you learn, adjust your morning routine accordingly. Do you need to give yourself a little more time and wake-up earlier? Do you need to leave that activity out all together? Do you need to do the activity in a different room where there are less distractions? Do what you need.

Add more activities over time.

If you find yourself getting a good grip of the first activity and it is motivating you to add more, go for it. Morning routines can really be a game changer for your day if they're done in a way that serves you. Give yourself permission to evolve your routine over time as you learn more about what you like in different seasons.