What is the 'Embrace the Suck' morning routine, and what are its pros and cons?

The 'Embrace the Suck' routine, exemplified by Jocko Willink and Joe Rogan's cold plunges, involves starting the day with a difficult physical act. The main benefit is psychological, signaling discipline and reinforcing an identity of doing hard things. However, scientific benefits are often exaggerated, and these routines are not sustainable for everyone, especially those needing more sleep or who aren't pre-conditioned athletes.

What is 'The Miracle Morning' routine and its SAVERS acronym?

'The Miracle Morning' by Hal Elrod is a self-discovery and re-centering routine with six practices summarized by the SAVERS acronym: Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing (journaling).

What are the benefits of 'Re-centering Your Soul' morning routines like 'The Miracle Morning'?

The primary benefit of these routines, despite often being time-consuming and prone to becoming rote, is that they ground the brain and prevent it from becoming ungrounded or immediately captured by distracting thoughts (like from a phone). Any intentional activity that replaces phone-checking first thing in the morning is likely beneficial.

What is the 'Most Important Thing' (MIT) morning routine, as exemplified by Andrew Huberman?

The MIT routine, inspired by Andrew Huberman, involves waking up, getting outside for sun exposure, delaying caffeine, and immediately engaging in 90 minutes of focused, important cognitive work before other tasks. It may also include nutritional elements like intermittent fasting.

How does Cal Newport adapt the MIT morning routine for his own life?

Cal Newport adapts the MIT approach by committing to immediately starting deep work upon returning from dropping his kids at the bus stop. He finds the outdoor walk provides the necessary early sun exposure and the immediate shift to deep work leverages a clear, conflict-free neurological state.

How should I decide which podcasts are worth my time?

Podcast content selection should be low-stress. Categorize your listening into high-energy (engaging interviews for ideas/motivation) and low-energy (entertaining, easy listening). Aim to have enough options for both modes, and don't worry about missing out; there's an abundance of content.

What are alternatives to smartwatches for tracking daily steps?

Cal Newport suggests using a simple, single-purpose pedometer (though they can be easily lost and aren't perfectly accurate) or relying on a smartphone's built-in fitness tracking. He expresses interest in belt-clip pedometers for better precision.

How can I effectively manage office hours and deal with meeting requests from higher-ups?

Treat office hours like any other scheduled meeting on your calendar. Block them off in your shared calendar system. Only cancel or reschedule them if you would do the same for another important meeting. If office hours are too long, make them shorter, like an hour.

How do lifestyle-centric planning and evidence-based planning help with career decisions?

Lifestyle-centric planning involves defining your desired life attributes (beyond just a job title) and working backward to build a career path. Evidence-based planning uses real-world information from experienced people to validate if your planned steps will actually lead to your goals, preventing unrealistic expectations and allowing for flexible adaptation.

What key skills are recommended for someone starting doctoral studies in computer science research?

Two crucial skills are: 1. Learning to identify good, impactful research problems (often by deferring to senior mentors initially and seeking areas with existing 'heat'). 2. Deeply understanding existing research by thoroughly reading and internalizing relevant papers and their proofs, which then informs natural follow-up work.

What is the 'creative middle class' in the context of online media?

The 'creative middle class' refers to content creators (on platforms like YouTube, podcasts, and Substack) who earn a very good living through low-overhead, authentic content creation, without needing to scale to massive corporate structures. It's presented as a positive counter-narrative to larger social media platforms where creators often act as 'digital sharecroppers.'

The Optimal Morning Routine For 2025 | Cal Newport

Deep Questions with Cal Newport

People & Blogs3 min read91 min video

Jan 13, 2025|39,437 views|781|66

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Key Moments

TL;DR

Cal Newport categorizes morning routines into three types, offering insights and personal adjustments.

Key Insights

Morning routines fall into three categories: 'Embrace the Suck' (intense physical challenge), 'Re-entering Your Soul' (self-discovery practices), and 'Most Important Thing' (focused immediate deep work).

The 'Embrace the Suck' approach offers psychological benefits by signaling self-discipline, but can be unsustainable and is often based on shaky science.

'Re-entering Your Soul' routines like The Miracle Morning can ground a distracted brain, but may lack output and are highly personality-dependent.

The 'Most Important Thing' (MIT) strategy, emphasizing immediate deep work and sunlight exposure, is effective but needs to be part of a broader time-blocked day for most knowledge workers.

In-depth changes to one's routine are highly personal, with Newport adopting an MIT-style approach for his mornings, integrating other lessons flexibly throughout the day.

Effective planning involves both 'lifestyle-centric' (defining desired life aspects) and 'evidence-based' (validating plans with real-world data) approaches.

THE PROBLEM: SHAKY MORNINGS AND THE NEED FOR REVAMPING

Cal Newport identifies a personal need to revamp his mornings due to a "shaky start" after dropping off his children at school. The time between family rituals and starting his focused workday is often consumed by administrative tasks or personal preparation, leading to lost time and a rushed start to his productive hours. He has researched popular online morning routines to find actionable strategies to improve this crucial part of his day.

CATEGORY 1: EMBRACE THE SUCK - HARDSHIP AS A MORNING SIGNAL

This category, exemplified by figures like Jocko Willink and Joe Rogan, emphasizes engaging in intense physical or mental challenges first thing in the morning. The core idea is to 'lean into the hardness' to signal to oneself that they are capable of doing difficult things. While this can build a powerful identity of discipline, Newport cautions that the purported scientific benefits are often overstated, individual sustainability varies greatly, and it's not a model for everyone, especially those who require more sleep.

CATEGORY 2: RE-ENTERING YOUR SOUL - INTROSPECTION AND AFFIRMATION

Popularized by 'The Miracle Morning' by Hal Elrod, this approach involves practices like silence, affirmations, visualization, reading, and journaling. The goal is self-discovery and preparation for the day ahead. Newport notes that while these activities can help ground a wandering mind, especially by providing an alternative to immediate phone checking, they can be time-consuming, feel rote, and are highly dependent on individual personality. The primary benefit seems to be preventing an ungrounded mental state early in the day.

CATEGORY 3: MOST IMPORTANT THING (MIT) - IMMEDIATE DEEP WORK

This strategy, exemplified by Andrew Huberman's routine, prioritizes tackling the 'most important thing' or a significant deep work task immediately after waking, often incorporating early sunlight exposure. Newport finds this approach most aligned with his needs, emphasizing the power of getting into focused work before engaging with external distractions. Key elements include immediate sunlight exposure and delaying caffeine. He advocates for this immediate deep work as the purest form of focused effort achievable in a day.

ADAPTING THE LESSONS: PERSONAL IMPLEMENTATION AND REFINEMENT

Newport implements an MIT-style strategy: returning from the bus stop, he goes directly to his workspace for deep work before planning the rest of his day. He considers an even better variation: going to a nearby coffee shop to establish a distinct cognitive context for productive work. He stresses that 'Embrace the Suck' and 'Re-entering Your Soul' lessons can be integrated later in the day, such as exercise for self-discipline and walks for reflection, rather than strictly in the morning. The core morning takeaway is outdoor exposure and immediate deep work.

BEYOND THE MORNING: BROADER PLANNING AND CAREER STRATEGY

Newport discusses how to evaluate career choices using 'lifestyle-centric' and 'evidence-based' planning. The former involves defining desired life attributes, while the latter uses real-world data to validate plans, potentially leading to necessary but sometimes difficult reality checks. He also touches upon the 'creative middle class' enabled by the internet, where creators can build sustainable livelihoods without necessarily scaling into massive companies, emphasizing that productivity tools should enhance sustainability rather than fuel burnout and the trap of 'pseudo productivity,' which prioritizes visible activity over actual impactful work.

Mentioned in This Episode

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●Software & Apps

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●Organizations

●Books

●People Referenced

Common Questions

Cal Newport categorizes online morning routines into: 1. 'Embrace the Suck' (doing something hard early), 2. 'Re-centering Your Soul' (self-focused activities like meditation and journaling), and 3. 'Most Important Thing' (MIT) (getting outside and immediately starting deep, important work).

Topics

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Mentioned in this video

personPaul Scheer

An improv comedy actor and co-host of the podcast 'How Did This Get Made?'

personKyle Chayka

A writer for The New Yorker whose column Cal Newport is temporarily taking over.

mediaAir Force One

A 1997 action thriller starring Harrison Ford, discussed as an R-rated movie that didn't necessarily need that rating.

productDeLorean

A car that Colin Furze is building an underground garage for, to be summoned with a button.

mediaThe Go Guys

A show from which a clip summarizing Andrew Huberman's morning routine was played.

productSellita movement

A type of watch movement, customized by Sinn, used in Cal Newport's Sinn 105 watch.

productCaptain America's shield

A prop from Marvel comics that James Hobson recreated in real life.

personChris Pine

An actor who starred in Tony Scott's 'Unstoppable.'

personJason Bateman

A comedian and actor mentioned as part of the 'SmartLess' podcast, praised for his improv skills.

personJune Diane Raphael

An improv comedy actor and co-host of the podcast 'How Did This Get Made?'

personSam Bankman-Fried (SBF)

Mentioned in a book by Michael Lewis for using a roller bag in high school.

companyLofty

A company that produces a smart clock designed by sleep experts to gently wake users and help them wind down, featuring sound machines and a two-phase alarm.

softwareCalm meditation app

A meditation application utilized by a reporter trying 'The Miracle Morning' routine for the 'Silence' component.

mediaCrimson Tide

A 1995 submarine thriller directed by Tony Scott, singled out for its dramatic inaccuracies regarding submarine protocols and uncredited screenwriting help from Quentin Tarantino.

productMORO Cold Plunge

A specific brand of cold plunge mentioned in Joe Rogan's described morning routine.

personHal Elrod

Author of 'The Miracle Morning,' a highly influential book that outlines a six-part morning ritual for self-improvement.

mediaHow Did This Get Made?

A podcast hosted by Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas, and June Diane Raphael where they review movies, appealing to listeners seeking low-energy entertainment.

personJames Hobson (The Hacksmith)

A DIY maker YouTuber known for building real-life versions of inventions from Marvel movies, who aggressively scaled his channel into a large production facility.

personJason Mantzoukas

An improv comedy actor and co-host of the podcast 'How Did This Get Made?'

mediaUnstoppable

A 2010 action thriller directed by Tony Scott, starring Chris Pine and Denzel Washington, praised as a great, non-R-rated movie.

productSinn 105

Cal Newport's automatic day-to-day wrist watch, a German-made timepiece with a Sellita movement, praised for its accuracy and mechanical nature.

organizationNBC News

A news organization that published an article by Lock Hughes about trying 'The Miracle Morning' routine for a month.

organizationHarvard-MIT

The institution where Cal Newport undertook postdoctoral theory work in a systems group.

companyStark Industries

A fictional company from Marvel Comics, after which James Hobson modeled his 18,000 sq ft warehouse.

productBulgarian bag

A type of weighted bag used for exercise, mentioned as an example of Jocko Willink's brutal morning workouts.

bookThe Miracle Morning

A bestselling book by Hal Elrod that outlines a six-step morning routine (SAVERS: Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, Scribing) aimed at self-discovery and re-centering.

personLock Hughes

A reporter who wrote an article for NBC News detailing their experience trying 'The Miracle Morning' routine.

personWill Arnett

A comedian and actor mentioned as part of the 'SmartLess' podcast, praised for his improv skills.

personHarrison Ford

An actor who starred in 'Air Force One,' mentioned in the context of 1990s R-rated movies.

personTony Scott

A film director known for his distinctive style, including his work on 'Crimson Tide' and 'Unstoppable,' but criticized for lack of realism in submarine scenes.

mediaJohn Wick movies

A film franchise from which James Hobson recreated the bulletproof suit.

personColin Furze

A DIY maker YouTuber who builds crazy contraptions, contrasting James Hobson by maintaining low overhead and a smaller operation.

mediaCon Air

A 1997 action film starring Nicolas Cage, mentioned as a 'fantastic movie' that receives discussion on the 'How Did This Get Made?' podcast.

productWolverine's claws

A prop from Marvel comics that James Hobson recreated in real life.

personNicolas Cage

An actor associated with action films from the 1990s, including 'Con Air' and 'The Rock.'

personThe Rock