The Morning and Evening Rituals of High Performing Entrepreneuers

Scott Schaper: Hey, welcome to the podcast, everybody. today we're talking about how high performers start their mornings and end their days. the morning and evening rituals of high performing entrepreneurs, as if I was a high performing entrepreneur, I'll save that for someone else's judgment, but we're going to cover our spiritual practices, health routines, mindset work, boundaries. and just the work that goes into your day and ending your day. How's it going, Brian?

Brian McMaster: Well, like you said, first we're gonna find some ⁓ high performing entrepreneurs. Then we can get this party started. I'm doing good, man. We need to define what high means.

Scott Schaper: Exactly. No kidding. Yeah, that's a different podcast.

Brian McMaster: Yeah, no, I'm doing good, man. ⁓ as ⁓ always talk, ups there's downs, but it's good to put your feet on the ground and know that some people didn't.

Scott Schaper: Have you, we'll get into the details of the routines, but have you made a change from your routine in the last, say, 30 days or since the new year or because the new year? Any significant changes for you and for your morning?

Brian McMaster: Nothing really significant other than ⁓ am I guess I guess it's significant. I was spending a lot of time in the sauna. I was I was doing you know 30 40 minutes and just lately my coach ⁓ Ben come back with heating up the brain is starting to show in studies that it can lead to ⁓ the decline the brain. So there's a certain threshold and I was happy to hear that because gotta stack it with something, right? So it's man, I'm in there for 30 to 40 minutes and ⁓ if I cut 20 minutes off my routine or even five or 10 minutes off my routine, I'm happy about that. I'm doing a shorter session, still five days a week, but ⁓ I'm actually doing to 20 minutes. So really, I think what the studies are showing now is you just need to be in there, you need to start sweating, and once you start sweating, you need to be in there for 10 to 15 minutes. That's kind of the logic behind it. And you know, know for our listeners, things change, but we've talked about this before, you gotta be your own researcher, you gotta follow the data and keep up with what's going on, because they're constantly doing research. I was happy to hear that. I'd say that's a significant change for me and added really 20 minutes to daily routine that I can do something else or get to the office earlier or something along those lines. How you?

Scott Schaper: switch, I have a couple switches I'm working on. One is reading 10 pages a day. I think that's a good challenge. My son gave me that challenge. ⁓ is quite the reader, just ⁓ a consumer all things literature. So I thought I'd take his challenge and read 10 pages a day. I usually will do that in the morning. I have done it that night too. At night I'm getting pretty tired to concentrate, so I found that doesn't work. I was meditating, but not consistently in my mornings, depending the morning. So I might move that to, I don't know if I'll do that five days a week, I might move it to three, see how works. But I'll reserve the time consistently, a meditation and then a breath work, which is ⁓ virtually the same.

Brian McMaster: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That's good.

Scott Schaper: But there's built-in meditation with the inner matrix system. And so I can pop in the headphones, the app, and it runs through the current session that we're in, which is meditative and instructive at the same time. ⁓ So starting with some positive messages ⁓ is change I'll be making.

Brian McMaster: Mm-hmm. I'm anxious to hear how the InterMatrix thing goes for you because I signed up for it. And of course, know, Joey's Joey Klein, he's in my group. And I will go back to one of the one of the other significant changes that I made was I want 2026 to be a year of subtraction. And because what I was doing was saying yes to everything. And I know we did a podcast on saying yes to everything, but I was really guilty of that.

Scott Schaper: Yeah.

Brian McMaster: And it seems like when we have a talk or we have somebody come on, it's like, oh, wow, you know, just just yesterday we had a guy who wrote a book and he was on our call and we're talking about it. And it's like, man, this would be great. But it's like there's only so much you can do. And so so I started to do the inner matrix, but I put it on hold. I said, you know, Joey, no offense, man, I'm sure it's a great program, but I just got so many things I'm thinking about and doing so. I'd rather be good at three things than half or mediocre at 10. So that's a big change.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, good. So let's go into what our current morning routines in is and our evening routines and then maybe some tweaks or some ⁓ things that how that's changed over the years. But I'll just start if you don't ⁓ up at we I rise at 530 a.m. every day. I've never used an alarm clock in my life. my wife uses her phone, which is in the bathroom away from our bedroom.

Brian McMaster: No, go for it brother.

Scott Schaper: So she has to get up, I think is the strategy. But it goes off about 30 seconds after I my eyes pop open. So I'm kind of waiting for her alarm laying in bed for a minute. But five thirty is our wake time. It has been for two years. ⁓ we do our morning routine ⁓ I take my vitamins. do some protein and creatine. And then we're out the door by six a.m. at the gym till at the gym at 615. So it's just down the road at the rec center. And we have Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday is always resistance. So it's our weight days. And then the other days, every day is walking. So it's always seven to 10,000 steps a morning. But in the on the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturdays, we're mixing in walking and our workout sets.

Brian McMaster: Nice.

Scott Schaper: So that's what we do on Saturdays. I changed the workout set to do only two sets, but I do one and a half times the reps at a lower weight. So it's just a something I enjoy doing. So if I have 150 pounds on something, I might move it to 120 and do 15 of those. And man, it's hard to maintain perfection at 13, 14, 15. Those reps get to you even at a lower weight. I'm always surprised by that.

Brian McMaster: Yeah.

Scott Schaper: I do progressive about once a month. I'll up my weights, see where I'm at. So nice. So that has worked. That definitely has. changed the OS of my brain in the last year. was not a weightlifter or a big exerciser two years before that. So it's new for me. And man, I get comments, people notice I lost the 30, 35 pounds last year. so now I'm excited to see what year two of that routine does. So I'm not altering that at all. ⁓ When I come home, that's when I'm ⁓ introducing the meditation and the reading. Usually run to the coffee shop together, enjoy an eight ounce latte, which is 95 calories and nine carbs. and I start my calorie count. So I do record every calorie. That's something I enjoy doing. It keeps me mindful of what I eat. plan out every single day of every single week before I consume a single calorie. I have my day planned out for what dinner is going to be. So I can, you know, am I going out to lunch with Brian at the taco place? I structure my day and I bookend the day before and after so that I can enjoy that and not worry about having a low-cal. ⁓ Day, so I so I that's part of my morning routine is setting up my day for for my diet ⁓ That's pretty much it

Brian McMaster: We need to hit that taco place again soon. That place is good. Yeah. You you said something there that resonates with me. ⁓ know, a lot of people don't realize how you finish your day ⁓ ⁓ big ⁓ how your next day starts. And know, a lot of people are on screen time and a lot of people are checking emails ⁓ or feeding mind with something, the news or

Scott Schaper: Yeah, no kidding. KC Taco Company.

Brian McMaster: affects how you sleep. But, you know, we've talked about my routine. My routine's ⁓ of crazy too, ⁓ that, you know, when I get up in the morning, you know, I usually try to wake up anywhere between 4.30 and 5.30, and really depends on what time I get to bed. But I have this little unit called an Apollo Neuro, ⁓ and goes around my ankle and it vibrates, so it's And what happens ⁓ I set that to wake me up in the morning. So about 30 minutes before I want to get up, it'll start vibrating. And it's just ever, ever so subtle. So I don't even notice it, but it's just like, wow, pop, you know, pop up. So, you know, not waking up harshly. And I just, I just strap that on before I go to bed at night. But my morning, you know, when I get up 4 30, five o'clock, five 30, you know, I try to stay in that realm. And then

Scott Schaper: Mm.

Brian McMaster: What I'll do is I get up and first thing I do is I'll drink like not a liter but probably half a liter of water with some H2 tablets, some hydrogen tablets. And a ⁓ lot people don't realize it's very, very important to get yourself hydrated first thing in the morning. You know, get some water because you're dehydrated overnight from respiration and that type of stuff. And then.

Scott Schaper: Mm-hmm.

Brian McMaster: listening to something while I'm doing that. I'll probably listen to my audible Bible or I'll be listening to a book or something, you know, trying to stack that time and use that time. And what I do is I hop ⁓ over my PEMF ⁓ red light. So I a red light blanket that I lay inside of. It's called a cocoon by a company BioLite. And I lay on of PEMF bed and then I have a light therapy device over my face and I'm breathing hydrogen water. I'm stacking that and I do that for about 30 minutes. And while I'm doing that, I'm listening to Bible book, you know, something along those lines. And I'm of there, ⁓ I'll pop the sauna now for 15, 20 minutes because the sauna is warming up at that point. And then ⁓ once I out of the sauna, it's right into the ice bath and the irony behind. I haven't left the house yet.

Scott Schaper: Okay. And you haven't left the house yet.

Brian McMaster: And the irony behind the ice bath, for instance this morning, I got up and there was ice formed around the edge of the ice bath. And it was actually warmer inside my ice bath than it was outside in the air. ⁓ that pretty interesting. So I'll hop in there for ⁓ two three minutes ⁓ and just charges me back up. Right into the shower, which is cold shower obviously, which feels warmer once you get out of the ice bath. And then I kind of go through my morning routine where I'm oil pulling and brushing my teeth and face hygiene, that type of stuff. And then Amber and I will spend 15, 20 minutes either praying or just kind of talking before we get our day started. And then I'll take my vitamins, pack up my stuff and head to the office. And then the way I wind down is...

Scott Schaper: So that whole thing from wake to leaving in the car, is that an hour? Two hours, got it. So it's six, seven a.m. by now. Got it.

Brian McMaster: Nah, it's about two. I'd say it's about two hours. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So then I'm, you know, I'll either grab my meals for the day or whatever and I head into the office. And then the workout ⁓ usually either throughout the day, lunchtime, you know, something along those lines. I'll go home and do a workout where I'll do it, you know, five, six o'clock. But when I use, when I start to wind down, what I do is I use a little device called a Zencom. and it goes in my ear and it stimulates your vagus nerve. I'll use another, you know, I have two or three hepatic devices that kind of ⁓ you down, get you into that kind of ⁓ state of it's time for bed. ⁓ course, I'm wearing my blue light blockers two hours before I hit the bed as well. ⁓ And ⁓ somewhere nine and 10 is when I get in bed and I, no screen at that point. I'm not looking at my phone. I'm not. doing any of that type of stuff. I'm just prepping myself for bed and I try and feed myself you know, ⁓ whether it's a devotional or read the Bible or a book or something along those lines. I try and just wind down that way. And of course that's with red light, you know, shining on the book. And then one of the things I started doing recently was I use these breathe right strips on my nose. And I'm also putting mouth tape over my mouth. that of the biggest brands is called hostage tape, ⁓ is crazy. And ⁓ nasal is, ⁓ I that's what we're meant to do, right, when we sleep. But a lot of people sleep with their mouth open. And I just find it raises heart rate variability. I get better deep sleep, you know, that type of stuff. And I wear an eye mask as well to keep any out if Amber comes into the bedroom and is doing her nightly routine.

Scott Schaper: Yep. Yep.

Brian McMaster: So that's kind of, and you know, there's also my hygiene routine, brushing my teeth, you know, my face stuff and those types of things. And I always take magnesium before I go to bed as well. So magnesium, you know, is essential for helping get good sleep. But yeah, so that's kind of how I get up and how I wind down.

Scott Schaper: You oil pull every day.

Brian McMaster: I try to. I have this, I can't think of the brand name off the of my head, but it's ozonated oil. ⁓ And I I want to say that it's coconut oil or avocado oil. So I was doing it consistently for a long time and my dentist was like, man, I don't know what you're doing, but keep doing it because ⁓ you have very tartar and ⁓ know, so on so forth. So yeah, ⁓ I would say at minimum every other day.

Scott Schaper: Mm-hmm.

Brian McMaster: but not every day. Again, stacking and trying to get everything in there. And I think it's an important point to mention to the listeners, don't get down on yourself if you don't get your whole thing in, as long as you're doing something, because 90 % of the world is not. So you're putting yourself in the top percentage when you're doing something. So tell people all the time, like, don't try, and I've been developing this routine over years. So you used to it as you go. but don't try and do too much too fast.

Scott Schaper: At night or in the morning, do you have a specific skincare routine for your face?

Brian McMaster: I do, I use a product line called Young Goose it's peptides and ⁓ do a lot of research and that type of stuff. So I have a night time mask ⁓ that hydrates skin and that type of stuff. And then ⁓ usually midweek, I'll do a mud mask type thing. that's... could be any time during the day, usually morning. yeah, so Young Goose products, man, they're fantastic. ⁓ salty, but I think they're worth it. Yeah, how about you? Yeah, Young Goose.

Scott Schaper: goose. ⁓ ⁓ evening routine is less structured than yours is, but it's gotten more structured in the last several years and I've stuck with it. But I have restless leg and that is a, so magnesium is a part of that therapy to lessen that. But ⁓ most evenings it's stretching in my last hour of TV. So by 9 o'clock, I can't keep my eyes open. And so ⁓ watching a show or two after dinner and after cleanup. We might watch one or two episodes of something. Try to not end on something war intense. ⁓ Yeah, there's lot of that out there, murderous TV. It's all good TV, but ⁓ it's not the last thing you want before you head

Brian McMaster: Mm. CIA. ⁓ Yeah.

Scott Schaper: bed. So we'll try to end on something that is a little bit more lighthearted, a sitcom or something. But by nine o'clock, that's pretty much done. I'll take the magnesium and then an salt bath, probably seven nights a week. ⁓

Brian McMaster: Yeah. Nice.

Scott Schaper: And that is, it takes 15, 20 minutes. We have the jets on sometimes or not. We have a soaker tub in our bathroom, which is a man, an absolute luxury. People that say I've only used it once since I own this house. I'm just like, are you crazy?

Brian McMaster: Yeah.

Scott Schaper: But it puts me to sleep. I ⁓ the lights off. I have the shower light on dimmed. So it's very low light. But I ⁓ don't my face. I only use sweet almond oil. I ⁓ splash on my face, cold water every morning, with a of a manual scrub with my hands. That's the only type of ⁓ skincare I except for sweet almond oil is the one product I'll apply.

Brian McMaster: Yeah. Good for you.

Scott Schaper: That's morning and night and that appears to work. don't get fussy with my face. That's my skincare routine. I also wear a nasal strip to and take magnesium. a little nighttime CBD is something I've tried the year ⁓ and I tried it to ⁓ about three or four a.m. little kicking from restless leg and that seems to have quieted that down. ⁓

Brian McMaster: ⁓ yeah.

Scott Schaper: But there are some nights, probably three nights a week, I'll stretch for 60 to 120 seconds after going to the bathroom. I'll sit down next to the bed really quick and do a quick stretch out of my legs, which seems to put me right back to sleep. my best days, get seven hours of sleep. Average is probably six and half. But my Apple reported sleep score usually is in the 80s or 90s every night.

Brian McMaster: Yeah.

Scott Schaper: Um, if I had to look, I did not check. I'm going to check this live. What did I, what was my sleep score last night? 62. It was bad. I woke up at two 30 and was not able to get back to sleep. So for duration, I did not score well interruptions. scored poorly. That was last night. And I don't know why even Suzanne said he seemed to do everything the same, but

Brian McMaster: Yeah.

Scott Schaper: Here was my comment and this goes to a change I'll make. This is my comment when she said that on the way to the gym is I think that there are things that are tossing around in my head about business and personally that I haven't started and I'm not proud of the way I've committed to it. And so I feel like those are, instead of going to bed with a peaceful sense of accomplishment about the day, I'm going to bed with some disruption in terms of I wish I could have done better that day. And, I wake up with that stuff on my mind. So I know it's bugging me, it's interrupting my dreams, my REM. And that's something I need to work on for the next few weeks is getting some peace with that accomplishment. I think that'll go a long way.

Brian McMaster: Yeah.

Scott Schaper: But I did want to mention this as part of our routine. every morning, Suzanne and I enjoy the sunrise together on our way to the gym. That changes throughout, you know, just depending on the sunrise that day. But we have had some gorgeous sunrises this day. And I read a quote that you can put yourself in the way of beauty twice a day. There's a sunset and sunrise every day. You should pick one of those and enjoy that with your spouse, because it is really rewarding to just have that moment to. ⁓

Brian McMaster: You know. Beautiful.

Scott Schaper: just being off for a minute of the beauty. So that's part of our morning routine that I think is important. Right.

Brian McMaster: And healthy too. getting that sunlight in the morning ⁓ very, good for your ⁓ rhythm. ⁓ ⁓ that's good stuff. Enos, ⁓ just suggestion. Take maybe three questions or something that are based around gratitude and kind of yourself think about what you're grateful for through the day. And I think that gets your mindset going in that direction and takes it away from.

Scott Schaper: Right. Yeah.

Brian McMaster: I think.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, write them down in the evening.

Brian McMaster: Yeah, yeah. And then and then really just force yourself to come up with some answers. And I think that resets your brain and then you'll probably get away from it. It's easier to get away from some of that stuff because I'm I'm the same way. Right. We're talking about high performance entrepreneurs and business owners. I mean, your mind doesn't stop. And in order to stop it, you got to be intentional about it. So you had mentioned you had mentioned something there to Scott that that I didn't say.

Scott Schaper: Yeah. Gratitude. Yeah, that's a good reminder.

Brian McMaster: I also do a mobility, like a 10 to 15 minute mobility routine in the morning, do a foam roller and I stretch. Stretching's the best. mean, all you gotta do to realize how good stretching is for you is just stretch out as soon as you get out of bed in the morning, just stretch to the sky. It's like the best thing in the world, it's like a drug. I mean, it's phenomenal. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But it feels amazing. Yeah, that's the thing. So, that's awesome.

Scott Schaper: Totally. It's a signal to the body that it's time to go too.

Brian McMaster: Well, ⁓ we've definitely covered the gamut of the ups and downs of ⁓ and evening routine. Yeah.

Scott Schaper: Yeah. Literally the ups and downs. take a quick break and talk about what products or what are we reading these days? ⁓ books you got going on? Or what's on Brian's desk?

Brian McMaster: or what's on Brian's desk. ⁓ what do I got on my desk? Boy, I got so many things here. I haven't talked about, too. ⁓ you know what I got here? Here's what I got. If likes protein bars, ⁓ have talked about? ⁓ man, Boundless. The Boundless ⁓ so this arguably the cleanest and ⁓ tastiest.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, give me one.

Brian McMaster: energy bar and bar. It's got 18 grams of protein and one gram of ketones. ⁓ yeah, this was designed by my coach, Ben Greenfield. No seed oils, no soy, no dairy, no gluten. It's ⁓ with honey and there's two flavors. This is cheesecake, vanilla cheesecake. ⁓ then there's also one that is ⁓ roll. And literally these things taste amazing. ⁓ So.

Scott Schaper: Really? Okay. Where'd you get them?

Brian McMaster: You can go to foundlistbar.com and you can order them off of there. They're comparably priced to other protein bars, the ketones keep your appetite suppression. So you eat that bar and it's like, I don't need to eat again until the next meal. It's, might be a little high, but.

Scott Schaper: Awesome. Yeah. What's the car? Six, six or 10.

Brian McMaster: It's actually 21. Yeah, it's a little high on carbs, but, and guessing that's probably because of the.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, got it. That's okay.

Brian McMaster: And also there's Cashew in here and hydrolyzed, Bogathine, Collagen. yep, ⁓ very, very clean ⁓ if carb conscious, it's a little high, but they're good carbs.

Scott Schaper: Yeah. Yeah, there's the protein. Are you a carb counter in general, calorie counter at all? Do you watch that daily?

Brian McMaster: No, I try to focus on what I'm putting in and making sure it's clean, seed oil free, dairy free, gluten free, that type of stuff. Yeah, so I don't worry too much about carbs. I figure if you're working out and you're burning, you're taking care of that piece. But when I'm put...

Scott Schaper: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, if you, was going to say, if you happen to be in weight loss mode or you're doing something for 10 weeks ⁓ you want to focus on calories, do that. I to enjoy it ⁓ and very good at predicting ⁓ what body's going to feel like the next day. ⁓ So enjoy it. ⁓ Most don't find it enjoyable. have a great app, which is called Lose It. ⁓ That me to do that, ⁓ which pretty predictive. So, but anyway, ⁓ yeah, try to keep my carbs under 50.

Brian McMaster: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Schaper: frequently it's 25 or less.

Brian McMaster: Nice way you can have two of these bars and go to bed. It's good stuff. What about you?

Scott Schaper: Exactly. My book, and Suzanne, that's the other thing we share. Every morning during our walks, we are always sharing the audio and listening to sort of thriller Grisham novel or something informative about history. So we up the racketeer and immediately started The Widow by John Grisham again. So there I am, pimpin' his authorship. Although this one is not as thrilling. ⁓ kind of pedestrian far, 10 chapters in. We'll see how it goes, but enjoying it it's fine.

Brian McMaster: What does that mean, pedestrian? I've never heard that term before.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, it's kind of like like you said, it's it's like this this lady, this 85 year old woman comes into this ⁓ mediocre attorney's office to get her will and testament done. There's just no thrill to it. There's no there's no international espionage. no high stakes legal thriller going on at all. It's a lady getting her will done, which seems like the worst type of Grisham setup. ⁓

Brian McMaster: Got it. Yeah, yeah, that's a little like watching paint dry. Yeah.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, right. Hey, for our listeners, if we get back to it, I made a list of, you don't have a routine or it's loosely structured and you wanna get better at these, I have a list of ⁓ things that you can ⁓ include in your routine. It doesn't have to be everything. Pick two or three pick one and just start with one thing and then begin stacking after you've made that habit. And I think we'll see how, let's you and I rank these as we go. This is morning. ⁓ morning things addition to what ⁓ already mentioned. We've mentioned working out and meditation and red light and hydration, things like that. But the one I wrote down is waking without input, no phone, no news, no notifications. Where do you rank on that and how are you doing with that?

Brian McMaster: I do not like, I think, you know, obviously with as easy it is, most people use their phones, their alarm clock, so it's right next to your bed. I don't like that because of EMFs, but that to me is an absolute no, no, no. You don't pick up your phone. I mean, when I'm an hour into my day, I might check my emails or look at some screen time, but I think as soon as you wake up in the morning,

Scott Schaper: Yep.

Brian McMaster: I think is a great opportunity to feed your mind with something good. And could be just like we talked about for nighttime, like the three questions. Maybe there's a ⁓ notepad next to your desk or next to your nightstand and it says, what the three things I want to accomplish today? Or how ⁓ can change somebody's life today? Or some kind of empowering question like that. I think it's so important that you keep that screen time low on the list when you get up.

Scott Schaper: Yeah.

Brian McMaster: I mean, your brain is just getting active. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. How about you?

Scott Schaper: Yeah. I do wake without input. don't have my phone is in the kitchen downstairs charging by usually by the last hour of the day by nine o'clock. just plug it in and forget about it. Sit up, breathe slowly, let your nervous system come online before consuming information. It's basically just not grabbing your phone and getting on YouTube. But can take it further and say, I'm not going to check my phone until I get to the office. You can do something like that. I'm in between. I wake up. don't consume. at all. sit up, breathe slowly, ⁓ online. It preserves your agency before reactivity is the key there. And also takes no time to do that. I mean, we're talking three minutes, two minutes to sit up and take that stretch.

Brian McMaster: And there's so many things you can do, you know, even before you stretch while you're laying in bed, you know, it's like you can pray, you know, depending on what your beliefs are, you know, there's just, there's so many other things to do, aside from just sticking that phone in your face or sticking something in your face. Get up, stretch, relax, breathe.

Scott Schaper: Yeah. Next thing I have is goes right into that spiritual centering, prayer, meditation, or grounding breath work. So you're doing some of that, aren't you?

Brian McMaster: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. pray. Well, as soon as I open my eyes, I thank God that I'm awake because, ⁓ know, I always ⁓ to myself, there are some people who didn't wake up today. So, you grateful that I got day, you know, hit the lottery again today. So, yeah, absolutely. And then breathing, you know, ⁓ just get I got to get that tape off my mouth and, you know, start start to get myself ready for ⁓ getting up.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you were a hostage for the last eight hours, so I'm glad you're alive.

Brian McMaster: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. If somebody broke into my house, ⁓ be already halfway there, they'd just have to bow my arms and legs and ⁓ good to go. ⁓

Scott Schaper: It would be so funny if they come into your bedroom, you're already taped up and your hands are bound behind your back. You're like, wow, this guy's ready to be robbed.

Brian McMaster: Either that or he has a freaky wife, one or the other. Yeah, yeah.

Scott Schaper: That's awesome. We'll leave that there. Yeah, grounded breath, some box breathing. Basically, those things regulate cortisol, sharpens your decision making, and anchors the data purpose, not pressure, which I think is great. Intentional journaling. Do you write anything during the morning?

Brian McMaster: You know, I don't. I used to. But I usually really don't start writing anything until I get to the office. it's more listening, feeding, you know, that type of stuff in the mornings. But I think journaling in the morning is a good practice.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, same. Yeah, me neither. Yeah, if people feel drawn to this, you you can always give yourself a prompt or go find a few cool prompts and just use one or two of them throughout the week. What does winning look like today? Who do I need to be today? How am I going to show up today? What would make today meaningful if nothing else gets done? So this is identity-based leadership and controlling that task-based chaos remind yourself of what's important. So I think there's some real merit there. ⁓ might add something like that in.

Brian McMaster: Yeah. Yeah, and one of the greatest questions I think you can ask yourself is, can I help someone else today? How can I change somebody's life? just never know what subtleties or what ⁓ things can help other people. And what a great mission. ⁓ everybody woke up in the morning and said, hey, how can I help somebody else today? ⁓ a different world this would be.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, that's great. And I've heard and I love the phrase that gratitude is the mother of all emotions. really writing a ⁓ what am I thankful for this morning? And you did, you wake up with a thought of gratitude. And I think that's important to center the mind. Next one is light movement or mobility. This seems to be universal. When I looked up some great intentional morning routines. could be exercise, be walking, stretching, a little light yoga, some band work. What do you say on the foam roller? Yes, Suzanne loves to do that in the evenings. But it signals daytime to your body and starts boosting mental clarity and stimulates your vagus nerve for awakeness.

Brian McMaster: Yeah, that's... Yeah, and the mobility is high on my list. As we get older, that becomes a really big deal. If you fall or you, jokes out there, right? ⁓ bent and I hurt my back and I turned to my wife and I hurt my neck and it's like I'm one sneeze away from death here ⁓ kind thing. But mobility so important. And I think it's important too that you are just able to do the things that when you get older, you're not able to do, right? like older people that they can't tie their shoes, they can't go to the cupboard and get a glass, they can't ⁓ those types of things. ⁓ mobility work is so important for that because you keep yourself limber, you keep yourself loose. And also can talk about it later, but lifting heavy weight as well, ⁓ it prepares you for as you age.

Scott Schaper: Uh-uh.

Brian McMaster: We are, mean aging is deteriorating, right? As soon as you're born, you start to die basically. And it's like, you know, keeping up with those things is very simple. It doesn't take much time. 10 minutes in the morning and you can be good to go. And love that foam roller.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, muscle is the currency of longevity.

Brian McMaster: Absolutely.

Scott Schaper: For sure. And I was ⁓ moving stuff in the garage and cleaning some stuff out in the garage over the weekends. This was Saturday morning. I grabbed something, a pretty heavy piece of wood and twisted the wrong way. And I felt it at the moment, but I have had a pinched nerve ever since then that's slowly gotten better and better and better. It'll go away. I'm a healthy person, but just remind. I'm just like, man, I work out every day. I walk every day. How did this happen? And it just requires, I should have been more purposeful in that movement. You know, instead of throwing stuff around, that sort of stuff. So yeah, it comes to bite you. It was a reminder that I'm not a young person anymore. We mentioned this sunlight exposure, walking outside or standing near the window, taking in the sunrise improves your circadian rhythm, energy and sleep quality later. Even in the morning, this will affect your sleep that night, which you already mentioned.

Brian McMaster: Yeah. Yeah. Just do something in nature. Even if you're just walking out on the porch and drinking your coffee. Just do something in nature. We're apt stay in our boxes. It's just not the way we were meant to be. We're meant to be outside. We're meant to be taking in the elements and being grounded to the earth. ⁓

Scott Schaper: Yeah. Taking four breaths of fresh air in the sunlight, just literally takes two minutes and it has a big outcome. So outcome, did you get in the tub? Yeah, wow. ⁓ geez. So single-purpose, the next one they have, I'll combine single outcome planning, identify one business priority that if completed will move the needle.

Brian McMaster: Absolutely. Yeah. This morning it froze my nostril hair though. I did. Yeah, it had ice around the outside. Yeah, it was beautiful.

Scott Schaper: which protects your focus in high leverage roles. And then I'll combine that with values based review. It's kind of checking in with your personal and company values and ask yourself, how can I make a difference in those today? And that goes to what you said, writing something down ⁓ that you can settle your brain at night. I think that's important. ⁓

Brian McMaster: Yeah. And this is a practice I started doing as well. And you've seen me do this before where I have my note card right. I used to do five things. I do three things now that these are the three things that I want to accomplish today. If I get those things done, I've had a good day. And it's been a, it's been a really a game changer for me. And I just add things to the parking lot or the other, the other list. And then I pick off that list the next morning and say, okay, these are the three things that I need to accomplish.

Scott Schaper: Yeah.

Brian McMaster: It keeps it simple. It's no different than we're talking about with routine. It's a habit and not overwhelming because it's only three things. ⁓

Scott Schaper: Yeah, that's amazing. Do you prioritize those three things? ⁓

Brian McMaster: I do. Once I get them down, then I'll do a one, two, or three. ⁓ then start with that one. And then ⁓ you stay with that one until you get it finished. ⁓ then move on to the next. Because obviously, you got interruptions, got phone calls, you got text messages, meetings, and that type of stuff. But ⁓ priority is important.

Scott Schaper: Got it. Yeah. Next routine is fuel intentionally, a hydrate first, a simple protein forward breakfast, or an intentional fast. think we ⁓ all that. I think that's important. Having protein in the ⁓ is a long-term fueler. It will get you all the way to lunch or beyond. But it's stable energy for ⁓ executive decision-making. So it definitely fuels your brain. ⁓

Brian McMaster: Absolutely. And it also, gets your digestive system rocking and rolling. ⁓ what you want to do a couple hours after you get up. ⁓ want to get that good stuff in, but you want to get your juices flowing.

Scott Schaper: This last morning routine suggestion, I don't do, but it's about calendar blocking. It's, and it's goes to making a boundary. And this is going to be important for you, Brian saying no to one thing, ⁓ every week setting a boundary for the days. No meetings before nine 30, no Slack until my deep, you know, my number one is done. No phone during family time, that sort of stuff. It's creating a boundary that makes sense to accomplish the rest.

Brian McMaster: Yeah. Yeah, I've been fortunate and blessed to have Rhonda, my assistant. She takes away a lot of that noise, but she also keeps me focused on that. So she blocks out time on my calendar specifically for certain things. You know, it's like I got to, she'll pull some things off my list. Like for instance, I was ⁓ putting off my flight training and she's like, you know, came in first of the year and she's like, you know, we really need to get you back to those videos. So now she's blocking that time off on my calendar. And I just know when it comes to that point that that's what I need to do. And the other thing I do is I prioritize things that take more of my mind in the morning and less my mind in the afternoon because I know that ⁓ it's happen that you start to do that dip in the afternoon. And if you don't get a nap to relax or ⁓ some of meditation to relax that you're ⁓ gonna off. it's important

Scott Schaper: Yeah.

Brian McMaster: you prioritize the things when you know that your fuel's gonna be there and you're gonna be focused.

Scott Schaper: Nice. Well, we got six or eight minutes. I'll run through a list of evening routines. Again, also of these ⁓ lists creating as guides that you can download in the show notes. So take a look at that on the website. These are not branded. So if you wanted to ⁓ do with your team, do this with your family, do this with your spouse, just print one of these off or you can browse it on your phone as a PDF. I'll include those in the show notes. But ⁓ these things ⁓ in evening routine that make sense. And again, I want to say that your morning routine could be anywhere from 15 minutes to 90 minutes. Brian has a, you heard him, you say about two hours. Mine is about hour and a half, maybe a little bit longer if you include that latte. But that latte is interesting because it's always with my spouse. We always go over the week and day together. She works in the company with me. So sometimes we talk about billing. Sometimes we just talk about what going to eat that night ⁓ as I make my dietary routine. But yeah, just think 20. If you don't have one, just start with something that's 15 minutes. All of the ones I'm going to give you are less than five. So you can pick two or three of these to start. But a hard stop work ritual is kind of like physically closing your laptop and telling yourself work is done for the day. It trains your brain to stop scanning for unfinished tasks and get you out of mode so that you can have some family time that's high quality. Number two is a brain dump. Write down everything still on your mind and choose one priority for tomorrow. This, I think, is I'm going to practice this and try this a couple of times and see if I can get rid of that chatter that's keeping me awake at night. Yeah, mental, let's call this mental rumination. Just kind of chewing it, chewing on it ⁓ at 2 a.m.

Brian McMaster: Nice.

Scott Schaper: Digital sunset. know this is important for both of us. Put our phone on a charger outside the bedroom. No email, no Slack, no social media, no news. No scrolling, doom scrolling. This actually is physiological. It protects your melatonin production and your attention.

Brian McMaster: and news especially. ⁓

Scott Schaper: Again, in the evening gentle movement or stretches. This is when Suzanne and I do our foam roller and just, you know, are stretching for the night. Here's what's funny. Probably I do this five nights a week, not every single night, but when I do, I hit the floor. I am usually in a ⁓ lotus position just to kind of stretch my back out a little bit. My cat always comes over and stretches with me every night. It's, it's sort of adorable ⁓ that she does that, but it's, it's pretty funny.

Brian McMaster: you Yeah.

Scott Schaper: Evening hydration and mineral support, water, herbal tea, magnesium. Get that approved by your doctor. Talk to your health coach about magnesium and why that matters. But supports muscle relaxation and depth of sleep period. Works for me in terms of my restless leg. If you have restless leg, I'm with you on that one. Gratitude wind reflection. down three personal wins, a business win, a relationship win, a marriage win, something with your kid that happened that was personal, a win, business and relationship. I think that shifts the brain from threat to safety. It's really to, again, start calming your brain. ⁓ I could, I might include some of these into my evening routine. where I'm most valuable right now.

Brian McMaster: Yeah. Do you think your cat thinks you're adorable? Do you think he when he's stretching with you? Do you think or she?

Scott Schaper: Yes, I absolutely do.

Brian McMaster: Both and wonder if our animals think the same thing that we do. it like, man, what's this guy do? ⁓

Scott Schaper: Spiritual Rindown and Meditation and Breathwork. Prayer, devotional reading, meditation and breath releases outcomes, builds trust and lowers nighttime anxiety. I know you do that. I do that too. Environmental Prep. This is where Brian dominates the world. Dim the lights, set the thermostat, cover your eyes, open your nose, to the bedroom, get into a sleeping bag. You the environment down. Darkness. Darkness.

Brian McMaster: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, and actually you can have genetic testing done. I had genetic tests done and I have a gene that it has to be quiet, dark, and cold. that's my best sleeping environment. ⁓ not for everybody, but your genes do tell you a lot of stuff about who you are, what best for you and that type of stuff. But sleep environment is... is essential. we've, we've talked about sleep before in the podcast, sleep is just, you're going to do ⁓ that sends you in the right direction, as far as your health, it's rest ⁓ sleeping to, ⁓ to let your body recover and repair itself. And that, to me, if I had to pick one thing, that's it, ⁓ shut all stuff off and get good sleep.

Scott Schaper: recovery. If you want some environmental advice that goes deeper than just this topic here, we have the podcast weeks ago, which was ⁓ environmental guy and he talked about EMF. Yeah, Brian, Glaser, No, Blazer, Blazer. Yeah, thank you. ⁓

Brian McMaster: ⁓ yeah. running blazer Blazer, Ryan Blazer, yeah. Company test my home, yeah.

Scott Schaper: Yeah, go check that out. a great, great podcast. Last two I have is a consistent sleep cue. Like for me, it's that evening, that evening Epsom salt bath conditions your body for faster sleep onset, which really works for me. I hit the pillow and I'm gone in two minutes. do not. It's my mind is waking up at three or four and staying awake. And then slow breathing, body scan, just doing four, seven day breathing or body scan, let thoughts pass without engagement, just acknowledgement so that they don't come back to bug you when you're sleeping. And all that build up, I would say build up an hour routine over the course of a few months and really start mastering these because the more purposeful they become, the more purposeful you'll feel in your life and business. ⁓

Brian McMaster: And as with anything, the first thing you gotta do is just get started. ⁓ with something simple and it a habit ⁓ and stack on that habit. That's the easiest way to get yourself into a routine. can ⁓ look a 10.

Scott Schaper: Perfect. Perfect ending to this podcast. We'll leave it right there. We'll have more coming at you in the next couple of weeks. Thank you, listeners, we'll see you next time. Cheers. ⁓

Brian McMaster: Awesome brother. Take care, See ya.