INSPIRE | Season 2, Episode 3: Navigating Your Day with a Morning Routine Episode description How do you start the day as the person you want to be? In this "Navigate" episode, Drew Lawson and Steve Nadig unpack the SAVERS morning routine, plus the daily shutdown that bookends it. They cover what to do, what to avoid, and how to build a deluxe version and a 15-minute version that fits your real life. Steve also shares his personal anthem and commits to a 30-day experiment. In this episode Why a morning routine matters for decision-making, presence, and leading from calm rather than a triggered state (0:02) The big don'ts: no news, email, or social media first thing (4:28) Deluxe vs. compact routines, and why you shouldn't "should" on yourself (6:32) Bookends: the daily shutdown ritual and "parking your stressors" (7:14) S: Silence and solitude, including prayer, gratitude, grace, stillness (10:57) A: Affirmation and anthem, with Steve reading his anthem (14:48) Praise and positivity: catching people doing something right, and Gottman's ratios (22:06) V: Visualization of encounters, courage, and values in action (24:03) E: Exercise and energy, including water, walking, delayed caffeine, and light exposure (27:20) R: Reading, including why reading aloud matters (31:20) S: Scribing, now officially "scribbling" (37:51) Non-negotiables and the permission to experiment (40:15) Key takeaways Start the day analog and unplugged. Save news and email for later. Build two versions of your routine: a luxurious one and a roughly 15-minute minimum. Exercise, silence and solitude, and avoiding the news are the non-negotiables. How you do them is flexible. Bookend the day. A shutdown ritual helps you leave the day's stress behind. Praise generously, for yourself and your team. Brains default to negativity. Don't get overwhelmed. Experiment, have fun, and give yourself grace. Try it this week Say a short anthem or affirmation out loud, ideally in a mirror Take a 5-minute walk in morning light with water before caffeine Write for one page, or just scribble, by hand Design your shutdown ritual: a clothing change, a song, a garage-door moment Homework and 30-day challenges Steve: daily anthem and SAVERS for 30 days Drew: shorten his anthem and test a 10,000 lux morning light Books and resources mentioned Soundtracks, John Acuff (the anthem structure) Protocols, Andrew Huberman (energy, caffeine timing, light) The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron (morning pages) The Relationship Cure, John Gottman Atomic Habits, James Clear (Steve's reference point) The SAVERS author: Hal Elrod's The Miracle Morning