I recently announced my plans for a 12-month Founders Live world tour. This post describes another lesson from my journey and what I have initially learned from taking the biggest risk of my life to date. Follow along here on this blog and here.

One thing I recently noticed about myself was how much I desire routine. It was apparent when I was living in Seattle where I would wake up in the same place each day and pretty much doing the same things within a morning routine. Boy did I enjoy that damn amazing view of Lake Union from my living room.

But now as I find myself out on the road it has become even more clear that establishing a routine as quickly as possible once I arrive in a new city is key to my productivity and progress.

I don’t know about you but when I feel out of synch in life I am not productive at all. I desire some normality, however I can get it. I need to grow. Each Day. Even the way I start my day points to a routine which covers numerous areas of growth in my life.

My morning routine goes something like this:

• Wake up
• Get coffee going
• Meditation – 10-15 mins
• Drink coffee and read email newsletters and blog posts of what has happened in last 12-24 hours
• 30 mins Workout – running or strength (4 days per week hopefully)
• Shower and get ready
• Eat something healthy
• Ready to walk out the door

With that morning routine, I experience growth in the spiritual, intellectual, physical and nutritional areas all within a few hours and before I set out to work for the day. It makes me feel refreshed, energized, intelligent, grounded, and self-aware. It makes me feel like I am taking at least a few steps forward, not backward.

Now that I am on the road and not living a normal life, it’s important for me to be flexible and adapt to my surroundings but at the same time wrap my morning routine into this crazy everchanging life I am now living.

Why? Because letting my health, intelligence, self-awareness and nutrition slip will only hold me back from realizing my potential and will seep into my happiness as a person. I don’t want that at all. I took the leap and left on a world tour to find happiness, not lose it!

So I work at it and embrace the uncomfortableness.

Equally important to my morning routine, I figured out pretty quickly I needed to find a home base workspace where I go and get work done most days.

Here in Boise, I joined the coworking space Trailhead where I spend most of the day getting work done and taking calls.  It’s been exactly what I needed and I’m really enjoying getting to know the Boise startup community. In fact, this is the venue we’ll be using to run the Founders Live Boise event this month and going forward this year.  Learning about their growth initiatives and how Founders Live can help accomplish them was music to my ears and we’re honored they want to support our initiatives as well.

The lesson here for anyone on the road is multifaceted.

First, whatever daily routine you thrive on when you are at home can be worked into your life on the road if you pay close enough attention and work at it. It does take work. But if done correctly it ties you back into yourself and you feel whole no matter where you are in the world. Secondly, quickly finding a home base or a place you can depend on each day to help maintain your effectiveness and work ethic is key to not losing a step in your business. Lastly – newness, fresh faces, and different daily challenges are refreshing and fun to tackle. Embrace the hell out of them.

If you ever choose to take your World Tour (or just a short trip), I hope these lessons help you along your way.