We interviewed dozens of CEOs, leaders, and public figures. Here are 9 daily habits highly successful people have in common.

A collage of an alarm clock, a man in a tie, green juice, and eggs.

We gathered the best productivity habits from top executives featured in our Power Hours series.
High achievers protect their mornings, eat protein-rich meals, and optimize their daily walks.
Many prioritize exercise and movement in their day, citing the mental health benefits.

Since the launch of Power Hours — which takes readers inside the daily routines of highly successful CEOs, founders, investors, and public figures — Business Insider has been asking high achievers a deceptively simple question: How do you actually spend your day?

The answers we got were as fascinating as they were varied. To determine which habits were the most prevalent among these leaders, we fed months of Power Hours interviews into ChatGPT and asked it to find the common themes.

What stood out was how intentionally successful people design their days, especially the bookends. Mornings are sacred. Meetings are structured, not reactive. Movement and reflection aren’t optional. Nights have clear off-ramps, not endless scrolls.

Their routines point to a shared philosophy: Optimal performance isn’t about cramming more into a day; it’s about making better decisions within the hours you have.

Here are nine habits of successful people, taken straight from our Power Hours daily routines.

1. They protect their mornings — even if they still (quickly) check their phone

man looking at phone — Some leaders admitted they immediately check their phones after waking up.

Brasileira/Getty Images

Stacey Kennedy, the CEO of Philip Morris International, allows herself five minutes to check her email before starting her morning routine. On an ideal morning, she’s up at 6:30 a.m., out of the house for a mindful walk around her neighborhood, and back for 15 minutes of yoga before heading to the office at 8 a.m.

She’s one of several leaders who told Business Insider that protecting their mornings matters, even if they aren’t completely offline. Tori Dunlap, the CEO of Her First 100K, checks her phone quickly when she wakes up before taking a circadian walk along the water to improve her digestion, metabolism, and energy throughout the day.

Signal president Meredith Whittaker wakes up around 6:30 a.m. and fits in a protein shake, coffee with cardamom, dance music, house chores, and a non-negotiable yoga routine — but still leaves time to catch up on the latest AI news.