Your alarm goes off. Do you reach for your phone or reach for your potential?

Most practice owners start their day reactive, scrolling through problems before they’ve even stood up. But what if the first hour of your day could determine whether you show up as a leader or just another overwhelmed dentist?

Alex Forero, a high-performance business leader, discovered that winning the morning isn’t just about productivity. It’s about energy management that ripples through your entire practice.

The truth: The quality of your morning routine directly impacts your leadership presence, team energy, and patient experience throughout the day.

The Science of Morning Dominance: Why 3 AM Isn’t About Suffering

Here’s what most practice owners get wrong. They think morning routines are about grinding harder. They’re not. They’re about creating sovereignty over your day.

When you wake up at 3 AM, you’re not punishing yourself. You’re claiming the most valuable real estate in your schedule. Those quiet hours before the world wakes up? That’s where leadership presence gets built.

Think about your typical morning. Phone buzzing. Emails flooding in. Family needs. Staff questions. By 8 AM, you’re already behind. You’re reacting instead of leading.

The neuroscience backs this up. Your brain produces the highest levels of cortisol within the first hour of waking. You can either flood that system with stress or program it for peak performance. The choice happens in those first sixty minutes.

Alex puts it this way: “If you don’t win the morning for yourself, how are you supposed to win the day for everyone else?”

Your team feels this difference immediately. Walk into your practice after a reactive morning, and your energy creates a ripple effect. Staff members tense up. Patients sense the rush. Treatment acceptance drops because people don’t feel seen.

But show up after winning your morning? Your presence changes everything.

The Four Pillars of Morning Victory

Pillar One: Mental Programming Through Affirmations

Most people think affirmations are fluffy self-help nonsense. They’re wrong. Affirmations are neurological programming.

Alex starts every morning with three declarations:

• “I’m alive, excited, and full of energy”


• “I perform at a level ten, no matter my circumstances”


• “Today is gonna be a great day, and I’m gonna give that energy back to the world”

These aren’t random positive thoughts. They’re strategic mind programming. You’re literally rewiring your brain’s default response to challenges.

When a difficult patient walks in, your brain doesn’t spiral into stress. It defaults to energy and solution-finding. When insurance denies a claim, you don’t lose your composure. You maintain that level ten performance.

Pillar Two: Physical Preparation for Mental Sharpness

Your body is your brain’s life support system. Neglect it, and your decision-making suffers. Alex’s morning includes stretching, working out four times per week, and getting sunlight exposure daily.

The connection is immediate. Physical movement increases BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which literally grows new brain cells. Those new cells? They help you think faster, stay calmer under pressure, and maintain emotional resilience during fourteen-hour days.

Plus, when you’re physically strong, you model the health your patients want. They see a leader who practices what they preach.

Pillar Three: Spiritual Grounding for Emotional Stability

This isn’t about religion. It’s about connection to something bigger than your daily stress.

Alex reads three books every morning: prayers for his wife, son, and daughter. He’s not just checking a spiritual box. He’s creating emotional stability that translates directly to better patient care.

When you start your day focused on serving others, you show up differently. Patients feel it. They sense genuine care instead of clinical routine. That feeling drives treatment acceptance more than any sales technique ever could.

Pillar Four: The No-Phone Zone Strategy

Your phone is an addiction machine designed to hijack your attention. The first hour of your day should be screen-free territory.

Alex keeps all electronics outside his bedroom. No exceptions. The morning hours are sacred space for filling his cup, not emptying it through doom scrolling.

The compound effect is massive. Skip the news. Avoid social media. Don’t check emails. Use that time to program your mind for peak performance instead of reactive stress.

The Leadership Ripple Effect: How Your Morning Shows Up in Your Practice

Your team absorbs your energy whether you realize it or not. Alex learned this watching his daughter pretend to be on Zoom calls, saying “I’m helping people today, dad.”

Your morning state becomes their emotional baseline.

Walk in frazzled, and your team operates from stress. They rush patients. They avoid difficult conversations. They make mistakes because they’re mirroring your energy.

Walk in after winning your morning, and everything shifts. Your team feels confident. They take time with patients. They handle challenges calmly because they’re reflecting your emotional state.

The patient experience changes immediately. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. But you can’t care effectively when you’re running on empty.

When Alex’s house caught fire and he lost half his belongings, his morning routine gave him the emotional reserves to reframe the crisis. Instead of falling apart, he told his wife: “This is just a sign from God that it’s time for us to move on.”

That’s what morning victory creates. Unshakeable resilience when life tests you.

Your 30-Day Morning Victory Challenge

Week One: Establish Your Foundation

• Set your alarm thirty minutes earlier than usual


• Keep your phone in another room overnight


• Use a traditional alarm clock, not your phone


• Track your energy levels at 10 AM, 2 PM, and 6 PM

Week Two: Add Mental Programming

• Create three personal affirmations that align with your practice vision


• Speak them aloud immediately after waking


• Write them down and place them where you’ll see them


• Notice how your response to challenges changes

Week Three: Incorporate Physical Movement

• Add ten minutes of stretching or walking


• Step outside for natural light exposure


• Choose movement that