Own the Day, Own Your Life
Optimized Practices for Waking, Working, Learning, Eating, Training, Playing, Sleeping and Sex
Book Edition Details
Summary
Unlock peak performance and a profoundly fulfilling life, one day at a time. In Own the Day, Own Your Life (2018), Onnit founder Aubrey Marcus presents an empowering handbook to optimize every moment, from morning routines to evening rituals. Discover small, actionable changes for diet, work, mindfulness, and more, transforming daily habits into lasting strategies for a stronger mind, body, spirit, and overall success.
Introduction
Every morning, you wake up to a choice that will determine whether you drift through another day of mediocrity or step into your full potential. The difference between those who thrive and those who merely survive isn't found in grand gestures or perfect circumstances. It lies in understanding a profound truth: when you master the fundamentals of a single day, you unlock the blueprint for transforming your entire life. Your body operates as a sophisticated biological system with specific needs and rhythms that, when honored, create extraordinary energy, focus, and resilience. This isn't about adding more complexity to your already busy life. It's about aligning your daily choices with how you're actually designed to function, creating a foundation where peak performance becomes your natural state rather than an occasional accident.
Master Your Morning Foundation
The moment consciousness returns each morning, your body awaits specific signals that will determine your energy, mood, and cognitive capacity for the entire day ahead. Most people stumble into their mornings reactive and depleted, reaching immediately for coffee while their dehydrated cells cry out for proper hydration and their circadian systems remain confused about whether it's time to be alert or sleepy. Consider Duncan Keith, the legendary NHL defenseman who helped lead the Chicago Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup championships. During their grueling 2015 playoff run, Keith averaged an astounding 31 minutes of ice time per game over two months of intense competition. His secret wasn't superhuman genetics or pain tolerance. Keith had discovered that championship-level performance begins the moment you open your eyes, with strategic interventions that reset your internal systems and prime your body for peak function. Keith's transformation came through understanding that his morning routine wasn't just about getting ready for the day, but about sending precise biological signals to optimize every system in his body. He would immediately hydrate with mineral-rich water to replenish what he'd lost overnight, expose himself to bright light to reset his circadian clock, and engage in specific movement patterns that activated his nervous system. These weren't random habits but strategic choices based on how elite performance actually works at the cellular level. The foundation of morning mastery rests on three pillars that work synergistically to awaken your full potential. Within twenty minutes of waking, drink 16-20 ounces of water with a pinch of high-quality sea salt to restore cellular hydration and provide essential electrolytes. Expose yourself to bright light, preferably natural sunlight, to signal your brain that it's time for alertness and focus. Move your body through dynamic patterns for just five minutes, whether through jumping jacks, yoga flows, or simple stretching, to activate circulation and prime your nervous system for the challenges ahead. Start tomorrow morning with this simple sequence and notice how profoundly different you feel compared to reaching for your phone or rushing straight to caffeine.
Optimize Your Performance Systems
Peak performance isn't about grinding harder or pushing through exhaustion. It's about understanding the sophisticated biological systems that govern human energy, focus, and resilience, then learning to work with these systems rather than against them. Your body operates like a high-performance machine, but most people are driving a Ferrari while treating it like a broken-down sedan. Wim Hof, the Dutch extreme athlete known as "The Iceman," has redefined what's possible for human physiology through his mastery of internal systems. Hof can consciously control his immune response, regulate his body temperature in freezing conditions, and maintain extraordinary focus under extreme stress. His abilities aren't mystical but methodical, achieved through specific breathing techniques and controlled cold exposure that activate his sympathetic nervous system on command. Hof's approach demonstrates the power of hormesis, beneficial stress that strengthens rather than depletes your system. Through practices like taking 30-50 powerful breaths followed by breath retention, then exposing himself to cold water, he triggers adaptive responses that make him more resilient to all forms of stress. The key lies in precision: enough stimulus to trigger positive adaptation without overwhelming your recovery capacity. Your performance optimization toolkit should include strategic interventions that work with your natural biology. Try the Wim Hof breathing method by taking 30 deep, powerful breaths until you feel slight tingling, then holding your breath at the bottom of an exhale for as long as comfortable. Follow this with a cold shower, starting with just 30 seconds and gradually building tolerance. Combine quality caffeine with healthy fats like MCT oil to provide sustained energy without crashes. Remember that optimization is deeply personal. Start with one system, track how you feel, and adjust based on your body's responses rather than following rigid protocols. Your biology will teach you what it needs when you learn to listen to its signals.
Build Your Evening Recovery
The hours before sleep represent your most critical opportunity to process the day's experiences, restore your nervous system, and prepare for tomorrow's challenges. Yet most people treat their evenings like a dumping ground for digital distractions and leftover tasks, then wonder why they feel anxious, restless, and unable to achieve restorative sleep. Arianna Huffington learned this lesson through a dramatic wake-up call that literally knocked her unconscious. At the height of building her media empire, she collapsed from exhaustion in her office, waking up in a pool of her own blood after hitting her desk on the way down. This moment forced her to confront a fundamental truth that many high achievers resist: you cannot sustainably perform at an elite level without intentional recovery practices. Huffington's transformation began with recognizing that her smartphone had become a digital leash, keeping her nervous system in constant activation mode. The blue light from screens was disrupting her melatonin production while the endless stream of notifications flooded her system with stress hormones precisely when her body needed to wind down. She discovered that true power comes not from being always "on" but from knowing when and how to strategically turn off. The evening recovery protocol starts with creating a digital sunset, powering down devices at least one hour before your intended sleep time to allow your nervous system to shift into restoration mode. This creates space for practices that actually restore you: journaling to process the day's experiences and clear mental clutter, gentle movement or stretching to release physical tension, and connecting meaningfully with loved ones without the interference of screens. Set a specific time each evening to begin your wind-down ritual and treat it as seriously as any important appointment. Your evening routine should include mental clearing through reflection, physical preparation through environment optimization, and emotional connection through quality relationships. The goal isn't perfection but consistency in creating conditions that allow your natural recovery systems to function optimally.
Summary
The path to an extraordinary life isn't found in dramatic overhauls or perfect circumstances. It's built through the compound effect of small, intentional choices made consistently over time. As this transformative approach reveals, "You have to unplug to recharge" and "Sleep turns the dreams about your health into a reality." These aren't just motivational phrases but fundamental truths about how human beings actually thrive. When you align your daily practices with your biological design, when you treat your body and mind as the sophisticated systems they are, you unlock levels of energy, focus, and fulfillment that most people never experience. The transformation begins tomorrow morning with a simple commitment: own your first twenty minutes awake through proper hydration, light exposure, and movement; optimize one performance system through strategic breathing or beneficial stress; and create an evening routine that truly restores your nervous system. These aren't additional burdens on your busy life but the foundation that makes everything else easier, more enjoyable, and more effective.
By Aubrey Marcus
