I Tried the “4 Empires” Method, and It Changed the Way I Think About My Morning Routine

I love my mornings. My mind is still clear, I enjoy the quiet, and I always feel better when I wake up early to knock a few things off of my to-do list and pour into my own cup. I used to think that sticking to a morning routine meant you had to do the same things day in and day out, but I’ve since learned that it’s okay to switch it up, especially as your needs shift. And I’m always down to experiment with my morning routine.

I’ve been seeing a specific morning routine trending on social media lately, and it’s all about “the four interior empires.” The term comes from the book The 5am Club by Robin Sharma, which introduces the idea that tending to four parts of yourself first thing in the morning will set you up for a balanced and empowering day. I wanted to put it to the test, so I tried it out for a week.

According to Sharma, the four interior empires are your mindset, healthset, heartset, and soulset. Before you start your workday or a morning scroll, the idea is to spend some time taking care of yourself first. Here’s a quick breakdown of each empire.

Mindset is focused on your personal development, learning, and growth. Tending to your mindset can include things like reading, writing, or saying positive affirmations, or listening to empowering podcasts or TED talks.

Healthset is focused on the physical — getting up and moving your body. Strength training, brisk walks, stretching, and yoga fall into this category.

Heartset is about your emotional well-being and processing your feelings. Spending some time catering to your heartset can look like connecting with loved ones, gratitude journaling, and meditating.

Soulset is connected to your purpose — it’s about creating a deeper relationship with yourself. Meditation, prayer, yoga or spending time in nature are things you can do to nourish this interior empire.

To create your own “four interior empires” routine, you simply pick habits that fill each of these categories for you. If you spend about 20 minutes taking care of your body, mind, heart, and soul, you have a solid 60-minute morning routine that can help set you up for success — and feel wonderful — for the rest of the day.

Since I go to the gym a few mornings a week, I created two versions of this new routine. My gym mornings start off early and take up a pretty big chunk of time (between getting ready, driving there, working out, cooling down, showering, etc.) but on my rest days, my mornings are a little more relaxed and I have more time to do things like read and journal. Here’s how I broke up my morning routines for the week. 

• Monday, Wednesday and Friday are gym days. My routine these days consisted of a workout at the gym (healthset), listening to an audio book during the drive home (mindset), then a quick meditation and gratitude journal when I got home (soulset and heartset).
• Tuesday and Thursday are rest days, so I’m not waking up and leaving for the gym right away. On these mornings, I read a chapter of my book (mindset) and then take a half hour walk with my dog (healthset) while listening to positive affirmations (soulset and heartset).

To be totally honest, ticking off all the boxes felt a little tiresome. The week I decided to dive into this new morning routine was election week, so I had more stress and anxiety than normal, which made it extra challenging. A solid morning routine is helpful for times like these though, and I was grateful to have an outlet to process my feelings as the week unfolded. It was nice to get back to a meditation practice, even for just five or 10 minutes, and it overall forced me to pause and breathe, which I very much needed. 

The key for me with this kind of morning routine is to make it as accessible as possible. Listening to an audiobook (or even a meditation or positive affirmations) while I went for a walk with my dog in the morning felt like the best use of my time, since I could tick off all the boxes at once.

I highly recommend the Superhuman app, which has a wide variety of meditations designed to listen to while doing other things, like walking, cleaning, or getting ready for the day. I listen to audiobooks through my Spotify premium account, but if you don’t have one, you can borrow audiobooks from the library on Libby. 

Though the four empires approach felt a little overwhelming at first, I think it’s a useful framework if you feel like you’re not pouring into yourself as much as you want to be. Though the week I first tried it was a particularly emotionally tumultuous one, sticking with a focused routine has felt a little easier in the days since. Admittedly, committing to meditation and gratitude journaling was really hard when all I wanted to do was curl up in the fetal position. 

My meditations looked a bit different day to day as I processed all I was feeling around the election results, and what mattered most was that I showed up and took care of myself even when it was hard — body, mind, and soul. I appreciated the reminder that I can cater my morning routine to whatever I need at the moment, and I’ll be carrying that takeaway with me.

Thinking about tending to four different categories stressed me when I thought about them as four separate tasks. But when I tried it, I was pleasantly surprised to realize how many of the elements naturally fed into each other. Focusing on moving my body and consuming positive content instead of a mindless scroll was the reminder I needed as I navigated a tough week. After all, a good morning routine is supposed to help you feel better about the day ahead.