Anton Galushko Of California Movers USA On The Morning Routines and Habits Of Highly Successful People
An Interview With Sara Connell
My morning routine is one of the most important parts of my day. If I don’t get it right, I can always tell. It’s been said that the difference between highly successful people and others is that highly successful people can do what others aren’t willing to do, and I believe that’s true. It takes work to set yourself up for a positive, productive day.
Beginnings are a Genesis. That means that not only are they a start, but they are also the origin of all that follows. This means that the way we start something, the way we start our day, for example, creates a trajectory for all that follows. How do highly successful leaders start their day in a way that creates a positive trajectory for a successful, effective, productive, and efficient day? How do you create habits that make these routines permanent? How do you get inspired to develop the discipline necessary for such a lifestyle? In this new series, called Morning Routines and Habits Of Highly Successful People, we are talking to successful leaders who can share the morning routines and habits that have helped them to achieve success.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Anton Galushko.
Anton Galushko is the founder and CEO of California Movers USA, a multinational moving company. He’s a strong entrepreneurship professional with a Bachelor’s degree focused in International and Intercultural Communication from Minsk State Linguistic University, currently living in San Francisco, California.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
Well, I was born in San Jose, California. I grew up being told that I had to leave to find my place in the world. So, at 21, I moved to Fresno and got a Bachelor’s degree focused on International and Intercultural Communication.
And then at 25, I moved again — this time to San Francisco.
Eight years later, here I am founder and CEO of California Movers USA, a multinational moving company with offices all over the world. And now? Now it’s not even enough for me to have made it to California — I want my business to be international too.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
You know, I think I’ve always been destined to be in this field. I remember growing up with a sense that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but it wasn’t until the end of my first semester at the university that I had a full-on epiphany about which type of entrepreneurship.
It was the middle of this very cold winter and I was sitting in my dorm room watching the snow falling outside while listening to a podcast. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was a story about how this guy in San Francisco had started his own international moving company and built it into a really successful business.
And his story just really resonated with me. He grew up moving around a lot, and he just could never find movers who could understand him — even though he only spoke English. It made him feel isolated, and he didn’t want other people to feel like that when they moved somewhere new. So, he started his own moving company with the intent of making moving more humane for people who didn’t speak English as their first language.
Something about that just struck me in my core as something that I wanted to do too and even better.
The more I learned about moving, the more I realized that people really need someone they can trust with their most precious belongings. That’s what inspired me to start California Movers USA — I wanted to create a business that people could trust so that they could be free from worrying about whether their things would make it safely from one place to another.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?
My parents are the reason I’m where I am today.
My parents were always such hard workers. They took pride in their work and always went above and beyond to do a good job. They taught me that the greater goal is to leave the world a little better off than you found it, so no matter what they were doing they strove to make it their best. It’s because of their example that I set out in life with a strong work ethic and a desire to build something that wouldn’t just be good for me but everyone around me as well.
My amazing parents also showed me what true selflessness looks like: when I graduated from the university with my bachelor’s degree in international and intercultural communication, I knew that I wanted to take all the knowledge I had gained through my studies and use it as a way to help people build bridges across cultures. And when I started California Movers USA, I was able to do just that.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or takeaway did you learn from that?
I’ll never forget the time I was trying to move a grand piano into a house in Santa Monica. It was late, and my movers were already exhausted from moving twelve other pianos that day, so I told them to take a break on the drive over.
When we got there, it was obvious that the house — or should I say mansion — had been built on the side of a hill. As in, the driveway went down at least ten feet before going up again to get to the front door. And it was raining like nobody’s business.
So, as any good boss would do, I told my guys to just “suck it up” and get the job done quickly and carefully (and to be sure not to slip!). Well, you know where this is going… one of my movers slipped, and then another slipped trying to catch him. And in that instant, piano and all, they rolled down the entire length of that driveway.
Luckily no one was hurt — not even my mover with the bum ankle — but as a result of that incident, we’ve added “no break on steep inclines” to our official policy!
You are a successful leader. Which three-character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
When I sat down and thought about what I think made me successful, the first thing that came to mind was my steadfast commitment to our values as a company. When I started California Movers USA, I knew that it was essential to have a clear vision of what we wanted to accomplish as a company. I wanted to make sure that everything we did aligned with our core values around helping people move. We focused on customer service and the customer experience, taking care of our employees, and treating all of the people we work with kindness and respect. We work hard to meet these goals every day. The key for me was making sure that these values were embedded in everything we do at the company from day one.
The second characteristic is my drive and determination to succeed in growing the business. Moving is stressful, so when customers come to us, they are looking for help, support, and guidance throughout the process. Many of our customers are moving because they are starting a new chapter in their lives — a new job, marriage, or family additions — and California Movers USA wants to be there to help them through this process.
Adaptability is also super important because the world moves fast — especially if you’re in the moving industry! If you’re not willing to embrace change or try new things, you’ll get left behind. For example, when we first launched our business, we only serviced California. But within six months our client base expanded so much that we were servicing more states! We had to adapt quickly to meet demand — and we learned how to do it by creating processes and systems that are flexible enough to accept change.
I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Do you have a book in your life that impacted you and inspired you to be an effective leader? Can you share a story?
My favorite book is “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. I know it sounds like a strange choice, but I’m a big believer in being able to adapt to different circumstances. This book has so many lessons that have helped me embrace change and have the confidence to make them work for my team, my clients, and myself.
There’s one particular lesson that’s always stuck with me, which says that you should cope with your opponents in such a way that they cannot cope with you. That might sound like fighting words, but what it means is that if you’re not afraid to be the first person to change your approach, you can put yourself at an advantage when facing challenges.
When I started my company, it was just me and two other guys doing small moves around Orange County from the back of a van. But as we grew and took on more complicated projects, we needed to be able to adapt our approach fast to stay competitive. One time we were hired by a large tech firm to move all of their equipment from Mountain View to San Francisco. We’d never done anything on this scale before, and we were nervous about the challenge ahead — but once we took our time planning out every possible outcome and potential pitfall, we were able to stir ourselves forward.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
Currently, I am working on an interesting project where we are designing a special type of moving truck that is completely electric and has a lower carbon footprint.
As a company, we are doing this to help reduce some of the damaging effects that moving trucks have on the environment. We believe that it is not always enough just to recycle and be conscious of our carbon footprint. Sometimes, we have to go further and do more.
Moving trucks have been known to cause significant harm to the environment through their high levels of emissions. The atmosphere is already under threat from various other sources so we feel that it is our responsibility as a moving company to lessen the impact of moving trucks on the environment by making them electric and lowering their carbon footprint.
The second exciting project I want to share with you is my plan to expand our services to include relocation services for seniors and people with disabilities. I’m working with a team of great people who are helping me make this dream into reality. I believe that this new service will give us a competitive advantage over other moving companies because there is no one else currently offering this service.
It’s been an exciting year here at California Movers USA!
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain to our readers why it is important to have a consistent morning routine?
Having a consistent morning routine is important for a variety of reasons.
For one thing, having a routine like that really helps me set the tone for my day. I know that if I go in and do some stretches and make myself a healthy breakfast, that’s going to help me feel better throughout the day and make me more prepared to meet whatever challenges come up.
And also, it just helps me feel less stressed out, particularly when it comes to getting ready in the morning. If I’m not sure what my routine is going to be like, I’ll spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I need to do and when, and then I’ll wind up rushing through it all and feeling frantic right before work. But if I’ve got my routine down pat, there’s nothing to worry about — I can just do my thing, get ready, and be on my way.
So yeah, having a morning routine makes everything easier, and in general, it sets you up for success during the rest of your day. And who doesn’t want that?
Can you please share your optimal morning routine that can create a positive trajectory for a successful, effective, productive, and efficient day? If you can, please share some stories or examples.
My morning routine is one of the most important parts of my day. If I don’t get it right, I can always tell. It’s been said that the difference between highly successful people and others is that highly successful people can do what others aren’t willing to do, and I believe that’s true. It takes work to set yourself up for a positive, productive day.
It’s true what they say: the early bird gets the worm. There’s no denying that I am an early bird. I get up at 5 am every morning.
So, how do I start my day? With a glass of water! Then I’ll make myself a breakfast smoothie with lots of fruits, veggies, and healthy fats (like avocado or almond butter). These are all hard-to-get nutrients that help me feel sharp so I can tackle the day ahead.
Then I’ll take 10 minutes to meditate and go over my goals for the day — what exactly am I going to accomplish today? Then I’ll read a book for 15 minutes. This calms me and gets me in a good headspace for the rest of the day. Next up: showering! Some people shower at night, but there’s nothing like being squeaky clean first thing in the morning.
Next, while I’m getting ready, I listen to a TED talk or something similar to help me focus on personal development. After that, I like to check the news, both local and worldwide. It helps me stay informed about what’s happening in the world around me.
Then after that? I head into the office!
Speaking in general, what is the best way to develop good habits? Conversely, how can one stop bad habits?
How do you develop good habits? Is that what you’re asking? Well, I have to say, the best way is to stop making excuses. It’s never a good time to start doing something new. I get it — I really do — but the truth is, if you think about it, every moment of your life has an opportunity cost. What you choose to do in one moment means that you are choosing not to do something else. So, when you say, “I don’t have time,” what you’re really saying is, “This isn’t important enough for me to make time.”
As for stopping bad habits? That can be tricky. But what worked for me was making sure I had accountability for whatever it was that I wanted to change about myself — whether that meant being open about it with my family or friends or even hiring a coach who could help hold me accountable.
Doing something consistently “day in and day out” can be hard. Where did you get your motivation from? What do you use to motivate you now?
For me, motivation is all about having clear goals. I’m someone who thrives on direction, and so I need to have a clear vision for what I’m working towards. That helps motivate me every day to get up and put in the work.
And even though I know where I want to go and why, it can still be hard some days. That’s where my team comes in. They remind me of my goals when I’m not feeling them and celebrate with me when we hit milestones along the way. Having that kind of support system is huge for keeping me motivated, no matter how hard things get sometimes.
What other resources would you suggest to our readers?
My favorite book about morning routines is called “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod.
It’s a great read for anyone who wants to get their best day started, and it’s particularly helpful for those of us who aren’t quite “morning” people.
Elrod talks about the importance of gratitude and why we should start our days with it, and he even gives you some realistic ways to do it.
I also like that he talks about how to make your mornings more productive without feeling rushed or stressed out.
One of my favorite parts of the book is when he talks about journaling, which is something I had never done before reading this book, but now I can’t imagine starting my day without it!
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I truly believe in the power of community. I think that when you find your people, the ones who make you feel special and beautiful and like your best self, you can do absolutely anything.
That’s why I think that if I could inspire a movement, it would be one that helps people feel seen and supported by others who get them. It doesn’t have to be a literal movement, per se — but if each of us were able to foster the feeling of being understood and valued among those around us daily, I think we would all be in a much better place.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them 🙂
I love breakfast, and it’s one of my favorite times to connect with others.
If I could have a private breakfast with anyone in the world, it would be Elon Musk. He and I are both passionate about sustainable living, and I know we’d have a fascinating conversation about our shared future. His ideas have already had such a positive impact on humanity, and he’s paving the way for more amazing things to come!
My ideal breakfast spot would be in Hawaii, at sunrise, along the coastline. I can just imagine the smell of the salty sea air combined with the scent of fresh fruit, coffee, and bacon. The sun would be coming up over the horizon as we sat overlooking the ocean and enjoying our meal together.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can find me on Instagram @antongalushko. I post my personal photos, write about my life, business, travel and the best places to get a burrito in California!
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts with you and your readers.
Anton Galushko Of California Movers USA On The Morning Routines and Habits Of Highly Successful… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.