An Interview With Sara Connell
Morning routines help to set the tone for the rest of your day and focus your mind on your goals for that day. These routines can also bring your attention into the present moment and help alleviate negative emotions like fear, anxiety anger, and dread that are often connected with dwelling on the past or future.
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 Nico Hodel.
Nico Hodel is Co-CEO of Start It Up, a digital innovation agency based in the US that provides content marketing, app development, digital advertising, data analytics, innovation consulting and video production services for startups, and B2B companies.
A full-stack web developer and programmatic marketing specialist, Nico ran development efforts at his former company Valence Digital for over 4 years, overseeing a 12 person marketing and development team, working on projects in the Angular, React, and React Native frameworks.
After working on web development projects in the tech, finance, and legal fields with clients from around the world Nico took on an advisory role at the company to build Start It Up, and its subsidiary, the content writing service Rriter, where he now works full time as Co-CEO.
When he’s not on his computer or speaking at a tech or startup event, you’ll find Nico surfing in his native Honolulu, or playing tennis in Brooklyn.
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?
I grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and took an early interest in computers and technology, which eventually led me to New York City where I worked with clients from a variety of industries as a lead web developer, eventually growing a small team and dev shop. Growing up I was always passionate about outdoor activities and developed a passion for health and longevity which continued to grow as I went on to found Start It Up and its content writing subsidiary company Rriter.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
I was inspired by some of the early internet pioneers like Marc Andreesen and historical technologists like Alan Turing to learn about software engineering and the networked systems which facilitate the spread of information. If you’re interested in how we wound up in the informational environment we’re in today, googling those two names is a great way to start.
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 business partner Adi Patil has always been a source of support and comradery throughout our journey growing Start It Up and its subsidiary. Throughout the highs and lows of building an agency we’ve always had complementary strengths and temperaments.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
Many of my mistakes revolved around bending over backwards to try to service problem clients. As I’ve become more experienced, I’ve learned that it makes more sense to concentrate on serving my best clients. That can be a little counter-intuitive since good clients are often less demanding, but you should make a conscious effort to give them the time and attention they deserve, and less concerned with catering to the often indulgent demands of difficult clients.
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?
I’m certainly not without my flaws, but three attributes I do possess are curiosity, kindness, and persistence. Curiosity can give you the motivation to pursue intellectual interests. Kindness is the best tool to develop interpersonal relationships. Finally, persistence, or what many researchers refer to as “grit,” is the attribute most highly correlated with career success.
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?
The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman definitely motivated me to be entrepreneurial, as did a book called Bold, by Peter Diamandes.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
Extremely excited to be working on various content and SEO projects through Rriter and developing some powerful digital products through Start It Up. We have a mobile app currently in stealth mode that we’re developing which focuses on connecting business and nonprofit leaders around humanitarian goals. More to come on that soon.
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?
Morning routines help to set the tone for the rest of your day and focus your mind on your goals for that day. These routines can also bring your attention into the present moment and help alleviate negative emotions like fear, anxiety anger, and dread that are often connected with dwelling on the past or future.
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.
As part of my morning routine I drink a large cup of coffee, and I also consume two supplements that have been linked in clinical trials with improved cognitive performance. One is called Rhodeola Rosea and the other is called Bacopa Monnieri. I’d encourage anyone interested in optimizing their cognitive performance to explore these supplements as well as others like Lions Mane and L-theanine and to speak to their doctor.
After enjoying a morning cup of coffee I try to get some natural sunlight. Neurobiologists like Andrew Huberman of Stanford have spoken about the benefits of exposing your eyes to sunlight early in the day to set your circadian rhythmed.
After a morning cup of coffee, I normally jump straight into my workday, including reviewing emails, connecting with team members, and eventually getting on a call with my business partner.
Speaking in general, what is the best way to develop good habits? Conversely, how can one stop bad habits?
One of the best tools to develop good habits to utilize accountability. Having accountability partners that make sure you follow through with your commitments is extremely valuable. For example, I use a fitness tracker that tracks my activity and sleep patterns. It also allows you to encourage your friends to be more active and see when they’re slacking.
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?
Good habits can be self-reinforcing so once you successfully develop a good habit, it actually becomes easier to keep it as part of your daily life. Try to tackle one habit at a time, and to set easy achievable goals that you can build on later.
What other resources would you suggest to our readers?
For those interested in optimizing their physical health and longevity I’d suggest a book called Lifespan by Harvard Medical School scientist David Sinclair. The Four Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss is another great read. A variety of podcasts and independent media outlets do a great job telling important stories that can impart wisdom to the audience.
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 would inspire a movement of entrepreneurship that builds decentralized technology systems that empower individuals with resources to connect with others and work towards common goals.
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 in 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 🙂
Would love to connect with anyone interested in building a mobile app or other digital product, as well as individuals pursuing a content marketing strategy that builds trust.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter and join the Start It Up network for access to startup events and resources.
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
Nico Hodel of Start It Up On The Morning Routines and Habits Of Highly Successful People was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.