Finish Line reader Carrie Rule, a rising professional in Jim's hometown of Oshkosh, writes:

"I'm embarking on a new entrepreneurial professional journey, and I'm looking for ways to structure my mornings. I'm looking for ways to prime myself for creativity and productivity."

Consider this a holiday Finish Line, Jim responds.

• I'll serve up my morning routine — but, more importantly, ask all of you to send your tips to pass along to Carrie and other readers next week.

Why it matters: I'm a huge believer in early mornings, strict routines and doing a lot before the sun rises.

I'm not a doctor, neuroscientist or therapist. So take my screw-loose list for what it is: one 52-year-old CEO's routine, based on lots of experimentation for what works for me personally.

• I'm jazzed to read others' recipes — and critiques of my own.

Here's mine:

1. Get up early. Yes, some people are night owls and still crush life. But I'm all-in on getting up between 4:30 and 5 a.m. most mornings. No one is around to bother you. So it provides a few hours of full control — and solitude. I do my best writing in the early part of the day. That's when I'm tapping out this column on my iPhone.

2. Focus my mind. I try (don't always succeed) to start with some combination of meditation (20 mins. of transcendental meditation), prayer and reading, plus adding to my Gratitude List — a rolling diary of people who have made a difference in my life. This process helps me focus on what matters most.

3. Feed my body. I'm a huge believer in a high-protein, healthy breakfast (latest kick: six egg whites, half an avocado and Ezekiel toast every a.m.). Big fan of coffee.

• The combo helps me think more clearly. For me, there's a massive connection between eating healthy, working out and greatly limiting booze — and my productivity and clarity of mind. Research is clear that this is pretty much universally true.
• This means avoiding alcohol most nights. I'm noticeably foggier if I don't clock seven hours of sleep. Booze interferes, sadly.
• It also, for me, means no added sugar or processed foods — both of which sap my energy the next day. Yeah, most of you will hate this one.

4. Feed my mind. I run a news company, so I read the news every morning without fail. My menu is lots of Axios content, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, several non-Axios specialty newsletters — and a quick spin through Twitter, which I still find useful for spotting ideas or opinions I might otherwise miss. Lots of people email random stuff to eat up, too.

• If I run alone in the a.m., I love podcasts (Huberman Lab, Joe Rogan, "Pivot," "All-In," Peter Attia's "The Drive," and "How I Built This," among others).

5. Strategize. The best, most useful part of my morning routine is a rolling conversation with Roy Schwartz and Mike Allen, via phone, about Axios. We all do our best thinking early and play off each other. So maybe find a big ideas tele-buddy.

The bottom line: By simply thinking about this question, Carrie is ahead of most people. There's tremendous value in figuring out what helps us do our best work consistently.

• 📱 So I'm eager to hear your hacks. Just hit "reply" on this email, or drop us a line: [email protected].

When Mike saw this cartoon in the Thanksgiving issue of The New Yorker, he instantly thought: "Finish Line!"

• Our friends at The New Yorker were generous enough to share.

See this week's cartoons.