The Morning Mind: Use Your Brain to Master Your Day and Supercharge Your Life by Rob Carter III

The Morning Mind: Use Your Brain to Master Your Day and Supercharge Your Life Reviews

• 
  Magdalena

  I apologize for how long this negative review is. I don't often give one-star ratings, so I felt compelled to be specific about the concerns I have about this book. I'll also preface this by saying that I don't want to tell anyone not to read it. I just recommend that, if you do choose to read it, you check the endnotes to see which of these concepts and claims come from reliable sources and which ones don't.
  
  I really wanted to enjoy this book, learn some helpful life tips from it, and maybe pick up some fun facts about psychology and neurology. As someone who used to be a morning person and wishes I still was, I thought it sounded relevant and useful to me specifically. I was expecting it to have advice based on extensive scientific research, or at least case studies. Given the fact that the authors are apparently well-educated experts, that seemed like a reasonable expectation. Unfortunately, the little bit of research-based advice it contained was pretty basic. All explanatory passages about brain function or physical health were extremely oversimplified, and very few specific studies were described. You'd get just as much out of virtually any other book on a similar topic, even those written by people without a lot of letters after their name. Instead, this book contained a lot of shallow cliches, a number of chapters defending pseudoscientific health trends, and an awful lot of empty space. Besides that, it was so poorly organized that I kept feeling like I was reading a rough draft that was still missing numerous crucial passages.
  
  There was also quite a bit of conflicting information. The most obvious and potentially confusing was that the authors couldn't seem to make up their mind whether the parts of our brain that they term the "lizard" should be considered a limitation that we need to overcome or a necessary section of a vital organ. This is perhaps the result of the oversimplified explanation of the brain. The book differentiates between our "lizard" brain that controls unconscious functions and the "wizard" brain that does the conscious thinking and decision-making. Initially, it is acknowledged that the "lizard" does a lot of necessary things like maintaining our heartbeat and other bodily functions. Even the fight and flight response (the reflexive actions in the face of perceived danger) can literally save lives when the danger is real and the situation doesn't allow time for conscious thought and decision-making. But after the introduction, there's little discussion of brain anatomy or function. The term "lizard" suddenly refers to completely different things, usually the inclination to avoid doing difficult things. We're given to understand that the goal is to overcome and ignore our "lizard" as if it isn't an actual part of our body that has an essential purpose. It's all fine and good to encourage readers to overcome their own lack of motivation, but it's unhelpful to use a term that you'd previously used for something a lot more nuanced and actually necessary.
  
  There are many more self-contradictions. In the final few chapters, the book repeatedly extols the benefits of getting up early, but Chapter 1 indicated that the "optimum waking time" is dependent upon a person's age and (for teens and young adults) is significantly later than the time that most of us are used to getting up. According to the tables on pages 7-9, someone in their 20s should ideally be waking up at 9:30 AM, exercising at 5:30 PM, eating their last meal of the day at 9:30 PM, and going to bed at 1:00 AM. Someone in their 30s should shift to a somewhat earlier schedule that involves waking up at 8:00 AM, but not until your 60s should you be waking up at the more common and realistic time of 6:30 AM. All of this conflicts drastically with the advice given later in the book, which promotes waking up early and exercising shortly thereafter. As far as I can tell from the endnotes, by the way, the recommendations from Chapter 1 were extrapolated from data that specifically looked at the effect of early school start times on adolescents. Either there's relevant information that's being included without being cited, or there are some serious holes in the logic here.
  
  There's also conflicting advice given throughout the book about diet and exercise, as well as an underlying implication that everyone is actively trying to lose weight. (There is one passage that acknowledges that not everyone needs to lose weight and that weight loss is only one of many benefits that comes from exercise, but immediately after that, we're back to talking about losing weight as if it's just assumed that everyone reading this book is currently overweight.)
  
  But even worse than the contradictory information is the misinformation. I couldn't help being irritated by the dishonesty of telling readers that things like the medicinal value of essential oils and dosha typology are now being verified by science. Not only are these supposed studies not described, but if you turn to the endnotes, you see that the cited "sources" for these sections are mostly non-academic webpages and journals devoted to the specific type of alternative medicine being described. If I had any respect left for this book, I lost it when it began promoting a system that relied on the concept of the five elements (water, fire, earth, air, and ether) and classifying people into three categories that supposedly offer insight into an individual's personality, health, and body type. That's even more simplistic and ridiculous than the oft-mocked medieval medical practices.
  
  Like I said, sorry for the ridiculously long negative review. I just didn't want to leave a one-star review without clarifying.
• 
  Leah

  Meh, it's a good book if you haven't read any other book on health, habits, and discipline.
  It's not a bad book, I like most of everything Carter discusses, it's just that it's nothing new, and thus the book was unstimulating to me.
• 
  Sienna

  A collection of advice that seems gathered from many of the books I've read on aspects of health like sleep, gut, & routine. Touches nicely on how interconnected all the parts & processes are.
• 
  Allisa

  I don’t give many books 1 star but this one just completely missed the mark for me. I was hoping to glean some insight on developing a morning routine. That topic was barely covered. But you do get snippets on the use of essential oils, eating healthy, and adding exercise to your routine. This book just wasn’t for me.
• 
  Hanell

  El libro es bueno pero tiene algunas cosas con las que no estoy de acuerdo según lo que he estudiado y visto en otras investigaciones. Además la editora cometió algunos errores en la redacción pero bleh, no es big deal.
  
  Aunque le di 3, lo recomiendo
• 
  Pearl Grace

  Some interesting points to help you navigate the mornings. There's a lot of Eat That Frog references and it's a similar vibe.
• 
  Marie Mimosa

  I read it all at once and I am so appreciative of the numerous outputs; although there’s not much that is new for me, the informations are put together in a really valuable way. I‘m fond of the allegories for the brain parts. It is a nice read, it‘ll certainly give anyone who reads it a ‘boost’~! and it’ll remind people to breathe—in times where people won’t or can’t, for so many reasons.
• 
  Courtney Nesom

  I think the information presented was good, but personally I need something less clinical/less textbook. I need something a bit more encouraging and exciting in order to get the motivation to make changes.
• 
  Anita

  Rubbish. Lizard, wizard...essential oils...mindfulness. It was weirdly disjointed information, most of which had nothing to do with mornings.
• 
  Laura

  The brain has fascinated me since I understood the concept that how we think determines how well we succeed with our lives. This book focuses on the idea that how we start our day determines what we achieve. A worthy concept.
  The book has three major parts, each building upon the previous. The first explains about biological and physical aspects both of the sleeping brain and awakening brain, and the influences that affect it. We also learn about the old brain, the reptilian or Lizard and how its goal focuses on survival, so what has worked in the past seems to be good for the future. We are introduced to the Wizard, which is a new portion of the brain, more open to change and adaptation.
  Part two is a brief examination of the tools, practices and exercises we can build into our morning routines to nourish, strengthen and grow the more advanced brain. Being both a continuous student and aspiring writer, this section held my interest well.
  The final section ties it all together, repeating what was covered earlier and giving examples of persons considered successful, with some of their morning practices.
  The book is very well researched and documented, with enough charts and graphics to break up the text and keep it stimulating.
  I would recommend this book to high school age and above.
  
• 
  Cheryl Malandrinos

  The Morning Mind is different from what I expected, which is okay because it is totally fascinating. The doctors explain not only the different parts of the brain, they discuss stress hormones, your brain in the morning, how your heart impacts your health, and the significance of body temperature. All this provides an important foundation to understanding how we can create self-discipline and empowering habits.
  
  Chapter 17 is dedicated to ancient wisdom about your brain and body. Readers are able to take a quiz to determine their primary and secondary dosha, because the way the brain works affects how we feel and behave. They help you understand your results and also provide a chart with your two optimum times of day. I took the test and it was spot on.
  
  The Morning Mind also has a list of how some leaders start their day, which ends the book on an inspiring note.
  
  This is definitely one of the better self-help books I've read on this topic. It doesn't recycle all the same information. It truly offers the reader a fuller understanding of how training your mind will have many positive effects.
• 
  Vladislav

  Short relevant and relative book written in sentence i like wich not too much examples of people but facts.
  Simply putting an occasion of solution to productivity and following on it.
  Book wil include an time managment of our circadian rhythm like you should begin you’re day early in the morning (like many people do) meditate afterward wich will give you the wizard mind
  Our brain is split in section the instinct lizard and rational wizard the point is ladys and gentleman that greed for one and better word is good, perhaps eating healthy will give you a cognitive boost.
  
  Overall well writen short book that i enjoyed reading
  
• 
  Meghan

  This book was fantastic - though the choice of title is misleading. I learned a lot of useful information and will be adding this to the list of books I like to go over again in a few years for review.
  
  For anyone looking for a book completely about morning routine, this - despite the name - isn't the book for you. Still many useful tips in an easy to read format. This book is more about how the choices we make and habits we develop affect us and how to choose the correct changes that will make the most impact.
• 
  Meagan

  Not the book for me, alas. The authors and I approach life and how we got here very differently (evolution for them, creation for me), and that differing premise really trickles down into the rest of the book and how either they or I would approach life.
  
  Several of the one-star reviews go into helpful detail about the problematic science reported in the book, so I won't rehash it here. For me, the above combined with minimal groundbreaking info here that I haven't read elsewhere combined for a lackluster read.
• 
  Flo

  I learned that there are two types of brains, the lizard and wizard. Not surprisingly, I gravitate towards the lizard brain which is more about pleasing your baser needs. Too much food, alcohol, watching too much tv, not getting enough exercise. The wizard brain focuses on mindfulness, thinking first before acting, thinking ahead, planning ahead, being conscious overall. I think there’s a place for both brains. Living and working through a pandemic has been stressful and leaning on my lizard brain during these times has been helpful for my mental psych.
• 
  Monica Ramey

  I started out loving this book, learning about your brain and habits but I was hoping this book was going to transform and hopefully put everything together to create your morning and starting habits.
  
  It just didn't evolve as much as I would have liked it to. But again, I was not really sure what to expect from this book. Overall, I would read it to learn more about the human brain and habits. I have tried to put some of these into practice but there was not much.
• 
  Stephanie Lugo

  I really enjoyed this book. It had so many insightful and interesting bits of information. I am working on being a morning person and this gave me some interesting tips and tricks. I also really loved how in the beginning it talked about the best and worst time to do certain things such as work out.
• 
  Courtney

  No new ideas here, but they are presented well. It is an encouraging read that breaks down scientifically how to have better mornings in order to "master the day". It's written well - I encourage a read.
• 
  Madhu Reddy

  This book not only gives you techniques on waking up early, It explains the whole science that happens in the body and various factors like food, life style and exercise that effect the sleep and different moods.
• 
  Lawrence

  Pretty good read, started off "meh"
  
  Really enjoyed this book. The beginning spoke a lot about optimum this and that, which I felt was more opinion based. As you proceeded, tons to learn about yourself and steps for improvement. Glad I have a copy.
• 
  Veronica Smyth

  I am sorry I have a hard time with the information in the book. I tried to get down to the core and not get caught up on the terminologies used but with frequent reference to our 'lizard" brain and essentially equating primal instincts to racism and genocide seemed like a large leap to me.
• 
  Nurha

  Good read
  
  Learn more about your body & mental health, & how best should you start your day. How you start things in the morning will determine how productively can it be for the rest of the day...
  
• 
  A Allen

  As other reviewers have said, this book is a disjointed read and full of contradictions. The Carters also have an air of superiority in this book which I did not appreciate; they seem to overlook or exclude, if not look down upon, people of marginalized groups.