“On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day.” — Alcoholics Anonymous (1939) · Chapter 6 · Into Action
From the Step 11 instructions in Chapter 6 — the original morning routine of the program, written years before “morning routine” was a phrase anyone used.
The book’s morning practice is almost embarrassingly simple: before the day starts, pause and think about the next twenty-four hours. Not the next twenty-four years. Old-timers call it setting the sail before leaving the harbor. A minute of quiet direction in the morning beats an hour of damage control at night. Try it tomorrow before you pick up the phone.
Step 11 · Morning practice