The food: Danish Muesli Cereal and Milk

Where to find it: Copenhagen, Denmark

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Welcome to another edition of #FoodEntrepreneur Friday, where I serve up an order of international food with a side of insight for entrepreneurs.

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Arrested Development on the importance of breakfast.

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The Bluth Family and your mother were right: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Not only does it give you the energy to start a productive day, but health experts also attribute it to a number of health benefits too.

Around the world people eat an energy-packed, well-balanced meal to get their day going. In America we have cereal and eggs, in Spain they have croissants and in Vietnam they have sea snail soup. For an entire year while living abroad in Denmark, I relished the moment I would awake to a hearty bowl of muesli. The whole grains and antioxidant-rich fruit bits gave me the kick in the tastebuds that I needed after enduring 16 hours of darkness in Denmark’s winter season. In fact, I experienced a lot of great food while in Denmark, but the muesli was my favorite because of how it got me going each day.

Every entrepreneur needs to get going (and get others going too). So here are 5 reasons why every entrepreneur should eat breakfast.

1. Every entrepreneur should eat breakfast because it creates a routine. As much as I don’t like routines (in fact, I made a movie in high school about my distaste for routines), every entrepreneur will have to take care of the tasks that need to be done. You will need to raise the money. You will need to make sure operations run smoothly. You will need to take out the trash. Establishing a micro-habit like eating a daily breakfast will train you for other habits in your life and business.
2. Every entrepreneur should eat breakfast because it gives you energy to start a productive day. Duh.
3. Every entrepreneur should eat breakfast because it trains you to view your food, health and life in terms of assets and liabilities. In a personal blog post about health, I emphasized a truism: you are what you eat. I contended how healthy foods are like assets and unhealthy foods are like liabilities for the body. It’s strange how it works, but when you take care of your health, it changes your attitude and approach to life and work. After fourteen years of being healthy (before then I was obese), I’ve had a new perspective on the essential foods needed to sustain a healthy lifestyle. I’ve not only learned about eating lean, but it’s helped me understand concepts like ‘lean startup.’
4. Every entrepreneur should eat breakfast because it saves time. Bowl+cereal+milk. Pour. Could preparing a meal be more simple than that? With most American breakfast foods (toast, eggs, yogurt), the first meal of the day takes dramatically less time than most other meals. If you eat more for breakfast, then you don’t need to spend as much time on preparing that cobb salad for lunch or eggplant lasagna for dinner.¹
5. Every entrepreneur should eat breakfast because it gives you a morning ritual. Successful leaders practice morning rituals. Obama is known for his 6:45am workouts. Entrepreneur Tim Ferriss drinks tea. Now I’m not comparing myself with the two aforementioned individuals, but I ritually stare at my cereal box each morning. This cereal box is no mere cardboard box. Posted to my Cheerios box are a number of phrases that snap me into the right (entrepreneurial) mindset before I begin my day. Phrases like: “Fail and fail again until I succeed,” “Done is better than perfect,” and “Limitations (like money and budget restraints) are only perceived limitations” are taped to the side of the box. These words and my breakfast start a kick-ass work day.

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Kevin Longa’s morning ritual cereal box

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So, here’s hoping you ate a kick-you-in-the-butt breakfast this #FoodEntrepreneur Friday.

¹ Of course, as a food-lover, I do appreciate the occasional slow-cooked meal too. However, time is always of the essence when you’re an entrepreneur.