The Definitive Guide to Business

This is the morning routine Kevin O'Leary says sets him up for success each day

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Kevin O'Leary
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Everyone has a different way to start their day. Spanx founder and billionaire Sara Blakely starts with a berry, herb and spinach smoothie, Richard Branson plays tennis and has some tea and Tim Ferriss meditates.

When Kevin O'Leary wakes up, it's all business. The "Shark Tank" star spends up to 12 hours a day filming new episodes of the ABC show when it is in production and is busy managing his investments and his own companies the rest of the year.

Here's how the "Shark Tank" investor and entrepreneur sets himself up for success in the morning.

He wakes up early

"I wake up at 4:30 a.m.," O'Leary said during a July 16 question and answer session on CNBC Make It's Instagram.

Many successful CEOs wake up before the sun: Apple CEO Tim Cook is awake at 3:45 a.m., while Ellevest CEO Sallie Krawcheck and Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi are up by 4:00. And there may be some evidence that waking up early can help you succeed, psychologist Josh Davis tells The Wall Street Journal.

"When you have peace and quiet and you're not concerned with people trying to get your attention, you're dramatically more effective and can get important work done," Davis explains.

Although O'Leary usually sleeps six hours at night (which is less than the Center for Disease Control recommends) he takes power naps throughout the day.

"My secret power is napping anywhere," he says. "I squeeze in a lot of 20-minute power snoozes."

He goes to the gym

Each morning, O'Leary says he tries to get 45 minutes worth of cardio exercise in before he heads to work.

Wealthy people tend to prioritize exercise, according to Tom Corley, author of "Change Your Habits, Change Your Life," who found that 76 percent of the rich exercise for at least 30 minutes every day.

Richard Branson, Oprah Winfrey and Mark Zuckerberg all say exercise helps them be productive during the day.

"Staying in shape is very important," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook Q&A. "Doing anything well requires energy, and you just have a lot more energy when you're fit."

He makes coffee and reads

To finish off his morning, O'Leary takes time to "read the news, check the stock markets, have a cup of coffee and get my day started," O'Leary shares on CNBC Make It's Instagram.

O'Leary's fellow shark Mark Cuban agrees that taking time to read and be informed in the morning is a key way to set yourself up to succeed. Cuban takes time each morning to "catch up on all the news," he says.

For his morning coffee, O'Leary saves money by brewing it at home instead of buying a fancy latte from a coffee shop.

"Do I pay $2.50 for a coffee? Never, never, never do I do that," O'Leary tells CNBC Make It. "That is such a waste of money for something that costs 20 cents. I never buy a frape-latte-blah-blah-blah-woof-woof-woof for $2.50."

"I drink coffee, one cup every morning," he explains. "It costs about 18 cents to make it, and I invest the rest."

Don't miss: Kevin O'Leary: Here's how much an MBA matters in business'

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Disclosure: CNBC owns the exclusive off-network cable rights to "Shark Tank."