Media influencer Ashton Hall was supposedly able to defy the laws of gravity. He dove into a pool for an entirety of four seconds, despite jumping from only a few inches off of the ground. This part of his infamous morning routine video demonstrates the illogicality and extremity of the regimen, suggesting it as fictional and a means of garnering online media attention.
Hall has had exceeding success in gaining this attention. His most popular morning routine video on TikTok has over 110.5 million views and around 9.2 million likes. This same video published to YouTube has over 44.4 million views and around 2.4 million likes, as of May 19, 2025
This has led many other influencers to replicate his popularized morning routine for short-form media content, adding their own unique aspects to their regimen. I also decided to try it, but instead, I approached it to understand better its connection to an increasingly radical and individualistic national identity.
In analyzing the experiences of both myself and Ashton Hall attempting these very impractical — but fulfilling — routines, it can be argued that the isolating nature of these regimes is a parallel to a more extreme and individualistic national identity.
The routine represents a hyper-individualistic identity in which one loses touch with the needs of others outside the bubble of the routine. Instead, the focus is on oneself. The routine is meant for physical and mental growth, with this growth being very central to oneself rather than a collective group of people.
This withdrawal from others is depicted throughout the entirety of the eight-hour routine, considering Hall is rarely shown socializing. His tasks are so demanding that he may not have the time or energy for others. As apparent by one of his morning routine videos, arguably the most social part of his routine is when he thanks his supposed girlfriend for catering to him, including when she cleans up his broken Saratoga water glasses at around 4:55 a.m. and later cooks his breakfast.
I found myself isolated from my family and friends during my routine. My intent to focus on completing the next item on an ostensibly endless task list pushed me away from those I cared for. I was only thinking about myself and what I still needed to accomplish. These hyper-individualistic ways of life can, over a long period of time, make one lose sight of previously powerful cultural values, such as family.
This self-isolation is mirrored by recent actions of the United States government. The Trump Administration recently imposed high tariffs on goods imported from foreign countries. It was done to supposedly improve the economic stance of the U.S., but by hyper-focusing on itself, the government neglected the effects these tariffs would have on its closest allies.
It has consequently led to a tariff war between the U.S. and China. Since the start of the conflict, the tariff rates have increased significantly. When I completed this routine in late April, there were 145% tariffs by the U.S. on China, which may have been diminishing cargo shipments to the U.S. by around 60%, according to Yahoo Finance.
Instead of enacting policy in the interest of the U.S. as well as its collective allies, these policies were made in the hopes of improving the position of the U.S., without much regard for the potential negative effects it may have on others. As a consequence of promoting this hyper-individualistic economic policy, the U.S. government is worsening its relationships abroad, which hurts domestic commerce.
Hyperindividualism can be represented in the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO). This may isolate the U.S. health system from those abroad, potentially increasing the risk of global health catastrophes that have previously been minimized by international aid by the WHO, according to the University of California, Berkeley.
By becoming hyper-individualistic, a U.S. national identity is not only valuing its allies less, but it is also upholding less the dominant cultural value of health. As the U.S. enacts policy that distances itself from allies hoping to improve health, this cultural value of the masses may soon become a cultural value of co-cultures; it may be upheld by a select few rather than upheld by a unified American identity.
Hall’s hyper-individualistic morning routine acts as a micro version of a more macro problem facing the U.S. My own experience with the routine has proven to me firsthand that it can be isolating to the point in which one, if performed every day, may obsess over the completion of the routine and lose focus on their values.
This isn’t to say we shouldn’t take care of ourselves, but we must also care for others. We mustn’t become so hyper-focused on improving ourselves that we dissociate from our cultural values and dissociate from our friends and family. The U.S. government should similarly heed this advance if it hopes to remain allies with other nations, as well as maintain its people united as a collective American people.
