New Hustle

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” – Ben Franklin

As a continuation of yesterday’s post, Morning Domination, I thought I’d list seven of the most effective, common sense proof ways to get yourself up early.

Like any new habit, it takes time for your body and mind to adjust to getting up earlier.  Takes a little perseverance and a lot of determination, but you’ll reap the rewards.  The reality of it boils down to this:  you’re gaining extra time consciously living instead of unconsciously sleeping (as comfortable as that may sound) – given that we are all on the clock, so to say, I want to get the most out of life that I can.

Waking up one hour earlier than normal means 7 extra hours per week – 28 extra hours per month of conscious, beautiful, productive living.  In a world where I just don’t have the time is an all to frequent excuse – waking up earlier creates time that otherwise would have been lost.

Enough rambling – on to the good stuff.

1.  Don’t think just do
Don’t trust yourself in the morning. We’re in, what Steve Pavlina refers to, a “morning fog”. What’s the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Probably your mind trying it’s hardest to convince your body that it truly has GREAT reasons for wanting to stay in bed. “I slept so late last night, I’ve got such a busy day … I deserve an extra hour of sleep, etc. etc. etc.”  Instead, don’t think about it. As soon as the alarm goes off – rise up and go about your day. Quell the thoughts and it’ll be that much easier. Source: howtowakeupearly.com

2. Early to bed early to rise
This is a catch-22 because until you force yourself out of your regular sleep habits – you may not be tired early enough to get an adequate amount of sleep. However, I can attest to the fact that if you force yourself to wake up early, after a few days – I guarantee you that your body will want to sleep earlier at days end.  Strictly logic.

3.  Just say no to stimulants (after 12:00pm)
Coffee, alcohol and tobacco have all been proven to be the antithesis of a good nights sleep.  Various sources claim that caffeine stays in your system roughly six hours.  The general rule of thumb is avoid these types of stimulants after 12:00pm – that way by bed time there are no artificial chemicals that keep you up, or disrupt your quality of sleep – which brings us to point number four.

4.  Quality, not quantity
Everybody works a little bit differently.  Lately, I’ve been operating just fine on roughly 6-7 hours of sleep per night.  Some people swear by 8 hours, and yet some offer that 5-6 hours is adequate enough to keep us on our toes.   What’s more important than the quantity of sleep is the quality of sleep your body is getting.  During its replenishing stages, the body provides optimum regeneration with the television off, a comfortable temperature and a dark room.  Even though you’re asleep, if there’s noise or light your mind takes note of that – it’s been proven.  In fact, turn off the TV and/or computer 30 minutes before you’re going to go asleep for optimum rest.

5.  Snoozing is evil
I really don’t understand the snooze button.  Why even put in on alarm clocks?  It’s evil!  Really, what is five extra minutes of sleep going to do AFTER I’m already awake but make me more tired, more grouchy and more likely to set the alarm for a later time.  Just don’t.

6.  Put your alarm in another room
Simple but common sensible advise from zenhabits.net.  If it’s right next to your bed, it’s that much easier to hit the evil snooze button – and that much easier to fall right back asleep.  Force yourself up on your feet and you’re more likely to stay that way.

7.  If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again
Like I stated in the Morning Domination post – if you fail – don’t count yourself a failure.  So what, you didn’t get up this morning – don’t kick yourself or give up hope on developing the habit.  It takes persistence, tenacity and a determination to dominate your day instead of the other way around to adjust your body to getting up earlier.  Experts all say it takes roughly 3 weeks, or 21 days to ingrain a new habit.  On your successful days, make note of it on your calendar – that way you have visual inspiration of your success and you’re more likely to try to continue the next day.

Waking up early is truly its own reward.   Jump start you day.  Empower yourself with confidence and swagger. Determine that today is going to be another fulfilling, productive and amazing experience – and it will be. Keep on hustling.

My mornings usually go something like this (mentally): ‘Alarm? Need more sleep … oh yeah, it’s Monday … work … bills … so much to do today …. work … bills … [insert errands here] … coffee please?’

Most of us then proceed to go through our routine until we’re somewhat coherent enough to feel the weight of reality set in on our shoulders after our peaceful slumber.

From this point on, we’re either dreading the day before us or anticipating the day ahead … it’s all about perspective. Our minds are conditioned to view each day as a potential disaster, or a masterpiece to be created – it all depends on how well we’ve reigned in our ability to control our thoughts. To dominate our mornings, we have to be in control – or the day will dominate us.

What the experts say

But after a while I couldn’t ignore the high correlation between success and rising early, even in my own life. On those rare occasions where I did get up early, I noticed that my productivity was almost always higher, not just in the morning but all throughout the day. ~Steve Pavlina

Not everyone is an early riser, and in my attempts to do so I’ve been met with sub-par success so far – but I’m still trying. Nonetheless, I always try to make sure I get in a good workout before my workday – and if I don’t I still feel the drag of sleep long in to the morning.

Robin Sharma promotes the idea of giving ourselves a ‘holy-hour’ in the morning. Waking up an hour earlier than we’re accustomed to to devote time to the self – this makes sense, it’s just hard to get our bodies (and minds) accustomed to doing.

During my Holy Hour, I journal, I read inspirational books, I review my goals and plans and I simply make the time to think. Because clarity precedes mastery and the more clear you can get on what you want to create in life, the more focused you will be in your daily behaviors. Every day can be a platform to get you closer to your mountaintop. And yet, too many people live life by accident. ~Robin Sharma

I can attest to this, when I’m successful at doing so. The hard part is convincing myself while I lay in my comfortable bed that I would benefit from waking up at 5:00am. I used to get discouraged when I didn’t – but that just sets ourselves up for a discouraging day, which brings me to my next point.

What matters most
Whether a morning person or not, the most important thing to do when we first wake up is to start thinking positively. Difficult as it may be, it is possible. It’s all about our attitude towards the day ahead.

Simply put – would you rather own your day, or let your day own you? Would you rather let life have it’s way, or create the life you want to live?  Or as Robin Sharma puts it – don’t live your life by accident.

At this realization things became more clear to me – if I want to get where I want to go I need to ensure that the start of my day is nothing more than extraordinary – even if I feel like I’m lying to myself to get to there.

My perfect morning (Monday through Friday)
Ideally, in the present, this is how my perfect morning would go:
5:00am: Up at the first alarm, eat something (snoozing is evil, what good is 5 extra minutes really?)
5:00-5:30: Cardio workout (the best way to awaken my senses is to work them)
5:30-6:30: ‘Holy-hour’ – day planning, reading, reflecting, etc.
6:30-7:00: Personal Training w/clients
7:00-7:30: Weight training for myself
8:00: Enter my 8-5 grind with the satisfaction of morning domination.

Of course it doesn’t go like this every day, but I’ll keep trying until it does. As stated previously, if you beat yourself up for not waking up or doing the things you wanted to do, you’re setting the tone for the rest of your day. As hard as you can, think positively – envision the great day ahead and be grateful that you’re still breathing – that you can still experience life to the fullest.

I’m a work in progress, we all are. Slowly but surely I’ll dominate each and every morning – setting myself up for content, productive and fulfilling days – and as each day goes on like this I’m one day closer to my ideal life:

Big idea: Your days are your life in miniature. As you live your days, so you craft your life. What you do today is actually creating your future. The words you speak, the thoughts you think, the food you eat and the actions you take are defining your destiny – shaping who you are becoming and what your life will stand for. There’s no such thing as an unimportant day. ~Robin Sharma