22.3.2020
If you’re anything like me you would rather stay up into the early hours of the morning even if it’s just to get lost into the black hole of the internet.
Ever find yourself on a 3rd coffee by 1:00pm after your lunch hoping to just make it through to the end of the working day. Sound familiar?
I remember thinking how crazy it was that my colleagues and I would always talk about how tired we were and none of us could seem to get ourselves to bed earlier.
I try to start my day early setting my alarm for 6:00am most mornings. Right now you may be thinking ‘I’m not a morning person’ but there are so many benefits to starting your day early that will help lead you to success.
By starting earlier and building good morning habits, early nights will start to become natural and I can almost guarantee that your life will become better because of it.
I believe starting your day early can have a dramatically positive impact on your life.
When you begin your day with an early morning routine there are no distractions or expectations from external sources, so you have an increased ability to focus. You can get done what you need to.
With my early morning start I manage to read some educational or inspiring material, work on this blog, eat a healthy breakfast, walk my dog @marlinbluey, do a workout or practice some yoga and meditate.
I get all that done before my full work day begins at 8:30.
Starting your day early allows you to work on your goals all before anyone can stop you with distractions.
Recently I heard someone say ‘let yourself out, before you let the world in.’ I thought this was great advice, there is so much we can do for ourselves before we start doing for other people. This is a far better way to get ahead of your goals.
Moreover if you get things done first thing, there is less likelyhood for something to stop you from completing that task later in the day.
Take a goal of keeping fit for example, by getting a work out complete first thing in the morning, before anything can push it off your to-do list you can enjoy the rest of the day satisfied that you have completed a step towards achieving a fitness goal. By completing your work out first thing, it will help set your healthy mindset for the rest of the day, giving you more willpower to stick to your goals. Recall all the times you skipped your workout because you had to work late or your friends were going to afterwork happy hour drinks. Imagine having the willpower to turn down unhealthy food choices because you have already set your path towards a healthy body early in the morning.
I never used to have a morning routine. I would stay up late and rush out the door as quick as possible to get to work in the morning. Then when I met my parter she helped me realise how important it is to be on time.
I used to believe that if I arrive at work exactly on my start time, that it was acceptable. When you do this, your co-workers or clients don’t think ‘oh hey here’s a person who’s on time’, NO, they think ‘here’s someone who’s always late’.
Arriving at work before you are expected and begging your day calmly with time to plan helps create a much more positive attitude towards your work and the day ahead. This attitude benefits you and your co-workers.
Give arriving early for work a try and you will soon see that you are getting noticed for the right reasons. Your new timely manner will earn you respect from you managers, co-workers and clients.
You feel a glowing sense of achievement having accomplished so much so early. By the time everyone else begins to start their day, you are ahead of the game and you know it.
When I get to work and see others come in with wet hair having just woke up, rushing a breakfast at their desk and starting their day with stress and anxiety.
You get the opportunity to basque in your early morning achievements, having already done so much with my day!
Think about the last time you were up late. Were you working on anything productive? You know they say nothing good happens after 1am? Did you feel satisfied with why you were up late. Rarely are we productive procrastinating into the night!
Theres the odd deadline that causes me to work late burning the midnight oil. Other than those rare occasions though, getting a good rest and working in the earlier hours of the day whilst you are more alert is far superior.
I used to be a night owl, staying up surfing the web till the early hours. When I think about it though, I was never really doing anything productive with that time, often just watching random shit.
Getting to bed early may make you feel like your grandparent at first, but the pay off for starting your day early is totally worth it.
Seven figure Entrepreneur and salesman Dan Lok, says that he doesn’t understand why people gather to see the sunset and asks why would you want to watch the end of something. Whereas an early sunrise you get to watch something come to life.
Most successful people have morning rituals. Time and time again there are examples of some of society’s most successful people who have morning rituals that often begin early. Why not try it and see if you are one of those successful people too.
It’s the quietest time of day to meditate. Speaking of morning rituals, after my work out or yoga I spend some time in shalabhasana (corpse pose) and observe my thoughts (meditate). This is such a great thing to do at the start of your day because it helps ground yourself. There is also plenty of research that boasts the benefit of meditation. To meditate in the morning before the world of distraction is awake is far easier!
Lastly, I once heard Zig Ziglar say, ‘it’s not an alarm clock it’s an opportunity clock. You may be familiar with that feeling of waking up to alarm and thinking to yourself ‘oh gosh it's early and I don’t want to get out of bed’.
You need to begin to think about something that will get you out of bed. For example, often on the weekends to go surfing I have to begin my day even earlier than my week days, so that I can catch the morning swell before the winds hit. It always astounds me that waking up to go surfing (something I really want to do) is so much easier. I go to bed thinking about how excited I am to go surfing in the morning. Often like a kid at Christmas waking up regularly to check if it’s morning yet. Then when the time to wake up does finally come around. I almost bounce out of bed to get ready for a surf.
Imagine if you could apply this level excitement to achieving your goals. Just begin to picture what you will get in return for your early morning. Working on that goal every morning before others are awake, who will that help you become. Remember this every time you think about hitting that snooze button. Let it motivate you to get out of bed and be excited to start your day.
So in light of all these points, give it a try. Think of your current goal, could a few extra hours of the day in the morning be the time you need to make that goal happen. Perhaps you are trying to lose weight, the extra hours in the morning might be just what you need to get those workouts in. Maybe you are working on building your own business? Getting an extra hour of work done every week day quickly becomes another 260 hours a year.
Do you like waking up early? Is this something you are already doing? Have you given it a try? Comment below, how starting early has helped you achieve your goals.
’till next time, I’m out.