3 Reasons Early Risers are Successful
There are two types of people in this world: early risers and the morning stragglers.
We have all heard the saying the early bird catches the worm, but what does that actually mean?
Picture these two scenarios:
1. You wake up to the sound of your alarm, seeing that you snoozed it too many times.
Now you have to run into the shower, pick up some random bar in your kitchen
counter for breakfast, and drive as quickly as possible to work.
All the while infuriated with the “horrible drivers” around you.
2. You wake up an hour before you need to leave your house for work.
The first 30 minutes you spend getting ready, making sure the shower water
is at the perfect temperature.
There is enough time to make some amazing eggs with toast.
The last 30 minutes before you go to work are either meditating, planning
your day, spending time with your kids, or writing in your journal.
Maybe there are even a few minutes left to read the book you’ve been dying
to get to or knock out a work task you know you’ll have to finish later that
day.
You leave for work feeling incredible.
You look great, your stomach is satisfied, your brain is ready for action, and the drivers around you aren’t driving you crazy.
Of course, you get to work on time, feeling relaxed.
It doesn’t matter who you are, what your job is, or where in the world you are.
It also doesn’t matter what you want to do in the morning.
Becoming a morning person allows you to engage in all the activities you want to do.
It gives you time to complete all the work you need to do without feeling stressed or under pressure.
Becoming an early riser is the single best change I ever made in my life.
Why?
Because time increases exponentially the earlier, you wake up.
How?
The extra time gained by not having to deal with external distractions is spent either knocking out necessary tasks of the day or making sure your heart, body, and mind are properly fueled.
Meaning you are primed for a fantastic day ahead.
With fewer external distractions, less time wasted getting from one place to another and getting out of bed on “the right” foot, you can get a lot more done, a lot, more quickly.
It all sounds nice, right?
The real “problem” is actually taking steps towards becoming an early riser who makes use of the morning hours.
Here are some tips you can implement to become a morning person:
If you desire to be an early riser and are willing to commit to it, there is one thing to learn.
You need to break your negative connection with the early morning by:
(a) making it as easy as possible to get the day started after you wake up
(b) waking up with energy
(c) having a reason to wake up.
That being said, the transition is hard.
Here are some tips to get you through the struggle!
Early Risers understand the importance of planning
Waking up early isn’t easy, and to become a morning person, you need to make the transition as simple and smooth as possible.
One way to do that is to eliminate all the decision-making you usually do in the morning.
Decision fatigue is a real problem.
In the morning, you need all the energy you can get.
You can’t waste it making petty decisions about what is going to look cute to wear today or thinking about what you feel like eating for breakfast today.
You need to have the following items done before you go to bed:
- Have all your bags packed and ready to go for the next day so that you don’t have to do anything besides pick it/them up on the way out of the house.
- Pick the clothes you want to wear the next day and lay them out where you can just grab them.
- Decide what you want to eat for breakfast (I recommend breakfast to get your energy up in the morning—specifically, some carbs for long-lasting energy).
- Write the first few tasks you want to knock out in the morning or what the first few hours of your morning is going to consist of.
Early Risers Wake Up Energized By Being Physical
I know you’ve heard it a thousand times, and it still doesn’t get any easier.
However, I promise if you do this, you’ll automatically start feeling more energetic when you get up.
As soon as you open your eyes and turn on your alarm, you forget what your mind and body are saying.
They’re lazy and are exactly what prevents you from being an early riser.
They need training.
So this is what you do.
You open your eyes, and the second you realize you’re awake, you jump out of bed and do 10 jumping jacks.
How simple is that?
Just 10 jumping jacks.
Your blood flows, your energy increases instantly, and you’re awake.
It is that easy if you just commit to doing it.
One day you’ll see, I promise!
Wake Up With a Purpose
No, I don’t mean wake up and think about how beautiful life is.
Or even how lucky you are to be alive (if that’s what you want to do with the morning time, then I’m all for it).
You need to have something you want to do in the morning, a task you want to accomplish.
Get it done early on before the day’s madness slows you down.
You need to go to an appointment or meeting, or maybe you want to exercise early in the day.
You need a reason to get up because if you wake up with no purpose, you’ll think about why you’re awake so early.
Inevitably, you’ll end up falling back into bed.
You need something you’re energetic about and excited to complete.
Make it a necessary task.
You can get out of the way and clear up your day.
Or pick an activity that will drive your day in the best way possible, give you some energy, and make you happy.
Some General Tips For Being a Morning Person
No matter what you do, waking up early in the morning will be a struggle at first.
Make it a commitment.
No matter what, I have to wake up at this time in the morning.
Make sure nothing comes between you and your promise to yourself.
Making a concrete decision to have no other option besides waking up at a specific time is the best way to get through the struggle.
Eventually, you will find this makes getting up enjoyable and useful.
Look up some of the most successful people in the world, regardless of how you define success.
You will continuously find that successful people understand the importance of using the morning hours!
This will help motivate you daily.
Find a friend who also wants to commit to the same goal; an accountability buddy.
Something I like to do with one of my friends is we alternate calling each other to each other’s alarm clocks every other day.
We had no choice but to get up because we knew the other was counting on us.
Worked like magic.
Partners In Grind
Partners-In-Grind is a really exciting project that a few of my friends and I started working on because we realized the importance of a habit partner in crime.
It is an email chain that sets two individuals up who want to make the same habit and facilitates communication between them so that they can hold each other accountable and help ensure they each add the habit to their life!
Let us know what works for you in the morning using the comment section below!
