What are you willing to wake up for at 5am?
What are you willing to jump out of bed when it's cold, dark and you're tired?
He, who has a why to live for, can bear with almost any how.
Viktor Frankl
I've failed to get this habit to stick a few times over the years.
I hate waking up early in the morning. Especially in winter!
"I'm just not a morning person", was my mantra (cough, cough, excuse...).
If only I could start my day early and get a head start before the kids wake up, before the world starts pulling me in all directions, before I lose focus.
I’d workout, meditate and be a better version of myself.
But I kept failing at it.
Lately during my daily shutdown process, I’ve been thinking about how do people I know wake up at 5am and go running? Why did I fail at doing this?
What goal am I willing to get out of bed at 5am for?
I didn’t have an answer to the questions for a few weeks.
One morning it hit me.
I’d be willing to wake up at 5am for the life I want. For the life I wish for me and my family.
Suddenly like magic for the past few weeks I’ve been waking up at 5am to 6am, no alarm, I just open my eyes, check the clock, it’s 5:23, I tell myself "It's for the life you want" and I get out of bed.
This also made it easier to go to bed earlier, which is a must for me if I want to wake up early.
Purpose
You must figure out your Why, the purpose to get out of bed, otherwise anything you'll try won't work. You'll stick with it for a while, but with time, and hardship you'll stop doing it.
Keeping your self accountable and focused is really hard. I know that I need external accountability to keep me focused and help me persist.
For that reason I use a few tools to keep me focused, help me flush out my thoughts and feelings:
- My 5-minute daily shutdown process to help me gain small wins, keep pushing, stay focused and sleep better.
- Notes to future me. This is an amazing tool! (learned it from Mr. Beast).
- Weekly evaluation (will write about it in the future).
I wrote the outline for this post at 6am after I did my morning routine of stretching and meditation.
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