If you win the morning you win the day. Hitting the snooze button is resisting the day.

 

 

For years I had been struggling with waking up early in the morning, anything before 9am I could do but not consistently; I wasn’t a morning person and I never would be. There are many things that get in the way of waking up early; you aren’t a morning person, you didn’t get enough sleep, you don’t have work for another 5 hours, you work a shitty retail job and didn’t get off until 2am last night. It wasn’t until I started Day Trading that I HAD to wake up in the morning, before 8am at least. I knew I had to DO something, CHANGE something; I cant let work and other excuses get in the way of taking charge of my life. My problems are paltry compared to starving kids in Bangladesh who aren’t born in to the wealth of opportunities I have by First World Privilege. I bought the 30Days of  Discipline ebook by Victor Pride. I was motivated, I had a purpose, I read the ebook and through sheer will power I know I can beat this! I can do this! I could force myself to do everything except the No FAP (a 20 year addiction that I am currently struggling with) and waking up at 5am. I STILL haven’t yet completed the 30 Days of Discipline (but I am coming pretty close to it). My life really didn’t start to change until I heard about Hal Elrod and his book The Miracle Morning.

I wasn’t just motivated, I had a STORY, with science and statistics that show just how important becoming a morning person was to my success. I saw just how much I was holding myself back every time I  DIDN’T wake up at 5am. Work didn’t care, I was just a replaceable number and would continue to be a replaceable number as long as I continued to sell myself short. I took action in a BIG way. I had a conversation with my boss, then my bosses boss, then his bosses boss. I was stepping down from “Leader in the Retail Industry” to a cashier position, and they all tried to talk me out of it. I had a much bigger vision than a crappy manager position with crappy pay and crappy hours – I could do SO much MORE with my life; and I only have one life to do it.  Years of a soul sucking overworked and underpaid management job had stagnated my personal and spiritual growth. After each work day I had been sapped of my strength and willpower to attack the following day. In stepping down I had the freedom to pick my hours, take time off, have a social life (unintended perk) and most importantly: work on myself and my business- every day, no excuses. Almost every day I have been waking up at 5am; I still struggle to wake up at 5am on some days but I win most days – I give the best of myself to myself, every day, before I even go into work.

In just three months my progress has been HUGE! I am reading and learning every day, working out every day before work, I have a better sleep schedule and I even picked up hobbies like dance lessons and social dancing twice a week. I am physically in the best shape I have been in the last three years. And it all stemmed from waking up at the same time and building consistent positive habits. I would read, write, exercise, work on my business and start the day feeling like a winner before going into work. I walk into work with a big smile on my face and a positive attitude. I have modeled my morning ritual based on the basic SAVERS morning routine that Hal Elrod describes in his book The Miracle Morning.

On some days waking up in the morning is like going to the gym when you don’t want to do it. There has NEVER been a person who regretted going to the gym after forcing themselves to go. We ALL feel better about it after, even if we didn’t get a full workout in – Most of the time we feel great just for having shown up. I NEVER regret waking up at 5am, even if I have to take a nap in the afternoon. The same principle applies to when you don’t feel like going out and want to stay in and be anti-social, once you do get out there and interact with friends, life is okay again, you remember what it is like to have fun and why you have friends in the first place. I can’t say it enough times, your life changes when you become a morning person. Its a Cliché but:  You can lay in bed with your dreams or go out and chase them. And if you’re smart like me, you can knock out everything on your to do list just in time to watch the sunrise.