Waking up at 5 AM since late 2016 is the keystone habit that has turned my life around. Waking up early, however, is not for everybody. I meet many people who complain about not being able to wake up early, and after a bit of probing, I discover that one or more of the behaviors below applies to them.
If you still have not conquered the waking up early habit yet, you might realize the reason now.
- You go out almost every night and do not come home before 11 PM.
- You like to keep your options open for nights out with your partner or friends, and you pride yourself on being the first to say yes if someone makes plans on the same day.
- You like to spend an hour or two every night on your phone scrolling social media or binging on Netflix.
- You hate your day job and believe that nighttime is the only time to chill, so you sleep late or enjoy what the Japanese call bedtime revenge.
- You don’t have a big enough why to get you out of bed while it’s still dark outside. You don’t have something to look forward to doing in the morning.
- You have plenty of time for self-care habits such as meditation, journaling, and reading during the day, so you don’t need the early hours to do that.
- You are organized and don’t feel rushed in the morning; you usually arrive to work ready to kill it.
If the above applies to you, stop kidding yourself by saying I wish I woke up earlier. You really don’t want to. Life, as it is now, is working out fine for you. You don’t wake up early by choice. Your daily actions reveal your priorities. There is nothing wrong with waking up at the time that suits your lifestyle. Embrace your reality.
However, if you want to get up earlier and think it’s the best time to give attention to yourself first before giving it to your world, to reflect, to move, to enjoy the quiet, and plan the day, then, could you tell me which of the above behaviors is blocking you?
Defining the problem is the first step to solving it.