Rise to Shine: 5 Ways Waking Up Early Can Change Your Life
Did you know that many of the world's top executives wake up really, really early? You can be sure that they’re doing it for good reasons. It’s not easy at first, but once you shift it into a habit, everything will start to flow. Once you’re able to wake up early on a daily basis, there will be no more effort involved. You will no longer have to motivate yourself to get out of bed in the morning. It will become as easy as going to sleep after an exhaustive day. If you know and remember all the benefits of becoming a morning person, it will be much easier for you to make the commitment to go to bed early enough every night to be able follow through while still getting a good night's sleep. Let’s take a closer look at how waking up early can change your life. Rise to Shine: 5 Ways Waking Up Early Can Change Your Life Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. - Benjamin Franklin It boosts your productivity Your productivity is greatly influenced by your morning routine. Let me give you a quick example. A few years back during my student years, I began waking up at 4:30 AM each morning. Here was my morning ritual: 250 ML of lemon water a quick stretch a quick coffee jogging (15 minutes) shower healthy meal meditation (10 minutes) daily to-do list Now, imagine that by 5:30 everything was done. Then, I was combining my passion with my duty. I got used to writing a lab report each and every day for thirty days. This usually involved two hours, so by 7:30 I was done with the most important task of the day. See what I mean? Productivity is a result of strong organizational skills, along with the ability to plan and properly execute. If you then add up another 3-4 extra morning hours that would normally be taken up by sleeping, you have the perfect formula for greater productivity and abundant results. It gives you a burst of motivation When you wake up early, you are up before everyone else. Only by thinking of the fact that you’re up and running while the rest are sleeping will already give you a burst of motivation. Of course, motivation is very complex, and it can appear and disappear. But if you’re building a daily habit of waking up earlier with a purpose in mind, your brain will get used to releasing the needed amount of dopamine in order for you to work smoothly. It lets you plan each day for success If you decide to wake up earlier, you probably do it for a specific reason. You want to be more productive, you want to have more time, or you want to build the success that you’re craving. Let me assure you that you’re on the right track, and here’s why: Waking up earlier gives you enough time to plan and strategize your day, instead of letting the environment and conditions control your life. By that, I’m referring to the situation in which you wake up, go to work, get your child from kindergarten, get home, do some cooking, watch TV because you’re tired, go to sleep, and then begin again. This is what happens when you let life control you, or more precisely, when you let the environment control you instead of you controlling it. Waking up earlier and planning your day is a powerful way to make every day a success. It improves your self-confidence The moment you begin getting more results is the moment you’ll become happier and more self-confident. By the time you’re done with ten important things, the average person who wakes up late and doesn’t plan the day will only have three or four things done. That alone should make you feel better about yourself. It's absolutely fine and normal to feel a little proud about your performance compared to others. After all, you’re doing your best to become the best version of yourself, and that’s something worth celebrating. It leads to a healthier lifestyle Two or three hours of “extra time” in the morning helps you with several things when it comes to your overall health and well-being. You no longer have to rush eating your first meal – the most important meal of the day. You get the time to prepare some healthy food and enjoy it each and every morning. Moreover, you’ll feel less stressed because whenever you wake up early, you will feel that you have control over your life and that everything is in order. You’ll have time to perform a bit of physical exercise and to meditate. These are great activities that directly lead you to a healthier and happier lifestyle. Conclusion In case you don’t believe it, you can keep on waking up late and staying part of the average population who is forced to wake up. Or you can decide to adopt this healthy habit as soon as possible, and before you know it, you’ll be waking up because you want to. You’ll do it because a new beautiful day is waiting to be experienced. And you’ll be able to accomplish so much more throughout the day, just by prioritizing the most important and productive hours of the day: the early morning hours.