Today was a struggle. You see, a few years ago I decided that I would become a 6am riser. I’m not a morning person (if that’s really such a term – we were all once morning people on the 25th December each year growing up).
However, I heard how many successful people are early risers. 5am, even Tim Cook (Apple CEO) is said to get up at 3.45am! Yikes!
I can’t see that happening for me – getting up at 4am is something I reserve only for when I was on Vipassana (another post perhaps) or when I have a flight to catch!
Anyway, my point is that getting up at 6am isn’t easy for me. It’s not natural for me. But I made a commitment that I would do it.
I actually like the feeling of it getting round to 9am and having done so much with the morning already.
And trust me the 3 hrs goes quick as I pack in a fair amount.
But this morning was definitely harder that most. Firstly I wasn’t home till 11.30pm last night (after volunteering at an organisation I’m part of. No, no partying!), so that meant gone midnight before I was in bed. Plus I’ve been hit with some kind of virus which is taking a bit out of me. And I don’t normally get hit with colds or flu’s or anything like that usually, so doubly annoying that I can no longer say I’ve gone 4 years without anything!
I could have stayed in bed. In fact, the best thing for you when you are off is to sleep and drink water. Ride it out.
But something took charge this morning.
It wasn’t me.
It was my conditioning.
You see, I didn’t just rely on discipline or willpower to make me a 6am person.
I applied some sneaky Jedi mind concepts to get me there.
Here’s the one that took over this morning.
You know that voice you have in your head? Well, you might have a few. No good saying they aren’t there, because they are.
That voice I’ve trained to seduce me.
It seduces me with promises such as.
“Go on, if you get up now, I promise I’ll let you have a lie down in the middle of the day.”
That’s what I heard today.
Sometimes I hear something else.
“Just imagine how great you’ll feel having gone to the gym and jumping in the sauna – all before 8am!”
We have these voices (and pictures) that play out in our heads when the opportunity clocks go off in the morning.
What do your voices say?
“Hit snooze. It’s winter. You deserve a lie in.”
Or
“We’ll get up early tomorrow. Just stay in bed this one time.”
Normally I’m a big fan of sleep. I really am. It’s possibly one of the most important things when it comes to your health. I am not a fan of going to bed past midnight either.
But stuff happens. I realise that.
Sometimes you do go to bed later. I find though that getting up at the same time is key. It’s what will make getting your day off to a good start easier.
So, what do I want you to do having read this?
Think about the voice in your head tomorrow morning. Be aware what it’s saying to you. And then…
Set yourself up for success. Decide what you would like to say or focus on in the morning instead.
If you’re saying your too tired (and you haven’t gotten a ridiculously short amount of sleep and you’re just being a bit sorry for yourself), then promise that you’ll give yourself a rest in the day, or early to bed tonight with a bath.
Or remind yourself how good you feel after the workout, or meditation or whatever you do.
The point is this. We do have some level of control over the things we say to ourselves. There are mind tools to do this. But in this post anyway, the best piece of advice I can give you is to plan the comeback to that voice.
My comeback (because I’m able to) is to promise a 30 minute siesta later. You will have to come up with one that will work for you.
