It’s like life steroids without side effects. Not saying it’s easy to do, but if you slept from 9 pm to 5 am -ish, you’d experience the following advantages:
1) More time. Even though you’re still limited to the same 24 hours in a day, waking up earlier makes it feel as though you’ve gained a few.
2) Regular exercise. Mostly because of number one, when you wake up earlier, it’s exponentially easier to squeeze in a workout before the day swallows you up. Regular exercise, in turn, will make you more confident, optimistic, and creative.
3) Efficiency. Smarter use of your waking hours. Whaddya do, generally, after 9 pm? Nothing productive. You watch TV or Netflix, surf the internet, booze, snack, and basically get dumber, fatter, poorer, and set yourself up to be tired AF the next day. By cutting out those wasted hours, you’re automatically better off.
4) Fewer distractions. What’s on TV at 5:15 am? Who’s gonna be texting you? Anyone stopping by the crib? Nothing, nobody, and nope. Case closed.
5) More money. Early mornings, your head is clear, your mind is fresh, your body is rested, creativity is highest – and you can channel all that into your “one thing.”
6) Momentum. Improving your sleep schedule makes you more likely to develop other good habits. Making your bed, eating healthier, meditation, gratitude, goal-setting, stretching, helping your kids with their homework, volunteering, whatever it is.
7) Sounder sleep. Because you’ve been more productive, you’ll have less stress. Because you’ve been more active, you’ll look forward to sleeping. Because you’re “feeling” the new you, you’ll want to keep it going. For all of these reasons, you’ll be more likely to continue going to bed early; you’ll sleep better when you are asleep; and therefore, make it easier on yourself to get up early day after day.
Look: success leaves clues. If you think the above is farfetched, fine. But consider the number of millionaires and billionaires who swear by “early to bed, early to rise.” Howard Schultz, Tim Cook, Oprah, The Rock, and on and on and on. Now. Could you find examples of wealthy people sleeping in? Sure could. But if you look hard enough, you could find evidence for or against just about anything.
Bottom line: try this for a week and see for yourself.
