Rise Early As A Starting Point For Success

Post written by Amber Smith.

I am sure you have heard the quote by Benjamin Franklin: “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”, and I believe this saying is true indeed. I used to find it hard to wake up early in the morning, but I never thought of it as something that could get in a way of my success.

But one day I got promoted to the main office and my new job entailed much more responsibility than before. I couldn’t afford to be late for work or important meetings, and I didn’t want to arrive at my office looking like I had just jumped out of bed. So starting a new life in another city I decided to become an early riser.

It turned out to not be as easy as I thought. I continued to go to bed after midnight, because I was used to being a night owl. Then I had to wake up at 5 a.m. I felt frustrated and my productivity reached a very low level. I felt sleepy and exhausted all day long, and after a week of my new schedule I went to the doctor. I thought I might be in need of some magic pills that would do the entire job for me, but the doctor explained that it was extremely stressful for my body to experience drastic sleeping schedule changes. So he gave me a brochure about the importance of sleeping hygiene and said that I needed to sleep 8 hours a day – no more, no less.

From Baby Steps To Success

I decided to take baby steps towards my goal. I started waking up 15 minutes earlier every day, and of course I went to bed earlier too. I got rid of all the unnecessary equipment in my bedroom as a direct result of reading a Feng Shui book. I turned my bedroom into a sleeping zone and nothing else. I would now watch TV and play Xbox in another place, besides it’s not a good idea to do any of these activities before bedtime. Personally I am easily excited, so I choose carefully what I do before my bedtime. I prefer reading books, meditating, taking a bath or cuddling my partner.

Eating heavy and spicy foods for dinner was one of my bad habits too, but not anymore. Also consuming alcohol before going to bed can mess up my biological clock, and now that I know it, I try to avoid it. If you want to achieve success, you need to work hard, and first of all work hard on yourself. Giving up bad habits, being persistent, planning my day throughout and sticking to the plan has helped me greatly.

After a few weeks of hard work and waking up early I was able to feel the difference. What I wasn’t expecting was that my morning routine gave me an energy boost and I felt full of vigor for the whole day. I discovered that I had time for so many things I had never found time for before. Now I get out of bed as soon as my alarm clock rings, take a shower, drink my morning coffee and have breakfast. That is how my morning routine looks like. I never skip any of these. Then I drive to work when everyone is just waking up, saving me precious time, avoiding the rush hour, and here I am, ready for new challenges and achievements!