The Power of the Early Morning

Summary:

I’m working on a new habit. I’m a huge fan of what I like to call “making a habit of changing your habits”. Of course I’m talking about getting rid of those bad old habits and setting good new habits.

As I look around and as I meet new people, I’ve seen people that have their lives in control and those people that are working in a healthy way in the direction of their dreams, those people have mastered the art of developing good habits.

A new habit that I’m working on right now is the habit of getting up and getting out of bed earlier and earlier in the morning. By just getting up a half an hour earlier every day, I’ve seen a ton of improvement in my life.

By giving myself just an extra 30 minutes before I jump into the work day allows me time to pray. To pray to God in a way that I’ve oftentimes skipped. I’m a Christian and I know that prayer is an important part of my faith walk, and getting up earlier gives me a unique, quiet, unrushed time to really pray.

I also meditate in the mornings. Not every morning, but a few times each week, and I’ve noticed that the days when I really meditate, they tend to be really good days.

Getting up earlier in the morning allows me time to more thoughtfully write down my goals. I write down my goals on my iPhone. It’s been shown in several studies that people who write down their goals everyday outperform, out-earn, and outlive people who don’t. I want to be one of those people so I’m writing down my goals everyday.

Another part of getting up earlier is when I go out to get my newspaper every morning, it’s dark and completely quiet outside. I look up into the sky, look at the stars and maybe the moon, and I take a moment to recognize the beauty of it all and to reflect on how lucky I am to be a part of this amazing story called “life”.

One of my daily goals is to read from the Bible and I was having trouble finding time to do this, but by getting up earlier I have more time to do this without rushing through it. Sometimes, again, I’ll use my iPhone to listen to the Bible on a Bible app while I’m running on the treadmill.

By getting up earlier I’m more tired at night and I find myself going to bed earlier, and I fall asleep immediately and I sleep better. That’s a pretty good combination.

I’m a writer, and I’m also getting my PhD which is a process stuffed full of academic reading and writing, but by getting up earlier my mind is clear, I’m more calm. There’s less noise in my head and there’s less noise outside. As a result, I’m a much better writer in those early morning hours.

Let me tell you one thing I don’t do early in the morning.

I don’t start the day by responding to emails and by starting to read and post everything on Facebook, that’s the exact opposite of starting your day with intention and with a plan. Resist this temptation, you’ll be much better off for it.

My good friend and coach, Dr. Tom Hill taught me several years ago that personal discipline leads to personal freedom, and I’m finding that the personal discipline of getting up earlier in the morning gives me the freedom to know that I’m living my best life.

I’m investing those precious moments early in the day to pray, to read the Bible, to exercise, to meditate, to write down my goals, and to overall start my day in the right way with plan and with intention to make each day my very best.

I’m going to keep on working on this, refining my early morning routines, and I’m excited to see what kind of results I’ll see in my life. I’m sure they’re going to show up. I recommend that you try the same thing. Develop your habit of getting up and out of bed earlier and earlier in the morning and watch your life start to unfold in amazing new ways.

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

Hey guys, Coach Brett Blair here. I want to talk with you today about a new habit that I’m working on. If you already follow me you know that I’m a huge fan of what I like to call making a habit of changing your habit. Of course I’m talking about getting rid of those bad old habits and setting good new habits. As I look around and as I meet new people, I’ve seen that the people that have their lives in control and those people that are working in a healthy way in the direction of their dreams, those people have mastered the art of developing good habits.

A new habit that I’m working on right now is the habit of getting up and getting out of bed earlier and earlier in the morning. This is hard, it’s sometimes really hard, but I’ve been doing better at this for the past several months and I’m amazed at how well this is starting to work for me. By just getting up maybe half an hour earlier every day I’ve seen a ton of improvements in my life. First of all, by giving myself just another 30 minutes before I jump into the work day, that allows me time to pray. To pray to God in a way that I’ve oftentimes skipped. I’m a Christian and I know that prayer is an important part of my faith walk, and getting up earlier gives me a unique, quiet, unrushed time to really pray and I also meditate in the mornings. Not every morning, but a few times each week and I’ve noticed that the days when I really meditate, they tend to be really good days.

Getting up earlier in the morning, it allows me time to more thoughtfully write down my goals. I actually write down my goals on my iPhone. You know, it’s been shown in several studies that people who write down their goals everyday, those people outperform and they out-earn, and they outlive people who don’t and I want to be one of those people so I’m writing down my goals everyday. Another part of getting up earlier is I go out to get my newspaper every morning, and it’s dark outside, and it’s completely quiet outside. I look up into the sky and look at the stars, and maybe the moon, and I take a moment to recognize the beauty of it all and to reflect on how lucky I am to be a part of this amazing story called life.

One of my daily goals is to read from the Bible and I was having trouble finding time to do this, but by getting up earlier I have more time to do this without rushing through it. Sometimes, again, I’ll use my iPhone to listen to the Bible on a Bible app while I’m running on the treadmill. By getting up earlier I’m more tired at night and I find myself going to bed earlier, and I fall asleep immediately and I sleep better. That’s a pretty good combination. I’m a writer, and I’m also getting my PhD which is a process stuffed full of academic reading and writing, but by getting up earlier my mind is clear, I’m more calm. There’s less noise in my head and there’s less noise outside. As a result, I’m a much better writer in those early morning hours.

Let me tell you one thing I don’t do early in the morning. I don’t start the day by responding to emails and by starting to read and post everything on Facebook, that’s the exact opposite of starting your day with intention and with a plan. Guys, resist this temptation, you’ll be much better off for it. My good friend and coach Dr. Tom Hill taught me several years ago that personal discipline leads to personal freedom and I’m finding that the personal discipline of getting up earlier in the morning gives me the freedom to know that I’m living my best life. I’m investing those precious moments early in the day to pray, to read the Bible, to exercise, to meditate, to write down my goals, and to overall start my day in the right way with plan and with intention to make each day my very best.

I’m going to keep on working on this, refining my early morning routines, and I’m excited to see what kind of results I’ll see in my life, and I’m sure they’re going to show up. I recommend that you try the same thing. Develop your habit of getting up and out of bed earlier and earlier in the morning and watch your life start to unfold in amazing new ways. Thanks.