Waking up at 5 AM
What I learned through this
Hello, for the next 5 days I am going to be waking up at 5 AM. I want to learn why it's important to wake up at 5. Why is it important? I have no idea; that's why I'm going to get my sources from two different articles. Then, I will see if that data corresponds with experience. The first reason is that you will have an open window in the morning to connect with yourself or your faith. By getting up early for uninterupted and non-rushed time, you'll have time for personal development and time to work towards your aspirations. Another common point I found was that you will reach your peak state or build that discipline for everything else. Increased motivation and confidence is brought to the table. You will become a more respectable person with integrity. I don't know how some of this is necessarily correlated with waking up at 5 AM, regardless, I am up for the challenge. I will be tracking my progress each day. By writing a short little summary of how I feel, what I did, and how waking up has affected me.
Monday: The date is June 1st of 2020. I woke up feeling rejuvenated and confident. Waking up this early is a win within itself. I awoke around 5:14, a little off, but we'll get there. After doing my morning hygiene, I came downstairs and got some coffee. I went back up and read for 30 minutes. Following that was my attempt to do a guided meditation. I lasted about 5 minutes and decided to not do one this morning. I'm noticing a lack of focus this morning. Practicing some self-inquiry, I think my lack of focus is sourced from wanting to do everything I can before the day gets started. I am curious to see if I will end up more tired than usual throughout the day. I thoroughly enjoy waking up at 5 AM. Day 2 is always the hardest. Let's see how tomorrow will go.
Tuesday: The date is June 2nd, 2020. I woke up at 5:00 AM this morning and stayed up till about 7:00 AM. During those two hours I did my regular routine of reading and writing. I didn't work out this morning though. The second day is always the hardest and it sure lived up to my expectation. I fell right back asleep at 7:00 AM. Didn't wake up til 8:45. Also, I wanted to track that I was exceptionally tired today.
Wednesday: The date is June 3rd, 2020. I'm feeling rejuvenated, but also slightly tired. I'm going to get a workout in, read for a while, and then write. I feel as if today will be a productive and efficient day. Waking up has affected my mindset. I have become more positive and assertive towards my work. My minds I did have a productive day, I wrote an article, and it was satisfying to get one done before the sun rose.
Tuesday: The date is June 4th, 2020 I woke up, and needed coffee this morning. I am noticing a pattern in waking up. I either wake up feeling refreshed or I don't want to wake up. Either way, I still manage to wake up. Which is, as I mentioned before, a win within its self.
Friday: I didn't wake up at 5:00, I woke up at 6. I worked out; that workout seemed to make me more tired. However, I am feeling confident and that today is going to be a productive day.
My thoughts on waking up at 5 AM. I think it's a great habit, especially for character and discipline development. I agree with the article, pertaining to the fact that you do have an open window. It's quite calming being up before everyone else. It gives you a sense of humbleness. I genuinely feel that this potentially could be a lifestyle. You get much more done by waking up earlier, you feel better, and in my experience my outlook was better for my day and overall. I agree that you reach your peak in the morning. I think the reasoning behind that is your willpower or drive is limited. When you wake up your drive is at its peak, your drive is depleted throughout the day; whilst if you wake up early and execute tasks in the morning, you will find such things much easier to do. As well as, the more you get done, it increases your motivation to continue; kind of like a snowball rolling down a hill getting bigger and gaining momentum. I don't agree that you are filled with integrity, but I only did this challenge for 5 days. I think this is important for everyone to try. You will see a difference in yourself and your life. Thank you for reading!
About the Creator
Gavin Perkins
Young photographer and blogger
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Oxford languages defines success as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. More often than not, when people think about success. They think of fame or money. That view on success isn't always everyone's first thought. What is your idea of success? I am going to be transparent with you. Everyone starts from somewhere and along the way you WILL face challenges. Don't let those adversities stop you though. How Gavin? Why shouldn't I just give up? I'm going to fail, why even try? The answer is experience. You learn from the inevitable mistakes and gain experience. That experience is a key factor in accomplishing your goals. Plus, reaching your goals wouldn't be as satisfying if you didn't have failures. I feel as if another reason as to why you need to fail to succeed is that there would be no room for improvement. At least to a certain extent. Without failure, you would have no knowledge on how to improve. Therefor, resulting in a constant peak. Yes, you are going to fail, but trying anyways is a better choice. Not pursuing whatever you want to will leave a feeling of shame and guilt. Failure is a good thing, not a bad thing. Gavin, what does it take to reach success? To be successful. You need to be able to have resiliency, persistence, and the ability to do hard things. Let's face it. The most successful people have faced adversities. Elon Musk's First PayPal product was voted one of the worst business ideas in 1999. Oprah used to be regularly beaten throughout her childhood. J. K Rolling's original Harry Potter was rejected 12 times. Those failures faced by these extraordinary people have shaped them. Persistence is key. Think about where J. K rolling would be if she wasn't persistent with her work. Another step to take when traveling the road to success is habits. Habits, are so prominent. Once those habits are formed they become automatic. You won't need to put in the effort to do these habits anymore. They will naturally flow with your day. Some of my favorite habits include. Waking up early, reading every day, making exercise a priority, avoiding time wasters and getting enough sleep. Why are these concepts important to be successful? Emails. Everyone wastes time checking their emails in the morning. Getting up early gives you more than enough time to have to yourself to check those emails. Starting the day early also improves your concentration which means you can carry out those goals and tasks that you set out the night before. It also means that by the time you get to work, you are fully awake and properly acclimatized to the day meaning you will be more alert during those peak hours. Why is reading everyday important? Well, reading stimulates the brain. This action strengthens and speeds up neural pathways allowing you to be more creative, think more clearly and critically, ask better questions and make faster mental connections. In turn, this keeps your brain healthy. Everyone knows why exercising is important. Exercise builds endurance and strength, increases energy and reduces stress. Avoiding time wasters is one of the hardest things to stop doing. Almost everyone has a smartphone nowadays. I know how hard it can be to not waste time on social media or watching TV. I suggest limiting the access to that distraction and having a plan for how much time you want to spend. Getting enough sleep. Sleep is important for many reasons. Did you know if you don't sleep for 8 hours your immune system is weakened. Your heart suffers. Your cancer risk increases and you gain weight. Those are only some negatives of getting less sleep than you should. I would conform a routine and stick with that. It will take a while to used to. Yet again, building and forming habits is a step on the road to success. My ideal version of success is doing something that makes you happy. Do something that makes you happy. People tend to gravitate towards crafts they're good at. Pursue a talent of yours or do something that you want to be good at. Keep in mind that you need to find something you're good at and passionate about. Remember, you will face failure. As I mentioned before, persistence is a characteristic of a successful person. You need to practice persistence! This next step is hard for everyone. As humans, ASK FOR HELP. The most successful people have one thing in common. They recognize where their strength lies and where it doesn't. Don't be afraid to ask for help and that leads to the next step. Have a mentor. Having a mentor will help guide you through your journey. This will be the person that you can ask for help. Plus, you can have someone to celebrate your wins with. The next and final step to the journey of success is having motivators. Make sure these motivators are genuine. You need motivators you're passionate about in order to succeed. Thank you for reading! You can email me at [email protected] for any questions.
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