Hey , what’s your favorite part of the morning?

Is it: The quiet?  The coffee?  The fresh start?

How do you feel when it’s taken away?

The other day I woke up and found myself in a situation you can relate to.

After rolling to my side, reaching across my body and slapping around the nightstand to stop the beeping, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and sat up.  

Feeling my weight depress the familiar indented low spot I’ve been wearing down each morning over the last decade, my hand steers directly to the mason jar full of water.

Chugging the entire quart, I shuffle to the bathroom, flip the light switch up, and say...

Shit.

This sucks.

The night before the power went out, resulting in tears out of children and fresh batteries into flashlights.  An hour later, the power came back on and the flashlights returned to their drawers and cupboards for the new batteries to slowly die before for the next emergency.

Now, just hours later at 4:45 am, that new outage arrived ahead of schedule.

Deciding not to take a shower while wearing a headlamp, the reality of my morning was setting in.

The best parts were gone:

• Coffee ⛔
• Hot shower ⛔
• The ability to turn on lights ⛔

Well, I should go back to bed.  Just for an hour or so.  Maybe then the world will be ready for me.

But there’s a problem with that plan.  You see, I’ve got shit to do.  Wasting these few early hours will bring the stress of unaccomplished tasks and delayed projects.

I tried arguing with myself.

Sleep would be helpful, and all that other stuff is “Future Danny’s problem.”  Besides— no coffee, no work-ee.  And if there’s no power, the wifi won’t be working anyway.

Amidst the internal conflict, I found myself in the kitchen wearing a headlamp...and grabbing my laptop.  I tethered to my phone for internet access, and got to work.

Yes, I wanted hot coffee.  Yes, I was cold because the thermostat wasn’t asking the heater to turn on.  Yes, I was proud of myself for NOT GIVING IN.

You can set yourself up for success, or you can set yourself up for failure.

Your “now” choices will have an impact on how your “later” life goes.

Are you:

• Staying up too late, causing yourself to be tired in the morning
• Putting off important tasks, which makes them emergencies later?
• Regularly drinking too much at night, and feeling like shit every day?
• Not packing a lunch, and choosing to eat fast food instead?

Often, those all go together.  Here is something I’ve experienced.

You decide to have one more glass of wine, causing you to stay up later than you planned.  You’re tired in the morning and hit the snooze button, waking up with enough time to get dressed but not enough time to pack a lunch.  

Your default fast food lunch makes you groggy in the afternoon, so you pretty much mail-it-in on important tasks.  End the day without a feeling of accomplishment, and with a longer to-do list results in stress.

Know what helps relieve that stress?  A little wine after dinner. (Insert viscous cycle)

You can end that cycle with one positive choice.  Think about your struggles and recognize which domino is the first to fall.

What choices are you making that are causing yourself unnecessary hardship later?

Be nice to “Future You,” it’s the only one you’ve got.

Be great,

Danny Lehr

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P.S.S.S.  Reply and let me know--What ‘easy’ decision is making your life harder?