Self-Discipline Tips: How-To Wake Up Earlier

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Waking up early has many benefits. According to Healthline.com, it can allow us to have more time to exercise, for productivity and to ourselves. But waking up early is a challenge that must be applied with a plan and consistency that's built on the foundation of your discipline. In this writing, I will give you some tips that can help you wake up earlier through self-discipline.

Several years ago, I got a new coaching client, who we will call Josh for confidential reasons, and he was having an issue with sleeping to 1 in the afternoon. This was causing him tremendous frustration because he was sleeping through valuable time he could have been using towards his dream of starting a business.

During our first call, he said "Gene, I really want to start my own business but I'm having a hard time waking up early enough to work on it. I tell myself every night that I will wake up at 6 am so I have time to work on it before I go to my part-time job at 2 pm. It rarely happens and its driving me insane. I see you are very consistent getting up early so I decided to start working with you." "Have you ever woke up at 6 am to work on anything?" "No. The last time I got up that early was to catch the bus for my senior year of high school 4 years ago." "You said getting up early rarely happens which tells me you had some success. So what is the earliest you have been able to wake up on your own?" "I've gotten up at 10 am several times." "OK, let's start there."

"Do you have an alarm clock?" "Yes. I keep my cell phone in my bed and use the alarm clock on it." "Does it wake you up?" "Actually it does but I hit the snooze button then go back to sleep. It happens automatically." "Hitting that alarm clock is a habit you have created for yourself so in order for you to be successful waking up early, we have to disturb this habit. So this is what I want you to do. Set your alarm clock to go off at 10 am everyday and set it at least 10 feet from your bed. Make sure it is close enough for you to hear it, but not to reach with ease."

"What is the point of doing this Gene." "When the alarm clock goes off, your subconscious mind will direct your hand to automatically turn it off only to discover the phone is not in its usual spot. The habit of hitting the snooze button will be disturbed and in order for you to stop the alarm clock, you will have to get out of bed to turn it off." "Ahh I see. That makes a lot of sense." "After you turn the alarm off, I want you to put 60 seconds on the timer of your phone and stand there till it goes off. After that, lay back in bed and go back to sleep if you want." "Do I have to lie back in bed?" "That's for you to decide. All I care about is that you walk to the alarm clock, turn it off, and stand for 60 seconds before deciding your next move." "Ok, I can do this. But how long?" "Let's focus on you doing this for 2 weeks."

The first day Josh attempted this new approach, he messaged me and said "Gene, when that alarm went off at 10 am, I reached for my phone to turn it off and it wasn't there. I was irritated so I got out of the bed, turned it off but I forgot to put the 60 seconds on it before I got back into the bed." "You made progress. Good for you!" "What do you mean, I forgot to set the 60 seconds." "Yes, but you didn't forget to remove the phone from your bed, you disturb your habit of hitting the snooze button rapidly which resulted in you getting out of bed at 10 am. That irritation you felt is your mind responding to a sudden change that it's not used to. You also force it to make an additional change by getting up and walking to your phone in order to turn it off. Good for you! Give yourself some credit." "Now when you explain it like that, I can see I did make some good progress. Tomorrow I will make sure I set the 60 seconds."

The next day, Josh sent me a message about the routine "Gene, today I set the 60 seconds. As I stood in one spot, I was tired and couldn't wait to lay back in the bed. When the timer's alarm went off, I laid back in bed but I had a hard time sleeping. I finally fell back to sleep 10 minutes later and I realized I could have used that 10 minutes to do a little research on how to start a business. I could read something online or watch a video." "Congrats once again and I think your idea of reading or watching a video for 10 minutes before falling back to sleep would be a great idea."

Josh kept waking up at 10 am and he started to read or watch a video for 10 minutes before going back to sleep. Over a 4 week time span that 4 weeks grew from 10 minutes to almost 1.5 hours. During one of our coaching sessions he said "Gene, I realized that if I woke up earlier, I would have more time to work on my business. So I'm thinking of trying to wake up at 9 am and do the same routine I've been doing at 10 am." "I think that is a great idea! Let's do it."

Josh was not only successful at getting up at 9 am, but eventually 8 am, 7 am, and then his desired goal of 6 am. He was working on his dream of starting a business for several hours before he went to his job because he had a consistent plan that he executed with self-discipline.

Like Josh, if you want to wake up earlier, I want to challenge you to implement your own consistent plan with discipline by:

1. Create a goal of the time you desire to wake up each morning. Write what attempts you have made to wake up at this time as well as a specific time you have had success waking up to be your starting point. Set your phone or alarm clock at the time you have had some previous success. Then put your phone or alarm clock in an area of your room that forces you to get out of bed. If just one alarm clock is not waking you up, I suggest you invest in as many as you need that will help you.

2. After you turn off your alarm clock or clocks, set a timer for 60 seconds and stand in one spot, or walk around in a circle if you choose, till the timer has expired. Then make a decision to get back into bed or to do something that will help you progress to any goals or dreams you desire.

3. I recommend sticking with a certain time for 2 weeks and if you are having great success, make a decision to either wake up 15-30 minutes earlier or even an hour if you so choose. Do the same routine with 2 week increments or less for each time based on your own preference and progress. Continue to challenge yourself by waking up earlier till you have reached your desired time to wake up.

Waking up early is a great way to develop self-discipline. It allows you to get a head start on your day and focus on your goals and dreams. It's also a great time to exercise, read, or work on your goals for the day. I encourage you to challenge yourself by waking up with the self-discipline tips provided in this writing so you can start making the progress you desire in your life because You Are WORTHY TO BE GREAT!!

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