Its 7am here… most people are rolling around in their beds right now before they inevitably hit snooze on the alarm clock before rushing into the office to the job they hate with some artery clogging fast food in their hand.
Why start the day stressed, unproductive and in a downwards spiral?
If this sounds like you then this is a wakeup call, you’ll never be successful unless you change what you’re doing.
Performing the same routine in and out day after day expecting different results is literally the definition of insanity.
I’ve been up since 4am this morning and have accomplished more in the past 3 hours than 90% of average people will achieve in a day.
When you start the day the right way you’re unstoppable – I know I’ll be able to tackle anything that comes my way for the rest of the day because I started my day with greatness. I prepared myself.
I challenge you to wake up early tomorrow morning and perform the following 3 tasks before you turn on your computer, check your emails, browse through your smart phones social media feed or get distracted by technology in one form or another.
Get these done then you’re free to move onto whatever you have to do.
Read
The morning is the best time of day to read, it’s silent – there’s no distractions and it’s a great way to get the brain going after 8~ hours of being dormant overnight. Now, when I talk about reading I’m talking about a book, not a forum, not a useless magazine. Pick up a biography or non-fiction book on a person or topic that interests you and spend at least 15 minutes reading upon waking. I find information I read in the morning is far easier to retain than that read later in the day.
Train
Lifting weights early in the morning will leave you physically fatigued yet mentally unstoppable, beat the rush of peak hour and perform your compound lifts for 45 minutes – 1 hour first thing in the morning, you’ll feel great and you’ll have free run of the gym (I’ve found peak hour in the evening for lifting to be horrendous, in the morning my gym is only populated with runners).
Training in the evening before retiring for the night leaves you with elevated cortisol levels which in turn will supress melatonin production (linked to sleep) - training in the morning will allow you to sleep better in the evening.
Cold Shower
Cold showering each morning requires you to exercise your discipline and face your fears. When you can willingly turn the faucet as far to the cold side as you can and stand under there for several minutes you’re exercising the ultimate discipline - you know the cold water isn’t pleasant but you endure it anyway because of the benefits it provides. You don’t have to subject yourself to this, hell… hardly anybody does. After your cold shower you’ll feel energized, refreshed and ready to take on whatever the day throws your way.
Perform these 3 tasks in the morning and report back.
Exercising your mind, body and discipline while 99% of your peers are sleeping is an amazing feeling.