Well, I’ve successfully gotten out of bed the first time my alarm has gone off four days in a row, and have risen at 5:30 am or earlier for the past 3 days. I’ve been pushing my alarm clock back about 5 or 10 minutes each day, so today I actually got up at 5:15. I plan to continue pushing back until I hit 5:00 am. I’ll try that for a while and see if I feel like I have enough time to get things done, and then we’ll see if I want to go even earlier.
I’ve told a lot of people about my plan, mostly so I can stay accountable, just like people who are trying to quit smoking or lose weight usually tell their friends. I think having other people watching you and wanting to know how you’re doing helps a lot when you’re trying to reach a goal. Reactions have been mixed. Most people seem to think it’s a great idea, but there are the select few folks who turn up their noses and ask why anyone would want to do this. I suppose I would’ve reacted that way to myself no more than a month ago. No matter; I press on toward the prize.
The prize is bigger than I initially realized, by the way. Not only do I regain my night owl hours by getting up early in the morning, but by making it to work at 8:00 am instead of 9:00, I regain an hour not having to stay at work until 6:00 pm. I get to leave work at 5:00 on the dot and go home and spend the evening with my wife. Not to mention all the other things that go along with being an early riser: I don’t feel so groggy in the morning, I’m more productive at work, I have two hours to myself in the morning when I can spend alone time with God reading scripture, I can read a book (I haven’t read a book in months), or I can work on my blogs. I’m convinced being an early riser is going to change my life.