the disciple of waking up at 5am. [family core value: hard to kill]

the pandemic has f’ed with my sleep schedule. i used to be a die hard 5 am’er – in fact, because i had a dope ass alarm clock app that listened to you sleep and had you wake up when you were in the lightest phase of sleep (which means it’s easier to wake up alert and not have dead and groggy) – sometimes i’d be up in the 4’s. like 4:45 am.

and it. was. glorious!

my family always makes fun of really earlier risers – saying that we all love each other and ourselves for being so badass for waking up in the ‘middle of the night’ and that it’s just because of ego that we rise that early. we get to pat ourselves on the back for being so hard core.

well, maybe they’re right – it does fxcking feel badass to wake up before the sun. it feels like if you can do something as hard as wake up at 5 every morning that maybe you can do other really hard things. i love the way jocko willink explains it. he’s the author of ‘extreme ownership‘ and talks about this. (great book but for the cliff’s note version just watch this casey neistat video.)

jocko explains it as a test. if you can pass this first test of the day – and get your ass out of that dreamy, magical, warm, soft, comfortable bed then you’ve just accumulated your first taste of discipline for the day. with each bit of discipline you acquire, everything becomes a little bit easier. the more disciplined you are, the better at staying on track and achieving your goals you’ll be. it goes like this:

you woke up at 5, you’re a bad ass.

you said you wanted to lose 5, 10 , 15, 20 lbs – we’ll guess what bad ass? you can. and now, since you’re up so god damn early and no one else is here to bother or derail you – you can get in that work out. you stole yourself some time from the day*. so you get it done. another check mark of discipline – another moment of feeling badass, hard core, hard to kill.

well now it’s lunch, and you’ve worked out, and it’s a little harder to let yourself have the burger and fries – it would be undoing the hard work you’ve just done – you feel a little guilty…

use that guilt! you know you shouldn’t eat a burger and fries for lunch if you want to drop some lb’s. and because you woke up at 5, and did the work – it is harder to ignore what you know you should do – and it’s also a little easier to do what you know you should. and with each drop of discipline and control you get more aligned with what you know you should be.

i spent some time in weight watchers after my son was born and they had an amazing saying,

nothing tastes as good as being in control feels.

and i couldn’t agree more.

but it’s more than that…
no sleep in feels as good as being in control feels.
no binge watching and skipped of a workout feels as good as being in control feels.
no avoided crucial conversation feels as good as being in control feels.

control feels great! and no, you can’t control everything. obviously. but the stuff you can control – the stuff that makes you your best version of yourself that feels great. that makes you feel badass. that makes you feel hard to kill. and hard to kill people can face the things they can’t control much better then those that feel they can’t control a thing – not even what time they wake up or put in their mouths or move their bodies.

so! my advice, start by waking up early! i’m going to again and in fact, i did! today!

x.kristen

*time stealing is something i’m obsessed with. i love knowing that we all get the exact same hours in the day. no one gets an advantage here. i get the same minutes as einstein did, as elon does, as bezzo’s does.