Why I joined the 5AM Club

Why I joined the 5AM Club

I am writing this article purely out of my deep interest for each one of you to understand the importance of getting up early in the morning, at 5AM.  I used to get up early in the morning (5 AM) when I was a student and study in those beautiful early hours when no one was awake and it used to be absolutely silent.  Those early morning hours had worked wonders to me and I sincerely believe that clearing my examinations and getting a good job early in my career was, to a large extent because of the habit of getting up early in the morning.

However, as I got busy in my daily schedule, slowly and slowly I started missing this great habit.  This was mainly because of late nights either in the office or socializing with friends, office colleagues, leading to sleeping late in nights and finding it difficult to get up early morning.  Slowly and slowly I was out of the 5AM club. 

Lately, I started to realize that my internal zeal, motivation and energy levels were depleting because I was not getting up early.  I wasn’t as effective and proactive as I was when I was getting up early.  I was missing on my daily schedule and unable to complete my tasks.  I was going backwards, rather than forward.  And this led me to think what was wrong with me.  I realized I had to get up early in the morning again and re-live those old days of positivity, confidence and use of time for pursuing my interests. 

Why is getting up early morning important

1.         You control the day, rather than the day controlling you

Getting up early morning gives you a psychological edge over those who are still asleep.  By getting up early and starting with your schedule makes you more confident and you feel as if you control the day, rather than the day controlling you.  It gives you a point of differentiation as compared to others, which results in high level of confidence.

2.         Set a positive tone for yourself

Starting off with a failure brings down your mood and I am sure you would never ever want that to happen.  If you set up an alarm and do not get up at that time, you will surely feel bad and down upon waking up.  That’s because you had committed yourself to get up but did not honor that commitment.

Getting up early allows you to set a positive tone for yourself and get absolute confidence in life.

3.         3 Golden hours of 5AM to 8AM

Research shows that the three early morning hours from 5AM to 8AM offer you the most will power, the most mental focus and the most energy. 

4.         Ready yourself to face the world

“Those who sweat more in training, bleed less in war”

Getting up early morning gives you an opportunity to prepare yourself, prepare your mind, prepare your body, prepare your soul to be active and take any challenge.  When you are awake and the world is sleeping, you are likely to get less distracted, more focused and consequently, highly productive.

5.         You do better in studies

A study by the University of Texas, US have shown that students who consistently got up early in the morning scored better than those who didn’t.   This was obviously not only because they got up early, but by getting up early they were more likely to take part in a fixed routine.  This resulted in better career opportunities for them. 

All great leaders have this habit of starting their daily schedule quite early.  Recently, I read an article in the Economic Times on some of the top corporate leaders who have embraced this habit. 

(http://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/10-executives-who-wake-up-really-early/41245684)

How do you get up early in the morning – Practical tips

The very fact that someone has asked us to get up early morning starts to send shivers down our spine and we will take all steps to procrastinate in developing this habit.  But now we also know the benefits and we definitely want to try this, so here goes some tips to help you do it:

1.         It’s all about a habit

The University College of London has found that to install a new habit you need to continuously do that activity for 66 days.  Once you have spent that much time, that activity will get hard wired in your brain and takes the shape of a neuro-transmitter, telling you to do it again and again. 

2.         Have a great sleep the night before

For you to start early it is important to have a great night sleep.  Unless you had a good quality sleep, you perhaps will not get up fresh the next morning. 

In order to get a good night sleep it is important that you take away your mind from computers, Facebook, Twitter feed.  Don’t allow these things to be a part of your bedroom.  Don’t watch TV just before sleeping, don’t read newspaper, these things make your mind filled up with stuff which may not allow you to have a good sleep. 

I have personally tried drinking chamomile tea, which is a sleep-inducing herb and soothes your nerves.  You can try it and if it works, continue to have it in the evening.

3.         Put your alarm clock away from the bed

A simple but powerful tool.  This will force you to get out of the bed and thus, get away from your laziness.  Your brain is going to try to make you go to the bed again, but don’t listen to it.  To make it a habit, you have to jump off the bed the moment your alarm clock starts to ring.  Have the guts to convince your mind to do it because once you get up early in the morning, you will be out there to conquer the world.

4.         Get up at the same time every single morning

The reason of mentioning this point is that this brings in consistency and creates a ritual.  If you get up at 5AM then don’t make it a habit to get up the next day at 5.15AM.  Make it a point to get up at the same time every day.

5.         Have a purpose, a schedule

This is most important.  Unless you have a reason, you won’t act and therefore, it is important to have a daily schedule and a plan to act upon.  I won’t be motivated to get up early morning if I don’t have something to do, something worthwhile.

I am quite hopeful that if you implement these tips there is a high possibility of getting up early and enjoying its beauty.  

Once you get up in the morning, it is important you don’t waste time in doing things that aren’t supposed to be done in the early morning.  You cant waste time checking your emails, or checking the FB posts or playing candy crush/ poker/teen patti types video games.  The early morning hours of 5AM to 6AM are truly a blessing and should be used accordingly.

What you should do in the early morning

1.         Write your daily journal

In some of my previous articles I have mentioned the importance of preparing a diary/journal and writing down your goals, objectives and your life.  You can read my detailed articles on “the benefits of writing a diary/journal”.  However, in summary you should:

(a)              Write down your annual goals and steps to achieve them;

(b)              Write down your Daily 5 activities which you would do before you end the day;

(c)              Write down 5 things you learnt during the day;

(d)              Write down gratitude, things for which you are grateful to God.

2.         Educate yourself

Morning time is the best time to read something motivational, something which adds value to you, something which highly inspirational.  Because by starting your day with such inspirational books or videos or podcasts, you allow positivity to enter your brain and you can expect to behave positively throughout the day.

3.         Exercise

The benefits of exercising in the morning are numerous.  In addition to keeping fit and healthy, you also feel positive and high on confidence because of endorphins and dopamine.  These chemicals get secreted when you exercise and are vital in giving a boost to your mind, body and soul.

I hope this article inspires you to get up early morning and take the benefit of the three hours from 5AM to 8AM.  Initially you may find it very difficult, but once you make it a habit, it becomes a part of your life and you will then start to enjoy it.

I would like to end this article with a quote:

“Any Change is hard in the beginning, messy in the middle, but gorgeous at the end”

Wishing you all green lights in life…

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Authored by Nimish Goel (www.nimishgoel.com), a qualified chartered accountant who’s passion is to coach young chartered accountants and aspiring students achieve the best in their life.  Nimish used to work with EY and PwC in India and has also worked with KPMG in Europe.  He now runs his own consulting company and runs a blog www.nimishgoel.com.  He can be reached for any queries and issues on his blog.