I am not a morning person
I beat myself up for countless years about not being a morning person.
I was taught for what feels like a lifetime that “the sun should never catch you sleeping.” I read countless stories, posts and studies stating that a common trait of all successful people is getting up at before the butt crack of dawn.
I grew up with one sister who is 3 years older than me. When mom went to get us out of the bed, she barely had to wake my sister and “BING!” she was up and out of bed.
Me? Well let’s just say it was one of my mom’s jobs to get my butt out of bed. Literally a job. One she should have been paid for.
She had to wake me… then wake me again… then pull the covers off of the bed… then wake me again… then tell me I was going to be late… then had to basically threaten my life before I actually, reluctantly, slowly and painfully got out of bed.
After getting out of bed, I drug myself begrudgingly through the getting ready process; brushing my teeth, doing my hair, and getting dressed for the day. It took an hour or two of being up and moving before my gears started going and I was able to function optimally.
Now that I am older (31 as of the time I am writing this post) that job transferred from my mom’s responsibility to my own. And trust me when I say it is a job. It takes massive discipline for me to get out of bed.
I’ve tried EVERYTHING through the years.
I’ve changed by diet, read books on getting up, I tried every method you can think of from putting my alarm across the room, writing before going to bed at night all of the reasons why I needed to get up, read affirmations to myself of how much of a morning person I was and how much I loved mornings, prayed, gotten more sleep, used Mel Robinson’s 5 Second Rule, changed my alarm tone to motivational music, a former Navy Seal leader, The Rock… I’ve had my testosterone levels checked, my blood work done repeatedly… nothing has worked successfully.
And you know what I’ve learned?
It’s OK to not be a morning person.
I do not get up before the crack of dawn these days, and I’m still able to:
•Workout more days than not
•Maintain a mega healthy diet
•Go to church every week
•Have a rocking marriage
•Build 6 growing companies
•Attend networking meetings every week
•Read 30+ books per year
•Keep up with my house/property
•Maintain healthy friendships
•Contribute to missions and ministries
•Attend 10+ seminars per year
•Speak across the globe 70+ talks per year
•Sleep about 8 hours on average per night
•Spend plenty of time with family
•Keep my sanity, love, and passion for life
•Hunt, fish, hike, travel, scuba dive, journal, meditate, and other hobbies
•And much much more.
School teaches you to focus where you are weak.
If you have an A in English, Math and Science and a D in History, then you should work on History obviously. Right?
WRONG. It is obvious you will never create a successful career with anything to do with history. Let’s face it, you either aren’t good at it, you don’t like it, or both.
Here is the truth:
I do not like getting up in the morning, I do not do my best work in the morning, I do not WANT to get up in the morning.
The opposite is also true… I like being up late, I do my best work late, and I WANT to be up late.
I learned to embrace it. Here is my philosophy that I was never taught but have come to learn and appreciate:
The late bird gets the worm too because all of the early birds are in bed.
Embrace your strengths. Design a life around your strengths. Focus on your strengths. You will shine, be more fulfilled, do better work, contribute more to society, and feel better about life and yourself.
That is how to live the #StrategicLife
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