September Monthly - The Early Riser

 

September is just a day away. With it comes the rush of school, the finishing of summer sports, the starting of fall ones, and the closing of summer. As I contemplated what challenge to do this month, I thought about what was coming up in my life; my sisters and I have our soccer tournament in October, my brother's their football tournament, and my younger siblings are starting up school again. With the ending of summer always comes the hassle of trying to get back into a schedule, so I decided to work on getting back into the habit of getting up early.

For the next 30 days I would like to commit to a challenge with you to get up by the exact same time each day. I know with the differences in family life, getting up at the exact same time as I do will most likely not work for you, but I would like to work on getting up at least slightly earlier than we usually do. For me 6:30 works perfect. I head to work about 8:55 and it gives me enough time to exercise, spend time doing my devotions, do any small jobs I need to, shower, and make my meals for the day. For those who head to work at 7, 6:30 obviously doesn't give you enough time. So I challenge you to sit down and figure out what would be the best for you, then commit to doing it.

The first thing you will need to remember if you are going to stick to this, is that you have to get to bed on time. You can't expect to function well if you go to bed at 2 in the morning and get up at 5 a.m. You have to go to bed at a reasonable time in order to be up by the time that you have committed to. So when can you reasonably expect to go to bed and still have enough time to sleep before you have to start your next day? You do the math. Say you work best with 7-1/2 hours of sleep and you need to be up by 6, work backwards from 6 and you now know you need to be in bed by 10:30. 

The second thing to remember is that you cannot sleep in on the weekends. When you sleep in, what happens? You aren't tired at night, then because you aren't tired, you don't go to bed till later. The next morning, because of your late night, you are tired and don't feel like getting up, and the cycle starts all over again. If you stick to your goal on the weekend, the entire week will be much easier.

I know from past experience that I never want to get up early, but I am always amazed with how much better my day goes when I do. In some old notes, copied from who knows where, I have a list of five things that if done will help you start your day a lot better. 1. When you wake up, get up. Don't hit the snooze button, or as Jocko Willink calls it, the dream killer. 2. Drink lots of water. Cold water especially, helps rehydrate you after a waterless night. Your body becomes dehydrated because you have not had anything to drink throughout the night, which in turn causes you to be sleepier. Drinking water refuels your supply tank and gives you a good kick start to get moving. 3. Exercise. Exercising in the morning gets your blood flowing, which in turn helps you to think more clearly, causing you to make better choices. It also gives you a sense of accomplishment and helps you to feel more energized. 4. Take a cold shower. Burr! No one wants to take a cold shower, but the benefits are always worth it. The cold water causes your blood to flow to your muscles which in turn helps you to wake up in the morning. It is great for your heart as it causes it to pump more blood. And it also causes you to feel more energized and ready to go. I find that I like to do them after my morning workout as it cleans off my sweaty body and makes me feel refreshed. The easiest way for me to stand the cold water is a tip that my sister taught me. While standing under the cold water, run in place, as it helps your mind to focus on something other than the coldness. 5. Eat a protein filled breakfast. The protein will replenish your used up energy from the morning's activities and cause you to feel more satisfied throughout the day, which in turn will help you to feel more motivated, eat less food, and gain less weight. Some other good tips for getting up early and staying energized throughout the day can be found in Jocko Willink's YouTube video Guide to Waking Up Early. 

"Wake up early and tackle the day before it tackles you. Be on offense, not defense." - Evan Carmichael. Let's start taking control of our life instead of letting it have control of us. It's just 30 days. We can do this!