Go to any big city such as London or New York, what do you see on the streets at 8:30 AM? You will see public transport, taxis, people rushing about, people buying coffee and nothing fancier than a base model Audi A4. But why? London and New York are the homes of countless successful entrepreneurs and business men and women. So where are they? The title of the article probably gave it away, but when everyone is rushing about they have already completed hours worth of work. It’s between 5:00 AM and 6:00 AM that you will see the streets filled with Porches and Aston Martins. That’s because successful people get up early to get things done.
Instead of dreaming of success under their blanket in bed, they would rather get up and actually achieve it.
Read up about any successful person and you will learn that the vast majority of them are early risers. The early start let’s you connect with people in other time zones and also gives you a head start on people in your own time zone.
Jeff Immelt (GE CEO) is up at 5:30 AM every day, Richard Branson (founder and chairman of Virgin) is up at 5:45 AM every day, Tim Cook (Apple CEO) is up at 4:30 AM in the morning. The list is endless. So there must be something to it.
Just think of all the things you can do with this extra time! If you normally get up at 8 AM every day, getting up at 5 AM will effectively give you 3 extra hours a day and 21 extra hours a week! That’s right. Now do you understand the secret? These successful people are able to fit in a whole extra day into their week. Actually, if you really think about it, they are effectively adding two extra workdays, since those extra 21 hours are all used for productivity (not sleep). So while you work 5 days a week, the successful work 9 days a week. It’s also very important to have good nights. For this, the cooling pillow by Moona can be usefull.
This extra time can be used for exercising, replying to emails, managing the business’ social media, setting and reflecting on personal goals, making an easier traffic free commute and so much more. The list really is endless.
Even if you are not a morning person you will have more will power to get things done in the morning. An early start will make you feel good giving you a positive note for the day ahed. No matter what you do early in the morning, it is more than what 90% of the people are doing (which is sleeping). Getting up at 5:00 AM everyday won’t promise you the control of a billion dollar company but it is inevitable that you will be more successful than you currently are.
So give it a try for a few weeks and see how your life will change. Just don’t jump into it too fast. If you usually get up at 8:00 AM trying to get up tomorrow at 5:00 AM is going to fail miserably, and you may end up with a broken smartphone. Try getting up 20 minutes earlier each day and ease into it for the best results.
Photo: courtesy of Larry Smith (Flickr)
