The Easiest Way To Become An Early Riser (And Love The Process)

Written by Dave Navarro on January 22, 2008

If you’ve ever felt that there weren’t enough hours in the day, I’m with you. When I started my business it was the same way. Late nights and the constant, relentless grind were wearing me down. But as I studied people who were really building big businesses without burning themselves out in a blaze of glory, I saw a pattern for their success: they woke up early, and (as the saying goes) got more done by 9am than most people did all day.

After seeing success story after success story, I decided that I’d do the same thing. Except instead of waking up bleary eyed, cursing the dawn as I pried myself out of bed, I’d find a way to make it easy to make the gradual changes that would turn me into what I like to call a “power riser” (someone who wakes up ready with enough energy to kick the world’s ass). Here’s how you can do it, too.

Step 1: Decide You’re Actually Going To Do It (And Not Just “Try”)

In the real world, when you try to change a habit, you screw up along the way. You backslide. You have bad days. Most people quit when this happens, and say “I’m just not cut out for this.” You know this to be crap, because you’re not most people. That’s why, if you decide to do this, you’re going to decide that getting up early (and loving it) is something you are absolutely going to do, because you are the kind of person who absolutely rocks.

And no, I’m not sucking up to you.It’s just that as a coach, I know that everybody has this jerk who lives with them called self-doubt, and he/she is going to do his/her best to beat the living crap out of your attempt to do something better with your life, because sleeping in is easier. But the easy way doesn’t get you a big business that gives you all the things you want in your life. So decide that getting leverage on your day is 100% do-able for you, ’cause you’re not going to quit.

Bottom Line: The earlier you get up, the more interruption-free, high-productivity time you have at your disposal. You want that high-powered time so you can get the edge and get more of what you really want. Every time you feel like quitting, tell yourself, “It’s worth it to see this through, damnit!”

Step Two: Decide You’re Going To Do It Gradually

The easiest way to totally screw up an attempt at habit change is to bite off more than you can chew. You know this, because it’s happened. We all do it. Most people bite off more than they can do and quit. But not you. You’re smart enough to realize that gradual change is how habits are formed. So nice and easy is how you’re going to handle it.

If you currently get up at 7:45, don’t try to get up at 5:00 am tomorrow. Shoot for 7:30. When that becomes easy, shoot for 7:15. Then when you get the hang of that, move to 7:00. Do it slow and steady and you’ll win. Your body needs time to readjust it’s rhythm and settle out. Jump too far, too fast and you’re making it hard on yourself and boosting the chances you’ll quit.

Now, some of you are going to say “Bad advice, Dave! You can change habits in an instant!” That’s 100% true, if you have enough leverage. Case in point : Grandma. Tried to quit smoking for years to no avail. Had a heart attack and the doctor said, “One more smoke and you’re a dead woman.” She quit immediately. That’s damn strong leverage. If you’ve got that kind of leverage, go right ahead. But chances are you don’t have a do-or-die situation before you. In that case, gradual change wins.

Bottom line: Resist the bull**** of modern marketing that says you have to have things now or never. Tell yourself it’s ok to make progress incrementally. Give it 3 months, and you’re there for life.

Step Three: Decide You’re Going To Get Up At The Same Time Every Day

I can already hear everybody screaming about this one. “But the weekends are my time to sleep in!”, you say. I say, bah. The reason we want to sleep in on the weekends is because we’re doing things that screw up our body’s sleep rhythm, and by the time the weekend hits, we’re toast. It’s the same principle as eating poorly - your energy levels get hosed.

Let me tell you this from experience (and find any early-riser-by-choice and they’ll agree): When you build the habit of getting up at the same time every day, you will naturally have a boatload of energy when you wake up. You won’t feel the need to sleep in. Of course, that’s assuming you go to bed when you’re tired.

Once you feel yourself flagging at night, that’s your cue to wrap things up. It may feel a little strange (or not “high achiever” enough) to say don’t force yourself to burn the midnight oil, but you’ll actually be more productive this way once you get through the initial adjustment period. Not to knock night-owls, I’m just saying go to bed when you’re tired, not when you’re exhausted.

Do five minutes of web searching and you’ll find study after study that shows that overtime causes a drop in productivity due to exhaustion/mental fatigue. It’s no different with your body. Once you get in the habit of waking up at the same time every day, you’ll be more productive during those early hours than you ever were at night.

Bottom line: Consistency is key (even on weekends). Wake up at the same time every day so your body chemistry gets into a solid rhythm.

Step Four: Decide To Have A Reason To Get Up In The Morning

Most people have such a hard time getting up in the morning (early or not) because they don’t have something compelling to look forward to. There’s no joy in waking up to simply meet the morning grind, especially when the night before was such a late one.

If you want to get up early every day, have something interesting and engaging to do in the morning. If your brain takes a while to “warm up,” make those first 15 or 30 minutes something that doesn’t require a lot of brain power, such as reading a novel or even grabbing a shower. Once you pass through that 15 minute barrier your brain should be waking up sufficiently, and you’ll likely see the warm up time decrease the longer you’re enforcing a consistent wakeup time.

Most people wake up thinking of all the things they have to do, such as work / bills / chores / etc., and of course they want to return to the fog of sleep. Have something you want to do, and view it as something you get to do because of your new discipline, and waking up becomes a whole lot easier.

Bottom Line: Do something fun for yourself in the morning and watch how easy it becomes to get out of bed.

Step Five: Get The Hell Out Of Bed, Now

Your pillow is soft. Your blankets are warm. Your flesh is weak, pal, weak. If you allow yourself to stay in bed for more than a split second, the chance of you blowing your habit-building goodness goes sky high. Whatever you do, when you wake up, get out of bed and get as far away from it as possible. Leave the room if possible. Just escape, before the temptation of sweet, sweet oblivion draws you back.

It helps to remind yourself how crappy you feel (physically and emotionally) when you hit the snooze button. Those nine minutes are a second helping gone sour. Don’t do it. Remind yourself how weak you felt the last time you intended to wake up early (and blew it), and let that shame spiring your butt out of bed.

Oh, and when you do get out of bed, if you’re doing something to warm up, do not sit/lay down. ‘Tis death, friend, death. You’ll just curl up … and huddle for warmth … and before you kn… (zzzzzzzzzzzz)

*Huh?* (shakes head) Oh, yeah, yeah, I’m back. (rubs eyes)

When I started along the early riser path, my #1 tactic was to head straight for the shower immediately after waking up. You stand up, you move around, and you’re golden.

Bottom line: That seductively warm bed yearns for your very soul. Don’t give in. Run, don’t walk, as soon as the alarm goes off.

Now It’s Time To Make This Work For You

These five tips should get you well on your way to becoming an early riser. They were the core habits I developed after I got married, had kids, and realized that a tasty slice of morning was the only way to get my business off the ground.

I had one advantage, though … I was a personal development coach, so I was pretty grounded in the process of developing new habits. So if the thought of becoming a full-out “power riser” seems a little daunting to you, you can make it a whole lot easier by downloading my “early riser” audios here.

Here’s to your newfound productivity (and please leave your success stories in the comments below),

Dave