Wake Up Call: A Guest Post From Harrison McLeod

This is a guest post from Harrison McLeod, who dishes out fantastic writing tips at Men with Pens. This is a rather unusual guest post since it’s primarily about Harry’s experiences with my Becoming An Early Riser program – so your first impression may be “Hey, this is just Dave shilling his stuff!” – but it ain’t so. This is a good article that gives a real-life perspective on how to handle any book or program that you’ve purchased … but just never followed through on (and we can all relate to that). So give Harry a warm Las Vegas welcome and enjoy his personal account of habit building …

Wake Up Call

I used to be an early riser. I woke up at four in the morning so I could head to the gym for a solid hour-and-a-half workout before my commute to the office. Rain or shine, sleet or snow, I was one of the regulars who consistently beat the gym’s owner to the door five days a week. One thing I enjoyed about being part of the early-morning crew was the attitude. We were all wide awake, enthused about the day, and ready to hit the treadmills and weight machines. Somewhere along the line, I lost my ability to wake up in the morning. My whole life changed. What happened? Where did that spark go? I truly was interested in the Early Riser program, so I bought it despite my skepticism. I wanted to know if I could discover where my spark had gone and whether I could get it back. The answer was in the program. It has been one of the best e-books I’ve ever read. I had a private early riser coach right in my hands – audio clips, PDF files, and more encouragement than I knew what to do with. This was great. I emailed Dave right away and asked him whether I could write a guest post about my experience getting my life back on track. I thought to myself, “I can do this! I want to share this with everyone who thinks they can’t face God’s flashlight each morning with enthusiasm!” I had a plan, too. I would complete the training program in a week and change my life forever. James thought that goal was a little ambitious. He carefully suggested I take a few weeks. Pfffft, no way. This would be a piece of cake! Well, pride goes before the fall. By the middle of the first week, I struggled. The more I told myself I would wake up early, the more I wanted to stay in bed. I flipped through the program’s pages, now disappointed and seeking something to blame for my failure. Maybe the program wasn’t any good. Maybe the information was empty. Not at all. Let’s get that clear right now. The ebook and audio files are packed full of solid advice and great tips. Every suggestion was perfectly valid. My fatal flaw lay in my approach. I realized this when I read the final message at the end of the ebook (I’d skipped that part). It read:

“Your job is to face up to those doubts and cut them down by reminding yourself that making progress – and not being perfect – is the important thing.”

I reestablished a proper approach and made a few adjustments in my goals. I’m into week three of the program, and here are my tips to help you pass this course with flying colors – and achieve the better life I’m already starting to enjoy.

Tip #1: Read the Instructions

I don’t ask directions and I don’t read instructions. Who needs them? I have a very good sense of direction and an eye for landmarks. I can glance at a project and see in my mind’s eye how it all fits together. I also have the very bad habit of skimming when I read. When I started reading the Early Riser program, I jumped from lesson to lesson, pulling out bits of advice that caught my eye. I also missed some very important steps. Nothing was working because I didn’t complete the progressive steps in proper order. There were routines to develop, plans to be made, and some learning to do before I could jump in. This is why Dave provides worksheets with his program. Use them.

Tip #2: The No-Brainer Routine

My typical morning goes something like this:

• The cats bounce on my head and scratch on the furniture until I get out of bed. I tell them it’s too early to be awake. I ignore the kitchen and head down the hall to the office.
• I check my email, hoping James doesn’t notice that I’m alive and online. No such luck. James lives in a time zone three hours ahead of me. He’s already had the jet fuel he claims to be coffee, and he’s raring to go. “Morning! Hey, here’s what I need you to do today…Oh, and this isn’t working on the site. Do you know why? Never mind why. Fix it for me, would you?… Hm. Did you read this? We should do this, too. Oh, and could you install this plugin while you’re up?… Hey, what do you think of…”
• I’m already wishing I was back in bed.

The Early Riser program stresses that you need to have a simple routine in the morning if you’re going to stick to the program and make a change. Start with small stuff that doesn’t require much of your brain. Have a shower, have some breakfast, read online cartoons… anything to ease into the day. If you start your day with too much too soon, you’ll hit a road block. Work up to bigger things and before you know it, you’re breezing through your day.

Tip #3: Don’t Go Cold Turkey

I get ahead of myself. I get jazzed about a new project or idea, and it’s all or nothing. This is no way to go through life. It sets me up for disaster with expectations of myself that are far too high and not realistic. My original plan for the Early Riser program was to be awake at 5am every morning. It seemed like a good hour to get a jump start on my day. I discovered that while 5am might be a good hour for some to rise, it wasn’t for me. When I couldn’t get up at that time, I felt like a failure. I thought I’d never be able to reach my goals. But I’m not a failure. I just needed a better method and realistic goals. I needed to ease into this new lifestyle of being an early riser, taking small steps. Set reasonable goals for yourself. Don’t worry if you have a setback. New habits take time to establish. Think over how many years you’ve been encouraging the bad habits you maintain – you aren’t going to reverse them overnight. The only difference between the development of a bad habit and a good habit is that you aren’t paying attention to the bad habit you’re developing. When you work on establishing a new habit, you’re painfully aware of every second that goes by. That makes the job harder than it is. Let it go. Just follow the steps you need to take and don’t think them over. The Early Riser program isn’t just about waking up early without hitting the snooze button. It’s about your life. You can apply the advice in the program to many areas of your day. There’s hope for me. I’m into my third week and I find the process much smoother than week two. I’ve laid out a reasonable routine and realistic goals, and I’ve decided that if I don’t get it right the first time, I’m just going to keep trying until I do. Read The Way of Writing by Harry at Men with Pens and learn tips on becoming a better writer.