What’s common between Oprah, Robin Sharma, Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, and Bill Gates? They epitomize success. They are passionate about their work and are high on energy, but what’s uniquely common between them is that they are all members of the 5 AM Club. All of them start their day early. After knowing the benefits of joining the 5 AM Club many high-performing CEOs, which include executives like Founder of Virgin Richard Branson, Pepsi CEO Indira Nooyi, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Disney CEO Robert Iger, have become members of the 5 AM Club.
When I see a common pattern between successful people I want to replicate the same pattern in my life, and getting up at 5 AM is one of the practices that has changed my life. When I wake up uber-early I have my day, my way.
Here are a few strategies that can help you join the 5 AM Success Club:
Put the alarm clock across the room
If you place the alarm clock within your arms reach, your tendency will be to snooze the alarm. When you place it at a distance farther than your reach you will have to get up and move. The act of moving from the bed activates your brain and you get the momentum you need to get up.
- Set the right intention
Before going to sleep visualize the time you would like to get up. Affirm to yourself that you will get up at 5 AM and pass on this affirmation to your mind. Once your subconscious gets the message you would never need an alarm clock to get up. You will get up by yourself. Just setting the intention to wake up at 5 AM can bolster your efforts to get up early.
- Set a major goal for early morning
Just before you sleep set up a major goal to accomplish early morning, for example, sending a pending report to your manager or drafting a major proposal for your client. The more important the goal the better a chance you have of waking up. Have a goal that has a morning deadline. One of my friends always promises to send business proposals to his clients before 9 AM the next day. He has to get up early just to send the proposals. The pressure works for him.
- Early to bed, early to rise
A slight change in lifestyle can give you a massive mental leverage to get up early. Do not eat anything after 8 PM and hit the bed by 10 PM. In today’s time, we have developed a habit of eating at 11 PM and sleeping immediately. We don’t give time to digest food and hence we feel heavy early morning, not feeling wanting to get up. When you give your tummy enough time to digest you will feel light and energetic early morning.
- Start small
If you have a habit of waking up at 6 AM, don’t just decide to break into the 5 AM club out of the blue. Start small, by initially getting up 15 min early than your scheduled time. Practice waking up at 5:45 AM for a week and then challenge yourself to get up at 5:30 and so on till you join the 5 AM Club. The body doesn’t appreciate drastic changes, but it is very comfortable with gradual changes. Start small but aim big.
The question that strikes us when we think of waking up at 5 AM is “What do I do after waking up at 5 AM?” In his book The Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod shares 6 things you could do when you wake up to recharge yourself, presented in the acronym S.A.V.E.R.S.
- S – Silence: Spend time with yourself; maybe a cup of green tea or honey lemon water can be a good company. Let the thoughts pass the screen of your mind while you just observe. Just be still.
- A – Affirmations: Mentally affirm positive statements to yourself. The inner conversations you have with yourself affects your emotional health. Have positive self-talk when you get up to recharge yourself.
- V – Visualize: Visualize your dreams and create pictures of the things you want to have. Feel as if you have achieved your dreams and fill yourself with positivity. Be uber-positive early morning.
- E – Exercise: Let the energy develop in your body while you exercise first thing in the morning. When you move, you get into the groove.
- R – Read: Read personal development books early morning. Condition your mind with hope, courage, and success the first thing in the morning.
- S – Scribing: Writing a journal early in the morning helps you connect with your thoughts. Writing your expectations from the day helps you plan your day better.
Oh! It’s 5:38 AM and it’s time for me to meditate, have a good time! Happy reading!
