How to wake up early and make it a habit?

The main reason we want to wake up early in the morning is the huge benefits that we can get by doing that, and if you look at the best performers whether in sports, business, literature, politics or any other field you will find that most of them are early risers. But if you are not refueling your energy by getting adequate sleep every night, then you might not be able to enjoy all the benefits of waking up early in the morning.

If you are struggling to get good quality sleep, you might want to check my 7 tips on how to sleep better.

So; getting adequate sleep at night is the first step towards the habit of waking up early in the morning.

What is your WHY?

The second thing you need is a BIG WHY; in other words: “a compelling reason(s)”

What is your WHY? As Tony Robbins says “reasons come first, actions come second.” Your WHY could be a goal that you want to achieve very soon or it could be to add extra time to your day and use that time to work on your confidence or body, or it could be learning a new skill that will take your career to a new level; if you can find something out there that you want so much, something that pulls you to wake up early every day, something emotional or spiritual or related to a relationship, something that is tied to your identity like this is who you are; then, that is your WHY.

Now, I would like to invite you with all my respect to write in the comments below at least two reasons for which you want to start waking up early in the morning.

Or you can download this printable worksheet and start writing your compelling reasons for waking up early.

Beat hesitation, use the 5 second rule

Third, make waking up early a must by hacking the hesitation mode that your brain gets you into every morning; simply use the 5 second rule.

Disclaimer: ‘The 5 second rule is created by the author Mel Robbins’

The moment you decide to wake up (your alarm clock goes off), your brain starts a fight with you, the battle of the bed begins and all you have to win or lose is 5 seconds. The 5 second rule is simply counting backwards from 5 to 1 and the moment you reach number 1, you jump out of bed with zero hesitation.

Counting backwards interrupts the self talk and the hesitation mode because it requires focus, and focus will activate your prefrontal cortex; the part of the brain involved in decision making. This will allow you to beat hesitation and get out of bed without hitting the snooze button

Optimize your alarm clock

Now, the fourth step you need is to optimize your alarm clock. And since most of us use our phones’ alarm clocks here are two applications that work for both IOS and android;

Instead of forcing you to wake up, Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock analyses your personal sleep cycle using your phone’s microphone and accelerometer and wakes you up gently during the light sleep phase of a typical 90-minute sleep cycle.

But if you need an alarm clock that pushes you to get out of bed, Alarmy might be the best option for you. You have to prove that you are awake by finishing a specific mission, which could be taking a picture of something at your house, solving a math problem, or shaking your phone a few times.

After using the ideas above you will most likely be able to wake up early starting from tomorrow, but the goal here is to make waking up early in the morning as a habit.

According to University College London, for us to build a new habit we need at least 66 days of daily practice around the new habit we want to build.

For you to be able to stick to building the habit of waking up early you need an action plan; and here is my action plan that I believe can help you too:

You need a big WHY. On a fresh white paper write down your reasons/ goals for which you are committed to waking up early every morning. And remind yourself of those reasons and goals before you go to bed. I also hope you can share with us at least two reasons in the comments below. You can also use this Printable worksheet
Get better sleep.
Harness your decisiveness by using the 5 second rule and get out of bed without hitting the snooze button.

4. Take baby steps: this simply means start waking up in the morning 10 minutes earlier every two days. If you are currently waking up at 8:00 AM, don’t start waking up at 5:00 AM right away (though you can if you are fully determined) start waking up at 7:50 AM for the next two days:

Saturday (Today)	7:50
Sunday	7:50
Monday	7:40
Tuesday	7:40
Wednesday	7:30
Thursday	7:30
Friday	7:20

By doing this you will be able to see and sustain the small wins you have every morning; and once the momentum is built, waking up early in the morning will be your new YOU.

5. Track your progress on waking up early by using a habit track application; I use Habbitica which makes building momentum even more fun.

6. Find an accountability partner or form an accountability group. An accountability partner is someone that you don’t want to disappoint; all you need to do is to decide who you want to be your accountability partner and then tell him or her about your new habit of waking up early starting from tomorrow; or even better, you can challenge him/ her to wake up early for the coming 66 days.

7. Use the Early Waking 66 days Challenge Sheet, print it and stick it on the mirror of your bathroom or on any place you like and every day you wake up early, cross or tick a box and write YES.