by WebPen
31 replies
The subject says it all. Granted- today is just the first day of many, but I'm super pumped about it.

Why did I get up so early? A few reasons, really.

1) My man Justin P does it, and I figure what's good enough for a guy who builds 6 figure membership sites is good enough for me.

2) This weekend I read What the Most Successful People do Before Breakfast. It's a short read, and to be honest I already knew a lot of it- but it was a nice kick in the rear to get started earlier.

I think one of the most powerful things that the book reminded me of is the fact that scientific studies show willpower to basically be like a muscle.

In other words, you can actually use up all of your willpower!... and most people do.

That's why most people can't exercise in the evenings, or work on their business, or spend quality time with their families. Their willpower was all used up at the day job they trudged through for 8-10 hours.

But if you do the most important stuff in the morning when your willpower is at its' strongest, you're MUCH more likely to succeed in the long term.

That's why most people who are consistent about working out always do it i the morning.

It's also why successful people get to work at 6 am. It lets em knock out a few hours of work before the masses even wake up.

So I challenge you to start waking up at least an hour earlier than you do now. Even if you have to go to bed earlier, just do it. Most people don't get anything productive done after 9 or 10 at night anyways.

(Yes I know its my first day of doing it- but it won't be that difficult to keep up, as I'm just going to bed earlier than I used to and keep my alarm on the other side of the room so I HAVE to stand up to turn it off!)
#4am #today #woke
  • Profile picture of the author Jillsescape
    As someone who wakes up at 4 am every day, I understand what you mean! It is nice to be up before everyone else, getting the jump on them all! :-) Good post and very true.....
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    • Profile picture of the author betterwtveter
      What's funny is that I do wake up at 4am every morning and my wife hates it, but it drives me to know that I am a step ahead of everyone on my team and that I am a step closer to my future financial goals. Keep it up.
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  • Profile picture of the author maxaurelius
    I wake up at 5am, but soon I'm going to be back on the 4am grind The question I have for you though is when do you actually get in bed at night though?
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    • Profile picture of the author betterwtveter
      I go to be at about 10pm
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    • Profile picture of the author WebPen
      Originally Posted by maxaurelius View Post

      I wake up at 5am, but soon I'm going to be back on the 4am grind The question I have for you though is when do you actually get in bed at night though?
      I got in bed last night at 10pm- seems like a good time.

      Granted, it means less than 6 hours of sleep, but I'm going to stop work activities and get away from the TV/computer screen at that time as well to help me fall asleep faster.

      The light from screens makes it harder to fall asleep, so I'll read right before bed.
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  • Profile picture of the author JustinP
    Love it Justin well done! Keep me posted on the 4am routine.

    Your mind may play tricks on you a few days into it but it gets better. Watch some Eric Thomas videos for fuel if needed

    Best of luck, I'll be watching your progress!
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  • Profile picture of the author buckeyes09
    You're a better person than I. I'm a night owl and only wake up that early when I have to.
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    • Profile picture of the author WebPen
      Originally Posted by buckeyes09 View Post

      You're a better person than I. I'm a night owl and only wake up that early when I have to.
      I hear what you're saying man- but if you think that way, then you'll never be able to wake up early.

      I love the idea of staying up late and getting work done...but it just doesn't happen.

      Like I said in the original post, studies have shown that you basically only have so much willpower every day. If you use it all up on your day job and then work on IM at night- you'll be tired, unmotivated, and do lower quality work.

      But if you do IM in the morning, you'll be thinking clearer, have more motivation, and just flat out get more done.

      At least- in my experience (and I can't tell you how many times in high school/college I was waking up at 5am to do homework )
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    I must admit, 4AM is just too early for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author rmolina88
    I woke up at 4am this morning, only because I needed to go to the bathroom.
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
    Justin Stowe and JustinP, yet another Justin has arrived.

    With a story of my own experiences of not waking up at 4am lol.

    This weekend, from Friday to Saturday I stayed up for 46 hours... I really didn't want to, but I just couldn't go to sleep.

    I just kept coming up with more and more ideas and taking action, and although I did progress a lot and did quite a bit (hit 3 extremely high goals of mine).. it wasn't worth it.

    I would have preferred to go to sleep at 11:30pm and woken up at 7:30pm.

    Nevertheless.. I did reach my goals.

    150,000 Facebook fans on one page.
    1,000 members in my motorcycle community
    and
    Built 25 websites.

    Whew... now I need some sleep lol.
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    My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
    AHAHAHA.

    My fault, I get confused when I'm typing times

    I originally had it at 12:00am and then changed that, which probably confused my "am" on the other time

    11:30pm to 7:30am.
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    My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    Ben Franklin was pretty adamant about early risers living more productive and longer lives. It's something that takes discipline for sure. Some day I'll be awake to see the sun rise!
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    • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
      Originally Posted by mattlaclear View Post

      Ben Franklin was pretty adamant about early risers living more productive and longer lives. It's something that takes discipline for sure. Some day I'll be awake to see the sun rise!
      Discipline is a tough one, especially if you enjoy late nights.

      But I would like to toss out that Ben Franklin was about 84 years old when he passed away (I think?).

      Many people that I've known that are 90+ actually had really weird and obscure lifestyles.



      And just because I love debate, it also depends on who you are as a person.

      I had a 1/4 year where I slept in the day and worked at night. It was the most productive I'd ever been because there were no distractions. No one called me, no one was playing video games, no one was on Skype.

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      • Profile picture of the author WebPen
        Originally Posted by Justin Lewis View Post

        I had a 1/4 year where I slept in the day and worked at night. It was the most productive I'd ever been because there were no distractions.
        Exactly.

        I don't think it's necessarily about whether it's daytime or nighttime.

        It's about 2 things

        1) How many distractions you have around you (there are almost ALWAYS fewer when its really late or early), and

        2) How long ago you woke up

        Studies show that your willpower is strongest when you first wake up, and gets weaker the longer you're awake.

        So if you wake up at 7pm... your willpower is strongest (since you just got up) all night long (when there are fewer distractions), I'm not surprised that you were so productive.
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  • Profile picture of the author annie800
    I get up at 4:30 am. I'm an early bird and like to start work early. I do my blogging early while I have plenty of energy and finish up by doing some click to pay sites around 7 pm. I watch a DVD movie in the evening. I find that reading at night before I go to sleep also relaxes me.
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  • Profile picture of the author ronboyartesti
    So true, the early bird catches the freshiest and slimy worm.
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  • Profile picture of the author muzzy4u2
    Yes waking up early is a good habit and keeps us healthy and more productive.
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  • Profile picture of the author pakrockers
    2 days ago I go to my bed 6 am and again woke up 8 am
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  • Profile picture of the author ih8themall
    I used to be a night owl. Now I am an early riser. I am up by 5am tops. I get so much accomplished before 8am.
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  • Profile picture of the author maceemiller
    i wake up at 5am everyday....dont want to waste the day in bed
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  • Profile picture of the author iPeter
    I wish I could wake up and work at 4 AM, but unfortunately then my roommate sleeps, so I can't light the lights. And staring at the monitor in the dark is awful.
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  • Profile picture of the author Campbell24
    The funny thing is when you're doing IM it doesn't matter if you wake up at 9 am- if you go to bed at 1:30 in the morning. You need to a certain amount of sleep to function and it just matters that you log a certain number of hours a day and aren't oversleeping.

    That's how I look at it...

    How many hours of work do you log on an average day?

    I would say 4 hours of doing deliberate work for me.
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    • Profile picture of the author WebPen
      Originally Posted by bathunter View Post

      The funny thing is when you're doing IM it doesn't matter if you wake up at 9 am- if you go to bed at 1:30 in the morning. You need to a certain amount of sleep to function and it just matters that you log a certain number of hours a day and aren't oversleeping.

      That's how I look at it...

      How many hours of work do you log on an average day?

      I would say 4 hours of doing deliberate work for me.
      You're right of course, and I'm sure there are plenty of successful people who get up later.

      I used to think that staying up late would be the best solution for me. After all, you can always choose to stay up late, no matter how tired you are. Sometimes its near-impossible to roll out of bed if you didnt get enough sleep.

      But staying up late didn't work for me.

      I'd lose focus every 10 minutes.
      If I wasn't thinking of sleep, I was thinking of something else.
      How tired I was gonna be tomorrow.
      How much of a bum I am because I didnt work out that day.
      How tired my eyes are.
      How much I'd rather just drop IM for the night and kill dragons in Skyrim, or watch Family Guy.

      Even though there was a purpose for my staying up late- it was hard to remember and focus on that purpose.

      But when you wake up super early in the morning- your brain is running on all cylinders. Even if it takes a few minutes to get warmed up, once it gets going, it gets GOING.

      Plus... I'm just happier when I get up early. I feel good because I know that by 9am, I've done more than most people will do all day.
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  • Profile picture of the author Martin Lee Jr
    I only get 4hours of sleep and I am awake at 3am, and after doing a few things I get to work by 5am.
    This method works

    I figure if Steve Jobs, (God rest his soul) Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet get up by 3am there must be something to this
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    • Profile picture of the author Justin Says
      Originally Posted by Martin Lee Jr View Post

      I only get 4hours of sleep and I am awake at 3am, and after doing a few things I get to work by 5am.
      This method works

      I figure if Steve Jobs, (God rest his soul) Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet get up by 3am there must be something to this
      That's an excellent share Martin.

      If you think about what Justin Stowe said above about will power, then it makes perfect sense.

      You wake up at 3am, there aren't any distractions until around 9am. That's about 6 hours of pure dedication towards your goals.
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      My name is Justin Lewis. My digital marketing company has been in business for over 10 years with multiple six-figure years. We do provide a premium web design service.

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  • Profile picture of the author nuworld
    I see the leverage in waking up early and your point. The morning can be relaxing and productive.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tweetboss1
    I know the benefit of getting up at 4 am but it is not possible always to follow this as I encounter some emergency and have to work up to late night. This upsets me sometimes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel LaRusso
    How in the heck do you people get up so early? I've tried it, and it's SO hard. I would love to wake up early and run in the morning. Any advice on how to do it?
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    It is unwise to trust all you read on the internet.
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