It has been well documented that one of the key success principles of many millionaires is waking up before the sun. One study I read claimed that 50% of millionaires wake up over 3 hours before their workday begins.

Personally, I use to LOVE sleeping in. I was the person who would snooze the alarm 17 times before waking up, rationalize with myself how I could get ready in 10-15 minutes and plan my outfit in my head just to get 5 more minutes under the covers. In the afternoons I would get frustrated with my lack of time to workout, read, watch videos, and have time to spend with my family and friends. I just didn’t have enough time in my day, and every night I went to be disappointed that I had compromised once again on something that I wanted to do.

After an enlightening conversation with my friend, I decided I would test out this whole idea of waking up in the 5AM hour. I committed to it for 30 days to see the impact. As a result, I will never go back!

Waking up early allows me to get my workout, and meditation done before I use to even wake up. I have time to actually eat breakfast at home, sit on my balcony and enjoy the view, play with my dog, and get ready for work in a calm and collected manner. Consequently, I look better, feel better, and have a TON of time in the afternoon to do all the other activities I want. 

Waking up that early is still a big of a challenge each morning but here are some tips I have implemented that make it possible for me to say goodbye to my covers and hello to my morning:

Wear my gym clothes to bed
Put my alarm on the opposite side of the room
Prep a BIG glass of water to drink first thing in the morning
When I hear my alarm go off I count to 5… 1 – 2- 3- 4- GET UP! Don’t look back!
Do NOT be friends with the snooze button, going back to bed even for 3 minutes is not an option
Once I’m vertical I say something positive out loud (usually the opposite of what I feel such as “I am FULL of ENERGY!”)
Leave my room and close the door behind me
Turn on all the lights in the house
Take my dog on a walk to get fresh air
Within 15 minutes of getting up go to the gym… the first few times I did this I literally just stood in the gym to get in the habit of making myself go
Tell everyone I know that I work out in the morning, that way I hold myself accountable to actually doing it
Commit myself to a phone call, Facebook Live video, or business meeting early in the morning
I also highly suggest reading the Miracle Morning by my friend Hal Elrod! It is a LIFE CHANGING book that will help you understand the power of waking up early, and give you more implementation ideas. 

P.S. - Part of my daily morning routine is to do a journaling activity that I learned from individuals in the top 1% and it has been extraordinarily impactful in helping my confidence, determination and focus towards my life vision. To share this concept and daily habit with other people I wrote a book/journal that includes an instructions for the daily activity, an explanation of why it is so life-changing and gives you 365 pages of structured journaling prompts, 1 page per morning for a year. You can get it on Amazon here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1546666036