No, You Don’t Need to Wake Up at 6am to Make Something Out of Your Life
3 reasons why the hour you wake up doesn’t matter. At all.
“That’s a great idea man, you’ll get way more things done this way!” — This is what one of my best friend replied to me when I told him about the challenge I was about to take.
I named it Hell Week, but it was mostly a 7-days challenge consisting in 3 simple tasks:
- Waking up at 6am
- Writing an article right away
- Posting a video before I go to sleep
I had to repeat this routine every single day. During 7 days. And I did it!
I mean.. almost* (I’ll explain why below)
Every single week, you can read another top-story article hammering about the benefits of waking up early, how it changes the life, and all this load of bullshit about why you are SO dumb and lost if you don’t do it.
To be honest, I was curious and I love challenges, so I decided to give it a try. The purpose of this challenge was mostly to learn more about myself by getting things done and learning new skills while rising early.
The 3 following lessons are what I learnt from this experience!
1. It’s not about when you wake up…
…it’s about what you do before going to bed! (Definitely)
Actually, I succeeded in writing an article every morning and posting a video before going to bed (almost) every single day.
BUT, on the fifth day, I — completely — failed to wake up at 6. I was too tired from the past days (hard to go to bed early when you are used to go to bed at 3am). I woke up at 10:30am.
And guess what? I still wrote an article and published one video before going to bed.
We generally stay awaken for the same amount of time each day, so who cares about when you wake up, as long as you do what you decided to do before the end of your day.
2. Losers vs Closers
This is the main thing I learnt during this week.
Anyone can start another new project at any time. I’m the first one who come with another “amazing idea” to change the world or my own life.
But not everyone is actually able to lead a project from A to Z. Not everyone is able to close it.
Closing is king. You will learn a lot by closing something with an good or average quality than never closing it because you want it to be perfect.
Done is better than perfect.
I probably didn’t write the best articles ever during this week. But I wrote 7 of them, and I wrote them in english (which is not my native language, as you probably noticed it). It made me improve way more than if I spent the whole week thinking about only one article.
When you actually put you butt on the chair and start writing, no one cares if it’s 6am or 10am. As long as you write something, and close it.
3. Make your days count
I realized quite recently how important it is to remember important moments in my life. Shared experiences, beautiful places or outstanding travels. You remember this kind of things during your whole life.
More than waking up, writing or video editing part, I tried to make small things each day, in a way that I’ll remember these days for a long time.
And in the end, if you make things that count. It makes your days count.
Basically, we’re not going to make everyday life-changing moves. Making things that count also means realizing how simple things you do in your day count more than what you think.
Preparing a healthy meal, going for a workout, solving stressful situation, helping someone, sharing a moment with someone you love, etc.
Why I won’t ever wake up at 6am anymore?
This challenge was a great experience to push myself and to improve my skills quite fast on a daily basis. But I realized that it had absolutely nothing to do with waking up at 6am.
It’s cool to wake up early because you really enjoy some day light (especially during the winter time). You also feel super active.
In the end, what counts the most is what you decide to achieve during the day, not when you wake up to do it.
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I’m Thomas, a french traveler who’s cycling around the world meeting game changers. On my way from NYC to SF now.
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