Success Or Bust: The Immense Benefit Of Failing To Wake Up On Time
The Challenge: Wake Up At 6am Every Morning.
I know what you’re thinking. Cian.. Come on now.. How can you benefit from failing to waking up on time? The answer.. a valuable lesson learned my friend. A valuable lesson indeed.
The Challenge
Three days ago, I decided on a self imposed challenge just like Guy Sensei from Naruto. Yes, I love me some Na-Ru-To! Haters feel free to rip me to pieces in the comments below. I value your opinion.
To rise at 6am every morning was a drastic change for a night owl like myself. I slept as the sun rose many times. Recalling plenty of nights spent playing Call Of Duty online with junk food and energy drinks or beer (the beer completely messed up my kill to death ratio but I didn’t care, I was drunk).
Cian? If you’re a night owl, why would you wake up early?
An excellent question! Let me set the scene for you. I’m 26 now. Haven’t had a job in 8 years. Spent those 8 years drinking my life away & studying Business, Digital Project Management, coding for Android, Digital Marketing (anything to avoid stepping into the real world). I had Peter Pan Syndrome. Never wanted to grow up and take responsibility for my life.
What Changed?
I had my first child over 2 months ago. Alex, he’s an enormous beautiful baby boy born at 4.05kg. Then it dawned on me…
I’m his role model. I’m his example of what a man is supposed to be. I’m the guy that Alex will grow up imitating. There is a gaping hole in that plot. I suck. I’ve gotten nowhere with my life. I haven’t crossed the line between what it takes to go from boy to man. Crossing that line is no longer optional. I need to be the very best version of myself in order to lead by example. I need to become worthy of fatherhood.
I understand that a simple thing like getting up early wont change much unless I used the time wisely. So I planned my morning the night beforehand.
The Challenge: Day 1
My first day of this challenge could not have been a better experience. I arose right on schedule at 6am.
I will admit, at first I hated my decision. My eyes. Red as a baboons arse. My mind. Shrieking with anguish. My body. As limp as 90 year old man without his blue pill. It was painful but after 5–10 minutes of staggering about bumping into doors, I started to come around.
Not too long afterwards I began writing. I wrote 2 posts that morning. My previous (and only) 2 posts took me 2 weeks. Those two posts went on to be my first two posts published by The Ascent on Medium. It was in that moment when I knew what all the hype was about.
I felt like a champion!
The Challenge: Day 2
The shit hit the fan. My alarm never went off. Somehow throughout the previous day I turned my system sounds off..
I woke up at 8am. On a regular day, this would be fine but on this particular day I had somewhere very important to be and I spent the morning rushing to get ready to the point of lunacy.
Skipped breakfast along with everything else. My son was crying. As important as it was to go sooth him, it was imperative that I make my lift in time which felt horrible! (before you go and judge me, his mother was there to step in) I also had a form to fill out. My pen was only half working. The time pressure loomed in on me like an unavoidable oncoming train. Every millisecond of this forsaken pen not obeying my every command only compounded my frustration further.
I fired the pen across the room and went in search of another one. Not my proudest moment. Luckily, I made it to the lift in time.
The Lesson
Having experienced both sides. I can personally testify to the benefit of waking up earlier than you normally would.
The first day gave me time. Time to choose what I wanted my day to be. Time to prepare myself. Time to knock a few tasks off the list before sun rise. Gave me energy, confidence and the option to be a man.
The second day I had no choice. I acted like a boy. I was left unprepared reacting to every situation as it occurred. My morning was chosen for me. Leaving me exhausted, frustrated, and in such a bad mental state of mind that I took my out on an inanimate object, that bloody pen!
The pen may be mightier than the sword, but that morning, the pen was no match for Cian!
The Takeaway
Do set yourself up for success by beginning your day intentionally.
Don’t be a reactor ready to blow!
I am just like you. Trying to find my way in the world. Everything I write about, I am doing. I will share with you what it takes to go from nothing to something. Zero To Hero one step at a time.
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Thank you for taking part in our journey! I hope to see you again soon!
