HOW do you start your day? Is it hitting snooze 4 times before you reluctantly crawl out of bed, accepting your fate of another day? Or, are you on the other side of the spectrum, waking up at 4 am in order to ‘win the day,’ hitting the gym and grabbing a quick post workout bite before most people are even awake? Maybe you are a night owl work late and take your coffee black at 2 pm.
Whatever your daily routine, it may be time to look at it with a fresh pair of eyes and an intention to change something. Most people make the mistake of going big where change is concerned. The quintessential example of this is the night owl, with trouble waking up before 8 am, setting a goal to wake up early, maybe at 6:30 am every day, hoping it will help them become the person they always wanted to be. Assuming they’re like most, they might succeed in this endeavor for a few days, maybe even a week or two, but as is the way with most resolutions, they will eventually revert back to old habits. Soon, one day will turn into two, and before they know it, months have gone by and they are making the same promise all over again.
Unfortunately, continually repeating the same failing scenario produces a negative feedback loop that permits people to talk disparagingly to themselves, e.g. you suck; you really should get out of bed on time and quit being a bum. The negative feedback becomes a detriment to self-image, and as studies show, a negative self-image can affect everything from how much you earn, to the quality of friends you keep, to what you eat, and to what you allow into your body. In short, your negative self-talk creates a negative self-image, which potentially creates harmful self-sabotage.
Change is Coming
Whether it’s to start the year on a positive footing, or choose to make changes when the time is right, here are 3 tips on how to move forward based on who you already are and who you hope to become.
Tip #1: Start small
Rather than being the night owl who suddenly aims to wake up at 6 am, essentially trying for a 180 degree turn in lifestyle and schedule, aim lower. Your resolution could be to go to bed 1 hour earlier, stop watching TV 2 hours before bed, or maybe sleep-in late one day a week. So often we pick solutions based on the equivalent of “cheat codes” in video games. Rather than putting in the time to become a person who constantly gets a great night of sleep, we foolishly plug in a habit (code) that some guru swears will make us successful. Instead, let your changes be small, incremental improvements based on where you are now.
Waking up at 6 am can still be your long term goal, but by setting an initial target to go to bed an hour earlier in month 1, then once you have this down adding 10 minutes of stretching in month 2, and so on, you’ll not only find it easier to eventually wake up at 6 am, you’ll find that by making small incremental adjustments along the way, you secretly architected a new lifestyle, making the big goal much easier to achieve.
Tip 2: View your habits as investments in yourself, not as a checklist you will be graded on
One year, I made a resolution to quit drinking. Still in my late 20s, and coming out of a recent divorce, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you it didn’t last long. Eventually, I got there (3 years later), but it wasn’t easy. Part of the trouble was allowing one lapse in behavior to fuel another. When a buddy would ask, “you want a beer?” it was so much easier to say yes when I already had a drink the night before, my excuse usually being, “sure, I drank yesterday, it’s not like I can go back and undo that.”
Part of my underlying logic was based on keeping score. Losing yesterday meant I had already blown getting a perfect record, so there was no real harm doing it again. It wasn’t until I read the 5 am Club, by Robin Sharma, and started viewing my habits as investments in myself and my life, that I really started to make progress. Saying no to a beer wasn’t about some arbitrary checklist on which I was keeping score for and with myself. Rather, it was a decision to invest in myself; saying “no” meant I’d have more energy the next morning to do the things I cared most for.
Tip 3: When in doubt, start your day doing the thing you love for at least 30 minutes
I love to read and I love to learn new things. Therefore, I start every day by brewing my favorite mushroom coffee, sitting down with a book on the subject I currently want to learn more about, and then losing myself in both the coffee and the book for at least 30 minutes. Sometimes, I read about business and investing. Other times, I learn about color in art and the history of pigments. Recently, I’ve been mixing in books on flying, since I’m currently working on getting my pilots’ license.
By starting my day with my favorite things, this daily habit helps me get out of bed and also stay focused on what I want, instead of getting sucked into social media or other form of distraction. Maybe you love yoga or weight lifting. Or maybe you don’t yet know what you love. If that’s the case, start by taking 30 minutes a day to explore things you might be interested in. Eventually, you’ll find something that brings you joy, improves your opinion of yourself, and helps you get out of bed, eager to learn more about it.
Sean McMann was recruited right out of college to work at one of the largest data firms, and then embarked on an eight-year journey from new grad to consulting director. Privileged to see behind the curtain of some of the largest corporations today, he recognized the system was broken and quit at the height of his career, when working the least but making the most money he ever had, betting everything, including his money, reputation, and time, on trying to fix the problem of the corporate jungle. He shares his insights in his new book, Hacking the Corporate Jungle: How to Work Less, Make More and Actually Like Your Life. When he’s not writing, researching, and speaking, McMann spends his time riding his bike, visiting art museums, snowboarding, and playing with his two young sons. Learn more at seanmcmann.com.
