The Snooze-Proof Wake-Up Strategy

If you have been following me at all, you know that I've been working on becoming a morning person for a long, LONG time.

Prior to taking on this challenge, I was rather happy as a night owl - I loved being able to stay up late, focus, and get things done.  I didn't want to risk going to bed and not having enough time the next day to complete whatever it was I needed to get done.  And there is nothing I loved more than sleeping in!!

For sure, my mindset was always firmly cemented in thinking that I was not a morning person, that I didn't have enough time in the day, and that I needed more sleep, not less.

Still...I have always really admired morning people.  And I can't deny how much more awesome my days are when I get up early and get a couple hours worth of things done before anybody else is even awake.  I genuinely LOVE those days!!  The problem for me has always been consistency...and desire.

Sure, it would be great to be a morning person...but did I really want that?  Did I really want to wake up early every single day?

Not until recently.

I started to spend more time thinking about people with qualities I want to emulate in my life, and I realized something...they are all morning people.

Coincidence?

Maybe.

But I don't think so.  Turns out, having a solid morning routine is an excellent way to take your life to the next level faster than you think possible.

One of the these people I admire is my dear grandma.  There were so many good things said about her at her funeral, and one thing said that really impressed me was that she was a morning person...always up hours before anyone else in the house.  This has stuck with me.  I want people to be able to say that about me someday.

Then, our Beachbody team started a monthly book club in January and the first book picked was "The Miracle Morning," by Hal Elrod.  The timing couldn't have been more perfect for this book!!

Truthfully...I haven't actually finished the book cover to cover.  But, I am constantly going back to it and working to apply all the good tips shared in the book.

Did you know you can take steps to change your life in as little as 6 minutes a day with this book?!  It's so great!!

But I digress...there are several things from this book that have helped me, and I'm going to touch on the two biggest things in this post: (1) challenging the belief about how much sleep we really need, and (2) discussing how to wake-up feeling energized on less sleep without hitting the snooze button.

How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?

This first thing this book has really helped me with is challenging my mindset on how much sleep I really need.

In "The Miracle Morning," Hal talks about how he has experimented with various sleep durations.

His findings?

Hal says, "I've found that how our sleep affects our biology is largely affected by our own personal belief about how much sleep we need.  In other words, how we feel when we wake up in the morning - and this is a very important distinction - is not solely based on how many hours of sleep we got, but significantly impacted by how we told ourselves we were going to feel when we woke up."

He continues, "If you tell yourself you're going to feel tired in the morning, then you are absolutely going to feel tired."

And I realized something...before I went to bed each night, I always thought about how tired I was going to be the next day...and I ALWAYS felt tired when I woke up in the morning, regardless of how many hours of sleep I got!  I was often been confused by this, but never made the mind-body connection on my own.

Fascinating, isn't it?!

Hal goes on to discuss how the mind-body connection is a power thing, and how it is important to take responsibility for every aspect of our lives, including the power to wake up every day feeling energized, regardless of how many hours of sleep we get.

And then, he challenges you, as the reader, not to take his word for it, but to try it for yourself...to experiment with various durations of sleep (from as little as four hours to as many as nine) and then to also experiment with what you tell yourself (and believe) about how you are going to feel in the morning.

I can tell you from my personal experience that there is a whole lot of truth in this!!  But again, don't take my word for it...find out for yourself!  You tell me how many hours of sleep you need every night.

Note: If you really struggle with falling asleep and/or staying asleep, you might be interested in "Sleep Smarter: 21 Proven Tips to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success" by Shawn Stevenson.

The 5-Step Snooze-Proof Wake-Up Strategy

"Waking up early, especially when done with purpose, always
starts you off feeling empowered for your day."  Hal Elrod

The second thing this book has really helped me with is actually getting up in the morning and NOT hitting the snooze button.

Let me tell you...this works EVERY time I follow the steps!

Miss a step and my sleepy self decides waking up early is really not that important after all.

The trick is in doing things to increase what Hal calls your Wake-Up-Motivation-Level (WUML)...and you do it one step at a time.

So, in a nutshell, here are the steps to wake up with more energy on less sleep without hitting snooze!

1.  Set Your Intentions Before Bed - This is the MOST important step!!  Remember that the last thought you had before you went to bed is usually the first thought you have when you wake up in the morning.  Hals says, "The key is to consciously decide every night to actively and mindfully create a positive expectation for the next morning...so, take responsibility for creating genuine excitement for the next morning, every night before bed."

If I fail to do this step before I go to bed, I fail to get up early the next morning...EVERY time!!

For me, getting this step done means:

• Thinking through the next day (what's on my calendar, what will I wear, what do I need for my morning routine, what will I eat, etc.),
• Preparing and setting out things I will need the next day (clothes, books/journal, snacks for on-the-go, etc.), and
• Reading powerful intentions out loud immediately before I go to sleep and getting myself excited about tomorrow (most important part!).

2. Move Your Alarm Clock Across the Room - This is SUPER important for me!  If I do not have to get out of bed to turn off my alarm, I will absolutely hit the snooze button 100% of the time.  "Just 5 more minutes" is a common thing I hear myself say in my head...over and over and over again.  But, if my alarm is as far away from the bed as possible, I HAVE to get up to turn it off, and as quickly as possible so it won't disturb my hubby.  As I go to turn it off, I tell myself, "I'm awake, I'm awake, I'm awake!!"  Motion creates energy, which helps wake my body up.  Other things you could do include turning on your lights as soon as your alarm goes off and timing your heater so that it starts to warm up the room 15 minutes before you wake up.

3. Brush Your Teeth - Doing something mindless for the first few minutes helps your body wake up.  And it's nice to have fresh breath!  It's also a great idea to splash some water on our face.

4. Drink a Full Glass of Water - It's so important to hydrate yourself first thing every morning.  My personal goal is to drink at least 16 ounces of water when I wake up.  There are lots of benefits to doing this; one benefit is that it makes me feel less tired.  Dehydration causes fatigue, and often when people feel tired what they really need is more water, not more sleep.

5. Get Dressed in Your Workout Clothes - Hal says, "Morning exercise is crucial to maximizing your potential, because it puts you into a peak mental, physical, and emotional state so that you can win the day."  I just recently started trying to do my workout as soon as I'm dressed (well, after eating a pre-workout snack...I don't like to workout on an empty stomach), and I am finding that doing this works really well for me!  It is SO nice to have my workout done first thing and not have the burden of thinking about when I'm going to get it done the rest of the day.

I just love this!  "The Miracle Morning" is such a great book, and I highly recommend reading the entire thing.

Your Thoughts?

What about you?  What helps you get up in the morning?  And what do you think about the snooze-proof wake-up strategy?

I would love to hear!

 Deise