Getting up at 4 a.m. is all the rage. That didn’t used to be the case, but Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg started sharing their early morning workout experiences on Instagram and getting up early suddenly became cool. Before that I would bet most people didn’t even know 4 o’clock happened twice a day.
I have a lot in common with The Rock and Marky Mark. We are all highly successful, very rich, A-list actors with dozens of blockbuster movies to our names and millions of Instagram followers. Well, maybe that’s not true about all three of us….but two out of three isn’t bad. However, it is true that all three of us do get up before most of the rest of the world is awake.
People are sometimes amazed when they learn I wake up at 4 a.m. every day. They often ask how I do it. I can tell you this, it doesn’t happen by accident. Getting up early is all about preparation.
Getting up before the world is awake makes feel like you have an entire day to accomplish things. Getting up early makes you feel like you are getting a jump on the day before everyone else even cracks their eyelids. I have three young children and multiple jobs, so it’s a great way for me to make sure I have time to workout or write before the day gets away from me.
Getting up early doesn’t happen by chance. It took me a while to teach myself to get up extra early. But if I can do it, and if the busiest actor in Hollywood can do it, then you can do it too.
Do you want to get up at 4 a.m.? No, of course not, no one does. But do you need to get up at 4? Welcome to the club.
All it takes is a little preparation.
Prepare your alarm
There is no snooze button. Get that into your brain. There. Is. No. Snooze. Button.
You have to think of the snooze button as a dream killer. Every time you hit the snooze button you lose 9 minutes (is it 9? I don’t even know how long a snooze button gives you) of your life. Hitting that button kills 9 minutes of your dreams. Don’t kill your dreams. Your dreams are precious and fragile. Your time is more so. Don’t waste it for a few moments of lackluster rest. Don’t waste your life 9 minutes at a time.
Do you want to learn to get up at 4 a.m.? Teach yourself this: there is no snooze button.
Prepare yourself
Before I go to bed every day I pack my bag for the next day. I lay out my gym clothes so I can slip right into them without thinking about what I’m going to wear to the gym at 4:30. I pack my work clothes so I have them ready for the day. If I’m waking up early for a morning writing session I lay out my computer, notebook, and earphones so I can write without having to get set up first thing in the morning.
Every night I think about what I’m doing the next day and I prepare myself accordingly.
Prepare your meals
Nutrition is about preparation. As a fitness model my job is to stay in shape so I can’t leave my meals to chance. I also don’t have time at 4 a.m. to make all my food for a busy day. Instead I prepare my food and put it in the fridge the day before. That way I can grab what I need and stick it in my lunch pail and head out. That process takes only a few minutes the night before but it saves me from wasting precious time in the morning or from being caught without a meal plan.
Proper nutrition is always about preparation. Especially at 4 in the morning.
Prepare your mind
To get up at 4 you have to decide you are going to do so the night before. When you crawl into bed you can’t tell yourself that you’ll try to get up at 4 or that you will see how you feel when the alarm goes off in the morning. If you do that, you will never get up that early. Instead you have to tell yourself that no matter how you feel you are going to get out of bed when the alarm goes off. No matter what.
If you want to get up at 4, prepare your mind ahead of time. Sure, you will be tired. Sure, you will want to go back to bed. Deal with it. So will the other guy. The guy who’s trying to take your job or girl or idea or dream.
Someone somewhere wants the same thing you want. Which of you is willing to get up at 4 a.m. to get it?
Prepare your expectations
Don’t start by trying to get up at 4. Start by getting up an hour earlier than you currently do. Try that for a week and see how it goes. Then back up your wake up time from there. It’s better to teach yourself how to get up early over the span of a month than to burnout after a week. This week get up an hour earlier than you normally do every day. Your week doesn’t start on Monday. It starts now.
Don’t expect to sleep well the first few nights. You’ll be too nervous about getting up early to get a deep sleep. But your body will learn. Give it time.
For the first week don’t expect to accomplish anything more than teaching yourself to get up earlier. Get used to that first. Then set other productivity goals.
Prepare a plan
Lets make it simple. Here is a step-by-step plan for getting up early.
- Don’t wait to start on Monday. There is no Monday. Start tomorrow.
- Pack your food and clothes the night before. Start tonight.
- Make up your mind the night before to get up early. Don’t let your feelings decide for you. Decide tonight that you are getting up tomorrow no matter how you feel in the morning.
- Go to bed early. Start tonight.
- Don’t set any backup alarms in case you decide not to get up. Don’t give yourself an excuse to stay in bed. And DO NOT HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON.
Let me know how it goes.
Sweet dreams. I’ll see you at 4.
