How to become a morning person, is something that I had wanted to master for a long time. Have you ever wanted to become a morning person? Have you considered the benefits that could take place if this happened?

Maybe you really want to change but you say to yourself, ‘I am not a morning person’ as though it were a biological/DNA issue.

Having discussed and researched this with many people, I have come to the belief and understanding that not being a morning person has more to do with preference and years of practice and can be broken if the desire to do so is there.

I would say that I have now become a ‘morning person’. For me this took discipline and a complete mind shift in my approach. I had to be very intentional for this to happen. I could not just dream about it, it called for action!

Did my bed call me back? Yes! Was it tempting to hit the snooze button on the alarm? Yes!

I literally had to tell myself, ‘Tony you can do this!’

What I had to do was to break a habit. A habit can only be broken when:

  1. You recognize what the habit is.
  2. You strongly desire to break it.
  3. You take active and positive steps to defeat the habit.
  4. You change the old habit to a new habit – this is vital.

Here are some practical steps that I have found helpful in my journey on becoming a morning person:

  1. Write down what your aim is. What are you hoping to achieve during this time? How many days a week? It is important to have structure to your morning time. Have a clear goal and vision for your morning times. Make the stakes high…what could happen if I don’t do this? Challenge yourself! Say to yourself, ‘I am a morning person, this is what I will achieve!’ Speaking things out is important.
  2. Choose a name for this activity. Some people call this their ‘quiet time.’ I call this ‘My Investment Time.’ Why? Because for me it is a time when I will invest my life into God. It is a time when I actively allow God to invest into me. It is a time when I will also actively learn from those who have gone ahead of me in order that I can grow myself. Therefore when I am tempted not to get up, the question that comes to my mind is – can I afford not to invest in myself? NO!
  3. Get a good alarm clock! Make sure you get an alarm clock that you will not sleep through. When the alarm goes off, be determined not to lay in for a minute longer. Don’t give it a second thought – should I get up now? Go for it immediately! As soon as you are up, make yourself a drink to ensure you wake up! You can become a morning person.
  4. Structure your time. It is important to make the most of your time, don’t drift during this time. Have a routine, know the night before what you intend to do. Being focused will ensure you meet your objectives. Have a checklist you can cross off as you meet your objectives. This is very satisfying. It reminds you of all your little wins and encourages you to keep going.
  5. Get an accountability partner. It is helpful to have someone to whom you can be accountable in this process., You will need encouragement to keep at this, particularly in the winter.
  6. Be realistic. Set a goal that you can build upon, step by step. Your ultimate aim may be high, but you will achieve this by taking incremental steps. Therefore set a time that will stretch you but not kill you! Be prepared to add to it. I can tell you having a number of ‘little wins’ will encourage you to go for more. Try it and you will see.
  7. Enjoy the journey. This is not a race, there is not a final destination. It is a lifetime journey from which you will reap rewards on a constant basis. Enjoy the journey each day. Often what you learn in private during these times will cause you to become increasing effective in your public life.

I have been able to add to my initial morning time which I had set for myself at the start of the year. I have often heard that it can take about 20 – 30 days to form a new habit. Don’t expect this just to happen overnight. It will require determination. However once you breakthrough, you could literally break a habit of a lifetime and have something new in your DNA. Exciting? YES! To read about – How to gain control of your time and life click HERE.

You can do this.  Believe that you can. Start small but aim high. Go for the small wins and you will eventually look back and see a great breakthrough and be amazed how far you have come.

The action you take will lead to success – in another blog I share about how success seems to be connected with action – to read this click HERE.

 Good morning!

 

KTB JP

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