I know many of you, as you are reading this, might say, “I am not a morning person.” Tell me if this sounds familiar… it’s 10 o’clock at night and you are still winding down the day. You might watch a TV show, listen to the news, etc., and before you know it, it’s now close to midnight. When it comes to that type of schedule, getting up early is probably not part of the plan.

I’d like to throw out a few names for you and share something that all of these successful people have in common.

Apple CEO-Tim Cook

Warren Buffett

Oprah Winfrey

Dwayne “ The Rock” Johnson

Pepsi CEO-Indra Nooyi

Starbucks exec -Howard Schultz

Richard Branson

The list goes on and on. Yes, you guessed it, these successful people are all early risers. It’s true that most successful people are. As a matter of fact, some studies show that 90% of executives wake up before 6 AM and 50% of self-made millionaires wake up at least three hours before their workday actually begins.

Getting up early in the morning enables you to get a head start on the day before distractions and obligations arise. Attacking the day first thing gives you a sense of control in your life. Most importantly, getting up early gives you the opportunity to set the tone for the day. You can begin accomplishing things right away.

Many of you know that my day begins at 4 AM. I find most of the time now, I automatically wake up at that time. If I don’t wake up and the opportunity clock goes off, I jump up whether I feel like it or not and get ready to take on the day.

I don’t recommend reading emails right when you get out of bed or getting on social media. What I do, is I put all my positive messages out on social media first. I have made the decision not to scroll through the feeds. All of this usually takes about 15 minutes. After that, I do 15 minutes of exercise which includes push-ups, sit ups and jumping jacks, and then I go for a 35-minute walk. During my walk, I listen to positive videos or uplifting music. After that, I take a shower and get ready, eat breakfast, and then I play guitar for about 35 minutes.

The majority of the time I leave for work before 7 AM. By getting up early, I am setting the tone for the day. I have the same routine every single day. Feelings have nothing to do with this. On the days I don’t feel like exercising, I do it and then let my feelings catch up to me.

Unfortunately, most people go to bed late and wake up late, and then they rush around throughout the morning. What a stressful way to begin the day!

I’m going to challenge all of you, even all of you that call yourselves night owls. For the next seven days, make the decision that you are going to get up early. You don’t have to be as crazy as me and wake up at 4 AM, but that would be great if you do. Wake up several hours before you leave to go to work. Have some quiet time. Exercise and eat a healthy breakfast. If you have kids, spend some time with them and see them off to school. Give them the example of starting the day off right.

After a few days, you will see that your sleeping patterns change. You will want to go to bed earlier. You will be more productive throughout the day. You will be less stressed and you will even sleep better. You will be uplifted and positive because you are now being more productive at the same time.

After 7 days of this challenge, do it for 21 days after that. After a while, this will be your positive routine. You are now a morning person, an early riser, and you are on your way to having a very successful and productive life.

Winners wake up early and make it happen. Make the decision to win the morning, and I promise that you will win the day. I’ll be praying for you all as you begin this new challenge.

Have a super positive successful week.

RICH NORTON

Regional Sales Manager RMSNPC

www.RetrieverMerchantSolutions.com

Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash