#49 Be an Early-Riser

Successful people seem to all have something in common. It’s not educated parents, attractive features or a natural knack for numbers. It’s actually something pretty simple, which when repeated can have a powerful impact. They get an early start to the day.  Impactful people recognise the value of having a head start, using that extra hour or two to accomplish some little niggly things or spend time meditating, brainstorming … feeding their soul before getting swept away in the on-coming wave of schedules and meetings and demands – dogs that need walking, kids that need feeding, emails that need responding to. The early morning is yours. It’s fresh, untainted and waiting for you. I think the key thing about getting up early is making it past the ‘push through‘ moment. You know the one. It’s when you’ve partially sat up, you’re starting to toss the warmth of your covers away and brush off your clinging dreams … and then the pull of your soft pillow draws your head back down for ‘just another ten minutes’. I don’t know about you, but my ‘ten minutes’ usually turns into another hour or so, leaving me already feeling like I’m running behind by the time I’m up. But if you can make it past the push through moment, you’ll be rewarded by a blank-canvas early morning of crisp air, clear thought, and the satisfying feeling of being alone; able to focus on what you want to get done, not just what needs to be. Perhaps the link between a successful life and getting up early isn’t that simplistic, but I think there’s...