Stretch Yourself and Stop hitting the snooze button on your life

When I sleep, I’m what you call a “light sleeper.”  WHEN I go to bed, I climb into bed and get into maximum sleep mode by turning on my side, burrowing under about two firm pillows, and pulling the covers over my head.

I love my power sleep.  And there’s nothing worse than the moment the alarm goes off at 4:30 am.  It’s a shrieking, nasty, shrill alarm.  It could wake the dead.  That’s why I bought it.  It is so loud I placed it in my office to keep from waking the house.

You see, I used to hate to get out of bed.  Especially in the winter.  The bed is so toasty, and my daughter Neena climbs in and we play tug of war with my favorite blanket.  But I get up anyway because I know how much it impacts my entire day when I get up early.  I slide out of bed, put my feet on the floor and race to my office to turn off the screeching alarm.  There is a huge amount of power to starting your day with this philosophy; “The difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary is who wants it the most.”  But I wasn’t always like this.

I used to be like many people that start their day like this:  The time to start my day was “in a couple of minutes.”   I loved sleep more than starting my day.  That’s why the alarm clock was right next to the bed.  When it went off, I could reach out from underneath the covers and hit it.  Snooze.  Ah.  Another 15 minutes to avoid starting my day.  I’d repeat this ritual another couple of times before I shook off the covers.  I have started my day already playing the catch-up game.  I spent the first 75 minutes blowing off my commitment to be up early. 

If I had gotten up at 4 a.m., I would have been up before everyone else.  I could have meditated, read, worked out, written, gotten breakfast early.  I could have been in control of my day before chaos hit.  But day after day, I sold myself on more time in bed, and by doing that, I bought the lie that I was selling myself.

However you wake up is the tone you set for the rest of your day.  Try this:  Set your alarm and when it goes off, put your feet on the floor and stand up and get out of bed.  No delay.  No hesitation.  Stand up and start your day.  It is harder than you think.  Your mind and body will be screaming at you to bet back in bed, to buy more complacency time.  Don’t buy your excuses.  Get up instead.

What I have learned from this simple philosophy is this; when it comes to stretching yourself and living your life, you are never going to feel like doing what you need to do.  It will feel wrong to ask for help.  It will make you afraid to take your relationships to the next level.  You won’t want to run when it’s raining outside.  Getting out of bed can feel downright drastic simply because you don’t want to.  But you have to.  Do it, even though it feels drastic in the moment.  That’s the skill you need to master; Taking drastic action.

Life is the same as lying in bed; it’s easier to hit snooze and put things off.  I do the opposite.  I push through the excuses and put my feet on the floor.

Stretch yourself and take a drastic step, you’ll be glad you did.

I look forward to connecting with you soon.