Firstly, I like that you don't want to murder the birds! That's a relief XD.
Let me say, I know the pain of waking up absurdly early. I mean, I just did that for an entire month (you know why).
But on a more serious note, you make a very important point with this piece. You can't and mustn't mold yourself into someone else's productivity mode. That is a recipe for failure. We all must find that groove that works best for us.
Kudos for trying this path. But even more kudos for calling it quits. People forget that calling it quits is not an easy task for many.
HAHA "sales emails are such a waste of muse." You've a sub-expertise brewing in footnote humour. This essay is brimming with self-understanding, self-trust, and self-compassion. I wish we are all able to teach that to our children. Iterate, see what feels good, let go of what doesn't with self-understanding.
For me, I couldnt reject the shoulds of self help books because I was raised on so many shoulds already. So I was wired to obey the shoulds without question, and even my rebellions were just shoulds masquerading as choices. I really admire that you knew what it meant for something to work for you and could be honest about it early enough.
PS: I wonder if I should link some of your essays (like this one) to the line in mine, where I bet on you having done a ton of inner work. <3
From one night owl to another - thanks for normalizing not fitting into the “5AM” mold. I’ve also experimented with early mornings, but time and again, I’ve fallen back into working late at night (when I’m feeling most energized). Happy someone finally said it’s OK not to get the worm.
I also read the 5am club book and it was so awfully written! Yet I read the entire thing?! I do wake at 5 and it hurts most of the time. I have two kids and I feel like my motivation to do it is so I get some time to myself. And waking up with my kids with all their requests is not how I like to start my day.
I love that you took what works for you. Sometimes we kick ourselves for not following what these books suggest we do but I’m with you, do what works for you!
Giiiiiirl, you are in my head!!! In a previous sabbatical, I let my body wake up on its own and it felt amazing! This time around I was also wanting to be part of the 5AM club after reading the book and so signed up to do 6AM bikram yoga everyday. I’m sure this mentality is why I ended up getting sick twice in two weeks, once with COVID during WOP11. 🤣🤣.
So interesting to see this perspective. I've been getting up at 5-6 am for decades. It started in college so I could go to the gym before my morning classes, and I just never stopped. It's the most productive part of my day, and if I sleep in, it throws my entire day off. Literally, the day is wasted if I sleep in until 7-8. For some reason, I can't recover, lol. Awesome to see you were willing to give it a shot, and ultimately figured out what worked for you.
Today was another day in which I planned to get up at 8am and then pressed snoozed 5x. Intending/desiring to get up earlier to jumpstart the day is my keystone version of “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” There are a lot of invisible scripts many of us have around the sanctity/maturity/obligatory importance of getting up earlier. Thanks for writing this to help us rethink its utility and benefit in our own lives!
Ha! This is timely for me as I'm coming to the slow realization that I'm not as much of a morning person as I thought I was and that maybe I just have to accept that and adjust my schedule accordingly instead of starting my day with the poignant disappointment that "my morning was gone," because I snoozed the alarm clock three times.
And I'm also going to turn off my alarm clock (finally). You wrote it so I'm blaming you.
"Just because Robin Sharma dedicated a whole book to it, doesn’t mean it is the right fit for me." We need so many more examples of this, the willingness to trust ourselves and experiment and find what works. To me sharing examples like this are actually what leadership is all about.
First of all, I’m happy for the birds lol. Okay, on a serious note, self help haven’t seemed to helped me too haha tbh. Like you, I also happen to be a night person, after countless multiple attempts I have finally decided to listen to my body. It’s working well, and I also love waking up without “BEEP BEEP BEEP”.
I could relate to this in a big way. Around ten years ago I read a book called "The Miracle Morning," which was also about waking up at 5am. I did it for a month and realized it wasn't for me. You hit the nail on the head that there isn't some hard-and-fast trick that works for everyone, despite what these books would have you believe.
Firstly, I like that you don't want to murder the birds! That's a relief XD.
Let me say, I know the pain of waking up absurdly early. I mean, I just did that for an entire month (you know why).
But on a more serious note, you make a very important point with this piece. You can't and mustn't mold yourself into someone else's productivity mode. That is a recipe for failure. We all must find that groove that works best for us.
Kudos for trying this path. But even more kudos for calling it quits. People forget that calling it quits is not an easy task for many.
HAHA "sales emails are such a waste of muse." You've a sub-expertise brewing in footnote humour. This essay is brimming with self-understanding, self-trust, and self-compassion. I wish we are all able to teach that to our children. Iterate, see what feels good, let go of what doesn't with self-understanding.
For me, I couldnt reject the shoulds of self help books because I was raised on so many shoulds already. So I was wired to obey the shoulds without question, and even my rebellions were just shoulds masquerading as choices. I really admire that you knew what it meant for something to work for you and could be honest about it early enough.
PS: I wonder if I should link some of your essays (like this one) to the line in mine, where I bet on you having done a ton of inner work. <3
From one night owl to another - thanks for normalizing not fitting into the “5AM” mold. I’ve also experimented with early mornings, but time and again, I’ve fallen back into working late at night (when I’m feeling most energized). Happy someone finally said it’s OK not to get the worm.
"The secret was separating the confident “shoulds” of each book with what I observed was best for me."
There it is. ✨✨✨✨✨
I also read the 5am club book and it was so awfully written! Yet I read the entire thing?! I do wake at 5 and it hurts most of the time. I have two kids and I feel like my motivation to do it is so I get some time to myself. And waking up with my kids with all their requests is not how I like to start my day.
I love that you took what works for you. Sometimes we kick ourselves for not following what these books suggest we do but I’m with you, do what works for you!
Giiiiiirl, you are in my head!!! In a previous sabbatical, I let my body wake up on its own and it felt amazing! This time around I was also wanting to be part of the 5AM club after reading the book and so signed up to do 6AM bikram yoga everyday. I’m sure this mentality is why I ended up getting sick twice in two weeks, once with COVID during WOP11. 🤣🤣.
Really liked that you mentioned taking what you need from self-help/productivity type reads! It's never a one-size-fits-all, is it?! :)
So interesting to see this perspective. I've been getting up at 5-6 am for decades. It started in college so I could go to the gym before my morning classes, and I just never stopped. It's the most productive part of my day, and if I sleep in, it throws my entire day off. Literally, the day is wasted if I sleep in until 7-8. For some reason, I can't recover, lol. Awesome to see you were willing to give it a shot, and ultimately figured out what worked for you.
Today was another day in which I planned to get up at 8am and then pressed snoozed 5x. Intending/desiring to get up earlier to jumpstart the day is my keystone version of “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” There are a lot of invisible scripts many of us have around the sanctity/maturity/obligatory importance of getting up earlier. Thanks for writing this to help us rethink its utility and benefit in our own lives!
Ha! This is timely for me as I'm coming to the slow realization that I'm not as much of a morning person as I thought I was and that maybe I just have to accept that and adjust my schedule accordingly instead of starting my day with the poignant disappointment that "my morning was gone," because I snoozed the alarm clock three times.
And I'm also going to turn off my alarm clock (finally). You wrote it so I'm blaming you.
I love the success of failure! Wonderful essay! Thank you.
"Just because Robin Sharma dedicated a whole book to it, doesn’t mean it is the right fit for me." We need so many more examples of this, the willingness to trust ourselves and experiment and find what works. To me sharing examples like this are actually what leadership is all about.
First of all, I’m happy for the birds lol. Okay, on a serious note, self help haven’t seemed to helped me too haha tbh. Like you, I also happen to be a night person, after countless multiple attempts I have finally decided to listen to my body. It’s working well, and I also love waking up without “BEEP BEEP BEEP”.
Lovely post! I’m reminded of Bob Marley & The Wailer’s Three Little Birds 🌞
I could relate to this in a big way. Around ten years ago I read a book called "The Miracle Morning," which was also about waking up at 5am. I did it for a month and realized it wasn't for me. You hit the nail on the head that there isn't some hard-and-fast trick that works for everyone, despite what these books would have you believe.
We all have different chronotypes and morning people often get all the fame:
https://romanshapoval.substack.com/p/you-are-when-you-eat
I'll admit, I am a morning person and a "bear" chronotype.