Waking up early, getting out of bed and starting the day has, for some reason, become the ultimate challenge for so many people. Yet, waking up early is one of the best things you can do.

Why? I hear you ask.

For a start, early mornings are the most beautiful time of the day. With so few people doing it, it also means it is the quietest time of the day too. It means you get to spend quality time with yourself without the risk of being interrupted or disturbed and, it means you have time to work on the things you want to work on.

Waking up early is simple. Set your alarm, go to bed, wake up when your alarm goes off. Simple eh? Well, simple, yes. Easy? Maybe not.

It can be very hard to open our eyes, get out of bed and stumble to the coffee making facilities. It’s made even harder if you didn’t go to bed until 1 or 2am.

Now if you feel waking up as late as possible, staggering out of bed bleary-eyed, turning on the coffee pot, walking around your home in a daze knowing you have only twenty-minutes before you have to leave home to get to work is a better alternative, good luck.

So how to become a morning person consistently? Here are a few steps that have worked for me.

1. Decide to Start

The first step is easy. Just decide that from now on, you are going to wake up early.

Decide what time you want to wake up and then set the date. On the assigned day, set your alarm for the time you want to wake up and just wake up, get out of bed.

Making the decision is the easy part. Starting is the hardest. So make that decision. Once you make the decision and start it just gets easier.

2. Know How Much Sleep You need

How much sleep do you need? This was a mistake I made when I started waking up early. I did not work out how much sleep I needed.

We are all different here. Some people need nine to ten hours of sleep, others four to six. I need between six and seven hours. Once I discovered how much sleep I needed, I could modify the time I went to bed each night.

So, I need between six and seven hours sleep per night, which meant I needed to go to bed between 10pm and 10:30pm and now, for the most part, I manage to do that.

Once you know how much sleep you need, you can modify your bedtime accordingly. If you need seven hours of sleep and want to start waking up at 6 am, you should aim to be in bed by 10:30 pm. This will allow you thirty minutes to drift off and ensure you get your seven hours.

3. Have a Plan

Okay, so you are going to wake up earlier. Great, now what? What will you do with the extra hour or so? You need a plan.

Robin Sharma has been peaching about getting up at 5am for years and in his recently published book, The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning Elevate Your Life, he goes into a lot of detail about what you can do with that morning hour you create for yourself.

Robin advocates doing 20 minutes exercise, 20 minutes planning and twenty minutes studying. I love this concept myself. I modified that a little and instead of exercise, I study Korean for thirty minutes, then do 15 minutes planning and finish the hour with 15 minutes of meditation. For me, that one hour focused on what is important to me sets me up for a perfect day.

The beauty of waking up early is you get to choose what you do with your extra time. The best advice I can give you is whatever you do with that time, make sure it is time you spend on yourself and not doing anything like checking email or your social media feeds. There will be plenty of time to do that later in the day. This morning hour is for you.

4. Pick a Date and Just Start

Slowly reducing your waking up time is a very painful way to wake up earlier. You end up prolonging the transition period and that is not pleasant. Just pick a day—Mondays are a good day to start—and wake up at the time you have chosen to wake up.

Now, I am not going to tell you it will be easy. It won’t. If you have been waking up at 7:30am for years and you start waking up at 5am, it will be difficult. You will feel rotten in the afternoon for a few days. It took me around four days to get used to waking up at 5am.

The transition period was tough. The afternoons were particularly hard. But after a few days, it became easier. I started going to bed a little earlier and after a few days, I was sleeping much better at night. All that is just part of the transition and the transition period only lasts for a few days.

Being mentally prepared for a tough few days though will make it bearable. Accept that for a few days, you will not feel great; but understand that once you pass through this transition period, you will find it much easier to wake up at your new earlier hour.

5. Don’t Overthink It, Just Do It

Once you decide you want to wake up early, just do it. Decide when you will begin, set your alarm and just do it.

Too often, we tend to overthink these things and then find all the excuses we need to prevent us from ever starting. We go to bed early, find ourselves being unable to sleep and so, we then tell ourselves that we won’t start tomorrow—we’ll start the next day instead. We end up in a perpetual cycle of never actually starting. It’s always going to be the next day or the next week.

Look, whenever you start, it is going to be hard. But you only need a few days to transition and soon, it will be easy and it will become a habit. And then, you will wonder why it took you so long to get started.

The sooner you start, the sooner you will begin to enjoy the benefits of waking up early and having an extra hour in your day for yourself to do the things you want to do, without being interrupted or distracted by other people’s crises and issues.

6. Make Your Morning Routine “Me Time”

A difficulty we all face these days is finding any time in the day just for ourselves. To read the books we want to read, to exercise and to just be with our thoughts. When you begin waking up an hour or so earlier each day, you get to find that time.

Those pre-dawn hours are so quiet that you can do what you want to do without the risk of someone else disturbing you. This is your time. That is why you do not want to be using this time for doing more work.

Just enjoy the extra time you have and do the things you want to do. During the winter months, go out for a walk before the sunrises and watch it rise. In the summer months, you can open your windows and listen to the birds waking up without their song being drowned out by the noise of cars and trucks.

7. Don’t Break the Chain

The concept of ‘don’t break the chain’ is a very valuable concept to use here. Essentially, what you do is make a checkmark on a calendar or in a diary to indicate those days when you woke up and got out of bed at your desired time. After a few days, you will find you don’t want to ‘break’ your consistent run. It creates some self-competition and adds some motivation to keep you going when things get tough.

When I began waking up at 5am, I used my journal to write down the days I woke up at 5am. At the top of the page, I wrote “Day XX – 5AM Club”. Over time, it was fantastic to see the number increasing. I got to Day 173 before I had to break the chain because I flew to Europe and the time zone difference between Asia and Europe messed up my routine. The cool thing about this though, is when I returned to Asia, I restarted the count. I am now on Day 82 and I have 92 days to go to beat my previous best. That’s great motivation.

Counting the days is fun, but the reality is waking up at 5am no longer feels like a challenge. It is something I just do. It feels natural to wake up at 5am to make a coffee and sit down to study Korean. I love learning new words and phrases and the fifteen minutes of planning I have after I finish my Korean studying sets me up for a wonderful day, where I am completely focused on my objectives. Then, I have my fifteen minutes of quiet meditation before making my breakfast and starting my day.

8. Just Enjoy the Time

With everything that goes on in our lives throughout the day, it can be hard just to have a moment to ourselves. To reflect, appreciate and be grateful for what we have. The time you create for yourself by waking up early gives you that time and so, don’t waste it thinking about the problems you have to deal with. Use the time positively and appreciate it.

Listen to your favourite music, the birds or a beautiful meditative album. Whatever you decide to do, this is your time so just enjoy it.

The Bottom Line

Waking up early gives you space. Space for yourself in a world designed to distract you. It gives you the time to reflect, work on the things you want to do and enjoy some quiet ‘me time’.

All you need to do is decide to wake up earlier, then set the date and begin. All a little time for the transition and just enjoy the time you have for yourself.

Remember to set a date when you will start and just start. Accept there will be a short transition period. The sooner you start, the sooner waking up early will be easy. Then, have a plan for what you will do with your extra morning time and make it “me time”. Also, appreciate the quiet and beauty all around you and wallow in the pleasure it brings you.

More About Becoming a Morning Person

• Need Morning Motivation? 30 Morning Routines to Help You Start Afresh
• The Ultimate Morning Routine to Make You Happy And Productive All Day
• How to Get Motivated and Be Happy Every Day When You Wake Up
• The Ultimate Guide To Your Most Productive Morning Ever
• How To Wake Up Earlier: Science-Backed Tricks For Night Owls

Featured photo credit: Keenan Constance via unsplash.com

One of the best decisions I’ve ever made was to take on the job of hosting my own weekly radio show. My radio show is about finding some of the most successful people in the world and bringing them on my show to ask them about what they did to become so successful in life and business.

In this article, I’m going to share with you some of the key takeaways I’ve picked up from talking to – and reading about – thought leaders from various fields about the things successful people do. Here, you can get some insights on how to get what you want.

Ready to dive in? Let’s go.

1. They Know What They Want

The first and most important thing that successful people do to always get what they want is so simple that most people forget about it: they figure out what they actually want.

When you know what you want, you will also know how to get what you want. If you’re unsure about what you want in life and business, I’d suggest picking up some career and self-improvement books to help you gain some clarity and focus.

2. They Are Assertive

Successful people know that they need to be both bold and sincere. Balancing these two characteristics is the essence of assertiveness.

Oh, and by the way – being assertive is not a natural talent someone is born with. Assertiveness is a learned skill and anyone can do it, including you!

3. They Learn

You may have heard of the old saying, “great leaders are readers”. For the most part, I’d say this is true.

Let me give you an example. On my radio show, I regularly ask successful people about their habits that lead to success. Do you want to know something really neat? Every single one of them reads books.

Successful people read and learn as much as they can about what they want so that they can get what they want. If you’re curious about how to get what you want, then start reading a book. If you’re low on time, subscribe to a book summary site to get the core concepts of the books in your industry quickly.

4. They Make Things Meaningful

One of the most powerful things successful people do to always get what they want is that they make things meaningful. That is, they ensure that whatever endeavor they decide to embark upon is meaningful to them (and not necessarily to anyone else). They know and understand that it’s only worth it if it matters.

5. They Ask

One big thing that successful people always do to get what they want is this: they ask.

Most people are too shy to ask for what they really want. If you are too shy to ask, you may never know how to get what you want. So, don’t be like most people.

Here’s an exercise you can do to get over it: next time you’re buying something, regardless of what it is, ask for a discount. Just do it. The worst-case scenario is that you’ll get a chuckle from the Barrista at Starbucks. The best-case scenario is that you’ll get comfortable with negotiating when it’s time to buy your next car.

6. They Take Action

Insight without action is useless. Successful people know that to always get what they want, they’ve got to take massive action.

One of the most powerful exercises I’ve ever discovered is this: never leave the sight of a goal without taking some kind of action towards its achievement. In other words, as soon as you decide you want something or as soon as you set a goal of some kind, do something – anything – that shifts you closer towards getting it.

7. They Use Their Time Wisely

Have you ever heard of NET time? It stands for “No Extra Time”.

For example: when you’re driving and sitting in traffic, are you listening to Mylie Cyrus? Or are you listening to an audiobook?

Successful people take NET time seriously. Get yourself some audiobook so you can start listening to the best business and self-improvement books available – all while you’re on your way to work in the morning.

8. They Choose to Lead

You don’t need to have formal authority to become a leader. You just need to choose yourself. All successful people know this, and so should you. Knowing how to get what you want requires knowing how to lead the way for others and yourself.

Don’t wait for anyone else to do it, because the truth is that most people want to be led anyway. So, just step up and claim authority. Be the leader you wish you always had.

9. They Contribute

Successful people know that to get what they want, they have to be willing to help other people get what they want.

What happens when you stop doing your job? What happens when you stop caring about your schoolwork? What happens when you become emotionally disconnected from a relationship?

You suffer – that’s what happens. Successful people know and understand that in order to succeed, they need to contribute. They need to add value to the lives of others. They need to do their best so that they can become the best.

So, Now What?

I hope this article has re-ignited the fire that you already had within you to be successful at any endeavor. The reason why I’m stressing the fact that you’ve already got everything you need to succeed and get what you want is that you wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t already motivated to be successful.

At the end of the day, however, all the insights in the world are worth nothing unless you combine them with action. When it’s all said and done, it’s your decision what you do with this list and how you apply it to your life and career.

But if I may, here’s what I would suggest you consider as you get started doing the things to help you succeed:

Review this list of the 9 things successful people do to always get what they want and then compare it with where you currently are at each one of these 9 things. Rate yourself in each one of the 9 things. Next, pick just ONE of them to work on every week.

For example, if you find that you’d like to learn more about the business side of the company you work for, then go read the best business books to help you do that.

Never stop learning. Always feed your mind with the knowledge you need to become as successful as possible within your area or industry. It doesn’t matter how busy you are. We’re all busy. Make the time to expand your knowledge.

And remember: every key learning should be immediately followed with action.

More Tips About Leading a Successful Life

• 19 Definitions Of Success You Should Never Ignore
• How to Access Your Personal Power to Create Success
• 9 Millionaire Success Habits That Will Inspire Your Life

Featured photo credit: Austin Distel via unsplash.com