My journey to becoming an early riser

I want to share my personal journey with you, and how two great books, ‘The 5 AM Club’ by Robin Sharma and ‘The Miracle Morning’ by Hal Elrod, inspired me to become an early riser.

Before I started waking up at 5am, my life was a busy. I felt constantly overwhelmed, my responsibilities were mounting up and I was secretly resenting the fact I had no time for myself. I knew something had to change.

Up with the larks

The only way to find time for me was to create it, which meant making a lifestyle shift – trust me, you can’t wake up at 5am if you’re still going to be up at 11pm – I needed motivation, so I researched other people’s early morning wake up success stories and that’s where I came across ‘The 5 AM Club’. Robin Sharma’s words resonated with me – “Own your morning, elevate your life.” I decided to follow his advice and embrace the 5am lifestyle. It wasn’t an overnight transformation and I haven’t reached the stage of exercising right after waking up (although I might introduce it in the future). It took time to really embed getting up early into my morning ritual but here’s a few tips on how I approached it.

Catching those worms…

The first thing I do after the alarm goes off is get up straight away. This is key – negotiating with the snooze button is 5am wake-up suicide! Then I go downstairs to savour my first cup of coffee and embrace the silence. As Hal Elrod suggests, “The moment you accept total responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you claim the power to change anything in your life.” I took responsibility for my mornings and now the aroma of coffee is a gentle reminder for me to set the tone for my day.

Meditation has become an essential part of my morning routine, thanks to that extra, uninterrupted hour. It helps me centre myself and prepare for the day ahead. Hal Elrod emphasises, “Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development,” and for me meditation is my personal development practice.

Following my meditation I either dive into a podcast, read (I’ve remembered how much I love to read) or spend some quality time journaling. It’s my way of nurturing my mind and soul.

Of course, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing. A couple of mornings, my son’s woken up early and wanted to join me downstairs. Some days I manage to gently encourage him back to bed while other days he’s agreed to curl up on the sofa with his iPad and headphones. Sneaking past his bedroom door has become an art form, but it’s a small price to pay for this newfound morning serenity.

Rise and shine!

With the recent clock change, the darker mornings have been a challenge to adjust to, but after a week, I’m in the groove. The result? I feel happier and more refreshed compared to my old self. The simple act of waking up at 5am has been a game-changer and it’s only the beginning of my journey to take more time for myself.