One of my favorite authors; Robin Sharma, is currently writing a book titled, “The 5AM Club”. When I first heard of this title a couple years back it sent me on a quest to find out more about how this club works and how waking up extra early can account for success.
One year later, I have built in the habit of being up at 5am.
But why?
In trying to answer this question I began reading “Tribe of Mentors” by Timothy Ferriss in which he interviews hundreds of influential leaders from multiple fields around the world to gather, compile and share their advice with everyday people like you and I to improve our lives.
As I have been going through this book (sometimes between 5am-6am) I have noticed a common thread among all the leaders. All of the influential leaders in some shape or form emphasize the value they place on being physically active on a daily basis. In fact, many of them highlight that they are typically moving or working out first thing in the morning between 5am and 6am.
This led me to a powerful conclusion which I want to share with you as well.
All influential leaders have a commonality in that they value daily physical activity.
It is no conicidance that winning the battle against the mattress before the sunrises is key to success. But after reading Tribe Of Mentors and in anticipation of the 5AM Club I can say with confidence that if you are going to evaluate your life to become more productive, effective and successful, waking early and moving before the sun rises will help you get there faster and allow you to be healthier as you work towards you goals.
I have personally adopted this to my lifestyle this past year and have seen the results daily, weekly and monthly. I rise at 5am, write and work on my book until 6am, then I head out the door for 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
Here are the reasons to why I am in the ‘5iver’ and why I am a firm believer of doing physical activity before the day starts.
Peak State Thinking
Life is a series of thoughts. Why not make them higher thoughts? Benjamin Hardy, who is a top writer on Medium, introduced me to this idea of peak state thinking and he is onto something. Getting to a place in your mind which is filled with clarity, visioning, acceptance and ultimate focus is critical to starting your day and your week correctly. For example, when I am running at 6am I begin to think about P1, P2 and P3 items for the day. What is a priority 1 item? Priority 2 item? Priority 3 item? I begin to unpack complex problems and find solutions while generating new ideas, fresh perspectives and valuable insight into my writing, hobbies, relationships and my work. Peak state thinking is a facilitated by-product of physical activity in the morning. For you, it may be cycling, weight training, yoga or simply walking. All of these types of movement can help facilitate this state for you.
High Sense of Accomplishment
Imagine the feeling of winning your favorite game. Imagine finishing your first 5km race. What does that feel like for you? Why not have that feeling everyday? I often run at 6am and when I finish my run I feel overly accomplished and successful before I have even walked out the door. I have already won despite what the world may throw at me. I have achieved something great which no one can take away from me. Why not let this be the same for you?
Emotional Resilience
Similar to my point above, moving before the sun rises builds a tremendous amount of emotional resilience inside of me. When I miss my early morning workout, I am an emotional ticking time bomb just waiting to be set off. I feel defenceless in tense situations. Alternatively, when I do get my movement in first thing in the morning I feel emotionally unstoppable and emotionally indestructible. My head is clear and my heart is full.
Health Is Wealth
Robin Sharma once wrote, “Health is the wealth that only the sick man can see”. By investing your morning time in quality physical activity you are positivity contributing to your health. Do this day after day, week after week and you are adding quality years to your life. Moving in the mornings is a great way to kick your metabolism in gear and a great way to resist unhealthy food choices throughout your day. after all, do you really want to ruin your early morning workout by having an unhealthy afternoon snack?
Anticipation
John C Maxwell is really big on this in a lot of his writing. Moving first thing in the morning releases endorphins throughout your body which allow you to feel good about your life. The by-product of this is that you can better anticipate the day to come. After all, nothing can be as strenuous as what you just went through, right? Nothing can be as challenging as you pushing yourself before you enter the world and your place of work. You can anticipate the challenges that are ahead because you know you can handle them.
Crush The Day Before It Crushes You
We have all had those days where the world just doesn’t work in our favor. You get knocked around all day and then return home to only be knocked around again. Just when you think you have nothing left, you get a call or an email that is disheartening and you need to address it right away. Those days happen to all of us. We all feel defeated from time to time so why not crush your day before it decides to try to crush you?
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If you want to start your day like many successful industry champions do, you will find all of these things will begin to unveil themselves to you when you start the day being physically active.
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This post was previously published on Medium.
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Photo credit: Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash