Win the morning. Win the day.
Personally speaking, I believe that if you win the morning, you win the day.
Through time, there have been many other notable remarks on this theme too - I know I’m neither alone nor a revolutionary in this thought.
"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise".
— Benjamin Franklin
"The morning is worth more than all the rest of the day".
— Henry David Thoreau
“The sun has not caught me in bed in fifty years.”
— Thomas Jefferson
“The early bird catches the worm.”
— Erm? Birds?
My personal favorite is the translation of Marcus Aurelius who noted that “a day well begun is half won”.
I love that.
Because in both my personal and professional experience, by winning the morning, we reduce the pressure of the rest of the day.
We limit the power and pressure of when the rest of the world wakes and demands our time, attention, and resources, we’ll succumb to those needs without having first looked after ourselves.
I’m talking about physical exercise, a nourishing meal, and a difficult task.
Not only do these things set us up for success, make us feel good (endorphins anyone), and get us ahead of the demands of the day, but they also fortify the belief that we matter too.
That our needs are as important as those we care for and support. Because they are.
This is something that most guys I work with struggle to hold before we begin working together.
As they embark on their 100% custom training, nutrition, and recovery program however, they begin to see the trickle-down effects of how looking after themselves allows them to look after those they care for, lead, and support, better.
The way I think of it is, “I do this on my own time, so I don’t have to do it on anyone else's”.
That means I’m up and moving (usually walking on my walkpad at my desk), working on my first priority of the day, and often completing it, before my wife wakes up, my dog needs a walk, or my clients have questions.
A day well-begun is half won.
This is something that takes time and that requires intentional and systematic effort to establish.
It won’t happen all at once, and it might suck at first. But once you’ve won the morning enough times, the idea of staying up late, hitting snooze, or getting a slow start to the day will sound more stressful than getting up early ever could.
Jay @ builtXyou
How Busy Guys Transform Their Health, Fitness, and Physique
