Everyday Feels Like Christmas
I can’t help it. I just have to wake up by 6:15am every morning because life just feels too darn exciting! In fact, I woke up this morning at 4:30am, but that was thanks to my thumping pet rabbit. Do you remember the feeling during Christmas eve as a kid, when you were so excited you couldn’t sleep? As a result, you’d sneak down and wait in the middle of the night to see if Santa is coming? You even tried getting a sneak peak by pealing back a corner of the present to see what you’ve got! That was me growing up, the constant rascal.
Somewhere in the middle of adolescence and adult hood, I lost that excitement. Perhaps it was the constant pressure of trying to get good grades so I could get a real job and not have to go back to McDonald’s. I recall dreading my 8am multi-variable Calculus class during college. Surprise, surprise, I dropped the class and signed up for Golf III (advanced level baby) instead! That was when I began to rekindle my excitement as a kid again. I was learning something I just loved, and couldn’t get enough.
FINDING THAT DESIRE
As soon as I wake up, I can’t wait to check my e-mails and see what’s going on in the world. Part of the reason why I’m looking to meet more people internationally is because they are up when the East Coast is sleeping. As a result, I’ll get to interact more with people in the evenings, which is my free time.
There’s very little that makes me happier than building relationships. In fact, dare I say nothing makes me happier than the relationships we have with our family and friends? Money is nice, but money is even better when we can spend it on others to help make them happy.
Just the other day, I spent hours painting, caulking, and cleaning our rental apartment. I went out and bought a new shower head, fixed some fixtures, and even got the carpets professionally cleaned. All was worth it when my tenant came in and said, “Wow!” She was smiling from ear to ear, and commented on how sparkly everything looked. Now that’s gratifying! We got to talking about her life and her aspirations. Relationships with clients can be wonderful.
MORE TIME CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED
One of my stretch goals is to try and wake up the same time everybody wakes up on the East Coast (8am EST assumption = 5am PST), and go to bed three hours after them (assumption 12pm PST/3am EST). In essence, I’m trying to build in 3 more hours of time into my day. All else being equal, if you have three more hours a day than your competitors, you will undoubtedly win and run circles around them frankly.
Three hours more a day is 90 hours more a month to work on your projects, be them personal projects or work projects. Let’s say you can only stay awake for one more hour a day. Don’t you think you can still do amazing things with 30 extra hours a month? You bet your buns of steel you can!
There’s a large group of people out there who just love to sleep in, myself included! There’s something so special about hearing the alarm clock, and knowing it’s Saturday and you don’t have to get up. What I’m saying is that if you find something you just absolutely love to do everyday, you won’t need that alarm clock and will bounce right out of bed every single morning.
LOOK FOR THAT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS WHILE YOU SLEEP
Practice waking up earlier for one hour a day, everyday for the next month. You might feel a little groggy in the beginning, but that will start to fade as you focus that extra hour on doing whatever it is you love. When you start seeing progress in your activity, you’ll discover that waking up early gets easier and easier until you just automatically get up! Trust me on this folks, you can move mountains with just one hour extra a day for the rest of your life.
Have a fantastic Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Regards,
Sam
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I love blogging first thing in the morning..although the catholic guilt part of me says I should really be going down to the basement onto my trainer. I need a lot more sleep than my husband and it’s nice to be able to function on 5 hours.
I did it for years in college while going to school full time and working. It felt like I spent 5 years in a hazy stupor. It definitely wasn’t ideal for me and I don’t want to go back there.
It is scary how much time we waste though. I bet everyone has at least an hour a day that they could be doing something more productive with. This is a nice holiday post. Thanks
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 24th, 2010 at 5:50 am
Nice! Do you have a physical trainer hanging out in the basement waiting to train you though? If so, that’s sweet, unless I’m reading things wrong! :)
I’ve been up since 4am since I passed out downstairs and my pet bunny keeps hopping around.
Everybody definitely has an extra 1 hour in their day!
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Everyday Tips Reply:
December 24th, 2010 at 6:29 am
The trainer response was a good one!!!!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 24th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Make me a grilled cheese sandwich Alfred! Pronto!
First Gen American Reply:
December 24th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
I meant the little spinny thing my bike sits on. Usually I don’t keep people in my basement.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 25th, 2010 at 5:55 am
Ahhhhh, gotcha! :) Just joking around. Glad Alfred isn’t trapped in the basement salivating to work you into shape! Merry Christmas!
Sam, I looked back at this year and I realized that 2010 was a subpar year for me! I’m up enough (I have a short sleeping schedule too), but I don’t think I maximized my awake hours enough during the day!
So part of my goal for next year is to maximize and optimize all the things that deserve my attention!
As a child I did all that you mention above too. In fact, I would even sneak and open 1 present that I thought might be an electronic game… Then I would play it when I though everybody was asleep! That was great until I got busted. :(
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 24th, 2010 at 6:15 am
Hahaha, nice. I never got busted b/c I never got much of any presents. I think I got a comb once, and some books another. Can’t do much playing with those bad boys! Oh yes, lots of t-shirts too.
2010 was your year that you went debt free! That’s a pretty damn huge accomplishment if you ask me!
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I have found that I am more excited to get out of the bed these days too. However, if I got only 5 hours of sleep, I would be sick every day of the year. My immune system needs a certain amount of sleep it appears. I shoot for 7 hours and that seems to work. I live on the east coast though, so I accommodate no one! :)
I would love if I could shift ‘up’ an hour. I would love to get up at 5:30 and get all my exercising in and then blogging, and then start on my part time job. Maybe if I had a trainer like Sandy has….
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 24th, 2010 at 9:06 am
East coast time bias! haha… OK, I will make it my mission next year to make sure America follows the WEST COAST time! PST is the standard time, please be aware from now on. When I say going to bed at midnight, that means 3am for you!
Gonna get me a trainer too.. a one and two and three and four and…
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“Christmas” started for me 10 years ago when I started teaching. The key is passion, I love my job! I look forward to go to work, but it doesn’t stop there. I think of lessons on the weekends. Since I started my blog, I feel the same passion! I probably spend 25-40 hours a week on it. This is only my fourth month! Rather than spending more time, I am trying to get more efficient.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 24th, 2010 at 9:02 am
Sounds great! Congrats on finding work you love to do!
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What time do you go to bed Sam? I know that our melatonin levels are highest between the hours of 10pm to 12am.. I’ve been bad at sleeping past midnight, but I don’t wake up as early as you.. 6:45 or so is my earliest. As people get older, they don’t sleep as well (LOL I am NOT calling you old!) or need as much sleep.
I remember the good ol’ days when I was a teenager and slept for 11 hours easily.
I’m going to try going to bed earlier and waking up earlier now :)
Merry Christmas!!
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youngandthrifty Reply:
December 24th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Whoops, meant to say I’ve been bad because I’ve been sleeping past midnight consistently.
Haha, as you can tell I just woke up a few minutes ago, speaking of sleep.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 24th, 2010 at 9:09 am
I go to bed around midnight to 1am, but sometimes like 4-5am if I’m working on something or playing poker :) What does high melatonin do for you?
Thanks for calling me old. Appreciate it! haha. It’s OK, I refer to myself as an old man all the time in my posts.
Have a good Xmas!
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Super post, Sam, and I agree. I need more sleep than you (7 to 8 hours) but I never set alarm clocks and hop out of bed, provided I’m happy.
It’s *always* a problem in relationships. I’ve never met a women who didn’t want to sleep 11 hours given the chance, and I assume women like me find most men the same.
People who are happy going to bed but just as happy hopping out are rare. Those that can actually function in the first hour of the day are rarer still!
Still, maybe it all adds up to say I should be a newspaper delivery boy. ;)
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 24th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Ha! I think delivery boy is a declining service thanks to the internet. That’s an interesting theory about one’s woman always wanting to sleep in more than the man. Maybe you are right… hmmmmmmmmm.
Because I don’t use an alarm, I don’t have a snooze. So basically, as soon as I wake up, I’m ready to go!
Happy holidays.
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Nice post. I’m a little better about getting up earlier this year over last. I admit I have to set an alarm though or I could easily sleep until 9, 9:30 on the weekends. I’m hoping that the older I get the less sleep my body will want!! Hey and great job with that song! That’s awesome
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 25th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Power sleeper! I’m kinda jealous, b/c I know it feels great to sleep in sometimes. Also, my body physically tells me I gotta wake up to go to the restroom too.
I know people who are paradoxically light sleepers, but who can sleep in for a long time. Ain’t that strange??
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Charlie Reply:
December 25th, 2010 at 11:05 am
ha that is strange. :) Merry Christmas!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 25th, 2010 at 11:12 am
Or, really heavy heavy sleepers who sleep through house alarms, but wake up alert so bright and early. Weird eh? :)
Ever since I started blogging/my training regimen of kickboxing/weights a few years ago, I absolutely love to wake up early. The gym is soo empty, Twitter is dead, everyone is sleeping and I get to to work away!If I’m ever extremely exhausted there’s nothing like a quick nap hour nap in the afternoon to boost your energy back up. I just feel while I’m sleeping I’m missing out on something.
The only time I enjoy sleeping in is after a night of heavy drinking. With my birthday coming up on Sunday don’t expect to see me up early Monday morning lol!
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 25th, 2010 at 8:32 am
Good work MD! That’s sweet you have the blogging and exercise training regimen tied together. That will go a long way towards balance and sanity!
Last time I drank heavily was…. I can’t remember! haha.
Hope you have a good birthday!
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I’m trying to get in the habit of waking up, then going to the gym for an hour a few times a week — it hasn’t been working, but I’m going to keep trying. Part of it, is I’m a bit of a night owl, for no real reason — when work starts back up for the new year, I’ll try to get into this routine for good.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 25th, 2010 at 8:33 am
What about doing pushups, situps, and jumping jacks at night instead? Since you got a blog, do that after every post!
http://www.financialsamurai.com/2010/03/09/the-mental-to-physical-connection-healthier-lifestyle/
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You would have loved the military Sam, you get up early everyday! For ten years I was up every morning before 6am to exercise and besides hating getting up I always felt great after the work out.
Now that I am a civilian I don’t get up as early, but I still get up early enough to get in a quick work out before having breakfast with the kids and seeing them off to school. I agree that everyone has time they could use more efficiently and if we could tap just a portion of that time there is no telling to what amazing things we might accomplish.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 25th, 2010 at 8:30 am
Dear Patrick, I think I would not love the military :) I believe if I was forced to get up by 6am, my instincts would automatically kick in to NOT want to wake up then! lol.
That’s great you are still waking up early enough to exercise before sending the kids off to school!
Merry Christmas!
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Sam, you have the winning edge – that desire to get up early and go to bed late because life and what you are doing excites you so much. After all I’ve studied, this one factor is one of the main separator’s between contenders and pretenders.
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Financial Samurai Reply:
December 25th, 2010 at 5:57 am
Thanks Jeremy. You too man. I like the thoughts that have been swirling around in your head that you’ve put down on your blog. You should definitely do several more guest posts on other sites to get your name out there. I think others will really enjoy what you have to say!
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Only 5 hours of sleep a night? I think I would fall flat on my face… I would love to be able to jump out of bed on 5hrs sleep a night, but the body doesn’t seem to agree. ;)
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I love to get up early in the morning! It seems I am able to get so much more done in the first few hours of the day and I love the peace and quiet too. ( Luckily, no rabbits to disturb me ) Great post, definitely generates a level of excitement and enthusiasm about what to do with an extra hour a day.
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early to bed, early to rise, keeps a man healthy, wealthy, and wise . . . “Napoleon Hill” I believe?
My body clock is set to be up by 6am, no matter what time i go to bed. sometimes i feel the fatigue the next day but most days i do not. i attribute it to conditioning/exercise and diet.
here is another fact (maybe self proclaimed) by drill sergeants in the army: a soldier gets more done by noon than most people do in an entire day. a solider is usually up by 4am
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I screwed my sleep pattern recently but after my friend is gone (she is visiting for a week next week) I plan to really hammer down on the routine and start getting my 40mins-1.5hours exercise a day in before 9:30 every morning rather than at random times like I am now. There is nothing better than coming to 3 in the afternoon and realising everything planned (work wise) is done for the day but that hasn’t been me in recent weeks….. I will get back though.
You should read Tim Ferris 4 hour work week and 4 hour body, I think you would appreciate his approach to efficiency.
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