The 5am club, what to do if you join it?
The cornerstone of achieving world-class performance and living a splendid life
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For you readers:
There is a book called the 5am Club: Own Your Morning, Elevate Your Life … it is worth the time to read it. In a nutshell though: It involves the habit of waking up at 5am daily, starting your day on a right note, and adopting a range of positive habits to multiply your results.
Even in semi-retirement I start my day with the same routine. The alarm goes off a bit later, but getting off to a good start every day matters. My habits revolve around these three E’s … Exercise, Education, and Enlightenment.
Exercise: Each morning, exercise in one way or the other. Walk, run, yoga, stretch or do whatever it is you do to keep your body fit. Exercise has a way to kick in those endorphins and clear your mind.
I walk every day. Seven days a week. My goal is to walk a minimum of 3 miles with my dog. Rain, sleet, snow (and I live in Michigan), I am out there trudging along. On an average basis, I miss 4 or 5 days per year. Even with snowmageddon last week, I got in 2 miles outside on both Wednesday and Thursday.
Education: Do something every morning to increase your skills, whether it is your career or hobby (remember we wrote about skill stacking). Read an article on management or marketing, find a blog you like, listen to a podcast on a procedure. Whatever it is, the goal is to continuously improve every day.
When I think of continuous improvement, I recall someone once saying “don’t compare yourself to anyone else, compare yourself to you - yesterday”. Are you better at something today - yes or no?
Enlightenment: This is up to you. Meditate, read the Bible, write a gratitude journal, something. Do it for you. What can you do to get your creative juices going, clear your mind, and start your day off thinking positive thoughts?
I start each day by writing three things that I am grateful for from the previous day. It is fair to say that some mornings are tougher than others. You will find something, even if you are only grateful that you found 2 matching socks!
Once a week I re-read the entire week out loud to myself. Of course I learned that from Mr. Ziglar. I read it out loud and use “I am grateful for …” it affirms your gratitude, and that you are this or that.
If you have 10 extra minutes this morning, watch this clip on the “woman from Birmingham”.
My day starts with the 3 E’s - your letters can be whatever you want them to be. Focus on positivity. Get the negativity out of your mind before you hit the door for your sales calls, management meetings, dropping the kids off at school, or whatever you need to do. You are in control of your attitude, no one else is.
You will benefit by having a clearer mind, a refined sense of purpose, and will be able to endure or deflect stress. In the end you will multiply your results.
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude” - Zig Ziglar
Take some time this weekend to determine what your routine will be next week. If you need help crafting your 3 letters to start the day give us a call at The Kole Performance Group - remember, we work hard today to improve your tomorrow.