10 Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise Ben
Franklin, famously
Put no trust in the benefits to accrue from early rising, as set forth by the
infatuated Franklin Mark Twain
By Leo Babauta
Recently, reader Rob asked me about my habit of waking at 4!" a#m# each day, and
asked me to write about the health benefits of rising early, which $ thought was an
e%cellent &uestion# 'nfortunately, there are none, that $ know of#
However, there are a ton of other great benefits.
(ow, let me first say that if you are a night owl, and that works for you, $ think that)s
great# *here)s no reason to change, es+ecially if you)re ha++y with it# ,ut for me,
switching from being a night owl to an early riser -and yes, it is +ossible. has been a
godsend# $t has hel+ed me in so many ways that $)d ne/er go back# 0ere are 1ust a few
Greet the day# $ lo/e being able to get u+, and greet a wonderful new day# $ suggest
creating a morning ritual that includes saying thanks for your blessings# $)m
ins+ired by the 2alai 3ama, who said, E/eryday, think as you wake u+, 4today $
am fortunate to ha/e woken u+, $ am ali/e, $ ha/e a +recious human life, $ am not
going to waste it# $ am going to use all my energies to de/elo+ myself, to e%+and
my heart out to others, to achie/e enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, $ am
going to ha/e kind thoughts towards others, $ am not going to get angry or think
badly about others, $ am going to benefit others as much as $ can#)
!a"ing start# $ used to start my day by 1um+ing out of bed, late as usual, and
rushing to get myself and the kids ready, and rushing to dro+ them to school and
come in to work late# $ would walk into work, looking rum+led and barely awake,
grum+y and behind e/eryone else# (ot a great start to your day# (ow, $ ha/e a
renewing morning ritual, $)/e gotten so much done before 5 a#m#, my kids are
early and so am $, and by the time e/eryone else gets in to work, $)/e already
gotten a head start# *here is no better way to start off your day than to wake early,
in my e%+erience#
#uietude# (o kids yelling, no babies crying, no soccer balls, no cars, no tele/ision
noise# *he early morning hours are so +eaceful, so &uiet# $t)s my fa/orite time of
day# $ truly en1oy that time of +eace, that time to myself, when $ can think, when $
can read, when $ can breathe#
$unrise# Peo+le who wake late miss one of the greatest feats of nature, re+eated in
full stereo/ision each and e/ery day 6 the rise of the sun# $ lo/e how the day
slowly gets brighter, when the midnight blue turns to lighter blue, when the
brilliant colors start to see+ into the sky, when nature is +ainted in incredible
colors# $ like doing my early morning run during this time, and $ look u+ at the
sky as $ run and say to the world, 7hat a glorious day8 Really# $ really do that#
9orny, $ know#
Brea%fast# Rise early and you actually ha/e time for breakfast# $)m told it)s one of
the most im+ortant meals of the day# 7ithout breakfast, your body is running on
fumes until you are so hungry at lunchtime that you eat whate/er unhealthy thing
you can find# *he fattier and sugarier, the betterier# ,ut eat breakfast, and you are
sated until later# Plus, eating breakfast while reading my book and drinking my
coffee in the &uiet of the morning is eminently more en1oyable than scarfing
something down on the way to work, or at your desk#
E&er'ise# *here are other times to e%ercise besides the early morning, of course, but
$)/e found that while e%ercising right after work is also /ery en1oyable, it)s also
liable to be canceled because of other things that come u+# :orning e%ercise is
/irtually ne/er canceled#
(rodu'tivity# :ornings, for me at least, are the most +roducti/e time of day# $ like to
do some writing in the morning, when there are no distractions, before $ check my
email or blog stats# $ get so much more done by starting on my work in the
morning# *hen, when e/ening rolls around, $ ha/e no work that $ need to do, and $
can s+end it with family#
Goal ti!e# ;ot goals< 7ell, you should# =nd there)s no better time to re/iew them
and +lan for them and do your goal tasks than first thing# >ou should ha/e one
goal that you want to accom+lish this week# =nd e/ery morning, you should
decide what one thing you can do today to mo/e yourself further towards that
goal# =nd then, if +ossible, do that first thing in the morning#
)o!!ute# (o one likes rush?hour traffic, e%ce+t for ,ig @il# 9ommute early, and the
traffic is much lighter, and you get to work faster, and thus sa/e yourself more
time# @r better yet, commute by bike# -@r e/en better yet, work from home#.
**oint!ents# $t)s much easier to make those early a++ointments on time if you get
u+ early# Ahowing u+ late for those a++ointments is a bad signal to the +erson
you)re meeting# Ahowing u+ early will im+ress them# Plus, you get time to
+re+are#
http://zenhabits.net/10-benefits-of-rising-early-and-how-to-do-it/