I'm building a new habit. I wake up at 5:30am every morning. It's not fun. It sucks. But here's why I'm doing it.
Not long ago I looked around at what is happening to the older generation and I see something terrifying. People don't want to move, they don't want to do things. They'd rather just sit in front of the TV or computer until sickness and old age kills them.
Sitting and relaxing might sound pleasant, but years of bad habits and inaction makes it anything but pleasant. They are in pain. They suffer from diabetes, multiple joint replacement surgeries, and in some cases are having their toes, feet, and legs surgically removed due to disease.
I see all of this and realize that could be me in 30 years. I could easily become someone who doesn't want to move, fight, or even really live any longer. That's not how I choose to live.
Life is meant to be lived. You gotta do stuff!
So, I made the decision to exercise every day. All the healthiest people I’ve met seem to have that habit. I need to do that if I want to avoid so much of the calamity facing humanity right now.
But here's the problem. I have a stressful job with lots of responsibilities. I have a family. My schedule isn't ideal for hitting the gym regularly.
And this isn’t' the first time I've tried to build this habit. Like many people I have an on again off again relationship with exercise. I have a pretty strong track record of what doesn't work and a few ideas of what does work.
For example:
I know I need a consistent time to work out every day. If I skip days I drop the habit. So it needs to be an every day thing, not a 3 times a week thing.
I know that working out at night isn't going to work for me. By the end of the day I am low on energy and less motivated to show up to a workout. It needs to be first thing in the morning.
I know that the workouts can't be too intense because I'll burn out and quit after a few weeks. CrossFit is out, most workout fads are out. It needs to be something I can adjust daily based how I feel.
After thinking about it and looking at my schedule, I decided that waking up at 5:30 am and going to the gym to "do stuff" was the best plan of action.
I set two alarms on my phone - one at 5:30am and one at 5:36am. That way I had backup alarms in case I hit the snooze button. And off I went.
The first few days were fine. The novelty of doing this new schedule was still there. My body wasn't too beat up and sore yet. All good to start.
After a week or two fatigue set in. It would be nice to get more sleep. Lifting weights and doing cardio starts to add up, even on a sensible rotation. I made adjustments, but it's still hard.
Waking up at 5:30 am isn't fun. Even as it develops into a habit. I still hit the snooze on my phone most mornings. Some days I feel terrible and my workouts aren't much more than me driving to the gym, stretching out, walking around and leaving. The struggle is real.
But while waking up at 5:30 in the morning sucks, the alternative is worse. I will take a little dose of suffering each day today to avoid an avalanche of suffering later.
That is the whole point.
I'm not going to become the strongest dude in the gym. I probably won't get six pack abs. And you won't see me becoming a fitness influencer anytime soon and that's fine with me.
I wake up at 5:30 in the morning to move my body and my mind. To get a bit stronger, and a bit healthier so that I can live a better life for as long as I can. It's not always fun.
In truth, waking up at 5:30 in the morning sucks, but it's far better than the alternative. That's why I do it.
Should you do it? That’s up to you.
But I won’t lie, waking up at 5:30 am sucks.
-Brian
P.S. Watch the embedded explainer video at the top of the article for the full multimedia experience. :-)
Thanks for sharing this! This post really resonates with me.
I've been a consistent "recreational" runner for 2 years already. In the past I jumped on that train several times but I always quit shortly (months at most). Although long-term benefits were obvious, the immediate suffering made it not sustainable for me.
By the way, running alone is an excellent activity both for body and mind (more on that below). Not to mention the fact that it's almost free (as beer).
Anyway, back to my story. The different thing this time is that I don't push myself hard. I run 3 times a week at the slowest possible pace for about 30 minutes (which usually makes about 4 kilometers).
Some people go from zero to a marathon finisher in 2 years, but if I tried to do anything remotely like that, I would quit shortly. Nevertheless:
- I don't have any back pain that I occasionally had before
- I brought my weight down a little bit
- (Surprise!) I find this kind of workout very relaxing after a stressful work day. I consider it to be a kind of meditation
BTW I found psychology tricks from "Atomic Habits" by James Clear to be very useful for establishing good habits and breaking bad ones (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40121378-atomic-habits).
Again, thanks for sharing this. I wish you to stay on the fitness trail, because the investment will definitely pay off :)