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30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 3

4/23/2011 SA 5:07 AM Pacific Time
30 Days of 5 AM – Day 3

Last night, I was supposed to go downtown with a friend but I laid down to take a nap at 6:45 PM and never woke to my 8:15 PM alarm. As a result, I never set my 5:00 AM alarm. It’s Saturday morning and I’m laying awake in bed with my eyes closed at 5:07 AM without the aid of an alarm.

Day 1 and Day 2 were desperate struggles to stay awake requiring jumping out of bed, removing myself from the bedroom, drinking water and subjecting myself to bright light. This morning, I safely lay in bed with my eyes closed, reflecting on today and the night I missed yesterday, with little anxiety or risk of falling back asleep.

Two Main Schools of Thought
There’s two main schools of thought when it comes to when a person should sleep.

  1. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
  2. Go to bed and wake up whenever your body tells you to.

I’m taking a third approach that combines the two. I’m going to bed whenever my body tells me to and waking up at the same time every day (5 AM).

Progress
To be honest, I haven’t felt happy or optimistic this morning or either of the other 5 AM mornings. I remember in the past, my occasional 6 AM, 5 AM and 4 AM escapades always came with excitement. This is very likely due to extenuating circumstances and has little to do with 5 AM. On a quieter level, I am glad to finally be making honest strides towards a life-long goal: waking up at 5 AM every day; and I’m quietly excited to eventually take the next step which has been my real motivation all along.

30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM
First: 30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 1
Previous: 30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 2
Next: 30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 4

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Geoffrey Hale

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Comments

5 responses to “30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 3”

  1. 30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 2 | Hale Health Blog

    […] 30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 1 30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 2 Next: 30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 3 Related […]

    Reply
  2. Emmie Avatar
    Emmie

    what is your "next step" aka your true motivation?

    Reply
    1. GeoffreyHale Avatar
      GeoffreyHale

      As well as I understand myself, much of self-improvement "stepping" is in the joy of the current step, with or without knowledge of the next. In this case, I do have a next step, so I can answer your question, but I suspect that my true motivation is actually just in the process of stepping. I've always enjoyed self improvement. Also, I've found that even when the self improvement is not as generally targeted or obviously applicable to deeper motivations, the new efficiencies and strength of character tend to support me in my ever shifting pursuits of health, wealth and life experience (which may be my true motivation). In short, I've found that regardless of what I'm improving there tend to be collateral benefits contributing to more tangible motivations.

      However, you may have picked up on how planted the words "next step" are in the article above. I do have a very specific answer that's not as evasive as my last paragraph. I'll publish an article this afternoon that should give more clarity to my next step(s). =)

      Reply
  3. Emmie Avatar
    Emmie

    Perfect. I believe if everybody seeking self improvement, which is almost everybody, were able to remember that much of the satisfaction and success is remembering the joy of each step, people would have much more enjoyable transitions and optimal outcomes if upon their wakening were able to remind themselves of this incredible, undeniable, and enlightening truth. I look forward to reading this article you speak of.

    Reply
  4. 30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 4 | Hale Health Blog

    […] Days of Waking Up at 5 AM First: 30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 1 Previous: 30 Days of Waking Up at 5 AM – Day 3 Next: Coming […]

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