“Wake up before the sunrise.”
“Start your day early.”
“Workout before you start your day.”
“Early-bird gets the worm.”
I’m sure you’ve heard these before. Our culture is keyed on the pressure to produce, and you better believe that includes rising early. It’s scientifically proven to enhance quality of life, increase energy and overall make everything better.
I’ve been trying to fall in line with this for years. I always have a voice in my head telling me that I need to wake up early, I need to seize the day, I need to structure my time better to be more productive. It has always been an internal battle, and I’ve always lost. I’m inherently a night owl, and my creative mind works best at night. This has perpetually put me at odds with my own nature - 4 a.m. nights don’t work well with 6 a.m. mornings.
Tonight, I’m declaring the battle over. I’m raising the white flag and letting go of the struggle, and that comes with some new terms: nothing on the calendar before noon, no calls, no plans, no nothing. I’m giving myself time to be me, and I’m building my life around my nature instead of what other people say I should be.
Now, one can argue this is a sort of cop-out. That voice in my head tells me this is just a way to justify bad habits, to be lazy, to procrastinate - but it’s about time I told that voice to go fuck itself. A quick look through history will inform you that some of the most creative, beautiful minds kept strange hours for their entire lives. I’ll bet they didn’t rise in the afternoon every day feeling guilty - they committed to their nature, and made their life work for them.
People are always going to give you advice. “Do this,” “Do that,” “Follow the science.” That doesn’t mean you need to take it, no matter how “right” it may be. The moral here is to follow your nature, to trust your gut before what that guy said on social media. What works for some may not work for others, and the truth is, we know ourselves better than anyone else. I’ve spent enough years of my life trying to fit into a mold that has never worked for me. At a certain point, that expectation/guilt cycle reaches a point that makes absolutely no sense. What was that thing Einstein said?
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
If you’re an early riser, more power to you. This is definitely not intended to say that’s a bad thing - of course it’s not. Whatever your nature is, follow it. Respect it. Honor it. You may find that life tastes a little sweeter that way.
It works for Colin 🤷🏻♀️