I made it.
It wasn’t easy, and I didn’t do it perfectly. But I’m glad that I did this.
And I definitely learned some lessons along the way.
1. Start small.
My first goal was to wake up before 8 am. As the habit challenge progressed, I adjusted my goal to wake up before 730 am. I struggled with this one a little bit more but I’m getting there.
2. Be accountable.
Caylee and I emailed each other during the month. It was helpful for me to have an accountability partner and know that I was not alone. Caylee gave lots of encouragement, which helped me to stay motivated during the month.
I also told my mom about my habit challenge so she would wake me up if I still wasn’t out of bed when I needed to be.
3. Don’t make excuses.
This was especially true for me on days when I missed my alarm by just a couple of minutes. I had to constantly remind myself that it was better to wake up a couple of minutes late, than to give up and waste more time sleeping in, since “I woke up late” anyway. No excuses.
4. Weekends are the toughest.
I struggled the most on the weekends when I was tempted to sleep in, or catch up on sleep. I tried to push through it as much as possible but wasn’t always successful.
5. If you miss a day, don’t let yourself get discouraged.
But also, try not to miss two days in a row.
I read that you shouldn’t miss two days in a row because it breaks your habit. But at some point, it happened and I did miss two days, especially over the weekends (I told you they were hard!).
When that happened, I had to focus on my next point.
6. Remember your goal.
My planning from Tiago Forte’s Skillshare class came in handy as I progressed and when things became discouraging. I needed to look back on my plan and remind myself that some progress is better than none and that I am doing better now than I was in the beginning.
Even if you fail, figure out what went wrong and try again.
7. Sleep early to wake up early.
In so many ways, the success of tomorrow depends on today. That means planning for tomorrow the night before, and sleeping early so I could wake up early the next day.
Since I was accustomed to sleeping late, making this adjustment was hard for me. It’s still something I’m working on, and some nights I sleep later than others, but I’m more conscious about getting to bed earlier, instead of working through the night to get work done.
8. There will be good days and bad days.
And since life isn’t perfect, the good and bad days will come and learning to adjust your habit as life happens is necessary. The point of this challenge is not to be perfect, but to create a habit that is sustainable and long-term. So keep that in mind as the month progresses.
9. Listen to your body.
I was fighting the flu for the final few days of this habit so I didn’t finish the month as well as I would’ve liked. But I listened to my body and gave myself the extra rest. Ultimately, I had to figure out what worked for me and my lifestyle, not simply what everyone else did.
Looking back on the past month, I don’t think my habit is thoroughly ingrained yet and waking up early isn’t as automatic as I would like for it to be. But it’s definitely much easier than when I first started and I’ve made progress since the beginning. So I’m happy about that and would consider this past month a success!
What are my plans going forward? I definitely want to keep continue incorporating early waking into my daily routine and let my body adjust to waking up at an even earlier time in the coming months.
I won’t be trying a new habit in December, but I’m already thinking about the next habit I want to build in January when the New Year arrives.
Did you do this habit challenge too? What did you learn during the month? Let me know in the comments!
