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One of my resolutions for 2007 is to make a habit of waking up at 5:00 and either doing something productive or working out. So far the results have been mixed. I seem to be doing OK on mornings when I’m going to ride bike, but am not doing so hot on the other days. I’m not sure why I’ve been having such a hard time rolling out of bed over the last couple of years. I used to pop right up when the alarm went off and never hit the snooze button. As of late, though, I’m practically wearing out the snooze button on our alarm.

Every time the alarm goes off there’s this fierce debate between the forces that are telling my body to get up and the ones presenting well-thought out arguments as to why I need to stay cuddled up in bed. It’s amazing how convincing my lazy side can be and how eloquent it can present the case for taking the day off from working out or reading at noon instead of in the morning or doing whatever I had planned to do at some other time. I’m starting to learn that preventing this type of internal dialog is the key to getting up early.

I found an interesting blog that has an article titled How to become an early riser. Here’s an excerpt that touches on exactly what I’m finding in my own “research.”

When my alarm goes off every morning, I turn it off, stretch for a couple seconds, and sit up. I don’t think about it. I’ve learned that the longer it takes me to get up, the more likely I am to try to sleep in. So I don’t allow myself to have conversations in my head about the benefits of sleeping in once the alarm goes off. Even if I want to sleep in, I always get up right away.

If you’ve known me for any length of time then you probably know I’m always doing weird little challenges like this, mainly just to see if I can do them. And, for the most part, I can usually do whatever it is I put my mind to. Stop drinking soda? No problem. Give up coffee? Done. Become a vegetarian? 6 years and counting. Get out of bed every single day at 5:00am? Uh, maybe I’ll start that tomorrow… But seriously, now that I’ve publicly proclaimed my intention, I guess I’m accountable and will need to redouble my efforts. I’ll report back soon on how things are going.

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