A habit that has revolutionised my motivation and energy.
Cover photo credit: Anita van Gendt
Yes, yes, I know this is not a style article. I have made a commitment to a blog and YouTube upload schedule that requires three blog articles and two YouTube videos per week. I have decided that of the eight videos per month that seven will be on style related topics and the last one shall be general self-improvement.
Self-improvement as a lifelong endeavour is my greatest passion. Style is a close second and an important part of my primary passion as well. Improving how you dress/present yourself completely falls within the remit of self-improvement. I am forever looking to optimise my wellbeing and productivity; this article’s topic introduces one of the most important habits I have found for improving those aspects.
This is a video I posted on Thursday which reviews my recently adopted routine of waking up at sunrise every morning, without fail.
I embarked on this challenge, of waking up at sunrise, on the recommendation of Earthbound Mystic. He runs a YouTube channel and FB group where he espouses simple biological hacking techniques you can use to improve your quality of life.
Techniques such as: sungazing, grounding and breathwork.
If you have the time, we did a longform interview on those topics here:
I have seen incredible benefits, mostly with regards to my energy.
With some shame, I can admit to forever having been that guy who sleeps in to 10am out of choice. One of the reasons I wanted my own business was to choose my own hours and avoid the need for waking up early. I labelled myself a night owl in my university years and this self-identification ran strongly throughout my 20s.
Turns out I was wrong.
Turns out I can get up early and grind out great work before 11am without wanting to die.
Who would have thought?
That primary benefit of more energy certainly trickled over into my drive to work as well. When you are tired or suffering brain fog, that is when it is hardest to get started, hardest to find your creative flow. I have had such clarity and boundless energy reserves since I started waking up with sunrise. It’s quite remarkable actually.
As I explain in the video it also feels way healthier to lean into the circadian rhythm (natural 24 hr cycle). I wake up with the sun and begin to feel tired and wind down as the light goes away in the evening. This has massively improved my sleep quality as you can imagine.
The final benefit I talk about in the video is a simple one. Sunrises are beautiful.
As Earthbound Mystic said in the interview: you only get so many sunrises in your life, wake up and experience them.
It’s not that difficult, especially in the UK right now where sunrise is around 7am. It’s also not as insane an expectation as say Jocko Willink’s wake up time of 4:30 am.
This is also a completely free life hack. Get up early and watch the sunrise lads.
I hope you enjoyed these videos and this article.
Peace,
The Hatfish