It’s March 1st, which means it is time for a new habit! I’ll post a Habit #1 wrap-up later. For this habit, I’ll be reading a book every two weeks. I’ve already started reading every day again, so this habit should be easy to follow through on, and very enjoyable.

Right now I’m reading Seth Godin’s Linchpin as well as Tim Ferris’ 4-Hour Workweek. Both are good reads for those interested in doing their own ‘thing.’

Here’s a little update on how my early rising is going. I’ve only overslept (by half an hour) once! That’s pretty big for me. Even on weekends I’ve been getting up around 8:30AM. I’ve been feeling so much more productive, and I’ve felt a lot less apathetic than usual.

The next phase of my early rising habit is to start pushing back my weekend wake up time. So this weekend it’ll be 8:15AM. I think if I can get on the same schedule every day, it’ll help me stick with it.

Up next will probably be morning meditation and prayer. With this little bit of extra time I’ve made, it’ll be a lot easier.

Of all of the new habits to form, all of the changes to make to oneself, why early rising? Why not stop chewing my nails (I’ve tried that before)? Or run every day? Or write every day? Because I feel that rising early will help with most of the other habits. I’m sure you’ve seen countless articles about the benefits of early rising, so I’m only going to regurgitate a few of those points here.

1. Time for reflection - Something about watching the sun rise and feeling the heavy silence over the earth is conducive to reflection, meditation, and prayer. By becoming an early riser first, I will have the necessary time and skills to reflect on my progress, my victories, and my setbacks.
2. Time for breakfast - Instead of waking up in rush, taking a quick shower and heading out the door before my hair is dry, I’ll have time to eat something. A lot of our bad eating habits stem from the fact we don’t eat breakfast. Many times when I wake up, I’m already hungry. But I don’t have time to eat, so I skip it. By the time I do get to eat, I’m usually starving and will tend to overeat. And it’s not usually healthy foods either. Breakfast is just one more way to start the day off in the best possible way.
3. Relaxation - This will mainly allow me to put myself in a good starting place to implement the changes I’ve been working on and meditating and praying over.
4. Reading/Catching up on work - Whether it’s writing a post here or over at Teach a Man to Fish, I’m always looking for some extra time when I’m super focused. These times tend to be either early morning, or late night. Hopefully I can get the most important tasks down for the day in the morning, so I have less to worry about during the day.

This is just a short list of the benefits, but they are definitely the most… well, beneficial. This will be a challenge to keep myself on a schedule of waking early every day, mainly because my job requires that I work until midnight several nights a week. Combine that with the fact that I take about two or more hours to fall asleep every night, and you have one tired student in the morning!

The first habit I’m going to form in 2010 is early rising. I don’t know about you, but the days when I do get up early (usually am forced to) I enjoy the day much more. Getting up in the wee hours always calms me down, even before the stresses of the day have a chance to set in. It really is the best way to start the day.

My problem is that I am a night owl by nature. I can be very productive when working late-night, but most of the time I’m just watching a movie, some TV, or playing video games. I have a philosophy of not doing homework after 11 PM, unless under extraordinary circumstances. I’d rather take a hit on a few points here and there than burn out completely.

Here’s my plan so far: I will be rising by no later than 9 AM on weekdays (I do have classes most days of the week at 9:25, so this will force me to, anyway), and 10 AM on the weekends. The weekends will be the hard part. I know what you non-college-aged Adults are thinking “9 AM isn’t even early!” I agree, but college has killed my standards of time. 9 AM is early for me. Getting up anytime before I have to usually feels early.

I’m going to try to find some incentive for getting up earlier, whether it be actually eating breakfast for a change, meditating, reading my bible or some other material, or even writing. It’s going to be hard for me, because no matter how determined I am the night before to get up early, I have the ability to rationalize anything when my alarm is going off. I’m going to need some accountability.

That’s where you come in.

Whether I know your or you have just happened on my site, I welcome your help! I’ll let you know when I excel and when I fail, and I want you to demand transparency. I’d appreciate any and all help from you guys.

Here’s to a new year, and new habits.