Stealing Time

I don’t know why, but I wake up at some point during most nights and have done for 20 years or so. In his book Power of Intention, Wayne Dyer suggests that it’s the night calling you to get up and do stuff and you should heed that call. Much as I love Wayne, I also love kipping and I don’t intend getting up at 2.30am or even 3.30am whether it’s the night or the Prince Of Darkness himself calling me.
I’m usually very good at guessing what time it is when I wake up and often get within 2 or 3 minutes. Last night was an exception. I woke up at 12.30am and thought it was 3.00am. As I staggered bleary eyed to the bathroom, (look I was awake ok, so I thought I may as well go and I don’t need any e-mails suggesting I get my prostate checked, it’s fine thanks very much) I was struck by a strange thought. Not as strange as the dream I’d been having about a Dolphin named Eric that was running for President on an Anti-Illegal Mackerel ticket, but strange nevertheless.

What if somebody had turned all the clocks forward an hour in my house so that when I finally got up at 6.00am it was really 5.00am? Would I have been thinking at 1.00pm “Hmm, I’m an hour more tired today, I think somebody snuck into my house and changed all the clocks while I was sleeping”?
Have you ever had to get up an hour earlier and realized part way through the day that you’re no more tired than normal? What about staying in bed for an extra hour or two at the weekend and not really feeling any better or more invigorated? Our bodies are incredibly adaptable and because it’s deep sleep that really dictates how refreshed we feel anyway, those extra few minutes when you hit snooze have little effect on your productivity and the way you feel. Unless that is, you chunter away to yourself all day saying how tired you feel and talk yourself into it. That will always do the trick.
If I had a top 10 list of Blogs stating the blindingly obvious this would probably go straight in at number 1 but hang with me because I’m going to run with it anyway.
Unless you are already getting up at 5.00am or sooner, why not try getting up an hour earlier each day? I know it’s tough and that bed is really warm and snuggly, but you have to get out at some point and just think what you can do with an extra hour every day. If you are staring blankly at this, here are some ideas:
Be fluent in a foreign language within a year
Be an expert in a field of your choosing by reading and studying within a year
Get really fit and kick sand in peoples face on the beach
Become a world class meditator leading to needing even less sleep
Make more money – lots more money
Write a book
Learn to play a musical instrument and annoy other family members in the process
Take up image streaming and visualize your way into the ranks of the super-succesful
I’m sure that you can come up with even more inspiring ideas that will have you bouncing out of bed every morning. It will take a certain amount of discipline to start with, but once it becomes a habit there’ll be no stopping you and world domination is just around the corner.

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