Do Leaders need to be in the 5am wakeup club?

To be a great Leader, do you need to be an early riser?

If you’re like me and follow loads of Linkedin or Instagram Leadership gurus, you’ll most likely be seeing those 5am, gym, smoothie, meditation routines. This stuff can make you feel pretty crappy about yourself if you let it. 

But do Leaders NEED to be part of the 5am wake up club to be successful?

The time you wake up isn’t important. HOWEVER you need to start taking disciplines, your health (physical and mental), your personal routine and your boundaries VERY seriously. 

You’re undertaking one of the hardest roles in the working world, being responsible for other human beings. You need to build strong and healthy disciples for your own life before you impact that of others. 

Your own health HAS to be your number 1 priority… Above absolutely everything else.

And I mean everything. Work, kids, family, friends, holidays. 

Health is the only spinning plate in your life that, if it crashes to the ground, nothing else remains. 

Out of all the ‘health’ leavers we have to pull… Eating, sleeping, exercising, therapy, creative outlets etc, I prioritise Sleep. Sleeping 8 hours per night, you decrease your chances of early death by 24%. If you’re in bed asleep at 10pm, a 6am wakeup becomes easy. Bed by 9, 5am becomes easy.

4 healthy habits to build healthy disciplines around sleep and waking up

• Charge your phone in a room that isn’t your bedroom
  I’ve done this for years. It changed my life. The world won’t come crashing down if you don’t don’t  see the morning news or your instagram within 3 minutes of opening your eyes.
  Charge your phone in any room other than your bedroom, then go to bed 30 mins before you want to sleep, and spend those 30 mins either chatting to your Partner, OR reading a book (Fiction before bed, non-fiction in the morning). Your quality of sleep will improve hugely (along with your relationship).

• Have a recurring bedtime
  Your morning is made the night before. The more consistent you are with your sleep and timings, the more likely you are to get great quality sleep.

  I sleep 22:00-06:00 every night. Around 21:00 is when I start making moves to go to bed. Digital devices off. The skincare/teeth routine starts. And I’ll always be actually in bed way before 10, ready to read some fiction.
  

• 30 minutes of movement every day
  You don’t need to go to the gym and lift heavy weights 5 times a week to be physically fit. Movement is for everybody. Get up 30 mins earlier than usual and go for a walk, swap your drive to work for the bus, get on a great playlist and dance around your kitchen. Movement is simply getting your heart pumping faster.
  

• Make your bed
  I thought this one was a given after the age of about 17, but after speaking to my mates at work, I was surprised how few people actually do this every morning. A National Sleep Foundation poll found that participants who reported regularly making their bed were 19% more likely to say that they got a good night's sleep most nights because their brain felt ‘organised’. Just make your bed.

To conclude, you don’t need to wake up at 5am

But you do need to start taking your own personal habits very seriously. For the sake of your mind, body, and ultimately the success of your team.

What time to do sleep/wake? And how does it impact your life? Let me know in the comments

Peace,

Heather