Why Do Successful People Wake Up Earlier Than Everyone Else?
Will starting your day at four o'clock in the morning really improve your chances of finding success? Countless incredibly successful people begin their mornings before sunrise. No matter what day it is, no matter how much work they do or don't have on their plates, these successful people always follow the 4am rule.
But what exactly is the 4am rule? Well, it's actually very simple. To follow this rule, just start every day at four o'clock in the morning—no snoozing, no sleeping in, no lingering in bed for 10 or 15 extra minutes. Your schedule starts at 4:00 a.m. every single day.
But why do successful people follow this rule so rigidly, and how does waking up at 4am contribute to their growing success? In this video, we're going to talk about 9 reasons why successful people live and die by the 4am rule.
1. Freedom of Choice
The average person wakes up around seven o'clock in the morning, but not by choice. Most employers expect their workers in the office by 8 am, so more than half of the world begrudgingly wakes up an hour before, sluggishly tackling their morning routines while dreaming of their beds. In other words, most of the world wakes up on someone else's terms.
But successful people take control of their mornings. They wake up early because they want to. They choose when they get up; they decide how much time they have in the mornings, and that way, they have the freedom to spend their mornings however they want. So whether you wake up with a cup of coffee, a warm shower, or a little exercise, you will always have time for your morning routine.
If you follow the 4 am rule, you'll start every morning on your own terms.
2. Jump on the Competition
If the average workday starts at 8am, waking up at 4 o'clock adds an additional 4 hours to your morning. Just imagine how much you can get done in 4 hours. Now, while most of the world is sleeping, you're paving the way for your success. By the time the average person wakes up, you've accomplished all kinds of daily goals.
Successful people use their mornings to get a jump on the competition. They can't afford to fall behind; they need every hour of their day to pursue and accomplish their goals, and they need to do it before everyone else. For example, just look at famous actor Dwayne Johnson. He doesn't just wake up at four o'clock in the morning; he's already in the gym by 4 am.
He wants to get a head start on everyone else, and that's how successful people maintain their high level of achievement. They're checking items off their list before most of the world is even awake. By waking up at 4am every day, you can too.
3. Head on Straight
Motivation comes and goes. Some days you're flooded with motivation—you feel passionate, inspired, and dedicated. But other days, you drag your feet. Everything feels difficult, and you struggle to keep your brain focused on your work. Successful people have days like this too, but their bad days rarely ever affect their productivity.
Why is that? Well, because they use their mornings to get their head on straight. Even though motivation comes in waves, you can develop a routine that consistently inspires you. By waking up at 4am each morning, you give yourself time to build your motivation. By the time work starts, you're feeling your best, even if you woke up lazy and unmotivated.
4. Refine Your Direction
Success is a confusing path to follow. Few people know exactly what personal success looks like. It's vague, and it changes every day. That's why it's so important to set daily goals. You need to constantly create direction and adjust your transforming ambitions.
One day you may be chasing a goal with everything you have, but an unexpected opportunity could spin you in a new direction. So, to keep their goals current and flexible, successful people use their mornings to find direction and to create a path that guides them through the day.
This path gives you a specific destination to travel toward. It gives you a target to keep in your sights as you push through your work. That target keeps you organized, focused, and motivated, and it soothes any anxiety and self-doubt. So if you set new goals each morning, you'll feel confident that you're always moving in the right direction.
5. Creative Space
At work, you're bombarded with responsibilities and scheduled demands. You have meetings, phone calls, and emails. You're troubleshooting other people's problems while knocking out a long to-do list of your own. During the workday, your brain doesn't get much time to think freely. That's why many successful people find free time in the mornings.
Instead of bogging down their brains with work, they set aside an hour of creative space. Our best ideas come to us in moments of free thought. When your brain is open and flexible, it can explore new ideas and reinvent old concepts. Many successful people rely on creative outlets to dream up their biggest ideas. That's why they practice free-form creativity every day.
By waking up at four o'clock in the morning, you can fill the early hours with creativity and innovation. Before the stress of your day clogs your brain, you can play with and explore all kinds of inspiring ideas. Some ideas may be useful, other ideas may not, but an hour of creativity makes all the difference in your day.
6. Hyper Concentration
Your daily life is filled with distractions. The phone rings, your family calls, and emergencies need your immediate attention. When your environment is littered with distractor after distractor, it may feel impossible to focus. You're always bouncing around from one thing to the next, so you can never truly concentrate.
To avoid distractions, successful people start their day hours before anyone else. At 4 am, calls, texts, and emails will never distract you. Your friends and family are still fast asleep, and no emergencies will steal you away. In other words, at 4am, you have the world to yourself.
You have a place to concentrate, think with a clear head, and pour yourself into your passions. Some successful people use this time to get started on work. Others use each minute of silence to improve themselves, solidify their goals, or inspire their productivity. Peace and quiet is a rare commodity, but by waking up at 4am, you can spend each morning doing exactly what you want to do.
7. Shaking Sleep Inertia
Your body doesn't always wake up when you do. Sometimes it takes an hour or two before you're awake and alert. Scientists call this sleep inertia. After eight hours of slumber, your brain may not be bright and peppy. You may feel drowsy, foggy, and half asleep, and that drowsiness can really affect your work.
Because of sleep inertia, you're more likely to make impulsive decisions and practice lazy habits. But successful people avoid the detriments of sleep inertia by waking up at 4am. They shake off that drowsy feeling; they're awake and alert long before the start of their work day.
Because they rise so early, successful people can wake up slowly in the mornings. They can gradually energize their bodies and brains. Instead of diving into their work, they spend their drowsy hours on calming, low-stress activities. They read, they meditate, and they write down their thoughts. These relaxing activities ease them into their busy schedules. Before work even starts, their brains are sharp, focused, and ready to be productive.
8. Fostering Positivity
Nothing stunts your success like a bad attitude. Negativity breeds anxiety, self-doubt, and low self-esteem. If you don't believe you can succeed, then you don't believe in yourself. If you don't believe in yourself, you stand no chance of rising to the top.
But how does waking up at 4am impact your attitude and self-belief? According to a 2014 study in the journal Cognitive Therapy and Research, early risers have significantly more positive attitudes than night owls. People who wake up early are less likely to complain or suffer from repetitive negative thoughts, and that means less anxiety and more confidence.
But that's not all. According to the same study, early risers sleep better, longer, and deeper than night owls, so they have more energy and greater motivation throughout the day.
9. Minimize Bad Habits
After a long day at work, you want to relax and unwind. In the evening hours, we're susceptible to time wasters like TV, video games, and social media. Our brains are exhausted, so we crave mindless distractions. The problem is we get sucked into these distractions. All of a sudden, you've spent six hours browsing the internet or binging Netflix, and our productivity suffers.
By starting every day at 4:00 am, you can curb those bad habits. To wake up at 4:00 am, you should go to sleep between 8 and 9 at night. Most of our bad habits get worse as the night goes on. As our energy levels get lower and lower, we struggle to step away from our screens.
But what if you're asleep before those bad habits can affect you? Successful people minimize bad habits by closing these dangerous windows. Their brains don't have time to get distracted, so they rarely do.
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Freedom of Choice | Wake up on your own terms and have control over your mornings. |
| Jump on the Competition | Gain extra hours to accomplish daily goals before others wake up. |
| Head on Straight | Build motivation and start your day feeling your best. |
| Refine Your Direction | Set daily goals to create direction and flexibility. |
| Creative Space | Use early hours for creativity and innovation. |
| Hyper Concentration | Avoid distractions and concentrate on your passions. |
| Shaking Sleep Inertia | Gradually energize your body and brain before work. |
| Fostering Positivity | Develop a positive attitude and improve self-belief. |
| Minimize Bad Habits | Reduce time-wasting habits by sleeping early. |
