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The Power of 4AM
The Power of 4AM - Matt Linklater
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What time do you usually wake up? 6am? 7:15?

Waking up a earlier will help you crush your productivity. It’s about how you own your time. White space on your calendar is the devil.

 

If you’re like most people, you drag yourself out of bed as late as you can while still getting through everything you have to do in the morning and getting to work on time. What I do is wake up considerably earlier than I have to in order to find the time in my hectic schedule for some important personal development activities that I just couldn’t seem to build into my schedule any other way.

The 4am method works or me. Many elite business people from Bezos to Schultz and Huntington all get out of bed before the sun rises.

The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, gets up at 3AM. He has 2 workouts and an hour of work in before most of us batter an eye lid.

13 Things to Do with Your New Time....

What would you do if there was nowhere you needed to be and you had 2 hours to work on things that are important to you? Here are just some of the things that you can add to your morning or evening routine that have the potential to maximize your productivity.

1. Meditate

Now I'm not getting all new age on you. :) Do you ever feel like your brain is fried. It is hard to be creative when we are running around crushing sales, playing with kids and spending time with our significant other.

 

5 Minutes sill help you become more creative and solve problems.

 

Take a few minutes to think about 5 things from your past that you’re grateful for, 5 things happening right now that you appreciate, and 5 things in the future you want to make happen.

2. Journal

We have 70,000 thoughts per day. 80% of them are said to be negative. Our mind is deductive. The way to create some inductive thought is to write.

 

This can be completely freeform—just let what comes to mind come out on the paper, for a pre-defined period of time (for example, 15 minutes of writing).

3. Workout

Motion creates emotion! Working out is one of the best ways to control your mental state.

 

When our days are busy, it’s so easy to make excuses. If you work out first thing in the morning, you don’t have a chance to make excuses. All you have to do is do something. I love all the gurus out there telling you what the best workout is and isn't. The best one is the one you like to do! The one that gets you off your a@# and gets you moving.

 

4. Visualizations

You've may have heard of the basketball team that tested this?

They tested free throw accuracy of 3 groups.

Group 1 shot free throws.

Group 2 did nothing.

Group 3visualized.

 

The contest concluded with group 2 not doing so well. Group 1 and 3 tied!

You need to visualize your goals to make them happen, so why not take the time to actively do this for a few minutes before you embark on your day?

 

5. Plan Out Your Day

Without a plan most of us go to default or comfort with our day.

A plan pushes us to Goal Achieving Activities.

No plan leads us to Pressure Relieving Activities.

 

Do you have a game plan for how you’re going to attack each day? The more you plan, the more productive your day will be.

 

6. Watch a Motivational Video on YouTube

We need to feed our mind or someone else will be feeding your mind! What? Whatever propaganda they please!

 

Motivation can be a lot like a muscle sometimes—it needs to be exercised to develop, and if you focus on nurturing it daily, you’ll be surprised how much your level of motivation can grow.

 

7. Read

Good habits compound on themselves!

15 minutes a day, book read every 2 weeks, 26 per year, and over 100 in 4 years.

 

Do you think you will be crushing the competition?

 

If you don’t get much time to read otherwise, 15 minutes of focused reading every day can help make reading a part of your life.

 

8. Write a Gratitude List

Our mind is like a laser beam. We don't describe what we see we see what we describe.

 

Do you wan to see good things in the world or bad things?

 

Open your mind to possibilities!

 

5 minutes is all you need!

 

9. Spend Time with Your Family

Mornings can be the best times to spend quality time with your family, when energy levels are high and you have the opportunity to impact what kind of day those around you will have.

 

I love this because I get to feed my kids minds before they go into the world.

 

We listen to Tony Robbins Incantations on Yourtube, Unstoppable by the Score and I tell my little guy...

Leaders Lead by Example

Do 20% more than is asked of you

Do things faster than anyone

Do what is asked of you because people will give more of what you ask

etc...

 

10. Write a Thank You Note to Someone

We’ve gotten out of the habit of thank you notes as a culture, but sending someone a personal thank you note is a way to nurture relationships and practice gratitude.

11. Say Positive Affirmations Out Loud

Need a confidence boost? Positive affirmations have been proven to make a tangible impact on your state of mind, and therefore also your actions and how you’re perceived by the world.

 

Here are mine....

  1. My Perception Is My Projection And My Reality

  2. For Every Action There Is An Equal And Opposite Reaction

  3. What Can I Do Today To Make My Goals Reality

  4. What Can I Do Today To Change Someone’s Life

  5. People Need Me To Be In There Life

  6. What Is The Biggest Action I Can Take Right Now

  7. Actively Doing Goal Achieving Activities Not Pressure Relieving Activities

  8. I Don’t Describe What I See I See What I Describe

  9. I Don’t Believe What I See I See What I Believe

  10. Lift My Standard Today To Push The Envelope Of Who I Was Yesterday And Start Living My Dreams Now

  11. Today I Push My Mind, Body, Emotions and Environment

  12. The Whole Universe Is Conspiring In My Favor

  13. Be Self-Delusional & Irrational

  14. Create Self-Fulfilling Prophesies Through Positive Expectations

  15. When Riches Come They Will Come So Fast I’m Going To Wonder Where They Have Been Hiding

  16. Time is a Figment of My Imagination. Everything I’ve Ever Done and Hope for is Converging and Happening Now! I’m Prepared to See and Meet Every Opportunity. I have Everything Now

  17. In Everything I Do And In Everything I Say I Push The Thresholds Of Who I Was Yesterday

  18. People Are Attracted To Everything I Do And Say

  19. I’m Overflowing With Abundance Today

  20. I’m At One With The Power Of The Infinite

  21. I’m Overflowing With Energy Today

12. Write a Blog Post

Do some form of social media that drives your personal brand.

13. Come Up with a New Idea

When was the last time you gave yourself a few minutes to freely but actively come up with ideas for how to change your life for the better? Think about what you want to accomplish, make a list, and keep adding to it.

 

Even if you're a night owl...are you getting these things done? Are you making excuses of what you can't do?

 

WHITE SPOTS ON YOUR CALENDAR ARE THE DEVIL!

 

STOP THE EXCUSES.....RISE AND GRIND!

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