This week on Instagram, I briefly touched on discipline and conquering the snooze button. I said things like motivation is not necessary to be successful and that discipline can take you further. I’ve been saying this for as long as I have been writing this blog, so I probably sound like a broken record right now. But, one thing I haven’t really touched on is conquering the snooze button.
If you’ve read or listened to David Goggins or Jocko Willink, you probably heard that saying before. David and Jocko are ELITE. I was first introduced to Jocko’s books and podcasts in university by my strength coach and then David just kind of followed. Jocko speaks about discipline and the importance of teamwork/leadership and David is just an insane human who’s accomplished crazy things. Pair them with Oprah and you’d have all your questions answered and you wouldn’t have to buy another self-help book again!
Jocko and David helped me shape my thoughts on discipline. To me, discipline just means that you complete the tasks that you told yourself you would. Or that you do whatever is needed to become the person you’ve strived to be. That’s why I love the saying conquering the snooze button. Each day we’re all faced with the same hours. If you are reading this, then you were blessed to wake up this morning – that’s a consolation win. But to make the day as great as it can be, why not start with an actual win? Don’t lose to a button.
But the thing with this saying is that it’s not entirely about waking up at the crack of dawn. It’s not a competition on who can sleep less by waking up super early. Like I said above, it’s about starting the day off with a win and accepting the challenge you’ve giving yourself. Waking up early isn’t for everyone. If you know that setting an alarm for 5am is going to result in you tapping that snooze button, then don’t set it for 5am! When we do this, *Dj Khaled Voice* we play ourselves; and that is not major key.
In my mind, conquering the snooze button in the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day. Ideally, you’re proud of yourself for getting up when you have intended. This leads to you not rushing before your work/training which flows in to making good choices throughout your day. How many times have you said ‘screw it’ when making a choice because you’ve already messed up earlier that day?? Exactly. Let’s get rid of messing up first thing in the morning!
I titled this ‘Conquering X’ because maybe the snooze button isn’t your kryptonite. Perhaps it’s skipping the morning cake (Costco muffin) or maybe it’s taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Or maybe it's giving in to that glass of red wine with dinner after you said you're not drinking during the week (oops). There is always something we can work on to conquer. Find it, beat it, grow!
Stay safe out there.
Joy