Business By Hormozi #148: The Secret to Waking Up Early If You're a Night Owl

Jill had always considered herself a night owl. She loved the quiet of the late hours, the freedom of working when everyone else was asleep. But lately, she’d been feeling the consequences of her late-night habits. She had trouble making early meetings and found herself sluggish during the day. She knew something needed to change, but waking up early had always seemed like an impossible feat.

One evening, she vented to her friend Tim, “I don’t know how people do it. I’m just not a morning person.”

Tim, a long-time early riser, chuckled. “The secret to waking up early is simple: wake up early.”

Jill looked at him, puzzled. “That’s it?”

Tim smiled. “That’s it. The real trick is just waking up early for one day, being tired, and then passing out early that night. You’ll break the cycle, and before you know it, you’ll be used to it.”

The Struggle of Changing Habits

Jill wasn’t convinced. The idea of waking up early seemed like torture, especially after years of late nights. But Tim insisted, “If you want to change, you have to go through that initial discomfort. One tough day is all it takes to reset your body’s clock.”

The next morning, Jill set her alarm for 6 AM, feeling like she was setting herself up for failure. She dragged herself out of bed, exhausted, but she stuck to it. She powered through the day, though it wasn’t easy. She barely made it through her meetings without yawning, and her brain felt foggy.

But by 9 PM, something unexpected happened: Jill was exhausted. She went to bed early, finally catching up on rest. For the first time in a while, she fell asleep without the usual distractions of social media or late-night reading.

Breaking the Cycle

The next morning, Jill woke up at 6 AM again, but this time, she didn’t feel as miserable. Her body was slowly adjusting to the new routine. By the end of the week, waking up early no longer felt like a fight—it felt natural.

Tim had been right. The key wasn’t a complex strategy or an overnight transformation. It was simply committing to waking up early for one day, feeling the discomfort, and then allowing her body to fall into a new rhythm.

Jill’s productivity skyrocketed. She felt more energized, less distracted, and was able to focus better during the day. She realized that the struggle to wake up early had been more mental than physical, and once she took the leap, her body had adapted quickly.

The Power of One Day

Tim’s advice had been deceptively simple, but effective. Jill had tried many “life hacks” in the past, but nothing had worked as well as just following the basic principle: wake up early, get through the initial fatigue, and let your body reset.

Waking up early wasn’t about forcing herself to change her nature; it was about getting past the first hurdle of discomfort. And once she did, she was hooked.

Conclusion

If you're a night owl trying to make the switch to waking up early, the secret is simple: wake up early. Be tired for one day, then pass out early that night. The hardest part is overcoming the mental block. Once you push through that, your body will adjust, and waking up early will become a natural part of your routine.

Don’t wait for the perfect moment to change. Sometimes, the best way to shift your habits is to simply take the first step—and trust that everything else will fall into place.