{"id":311,"date":"2022-06-21T05:14:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-21T05:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/?p=311"},"modified":"2022-06-21T09:59:43","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T09:59:43","slug":"mind-over-mattress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/mind-over-mattress\/","title":{"rendered":"Mind Over Mattress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cDiscipline creates lifestyle.\u201d<\/em> \u2015 Hal Elrod<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh you, the good ole snooze button. It’s either the greatest or worst invention of all time – Depending on who you are asking! I used to live by it. I would sometimes snooze my alarm for a good hour. Maybe even longer if I was having one of those before I went to bed motivational feelings where I set the alarm for 5am, only to find myself snoozing it until 6:45! This was until one day I realized that it was keeping me from achieving the life that I wanted for myself. I couldn’t read a motivational or leadership teaching without it talking about the power of waking up an hour or two before everybody else. The mentors I have in my life were always talking about this “me” time to prep for the day. I was making excuses as to why I had no time to read, exercise, have quality TWJ(time with Jesus), I didn’t know how to change it. There just weren’t enough hours in the day. Let\u2019s admit it: once the alarm goes off, you never fully go back into restful sleep no matter how many times you hit snooze. You\u2019re in a hazy anxious sleep, fighting with yourself about why you should get out of bed, but too tired to do it. Since you\u2019re half awake anyways, you might as well conquer the snooze button and get your butt out of bed! Those mornings when the alarm would go off, I would convince myself, “I work hard, every day, I deserve a few extra minutes of sleep, my body clearly needs it”!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I used to get out of bed 20-25 minutes before I was due at the office. Any hold up in traffic, and I found my heart beating out of my chest, and I was shaking my steering wheel, because I knew I’d be late. And people were waiting on me. But here’s the thing, getting there when everybody else was getting there, I was already late. There was no time to prep my day, or prep my team’s day, so full transparency, what got done that day was whatever the most recent items were in my inbox from the day before. My health was not good, I was gaining weight, and to be fully transparent, I wasn’t setting a good example as a leader to my Team. There was ZERO time for personal growth in development. I spent my entire day putting fires out, because I didn’t take any time for myself for self growth. I’d drive home feeling like I didn’t accomplish crap that day! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the thing – Our mind and bodies CRAVE routine. It makes us feel calm and can help keep anxiety at bay, which is more important than ever these days with how busy our lives are. It also does wonders for your sleep, which we all know is a crucial part of recovery and stress management. Once you master the willpower of mind over mattress, it’s time to kick start your day with some morning routine! The time to fill your cup before you work to fill others!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting myself on a morning routine of waking up early and taking time for personal growth seriously changed my life and leadership. I’m 5-6 years in now, and couldn’t imagine going back. Let me walk you through my typical morning…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–Alarm goes off at 4:42am (I know, what kind of morning weirdo sets that kind of time) – I keep my phone on the bathroom counter so I  have to walk into the bathroom to shut the alarm off. I’m already here, I might as well stay up! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–First things first, I brush my teeth and splash cold water on my face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–I drink a tall glass of water before pouring my first cup of coffee – which is already brewed and smells amazing since I programmed the coffee maker the night before. note – I JUST recently as of the last few months started using the program feature to brew coffee. Where has this awesome feature been all my life and why did it take so long for me to utilize it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–As I sip my first cup of Hebrews(dad jokes start early) I start off by reading 1-2 chapters of the bible and read a daily devotion. It’s amazing the clarity I get in these next 10-15 minutes as to what God is speaking to me as to where I should focus most on the day. If any of you ever are curious where to start with this, don’t hesitate to ask. I too was kind of overwhelmed when it came to God’s word and didn’t know where to start! I used to start my morning reading off with a leadership study and not God’s word. That is a whole other subject that I’ll write about someday! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–I spend 5-10 minutes after reading the bible in quiet and reflection time. I then will read a few pages of whatever book I am reading at the time. Current reads include “Seven daily habits of highly effective people(this is a team read we are doing together with my leadership team) and I’m also reading “The greatness guide” by Robin Sharma(incredible book). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–After reading, I journal some notes down, and also create a daily or weekly to do list in Google Task on my phone. I also will usually plop my email open here, and depending on the day, I will clear my emails from the night before, or I’ll work on a blog writing(like I am right now, which actually I started writing a few days ago). Crazy mornings: II used to do a blog teaching 7 days per week. That got to be a little difficult, and I was sacrificing other areas of my routine for them. I now only write a full teaching (1) day per week. And I have years of notes from journaling to utilize to share with my leadership amigos! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–By 6:15am, I am starting a workout, which I like to have wrapped by 7am. Unless it is Thursday, as I meet with a few brothers from church @ 6am for a Life Group I lead. Most of my morning routine stays the same, except I supplement my work out for the Life Group that day. I do get some exercise on Saturdays in to make up for Thursday! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–By 7am, I am officially ready to start my day, and will begin firing off any emails that need attention, or texting with clients or my Team. I also am responsible for making me and my wife breakfast smoothies before I head out to start the day. Trust me, she undertakes a dozen morning duties with the family compared to my small contribution of the protein smoothie prep — So I’ll take it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By this part of the day, my personal cup is FULL, and I’m ready to conquer my day! I do lax a bit with the wake up time on the weekends, but not that much. As I don’t want to throw my schedule off come Monday! Sunday’s are my day of lax. Unless of course I am drumming at church, which is commonly 1-2 Sundays per month. Come Monday, it’s back at it! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is what I have learned in my years of applying a morning routine — It\u2019s so easy to forget that you cannot do good until you feel good. Effectively leading a Team begins with leading yourself. And the hardest person to lead IS yourself. When you have an extrinsic factor forcing you to do something, it’s easy to lose intrinsic motivation. You HAVE to want it! Getting up early to do your self-growth work, to sculpt your character, to sharpen your life\u2019s philosophy or to review your goals is NOT<\/em><\/strong> a waste of time. Having that quiet time infuses every remaining minute of your day with a perspective that elevates each area of your life. It\u2019ll transform you. It’ll make you a better leader. Not just in your work life either. It’ll make you a better husband\/wife, better parent, and better friend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I couldn’t land the plane on this writing without giving you a few practical tips as to how I started to win my mornings! Everybody’s wake up time will be different, but I feel like 5am is the sweet spot, until I realized I needed just a bit more, so I personally landed at 4:42am! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Don\u2019t eat anything, or drink anything aside from water, after 6:30-7pm. You will sleep more deeply and wake up more refreshed. It\u2019s the quality not the quantity of sleep that\u2019s most important. For me, 6-6.5 hours is plentiful. If you think you need more, that might be a self-limiting belief. I used to think I needed 10 hours! 

2. Don\u2019t keep your butt in bed after your alarm clock goes off. Get up and get moving. The more time you lie in bed after the alarm clock goes off, the greater the likelihood that the chatter of your mind will say something like \u201cstay in bed. Sleep a bit more. You deserve it because you are so awesome.\u201d

3. Get on an exercise plan. When I am on a good eating and exercise routine \u2013 working out 5 times a week and eating good foods, I jump out of bed at 4:42am with ease, knowing I am taking care of myself. I am the leader of me!

4. Set goals for yourself. Goals breathe life and energy into your days. Goals inspire you and give you something to get out of bed for each morning. Taking out your notepad and articulating some 1,3,5 year goals for the core dimensions of your life will focus your mind and drive tremendous results. It will light a fire in your belly and flood you with passion. Get some accountability people in your life to help you stay true to those goals. One of your goals should be to get yourself on a good morning routine!

5. Plan your early wake up the night before. Get your workout clothes ready, program the coffeemaker to have coffee brewing when your alarm goes off (that smell in amazing when you’re fighting your mind over mattress willpower), have your reading books ready to go… Anything you can do to know that you ARE a disciplined person! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll add this. I am definitely NOT a natural morning person! I had to fake it to make it. I had to want it. You can’t do it because somebody is forcing you to do it. I see the power and clarity it has created for me, and I know it will for you too! So DO it.. Get up early. I dare you to do it for just a few weeks. Your life is too precious a thing to waste. You know you were meant to be the best version of yourself. You know you can do more, have more and be more. You know that you can be bigger than you currently are. Join The 5am club — Win the Mind Over Mattress award — You won’t regret it! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDiscipline creates lifestyle.\u201d \u2015 Hal Elrod Oh you, the good ole snooze button. It’s either the greatest or worst invention of all time – Depending on who you are asking! I used to live by it. I would sometimes snooze my alarm for a good hour. Maybe even longer if I was having one of those … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","category-motivational","category-personal-growth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311\/revisions\/317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}