Dalio’s book (Principles) shares that habits sustained for ~18 months are likely to become permanent.

Aiming for 18 months (~550 days) was a change because my typical time horizon is a 30-day test.

30 days is not enough time for the impact of a change to percolate through your life and impact your peers, family and spouse. Changes are still happening from an adjustment I made in December of 2017.

My main thing was “wake up in the 4s.” I got the “wake up early” from Jocko’s book (Discipline Equals Freedom).

It appealed to me because it fits into lessons I’ve learned:

• Try faster before going slower – Daniels
• Prove you can do it by diving into a cold pool – Purcell
• If it’s important then do it first – Covey
• 4:55 is more than ten minutes different from 5:05 – Willink

I can make my life experience a lot better by making my daily life a little more difficult.

“How am I going to wake up in the 4s for the next 18 months?” is good problem to have.

The problem (up early) points me towards solutions in other parts of my life:

• Exercise early (what else is there to do at 5am when the kids aren’t up for another 90 minutes)
• Drink less alcohol (being binary, I simply stopped)
• Fall asleep (if not tonight then most certainly tomorrow)
• Start every day with a win

What does winning look like on the home front?

By 8am:

• I’ve done a workout (win for myself)
• My kids have eaten, read and brushed their teeth (win for my family)
• I’ve done an hour of visible housework (win for my marriage)

There’s a TON of noise associated with the above.

Does it really matter? Is this the best use of my skills? Dude, you’re only squatting 95 pounds! My “career” is taking out the compost every morning?!? Shouldn’t I be sub-contracting the busy work?  Blah, blah, blah. Why so angry, bro?

Apply those thoughts to what happens after 8am.