The alarm goes off right in the middle of a dream...or maybe you're so sound asleep that there is no dream. You roll over, reach out and your hand hovers above the 'snooze' button.
What you do next, that miniscule little moment of decision, can set the tone for the rest of your day.
It forms your mindset, frames your approach to everything you're going to do until you slip back between the sheets at bedtime.
The lure of a few more moments in that warm bed can be strong, can't it? Its powerful, that urge to doze a few more minutes, but does it have power over you? A study done by some think-tank on the taxpayers' dimes says that there's eighteen seconds to decide whether you hit that button or get out of bed and into the day.
I don't think its anywhere near 18 seconds. I can't recall the last time an alarm woke me up because I'm generally hitting the 'brew' button on the coffee maker right around 0430 hrs.
Why arise that early? There's things to get done, tasks to start or finish.
We generally have an idea of what the day ahead may entail, but we also know no two days are ever the same. There's too many variables, too many 'Murphy' moments that can occur. You get in the shower only to discover there's no water due to an overnight line break. Car won't start or you notice a tire with low air. It snowed while you were sleeping and the roads are slick. One of the kids wakes up sick. Your elbow bumps the coffee cup, splashing its contents all over your shirt. Caught in traffic because of a wreck that has the highway snarled.
That extra five minutes in bed put you that far behind.
Your mindset, your approach to life in general, can be what sets you apart. The snooze button? That was a rather mundane illustration but it fits the topic. We all have tasks we don't like but they have to be done, right? A former Navy SEAL and founder of SEAL Team Six, Dick Marcinko, says, "you don't have to like it, you just have to do it." I don't know how many times I said that to my boys when they were growing up, but I'm sure they'll recite it to their kids too.
Get it done. Attack those uninteresting or unavoidable tasks and put them behind you. Don't procrastinate, not even for a day, because it just makes it easier to put things off in the future. Don't rationalize, incentivize. Give yourself a little reward for completing a job.
Like maybe hitting the snooze button tomorrow morning.
