I have 129 days until PA school; that 100 day milestone is coming a lot sooner than I thought. I decided to take 5 months off before school starts. It’s definitely been an exhausting past few years and I figured I could use the time. Many people have been asking me how I’m spending the time off. I just recently finished reading Robin Sharma’s The 5AM Club. It was one of the more bizarre books I’ve ever read, but I loved it. It’s purpose, like any other self-help book, was to get across several learning models, but it did so through a story. I purchased the book based on the title alone. I’ve read over the years that waking up early is a key success driver for many of the world’s greatest people. I was used to going to sleep around 5AM, because of my work schedule, but I’ve adjusted my sleep schedule by 24 hours, and now wake up at 5AM most days. At first, it was as brutal as it sounds. I had to be in bed by 9PM to fall asleep by 10PM, or at least that is the ultimate goal. It’s been getting easier and I’m finally adjusting. I enjoy the time in the morning. My meal schedule is finally back to normal which means I’m snacking and binge eating less, which is great. The 5AM Club goes into detail on what you should do during the 5-6AM block; I haven’t gone deep into that detail just yet. I just want to get my body adjusted first. Once August hits, class will start at 9AM so I want to be fully energized going to class, instead of rushing to get there. I’m trying to go to the gym more and have succeeded in going more regularly than ever before in my life. I want to erase bad habits and install new ones between now and August.
Waking up early is interesting. It feels in a way that I am losing hours in a day, even though I’m really not. With my old schedule, I found myself staying up late because I didn’t want the day to be over. I felt like I hadn’t accomplished anything. But now that’s erased. I want to get a good night’s sleep because I’ll feel bad not waking up at 5AM. Now, I have built in some flexibility. If I am out with friends (though I am getting sleepy around 10/11PM), I allow myself to sleep until 7AM or later, mostly on the weekends. The process in general has allowed me to spend my time awake more purposefully which is something I feel I’ve been missing.
By the way, I took a break from my Memory Palace venture, but just picked it up again. I didn’t hit 300 when I thought I would, but I took the break purposefully. I’ll report back when I complete that!