Getting Up Early: How I Protect My Morning Routine

An Often Underestimated Habit: Getting Up Early Every Day

Today is the first day of the National Day holiday. When my alarm rang this morning, I didn't feel like getting up. I switched it off, rolled over and prepared to sleep a little longer. Then I thought for a moment and got straight out of bed. What changed my mind so quickly?

I realized that if I wanted the day to have a good rhythm, I needed to finish today's article before going out for my morning exercise. With the article finished, I could move on to the work I had planned yesterday. But if I got up late and rushed out to exercise with the article unfinished, perhaps without even writing my morning journal, the whole morning could easily slip away.

For me, these two possibilities show how a virtuous cycle or a vicious one gets started. When I rise early, I feel good. I finish my article, glance at the clock and discover it's only 6:30. That encouraging feedback makes me more eager to move on to the next task and make every minute count. As I work, I can stay mindful, aware of each action, and get things done efficiently. That efficiency helps me focus even more closely on the present and do each task well. Without the feeling of rushing, I find it much easier to enter a state of flow.

• When I read, I reflect on what I've learned and come away feeling enriched.
• When I study English, I keep pace with the teacher and grow more excited as the lesson goes on.
• When I write, I notice how I've changed, and the more I write, the happier I feel.

A little positive feedback from getting up early encourages me to act more purposefully, which brings another positive result. Each step gives the next one momentum. That is how the positive cycle of an early start begins to turn.

A day's planning begins in the morning. Nan Huaijin once said that only those who can take charge of their mornings can take charge of their lives. That captures how I see it: when the morning goes well and I feel emotionally steady, the rest of the day goes well too.

The opposite happens when I get up late—at 7 or 8, for example. Within my routine, that leaves me being pushed along by the clock instead of taking the initiative. Outside demands inevitably require my attention, so I can't follow my plan to begin with my morning journal, writing, exercise and reading. Yet those are precisely the activities that help me adjust my state of mind, settle myself and stay present.

Without those activities, I drift into a foggy, unsettled state. Whatever I'm doing, my attention wanders, and whenever I have a spare moment, I want to scroll through short videos, WeChat Moments or entertainment gossip. Everything that follows takes longer, and I fall behind. If something unexpected happens, I can easily panic because I haven't found my balance. One discouraging result leaves me feeling worse and feeds the next. Anxiety and agitation build on each other, setting a negative cycle in motion.

I used to think the hour I got up didn't matter. What mattered was making good use of my state of mind after waking and devoting that first hour to reading, learning and developing my mind. Later, I discovered that unless I got up early, even that first hour might not belong to me.

During this visit to my parents, there were several mornings when we got up at the same time. I would sit down, open my computer and prepare to write, only for my mother to call me out for a walk. Afterward, I would have breakfast with my parents, then help my mother with housework or accompany her into town to shop. Before I knew it, the morning was gone. After this happened a few times, I adjusted my waking time so that I got up before my parents.

I know that, as I am now, I can't remain emotionally steady through every change in every situation. I need to find that steadiness before the changes arrive. Getting up early is the most important step toward that state for me. That is why I'm determined to get up early, whatever it takes.

Understanding this matters. Only when we are clear about why getting up early helps us stay grounded can we overcome the urge to linger in bed, find ways to make it happen and regain control of our time. I intend to get up early every day from now on, using that time to become more emotionally steady and keep a positive cycle going in my life.

It's unsettling to imagine the alternative. If I hadn't recognized the importance of an early start and had continued sleeping in and dragging myself out of bed, I might find myself following other people's schedules from the moment I opened my eyes. My time could go toward meeting their needs, leaving none for the things I wanted to accomplish. Over time, my enthusiasm for building a better future could fade and my vision of it become less clear. If I spent each day merely reacting to whatever happened, life could feel increasingly dull, and I might spend more time scrolling on my phone to avoid facing it.

Worse still, that pattern could make me more resentful. I might blame everything outside myself for my dissatisfaction, convinced that other circumstances were denying me the time to learn and grow. As those negative feelings accumulated, my relationships with the people around me could deteriorate.

So I feel fortunate to have recognized the importance of getting up early before that pattern took hold. By building the habit, I can take charge of my time and live each day at a pace I choose.

Perhaps you're thinking, “I want to get up early too, but I just can't manage it. What then?” Teacher Mingbai once wrote that when people encounter something that offers a benefit but is also difficult, they generally respond in one of two ways:

1. They look for excuses and make the difficulty seem greater. If they fail, they can then avoid responsibility: “It isn't that I didn't try hard enough. It was just too difficult.”
2. They decide, “However difficult it is, I want that benefit.” They think of every possible approach, try every available method and work through the obstacles until they succeed. They are practical: they understand that gaining something requires giving something. Because they want the benefit, they accept giving up some comfort. In the end, they get it done.

That brings the question of whether you can get up early back to one central issue: do you believe it matters? If you truly consider it important, you will naturally look for ways to do it. If you don't, you will naturally look for excuses. Continued growth, getting things done and building a better future require a willingness to pay the price and take action.

May you greet every day with an early start!

Today I got up at 5—a day for thinking through writing.