This Is Why I Want To Wake Up Early At 04hOO
The real reason “why” provides decisive clarity for you
Some say waking up as early as 04h00 is an internet scam.
A scam to prank you into the belief you’ll become filthy rich. Yet, it’s true “big-name Influencers” make tons of money on sculpting a get-rich dream. However, your lifestyle and requirements determine how deep the scam hole goes.
I’ll let you in on my story first.
I wake up at 04h 00.
Okay, you’re right. 04h 00 is my aim, occasionally (once or twice a month.) it happens that I miss it! In 99% of the cases when I miss that daily setpoint, it’s because of not reaching my desired bedtime (20h00–20h30)
Why?
I adapted this system a few years back by following Mike O’ hearn. For those who don’t know Mike, he is one of the most consistent Bodybuilders. He was posing in an incredible amount of Men’s Physique magazines and is a strong proponent of PowerBuilding.
Mike’s nearing his fifties and has trained for over 35 years straight at Golds gym.
A decade ago, I worked out late evenings. I enjoyed that to the bone. Back then, I was still a night owl. There was just one small problem: I couldn’t catch sleep after my intensive weight workouts.
Most likely, I stressed my nervous system too much, which left me with a terrible ability to catch a good night of sleep.
Mike O’Hearn is the earliest bird in the gym. He works out at 04h 00. He lets nothing get in the way of his training before he influences the rest of the world with his overload of weightlifting knowledge.
If you don’t sleep at least eight hours, I don’t even consider training you.
-Mike O’Hearn-
Now is this a reason to do what Mike does?
Entirely “NOPE.”
In my case, I had to change my approach if I wanted to reap sleep rewards. Everyone’s situation is different, and 04h00 might not be the thing for you.
There are two reasons 04h00 is considered a scam:
First, the real “4 o’clock scam” is presented by unaware wannabe internet celebrities who just spread every crazy piece of advice into the world to get famous and rich. Frankly, they don’t know their reasons for selling this advice, which makes the scam the scam.
Secondly, the “4 O’clock scam” gets coined by those who adopt this imaginary gold pot, blindlessly.
Nevertheless,
Waking up at 04h 00 makes me so much more productive!
If waking up this early opens up another world for you. If this opens a gap for you to get more things done in flow if that is your case too? Then do what “four O’clock Mike” does.
Otherwise, don’t!
Seek what’s best for you specifically. Waking up at 04h00 will only benefit you if you have a solid reason with a specific plan for this.
Two questions you might ask yourself:
- Does waking up at 04h00 provide me with any benefits?
- Am I going to be able to follow this tactic consistently?
You want both answers to be a straight “YES” instantly.
My reason for adopting this schedule which Mike mentors the balls out of, is that it does the trick for me. Waking up this early provides me with additional flow time (About 3 hours) to perform things I like, (training, writing, reading), which I won’t have time to do later that day.
As a bonus, getting up this early gets me on my knees by the evening, feeling sleepy and hunkering for my bed by 19h-ish.
And that’s “my” why.
Look, a pointer I can give is the following:
“When you have a family and personal side goals, this might work extremely well for you.”
Throwing all science out of the window— Your job requirements (time frame) and that of your partner, together with your goals, and responsibilities as parents will let you know if you truly want to wake up at 04h00.
People will say the 4 O’clock thing is a scam or hype. I can’t entirely agree. Scams and hypes depend on how you consume information and apply it or don’t apply it accordingly to your advantage.
If you think this tactic will suit you, your family, and makes you more productive or healthier. Apply it. Yet, do so by still reaching at least five full sleep cycles.
Doing this because you want to copy your greatest influencer might not be the right reason, and therefore chances are you’ll never sustain that system. In that case, don’t waste your time.
Waking up is easy. It’s going to bed sharp and timely that’s the hardest part. Modern-day society has us by the neck. We have obligations, and social structures and schedules mostly interfere with this approach. I’ll not lie to you. It takes a stone-hard mentality to maintain this schedule.
Here is why I really want to wake up early, and the intrinsic benefits
For me, this tactic works.
Back in the day, when training late evenings, my real reason I was training late evenings was that I was already delaying my training time the whole day. This interfered with our daily planning (and at that point, we didn’t even have 4 kids yet!) The whole day I had my mind on figuring out a time gap to go and work out. In many cases, I didn’t succeed during the day, which led me to acquire late evening training.
When focussing on sleep improvement, I found myself having much energy in the tank by the evening. When I noticed Mike’s schedule, this got me thinking….
If I would workout early morning, would I still have so much energy left by late evening?
I adopted Mike’s schedule. It led to the next level in my personal development phase. A huge leap.
Because it came with many other benefits.
Waking up this early opens a time gap for side hustles, whether that’s exercising, writing, reading, cooking, cleaning, or whatever… Early mornings like this provided me with clarity. Getting some small things done early boosted me in a positive spiral throughout my day. Something which seemed to be a lot harder for me back in the day.
One thing to share,
Waking up at 04h00 and performing dedicated work can make you fall into a slump by mid-day.
To thrive through your day with full intensity, you should blend in meditation, naps, or CRPs.
Our genotypes have us preset.
An evening person, yes. A morning person, yes.
But I don’t believe anyone is a 4 O’clock person. You become a 4 0’clock person. However, if there is anyone leaning to this side of the spectrum, chances are it will be introverted men, feeding themselves from intrinsic non-arousal. Remember, we are incredibly adaptable, and there isn’t a limit to what you can adapt to.
If your reason is strong enough to acquire the early 4 O’clock method, then you’ll manage and benefit just like me.
Specificity is very important. That’s why comparison is the worst thing you can do. It’ll lead to bad decisions, bad habits, bad moods, and terrible outcomes.
Additionally, my “Mike schedule” works pretty well in combination with my work. It doesn’t require me to make any shifts, so if I’m not consistent, it’s my own fault. Making yourself eligible induces great results. It will reinforce your consistent effort.
A consistent schedule for sleep is extremely important. Find one which suits you best for as long as possible.
Perhaps these habits can help you out:
Absorb, Read, Write, Sleep, Exercise, Thrive!
Thanks for reading this post!
P.S.:
I’m a firm believer in building a prosilient mind. I like to inspire by writing.
Some of my writings are about: Sleep & Dreams/Writing tips/Life lessons/Mental Health/Circadian Rhythm/Submarine Power Cables.
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