How I became a morning person

Being an early bird isn’t so bad.

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” — Benjamin Franklin

I contemplated a few ways to start this column. None felt great.

Truthfully, the closer the calendar crept toward publication the sillier I felt for planning to write about the topic at all.

But then I summoned Parker to show her the lead photo just before sitting down to write Saturday night.

Her eyes started at the top of the page. She read the headline, then the subhead, both out loud as she leaned in, her palms pressed against the arm of the pushback recliner that served as my makeshift desk. She never commented on the photo. One look at the subhead and Parker was out, reminding me exactly why I felt compelled to write this column.

“Oh, it’s bad for me,” Parker said of being an early bird, before promptly hustling back to the comfort of her bedroom.

I used to be like Parker. Only much worse.

Her disdain for early mornings is in its infancy. There’s still hope for her. This is me encouraging her to not spend the next 30 years needlessly clinging to late-night habits like I did.

You’re not missing anything kid.

But I know my child. Her personality mirrors mine in so many ways. I’ll be lucky if my words become so much as thought bubbles in the back of her mind. She’s the type who must experience life for herself, on her terms, before accepting her lesson. Warn her about something, anything, and it’ll only make her more curious to check it out.

We’ll love the opportunities that’ll emerge from that lifestyle.

We’ll also be forced to live with occasional consequences.

Maybe Parker will find a happy medium I didn’t consider until my mid-30s and never committed to until adopting my current Money Talks mindset.

My chosen career mandated that I be a night owl. Writing about sports calls for countless late nights. Weekends and holidays often are work days too.

I covered the NBA’s first-round playoff series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans last month. After an 8:45 p.m. start time, I walked out of the press room at 1:45 a.m. when all my postgame responsibilities were finished. I wasn’t the last person to leave for a change. Yet I still had another few hours of work to complete at my hotel.

That’s been my life for the better part of the past 20 years.

Awaking before 11 a.m. was offensive. Family members quickly learned to not bother calling me before a certain hour. My poor sleep schedule spilled into other areas. I had problems with punctuality and procrastination.

I’m the guy family and friends would lie to about bowling or a tee time being an hour earlier than it actually was. They knew I’d be late if they didn’t resort to using Jedi mind tricks on me.

Only a handful of things enticed me to get out of bed before sunrise. Mandatory early morning flights to the next city were and still are commonplace. And for about 16 months starting back in 2015, my transition to a desk job coupled with a weekday, 6 a.m. morning basketball run to routinely get me up at 5:15 a.m.

The rejuvenating feeling I enjoyed from starting my day with my favorite activity, before knee problems pushed me into Father Time’s graveyard, exposed me to better balance.

But by late 2017, I was back on the NBA grind, once again sacrificing sleep to write about games. Two years later, Parker started kindergarten. Blurry-eyed commutes on Friday morning became commonplace. Sometimes, I’d be horribly late dropping her off. I knew then the way I was living was unsustainable.

I wasn’t truly present for Parker.

Fast forward 6 1/2 years to the night I walked out of the Thunder’s arena in Oklahoma City. All I could think about as the hour grew more ridiculous is how I’m no longer cut out for being a night owl.

My alarm clock is set for 6 a.m. daily regardless of what’s on my agenda.

I don’t always get up and get my day started. But I’m moving in that direction. One of the books on my reading list is “The 5 a.m. Club.” I don’t want to just read the book. My goal is to join the club.

Image via ivyandlight.com

I’ve learned how incredibly productive I am when I simply start my days early.

I have more energy and focus. There’s ample time to exercise and eat a balanced breakfast. I can squeeze in a revitalizing walk. And I can do all those healthy habits before tending to a single responsibility.

It’s another form of paying myself first.

I also realized how much more I could learn.

Adjusting to Parker’s school schedule sparked my sea change. But the stock market solidified it. The market gave me all the incentive I needed to stop sleeping in. It made me see the idiom “the early bird gets the worm” in a totally different light.

When I saw money moving in real time, I began looking forward to rolling over at 7 a.m. in preparation to take part. My mornings soon became reserved for studying the market.

I began binge-watching Bloomberg before I canceled subscriptions. I transitioned to YouTube and started learning the language of day traders at TraderTV Live. I ditched ESPN and NBA Radio and started combing through the Wall Street Journal and CNBC.

Most people label what I’m describing as maturity. Nothing more. Nothing less. That’s why I felt silly writing about my transformation into being a morning person.

It happens to all of us.

But the earlier you realize the incredible benefits of being an early bird, Parker, the sooner you’ll understand it’s not so bad.