attack the dawn
how to make miserable days manageable
most days suck. most days are monotonous, mundane, and mediocre. routine down to the minute. youre a world class clock watcher, spending the entire day thinking about what youre going to do later (except you never do). this leaves you feeling gross inside. empty. wondering what the fuck youre doing.
sadly, for most of us, this is life (so long as you work a job you hate). the machine is a disease. your brain is sprinting all day, and by 6:00, all it can manage is a crawl. so it reaches for the low hanging fruit.
social media. youtube. live streams. shitty food. sports betting. the things that make your brain and body slow. the things that bloat your life. when you go to bed at night your day feels like a waste, because it is.
monday feels like tuesday. tuesday feels like wednesday. youre a hamster on a wheel. you never get to do the things you want. not because you dont have time but because youre a shitty decision maker.
the things you want to do (the things youre not doing) are exactly what you need to do to not feel like shit. so, in my opinion, 3 things need to happen before you go off to do whatever it is that you dont wanna do, so that even the shittiest days feel somewhat meaningful.
days on end with out progress, achievement, and substance are how you ruin your life. surrendering to the conveyor belt youve been placed on is a scam. resist arrest (nothing will happen). get off.
here are 3 things you need to do every morning to make your shitty monday-friday 1% less ass:
1. something for yourself
the entire day is about everyone but you. so wake up and claim whats yours before the world steals it from you. theres nothing worse than getting up to do shit you dont want to do. it makes everyday miserable. i would hit snooze too. its terrible. why would you be excited to wake up when you need to droid away in spreadsheets for 8 hours?
get up and do something for yourself. it helps you ease into the day. you plant the flag in something you want before the void destroys your brain. get up. watch tv. play games. check your email. do something that you “just dont have time for.”
personally, i wake up, make a coffee and read. i spend the whole first hour of the day doing nothing and i fucking love it. noone can stop me. noone can bother me. its quiet. its peaceful. and its mine.
yes, id love to read after work, but my brain feels like poprocks. too fried to sink into a book about philosophy. time stolen.
doing something you enjoy makes getting out of bed exciting.
2. exercise
i know, boring.
exercising makes everything about life better. if you dont, youre probably a miserable human being who complains and makes excuses and points fingers.
that, or you “dont have time” which is a lie fed to you by other carrot danglers who are insecure about their inability to make it a consistent habit. newsflash, this is how you make it consistent.
i love it, and I dont want to do it after work either. the session is lazy and im tired. the world is draining.
life without daily movement is miserable.
if its already a habit, you know how important it is.
get up early, and train your body, so that you can have an ego complex walking into your office. any chip on the shoulder you can possess makes a difference. in a world full of bellyachers, it isnt hard to stand out when the normal person is showing up 25 minutes after their alarm.
plus youll walk through the rest of your day feeling like a corgi on rabies and it feels amazing. if you want more energy, this is how you get it.
wake up early and exercise. its probably the most important habit you can adopt as a human being.
3. food
everybody eats. we all love food. food is fuel. when youre not fueled, youre angry. personally, im a monstrosity. it consumes the mind.
if you care about how you perform, look, and feel, its all downstream from from your diet.
so wake up and get in a good meal. treat yourself like a grown up for once. youll be less irritated because you wont be dreaming of lunch the whole first half of the day.
not only that, but most people opt for the easy, convenient option. the shit. the slop. wake up and have a good meal. control 1/3 of your consumption right then and there. establish the healthy eating habit when its in your hands. while youre the gamemaker.
youll be less grouchy and youll feel more energized. youll eat less of the gross cafeteria food and food wont be the only thing on your mind.
wake up and eat something good.
why cant you do these things after work?
because you never have. the ocean is choppy late in the day. your muscles are weak and you can barely stay above water. in the morning the weather is nice and the ocean is calm. perfect for a swim.
forced time manegement
this strategy forces you to manage your time. since you need to be at work a few hours later, youre basically giving yourself a little timer. you have to do the things that you laid out. theres a deadline. no room for procrastination. its all momentum. downhill running, and it bleeds into the rest of the day.
“give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”
— abe lincoln
wake up 2 hours earlier and youve done more than most of the population before 8 am. freelo.
golden hour
in time, these 2 hours will become the best part of every day. something you look forward to. something you never wanna give up. stop being a panzy ass little donkey and get up when your alarm goes off so you can go do the things you know are good for you. do something fun, exercise, get a good breakfast, and top it all with a coffee. mm chefs kiss. youll be flying.
thanks for reading.
—dante
my brain:
idea: do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself
song: i dont trust myself (without loving you)
book: the will of many