Do you wish to wake up early to work on side projects? I did a 30-day challenge to implement this habit.

I succeeded during the 30 days, but after that, I slowly went back to my old sleeping schedule. Five months later, I still want to get back to waking up at 5. Currently, I wake up at 6 ~80% of the time, but it often is not enough.

Here are the mistakes I made that prevented the habit from sticking:

1. I felt I needed a reward

After 30 days, I felt I deserved a reward for my hard work. That reward was sleeping later which contradicted the habit itself.

2. I felt I mastered how to do it

Once your circadian rhythm goes off, it is tough to recover.

Feeling competent in waking up early made me comfortable sleeping until later because I thought I could always get back to it.

3. I relied too much on external validation for the habit

I made a daily post on Instagram, and people were reacting. That validation was a huge motivator, and after the 30 days, that was gone. Motivation for waking up should be very much internal

4. In the 30 days, I sacrificed too much

Don't let your "streak" dominate your life.

I had a weekend with the cousins I grew up with during the challenge, and I went to sleep at 9 PM to be able to get up at 4:30. I left them to continue to party, and I missed spending time with them to wake up.

I regret this to this day.

My next essay will be on how I plan to implement my next strategy of waking up at 5 AM based on research and how others have done it!