Here’s a conversation I had recently. Have you found the same thing to be true?

“If I don’t sleep well, then I want to eat junk food throughout the day…

If I start the day by eating sugary pancakes or cereal, then I don’t want to workout…

And when I don’t workout, I’m moody throughout the day — and while my kids are in quarantine, I can’t be moody because it makes everyone else moody…

And when my kids are fighting with each other, my spouse and I start fighting with the kids to stop… and then we start fighting with each other…

When we finally get the kids down to bed, I scroll through Instagram and lose track of time. I start to feel guilty about all the things I’m not doing and then I can’t sleep…

And because I don’t sleep well at night, I self-medicate with sleeping pills (and caffeine during the day). Then the whole day starts over…

I guess I just hate how interconnected everything is…”

There’s Hope

I’m no therapist, but there is one habit that proves to positively affect all other factors of health. And here it is:

Go to bed early.

It’s as simple as that. Nothing good ever happens past 9:00 p.m. anyway (especially since sports still aren’t on T.V.).

Seriously, the three hours between 9:00 p.m. – midnight are usually spent doing mindless activities. They’re dead hours to every healthy person.

Reasons Why You Don’t Go to Bed Early

I know, you’ll have 101 different reasons why you shouldn’t go to bed early:

“Because I want to spend time with my spouse after the kids go to bed.”

“I have a deadline for work that I need to finish.”

“I just want to relax and laugh while watching my one episode of my favorite T.V. show.”

But when you break these (and others) down, they are just excuses. I promise that you will end up having better quality time with your spouse during the week, finish deadlines sooner, and feel more relaxed if you just go to bed early.

Takeaway

Think of the last vacation you went on with family:

You stay up late playing games with your family. Then the next day, you wake up groggy and decide to eat a breakfast full of sugar. Then you don’t workout. And because you’re not as clear mentally as you normally are, you’re bound to have at least one ugly argument with someone in the family…

It happens every time.

Retire early; then rise early.

It will positively (or negatively) affect your eating, exercise, mindset, and connection with others.

Tyler