2 Reasons That the Early Bird Catches the Worm

In my experience, the qualified person who responds first to urgent emails gets the job, and the first qualified person who picks up the phone has a better chance of building trust with a client and eventually gaining them as a customer. This means that waking up early and being the first to respond is extremely important. When individuals say they will wait or are too busy to respond, in a world full of options, it’s easy for potential clients to move on. And the only way to fix this is to expand one’s day, meaning that waking up early can be just the fix you need. If you own a business, or are busy trying to pick up new clients, then this advice is for you.

If you’re having trouble with gaining control of your schedule, here are two reasons to be the early bird:

1. Waking up early is about building momentum instead of playing catch up.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, founder and chairman of the Virgin Group Richard Branson, Disney CEO Bob Iger, and countless others see the importance of waking up early, so there has to be a benefit in it right? Being up early isn’t about seeing who can be up first, but it’s about creating momentum for the day ahead. Otherwise, you’re playing catch up all day long. And if you play catch up all the time, then you’re always playing defense rather than offense. As you already know, this is just the pits. Get ahead and stay ahead when you see the value in waking up early.

Being up early is about creating momentum for the day ahead. Click To Tweet

2. Waking up early is about self-discipline.

When you can fight your own desires and win, the more self-discipline you create for yourself. And the more discipline you have, the better you will feel about yourself and the more you will win. No matter what you fill your mornings with, the fact that you can say you fought and won is worth the battle.

I used to be a night person, but had to switch when I began having early meetings. I found that I had to go to bed by 10 p.m. If I had any chance of waking up early, so I’m not suggesting less sleep, but more of a readjustment to your schedule if needed. (I need 7-8 hours of sleep every night to be at my best.) Since making the change, I feel better and I get more done.

In the end, not everyone is wired as a morning person, and that’s okay. On the other hand, not everyone is wired to be a night person either, and that’s okay, too. Find what works for you, but just know that there is some truth to the idiom — the early bird really does catch the worm.