photo credit: James Jordan
“No one who can rise before dawn 360 days a year fails to make his family rich.” – Chinese proverb
Many people look for the big answer to take them from where they currently are to a state of fulfillment and lower stress. This quote has a definitive answer for how to do that. It isn’t often that you find something so direct, so it is valuable to have, and very fitting to follow. Here I discuss some of what the quote is saying, and what you can do to get on the victory train:
Wake Up Early
The main concept behind it is to wake up before the sun comes out for 360 out of 365 days of the year. Notice that the quote doesn’t say much else about what the person needs to do. This is because anyone with the self-discipline to wake up before the sun comes out for 360 days of the year will use that self-discipline, plus what they already desire and know, to achieve great things in a short time, making their family rich. Self-discipline is the key thing here, as no one leisurely wakes up before the sun comes out for the majority of the year.
This is not so much about the message of waking up early, although that is a requirement present in following the direction of the quote, but about the concept of sticking to a strict regimen. Anyone who can do this is in for great things. Following a strict regiment tells the people of the world a lot about you, like:
- you run your own show, and are not concerned with what others do
- you have enough of a foundation to maintain a regimen of your own making
- you have a bigger vision or desire than most people
- you follow good role models or examples to obtain similar success
360 Days Of A Year Is Nearly Every Day
Leaving out a couple of days for breaks, you have to keep this system going daily for it to work out as desired. If you have some sort of regular employment, this habit might lead you to get promoted sooner than your co-workers, as you would be early, show much more drive, and be awake and productive when others are a bit slower. If you are building a business, this routine early waking would be enough to outdo your competition.
This Concept Is A Solution
It is not often that you see a quote that gives you a direct solution. If you follow the message of this quote, it would almost take effort to not succeed, because anyone that is awake before the sun comes out will think of ideas, know that they can follow through on them as they did with the early waking, and will have the confidence to leave others in the dust.
As a society, we tend to look for the solutions out there, and some are shown as quick-fixes. Some are shown as slower fixes as well, and they are still not actually solutions all the time. Here you see what you can do if it fits in line with your desires to make yourself and your family rich. Beat the sun to the day for 360 days of the year, and you can expect results that others can’t even envision for themselves.
As a closing point, try and imagine what it would be like to wake up before the sun comes up every day. Your world might become quite different from how it currently is, and that small shift in your morning routine shifts your whole view of the day. We are very much in control of how we perceive the world, and can adjust our perception in more productive ways.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Armen,
What about at the other end of the day in the quiet of the evening working away while everyone else is asleep. There has been debate on this before. I know that Leo from Zen Habits and Steve Pavlina both are early risers, but then you have guys like Tim Ferriss who are late risers and late sleepers.
What are your thoughts?
.-= Gordie´s last blog ..2009 Recap Of Lifestyle Design For You. =-.
Hey Gordie.
This is true about the other end of the day being a potential haven for useful time spending. Although I focused here on beating the sun to the day, there are alternate routes of self-discipline that could work out just as well.
It is true about late risers being able to be just as successful.
It is easy to label beating the sun as a winning start to the day though. I can almost guarantee that anyone making sure to wake before the sun comes up 360 days of the year will be to their desired location in a short period of time.
Hey Armen. Good point you have here. However I must slightly disagree. Back in the day Chinese people made a living by working in the rice paddies. In order to be successful, one had to work hard labor in the fields. The early hours of the morning were the best time to do so.
Thought provoking post my friend.
Hi Bud.
This is a good point about the rice paddies. I had forgotten about that concept.
Part of me still wants to take from their message, for their workers in the rice paddies, and apply it to those who create something today. We can pretend we are Chinese farmers that put out services and product, as opposed to rice.
We have to build up our rice paddies people!
Twitter: bretthimself
December 26, 2009 at 6:00 am
Hey Armen,
Like Bud said, it’s not the principle of waking up early that makes you successful, but the amount of work you get done in that extra time. I’ve been consistently waking up before the sun rises for awhile now and my days seem longer and more productive.
.-= Brett – DareToExpress.com´s last blog ..Make Every Day A Holiday =-.
Hey Brett.
That is true about the production capacity in the set time you make for it. This is just one way of getting the early get-go for it.
Good call about waking up before the sun rises already. You might be unstoppable, but I will hire a brake specialist to stop you somehow with large brakes.
Well my day starts at 9pm so I kinda miss out on waking up before the sun rises. But I have hacked my sleep so that I do achieve more in a day, even if my day is backwards
.-= Anthony Feint´s last blog ..Essential Web Apps for Lifestyle Designers =-.
Hello Anthony.
This is true. 9 PM means you really miss the sun rise possibility. You could move things around to 12 hours earlier in the day, and still miss the sun rise. Let me tell you about the sun rise. It happens around 6 AM, I think, and it is pretty quick to occur. I am kidding around there.
Good call on hacking your sleep so that your backwards day still works out to your advantage for output.
Armen, the quote you found speaks to me perfectly. I had been working on waking up earlier and earlier each day for the past month. It has been very helpful so far. I feel more energetic, healthier, and productive.
This week I decided to wake up at 5:31am every day for a month. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Hi Eirien.
Cool to hear that about the quote fitting well. It matched in line with your recent activity. It makes sense that you are more energetic, along with those other benefits. That is a smooth move.
Waking up at 5:31 AM doesn’t make any sense. You might want to wake up at 5:30 AM to be a bit more normal. Some people~
“Waking up at 5:31 AM doesn’t make any sense.”
Ahh, let me explain! Adding that extra minute means “I’ll get up exactly when it rings”. It’s more of a saying here; basically means I won’t use the snooze button.
I’ve actually found myself waking up earlier than my alarm clock. It’s like I’m doing a better job than it is. :O
Oh okay. That makes a bit more sense. It sure was really awkward until you explained it. On the other hand, I have set an alarm for 7:22 or 6:44 before, so I guess the times we use sure can be wacky.
Nice move on beating the alarm clock at times. That is like a victory out of nowhere. Those are the good kind.
Hi Armen,
I think it is also important to consider when you brain works better. For me it is late at night, so I go to bed around 3.30 am and wake up around 9 am. I know I need to move it up and go to bed at 1.30 (one of my New Year resolutions:), wake up around 7, but I think if I moved it further, I would be less productive.
I might still try it one day since I heard so many good things about early rising, not sure it will stick with me, but worth a try.
You are right it is more about the discipline and sticking to a strict regimen than about anything else. That’s the first thing everyone should work on.
.-= Lana – DreamFollowers Blog´s last blog ..The Ultimate Guide to Creative Visualization =-.
Hey Lana.
This is true about the timing that we have. Good call on moving up your sleeping time. That could make quite a difference. It is sort of funny how we are productive at some wacky hours.
Self-discipline for the win. Lately I have been telling a couple of folks that it is about self-discipline, and also ignoring everybody at the same time. Thanks for your thoughts.
What up Armen ! yea I am definitely part of the camp that sleeps later and wakes up a bit later. I definitely agree with sticking to a routine and being able to create a discipline for yourself really makes a big difference.
.-= Rocky | R O C K O N O V A.COM´s last blog ..What A Mortal Enemy Has Taught Me About Right Understanding =-.
Hey Rocky.
Interesting there about sleeping later and also waking up later. It sure can work. It seems quite a few are using a time plan like yours. As long as we control our timing, we are set for good things. The cycle is in our hands.
Loved this article Armen! I think it makes a lot of sense, as in the evening I’m generally tired and I can’t get a lot done, much better in the morning instead.
.-= Oscar – freestyle mind´s last blog ..Rationale Thinking and the Scientific Method =-.
Hey Oscar.
Thanks about that. I’m most able to stay energized in mornings. Your point there fits right in as well. We are not too different from one another, I would think, as far as sleep patterns.
I can’t see someone waking up before dawn 360 of the years and not succeeding, so the main issue is implementation.
Whoa! Wouldn’t that be a challenge worth trying? I actually try to wake up around 6:00a.m. to exercise and this week has been hell. You make a great point. If you can wake up that early 360 days of the year, you must live a very disciplined life. I’ll be thinking about this for a while
.-= Moon Hussain´s last blog ..Open Forum: Discussion On How To Gain Blog Traffic =-.
Twitter: Armen
January 15, 2010 at 8:52 am
Hi Moon.
That sure is a challenge worth trying. Nice effort about looking to wake up at 6:00 AM for exercise there. When I run early in the morning, I always am glad for it the rest of the day.
That 360 day concept sure is mind-expanding, but it is tough to get into that habit. It is worth setting as a goal though.
thanks for the quote, i had forgotten it and was searching for it and your site came up…i’ve been practicing meditation (or mindfulness) techniques/practice for the past 7 years…the enlightened masters (or ones closest to enlightenment) all basically agree that the most productive hours are between 3am and whenever the sun rises…they call these the ‘nectar’ hours and that any hour of ‘work’ done in these hours is worth 2….i have to agree with them since i’ve incorporated this discipline into my practice…when the sun rises, if you greet the sun (sun salutation in yoga, or one of your forms for qi gong or tai chi), with whatever healing art that resonates with you…the sun can be briefly looked at as it crests your horizon…not only that it is just such a beautiful moment to give thanks….the egyptians also practices this and apparantly is why they had some dark rooms built into their pyramids…to see what the sun imprinted…if the sun is light… and if einstein is correct in his theory…then it is RA as the egyptians praised and the akashik record as all mystics praised…
Twitter: Armen
October 16, 2010 at 9:20 am
Hi Michael.
Sure thing there about the quote. I have not yet lived up to what the quote says, but I feel that I can certify that it is accurate in what it says. Those early hours are quite productive for many reasons that you have mentioned, and that I have mentioned in the past.
Greeting the sun is always a nice feature, because some miss out on that.
I do agree that early hours are worth double or more in effectiveness as later hours.