Good morning everyone,

Welcome to the 3 new explorers that have joined this expedition. That makes 60 of us on this personal growth journey.I hope you got enough rest last night, because today, we've got some ground to cover.

You ready?

Alright, let's grow.

8:30 AM.

That was my average wake-up time for November.

Yikes.

For me, that ain't good. I'd bet that for the entirety of last year, I averaged something like 5:15-ish. So yeah, I was definitely off-track.

(FYI, in next week's letter, I'll give you my guide for waking up early and tell you exactly how I've solved this problem)

I am writing this at 6:16 AM, and I went to bed around midnight last night. I really want to go back to bed. In fact, I longingly looked over my shoulder at my bed for a SOLID 15 seconds just a few moments ago. I am literally looking for any reasonable excuse to justify sliding back into bed.

Here are a few excuses that my mind has generated in the last few minutes:

• You went to bed too late - you need to be well-rested so that you can take on the day!

• You have a cold - why push your body when it needs to recover?

• You already wrote in your journal - this morning is already a victory.

• C'mon, no one is gonna know if you get an extra hour of sleep - you are already way ahead of schedule!

• Wait wait wait, what if you actually went back to sleep and then wrote about it in your newsletter - it would be epic!

-And, and on, and on...

Let me explain.

Until you truly commit to making a positive (but challenging) change, your mind is gonna keep coming up with elaborate excuses, and you are gonna need to keep spending your precious willpower to fend off those excuses. Even if you are successful in keeping those relentless excuses at bay, it will come at the expense of your attention and energy.

Every time you at least consider an excuse, you increase the likelihood that you will give in to those excuses. There is a part of your mind just pumping out excuses. Every time one doesn't work, it just tries out a different one.

In your mind, there is always a voice of weakness begging you to take the easiest path. Always. The more uncomfortable the path in front of you, the more your mind will try to talk you out of it. That voice wants you to slide back into bed, to stay up late munching on snacks, to skip the workout, to quit early, to give up. It wants comfort, it wants ease.

But there is a second voice, a voice that takes practice and conditioning to master. It is a quiet voice and it takes energy for it to overcome the first voice.

When you even consider listening to your excuses, imagine one voice pleading with the other.

There is a debate going on inside your mind.

But you have the power to end it with the snap of your fingers.

This is how to instantly shut down any excuse:

When you hear those excuses creeping into your mind, you have to immediately shout back, interrupting:

Nope! I am doing this, and I'm not stopping.

You must be decisive and firm in your commitment.

Don't even let that other voice finish its sentence - you already know what it is trying to do.

If you give it an inch, it will take a mile.

The more attention you give that voice, the more power it will have over you.

To misappropriate a quote from Sun Tzu: "The battle is won before it is engaged."

The best way to win a battle is to never fight it.

When you catch yourself starting to listen to those excuses, nip it in the bud. The more you practice this, the easier it will become.

It is a continuous process.

Your mind will generate an excuse, you will ignore it, and then the cycle repeats itself.

With time, you will become more resilient to this continuous stream of excuses. And eventually, they will lose their power over you completely

Don’t believe me? Just look up David Goggins. He coined the phrase: “callous your mind”.

(I’ll talk about Goggins in future letters)

So, if you are trying to shift your wake-up time, or trying to start a workout program, or you are simply trying to eat better… Whatever it is that you are trying to do, remember: never entertain excuses.

The moment you consider them, you are giving them power. And the more power they have, the more they will control you.

Never let your excuses control your future.

Remember this story and put your excuses to sleep for good…

Sheeeeeesh, that story is such a banger.

Thanks for reading!

Be sure to keep an eye on your inbox next weekend, because I'll be sending you my fool-proof guide to waking up early.

Do you have any questions about waking up early? Reply to this email and I'll try to answer them next week.

Onward!

- Cliff

P.S. It is never too late to start. Would any of your growth-minded friends like to join us on this journey? They can subscribe to future letters by clicking HERE