Are You a Morning Person?
What is a Morning Lark? The morning lark is another more specific term for “early bird”.
Table of Contents
- Are You a Morning Person?
- Are Most People Morning Birds or Night Owls?
- If You Think You’re not a Morning Person…
- Not All Night Owls are True
- Examine Your Truths
- Adequate Sleep Boosts Creativity
- A Better Life
- Improving Your Sleep, Improves Your Health
Morning lark or early bird is a term for a person who usually gets up early in the morning and goes to bed early in the evening.[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lark_(person)
Okay… so if you’re not a morning person, or morning lark, stick with me for a few, as there’s something in this for you too.
If You’re an Owl it Might Be Genetic
Yes, there are natural night owls, and you may be one if you think you’re a night person and daylight, mornings and alarm clocks cause you to cringe. A 2017 study found that 1 in 75 people with a non-Finnish European ancestry carry a genetic mutation that causes their circadian clock to run behind. [2]https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170406121624.htm
However, most homo sapiens, will fall in with the cycles of nature’s day creatures once they’re back in touch with their body’s innate tendencies. All but around 20%.
Are Most People Morning Birds or Night Owls?
Before you rule out morning lark and decide you’re a genetic “owl”, there are a few more things to consider.
Dr. John Medina, in his landmark best selling book, Brain Rules, says that most people are hummingbirds. What? We’ve mostly only heard “early bird” or “night owl”, right? Turns out that most fall in between the two extremes, but with more of an inclination toward one or the other.
Morning Lark, Night Owl or Hummingbird?
❥ 20% of the population are morning larks, (wake up before 6 am without an alarm; to bed by 9 pm)
❥ 20% are night owls (often to sleep after 3am and up around 10 am)
❥ 60% are hummingbirds (somewhere in between)
Source: BrainRules.net
If You Think You’re not a Morning Person…
In my late teens and early twenties, I was not a morning person. However, as with most people who think that, it’s not that I wasn’t a morning person, rather, it’s that my nights intruded into my mornings.
My habits and schedule were not conducive to getting to bed early. Between my jobs and a bit of a partying lifestyle, I often went to bed in the wee hours well after midnight.
For years now with a healthier normal daily routine, my ideal night is 10 pm-5:30 am, which places me on the lark side of hummingbirds. And when I get a good night’s sleep in that zone, it definitely positively boosts my waking state.
Coffee!
And of course, coffee helps. I love butter coffee with MCT and/or coconut oil.
If I were to be a connoisseur of anything, it would be coffee and traveling the world sampling the best coffees. Well… and maybe chocolate chip cookies… oh… organic red wine… and cheesecake… or should I choose tiramisu..? ??? Anywhooooo…
While I enjoy a glass or two of red wine, preferably organic wine from Dry Farm wines what I love about coffee is how it enhances creativity, enthusiasm and productivity. While wine can be relaxing, and may have its place in inspiring creativity, it does not sharpen mental focus. But speaking of focus, I digress. ?☕️
My biggest challenge is that most everything I want and love to do, is best done in the mornings, when I’m at peak cortisol, rest, clarity and caffeine! On the morning that I’m writing this, I have a dozen tabs open on my laptop, flitting in between them because there’s so much to cram into this first half of a very busy day.
A Family Circus Kind of Morning
Today — as with many days — isn’t proceeding in linear fashion. In fact it’s reminiscent of “Billy’s map” from the famed Family Circus comic strip. I’m guessing you have days that like too… chances are, we all do.
Of course my side trips, detours and distractions are all productive tasks that need to be done, but… more order, less chaos would be best. It’s like the prolific bursting forth of nature in spring, sometimes appearing as chaos, where everything is growing all at once.
It’s the plight of many creators. We know you can relate. For that, we highly recommend using a goals journal and task planning, setting and tracking.
CREATIVITY:
Ideas rarely arrive in linear fashion. Rather, they sprout like weeds in spring determined to grow. Plant your best ideas in the fertile soil of daily effort.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®
Not All Night Owls are True
One of our favorite entrepreneurs is John Lee Dumas (JLD) of EOFire fame (aka EntrepreneurOnFire). John is one such who discovered that he wasn’t what he thought he was.
JLD’s habits misinformed him into believing that he wasn’t a morning person.
Hal Elrod, has created an empire around the power of mornings with his brand, Miracle Morning. Hal’s success is also founded on his incredible real life triumph over multiple dramatic life traumas. However, the biggest contributor to Hal’s success is his positive mental attitude, and his early morning rituals.
That story is absolutely worth tuning into. #Perspective. Powerful.
RELATED: Good Morning Quotes to add sparkle to your day.
“Habits create, inform and reinforce belief. Choose your habits wisely and put them to work for you, not against you.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®
Examine Your Truths
So if you think you’re a night owl, consider what habits and patterns may be keeping you up way past pumpkin time, and which, if tweaked, might get you to bed earlier and up earlier. Why? Because studies show that the best quality of sleep occurs for most, between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am.[3]https://www.doctoroz.com/blog/kulreet-chaudhary-md/sleep-and-longevity
Studies show the deepest and best hours of sleep for most people occur between 10 pm and 2 am.
So if you’re burning the midnight oil working, or binging on your favorite shows or games into the night, you’re depriving your body and brain of what it needs most. Adequate quality sleep is one of the most important components of health and longevity. When you’re well rested, your body can heal and repair, and your emotions and hormones are more balanced.
“It’s not that I wasn’t a morning person, rather, it’s that my nights intruded into my mornings.”
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®
Adequate Sleep Boosts Creativity
A rested and refreshed brain is essential for optimum creativity, performance and positive state of mind. It’s great if you’re able to push yourself day after day and skip or minimize sleep in order to keep on working. However, for your overall health and wellbeing, consider experimenting more and better sleep as a way to get more done in less time.
Your brain keeps on working even while it’s sleeping. So getting adequate sleep can actually help you solve problems and generate more and better ideas. This is one of the reasons the iCreateDaily 90 Day Goals Journal has on each day a reminder to end your night and fall asleep as you’re visioning the future you’re working toward.
The brain continues working on the last things you fed it. That’s also why it’s great to go to sleep reflecting on your day, how you can improve and the future you’re working toward. Feed your brain positive mind-food and it will help you to achieve your dreams.
Studies reveal that your brain continues to work while you sleep. Your brain will work on whatever you fed it by day, so feed it healthy mind food and positive thoughts and put it to work for you.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®
STUDIES ON SLEEP:[4]https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Understanding-Sleep[5]https://www.sleep.org/articles/brain-during-sleep/
The Morning Guy, by Dr. John Medina
If you want a chuckle on this topic of morning lark vs night owls, here’s a funny 2 minute clip by Dr. John Medina, author of the fantastically informative book, Brain Rules. You owls will especially like it!
AND… for a chuckle and humor, if you’re a night owl, or haven’t yet discovered your inner morning person, you’ll enjoy this funny meme. ?
Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious.
~William Feather, American publisher, author, 1889-1981
4 Pillars for Optimum Health and Creativity
1. A diet rich in healthy foods from nature
2. Ample activity and exercise in fresh air and sunshine
3. Adequate rest and sleep during optimal hours for your biology
4. Healthy thoughts and emotions fueled by optimism and positivity
A Better Life
To enjoy a better life is a simple matter of better choices. Each day is comprised of many choices and decisions. Choose that which boosts your sense of self. To make better choices is to live more in accordance with your aspirations.
Aspirations elevate. Indecision and neglect agitate. Don’t neglect your dreams. Set your goals as a mission that must be filled for you to be fulfilled.
Heed the message in the agitation and use it to nudge yourself in the direction of the yearning of your heart.
~LeAura Alderson, writer, editor, creator iCreateDaily.com®
If You’re Struggling…
If you want to get up earlier but keep struggling and foiling your own best intentions, tune into these quotes and video from Mel Robbins. Mel is phenomenally clear on a highly effective and super simple approach to getting where you want to go, including, how to get up earlier.
“I’m never going to feel like doing the things that are tough or difficult or uncertain or scary or new, so I need to stop waiting until I feel like it.”
~Mel Robbins, American commentator, author, speaker, b.10/6/1968
Improving Your Sleep, Improves Your Health
We use a number of different natural remedies for sleep aids, as well as foods for sleep.
For a phenomenally inspiring Interview, tune into this Health Theory with the amazing Shawn Stevenson.
Shawn became a health expert after healing his own chronic and progressive, “incurable” disease. Get ready to get inspired and informed with tools for improving your own health and sleep.
The Importance of Decisions
~Shawn Stevenson, self-healed, host-The Model Health Show, author,
When you really decide something, you’re cutting away the possibility of anything else, but that thing.
Decision is from the latin: De ‘from’, and cidere ‘cut’.
So when you make a real decision about something, you cut away anything but the possibility of that thing.
Get Gratitude.
The Day is the Way.
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Hello! I’m LeAura, owner and co-creator of iCreateDaily.com®. As an autodidactic philosopher, generalist, personal development advocate, entrepreneur, writer, editor, author, ideator, media publisher, and podcaster, I’m passionate about helping others achieve their best possible life! Our small family of entrepreneurs, writers, investors, educators and creators own and run websites around topics we enjoy, such as gardening, health and fitness, creativity and pets, with more to come.
While my greatest teacher is Life… my formal training includes certifications in mediation, fitness, and strategic intervention coaching, including marriage and family. Today, the synergy of creating websites, articles and podcasts, brings together all my favorite things: family, learning, growth, creating, connecting and contributing. To share these with you is a privilege, that serves my lifelong aspiration to help others.
My personal areas of creativity are in writing, masterminding, ideation, synthesis and bringing ideas to life through business and entrepreneurship, all with a pervasive spiritual foundation with a focus on elevating the lives of others.
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