EARLY to bed, and early to rise,
Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
-The Nursery Rhyme Book, by Unknown
As a young man, sleeping and waking up early was something Jack could never do. He loved his sleep very much. He would sleep for hours on end, snoozing for nearly twelve hours a night! He would go to bed at odd hours of the night on weekends, some nights 2:00 AM, some nights 4:00 AM and wake up in the afternoon. School nights weren't any better, he would fall asleep around 1:00 AM and barely wake up in time to get ready and get to school on time. It got so bad that he ended up being late almost every day! After a few years of this, Jack started to see a decline in his health and productivity. He had gained a lot of weight over the years, he was broke and was failing his classes, and he had no motivation to do anything. His father had noticed Jack’s bad habits and decided it was time to talk to him.
“Hey there”, he said. “I've noticed you've been failing your classes. You also aren't making any money or have a job like the rest of the kids your age. Do you know why?”
Jack responded by saying, “I just love to sleep, Dad”.
“Do you know how I got to be as successful as I am today?” he asked Jack. Jack shook his head no and looked up at his dad. “Work ethic”, he said. “I was always up by five in the morning. I would go workout, shower, get ready, eat breakfast and be ready for class or work an hour before I had to be there. Waking up early ensures that you’re not wasting your whole day. It gives you time to do more, like study, stay healthy, and have a job. After work or school, I would come home, eat dinner, relax, and then take care of any other errands I had to do. I wouldn't laze around all day. And then around ten or eleven, I would already be in my bed, ready to wake up for the next day of opportunity.”
From that day, Jack took his dad’s advice to heart and fixed his sleeping schedule. He would wake up every morning at six, get ready for school by 7, eat breakfast and be on his way to school. He immediately noticed improvements in his health, grades, and social life. He got a job and started making money, and he also realized that sleeping early gave him enough energy to carry on throughout the rest of the day and accomplish more tasks. “This is great”, he thought. “I should have started doing this a long time ago”. In the end, Jack became a successful businessman and it was all because he made one simple change to his daily habits.
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"Early bird gets the worm"; Sketchport
Author’s Note: I chose this proverb from The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897). The proverb is pretty simple, stating that the person to sleep and rise early will be the most successful. I took that in relation with school and work ethic and how that plays a vital role in the outcome of a person’s success. A person who is disciplined enough to get the day started early is bound to succeed in my opinion.
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I agree with you Parth, having a fixed schedule makes it a lot easier to get things done. You have the time to do all the things you need to and time for fun as well. Getting started early in the day means that you have time to finish everything that you would like to achieve by the end of the day. I’ve personally noticed that on the days I wake up ;ate I do not do all the things I had to because of not having that much time.
ReplyDeleteParth, I absolutely love this story because I feel like I've personally had this experience before. It's interesting how getting up early can motivate you to be more productive than if you were to sleep in and be lazy. I find that the busier I am, the more I actually keep up with everything I have going on. This seemed like a weird coincidence to me at first. Even with school, the more hours I would take, the better I would do in my classes. I'm not sure exactly why; but I agree-the early bird does indeed get the worm!
ReplyDeleteVery nice and quick story! Really impressive how you came up with an entire story derived just from two lines. I really like how the moral is so straightforward, mirroring the original rhyme. In my opinion, I think that there's definitely a clear link between maintaining a healthy sleep schedule and being more productive in life, personally. One part I didn't really get though, was when Jack just started waking up early immediately. I had the impression that he wouldn't have given up the habit of sleeping for 12 hours a day up that easily, haha. Maybe he could have had gone through a period of time where he's trying to adjust bit by bit? That sounds like it'd explain his change of heart well. Or maybe he could keep sleeping at odd hours like he has been and end up regretting it, finally forcing him to start sleeping correctly.
ReplyDeleteVery simple nursery rhyme, but one of the most important ones in life (in my naive experiences). I just recently started getting up at 6 to workout (only on some days of the week) and I have noticed that rather than make me tired, I actually feel more energized throughout the day when I do that. It helps me come to class already awake and ready to go, as opposed to waking up in the first 30 minutes of the class. Great story!
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