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Night Guy vs Morning Guy

In Jerry Seinfeld's stand-up, one of my favorite observations of his was night guy vs morning guy. Jerry talks about the fact that he doesn't get enough sleep because night guy is always screwing morning guy. Night guy wants to stay up late, forcing morning guy to have to deal with the fact that he only got 5 hours of sleep. It's not night guys problem. Morning guy was helpless to night guys antics, and cursed him ritually at the sound of the alarm. Morning guys only line of defense, according to Jerry, was to oversleep often enough so that he lost his job and night guy would no longer have enough money to fuel his night guy activities.

One of the questions many of us have to ask ourselves when beginning our goals is the "why". Why are we deciding to put forth effort? Why are we deciding to experience sacrifice? It's easier to be night guy, taking everything today has to offer, leaving morning guy to deal with groggy moments of regret. Night guy is all about immediate gratification, and morning guy is helpless to those decisions.

I'm deciding to not be night guy. Night guy got me here. I'm deciding to brew a cup of coffee for morning guy and get the sleep necessary for him to wake up and experience the world waking up alongside him. My why at 34 is to improve the experience of the guy I am at 39. At 45. Everyone who has experienced debt knows how suffocating it can be. Debt is limiting; it removes choice. It limits true freedom. My why is that future me will no longer feel limited. That future me will have more freedom.

My why now is improved self care to morning guy. To release a burden that limits me to be a better husband, father, and friend. I've never been good at self care, and there's no greater thing that I can do than to stay steadfast in this journey.

Are you doing anything today to improve the you of tomorrow?



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