It’s New Year’s Resolution season, which means a number of my clients have declared that in 2026 they’re going to wake up earlier so they can finally create the habits they’ve been meaning to establish.

One wants to journal and meditate. One has trouble exercising during the day, and another wants to jog in the mornings. Two are trying to write books. One is looking for a new job. They all have trouble finding time for these things during their busy day.

I’m a fan of waking up early. In my 30s and 40s, I often caught the 5:15 a.m. train to San Francisco so I could write my novels in a coffee shop from 6 to 7:30 a.m. before starting work. This let me be focused at work and still be home in time to coach soccer and volunteer as a scout leader as well as have significant family and “us” time.

So I don’t discourage my clients when they say their plan is to wake up earlier.

Instead, my response is usually, “That’s great. Are you starting this new schedule tomorrow?”

Their reaction tells me whether they’re likely to succeed with this new plan or not.

If they hem and haw about how “tomorrow isn’t really good” or “well I was going to start in a couple weeks,” then I want to understand what’s getting in their way.

I mean, why talk about it? Why not just wake up earlier?

Whether your novel idea isn’t clear enough, or your gym membership hasn’t yet begun, or you haven’t yet found the perfect pen for journaling, or you haven’t downloaded that meditation app yet—none of that stops you from getting up earlier.

So maybe start with that and see what happens.

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