There’s a book called Miracle Mornings by Hal Elrod. It’s a short little book that touts the life-changing habit of waking up early to do things that contribute to self-development.

It did change my life for the better.

I put into practice the ideas of the book immediately. I started waking up at 5am, way before anyone else in my family is awake, to go to the gym, come back and read a little, maybe even write a post like this.

But then something strange started to happen.

I continued waking up early, but I found myself gravitating towards doing things that contribute to my new business (mainly coding at this point).

My inner voice was saying, “you could put these 3 hours into better use building your business.”

So I did.

For months, I turned my ‘Miracle Mornings’ into new daily blocks of productivity.

I did get more done.

But as my app sprinted toward completion, it was clear that something was off.

I started making excuses not to wake up early. I would stay up late watching The Mandalorian instead. That’s when it became clear to me that I was beginning to procrastinate on waking up early.

At the same time my intra-day energy levels were becoming generally lower and more unstable.

I knew the whole enterprise of waking up early to do SOMETHING is worthwhile and I wanted to redeem its power.

So I consciously began saying “no, these morning hours are not meant for productivity” – and now, everything is clicking back into place.

I’m willingly going to be early again, knowing that it’s an investment that will already pay itself off tomorrow when I have THREE hours to do whatever self-development activity I want.

I’ve started going to the gym again and my intra-day energy levels returned to a higher baseline.

I’ve also began reading and writing more again.

Are these good use of one’s time? Are they good use of a beginner solo founder’s time?

Should reading, gymming, and writing be given such a luxurious chunk of one’s time (3 hours per day!) in any case? Is this not something that should be reserved for those who are already successful, who can afford to rest a little?

I ask myself these questions, of course, and my answer is this:

Yes, yes, yes, because they make you feel good about life every single day, and feeling good amplifies everything else you do by a large multiple.

I feel good after a gym workout, because for the rest of the day I know I’ve shown up for my body and can walk around with a body ache that constantly reminds me of my growth.

I feel good after writing a blog post, because for the rest of the day I know I’ve groomed my mind and can walk around with mental clarity.

I feel good after reading a book, because for the rest of the day I know I’ve uploaded something potentially interesting and high-quality to my brain and can walk around thinking about it.

And these are just the benefits for the day! There are certainly cumulative benefits of doing this daily, like having a body of an athlete, the mind of a monk, and the knowledge of a scientist or philosopher.

All this is is a reminder to myself: use the Miracle Morning for self-development, not productivity. It’s time meant to be used to prime yourself for the rest of the day.

As an important side note, I’m not a robot. In fact, I’m a human dad. Sometimes I hit the snooze button and have only 2 hours in the morning. When the duration is shorter than it could have been (3 hours is my sustainable max), I usually feel a little sad, and that sadness motivates me to course-correct that day by sleeping earlier.

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• My 2025 Annual Review