We’ve all had that feeling: you wake up to your early morning alarm and feel groggy.  

“Five more minutes,” you tell yourself, when in reality that five minutes can quickly turn into much more.  

We knew exactly what we were doing when we set the alarm the night before but allow our tired mind to negotiate with us.  

This feeling has been going on since the beginning of time.  Marcus Aurelius wrote a great passage in his book, Meditations, about this as early as the year 160 A.D.:

“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work as a human being.  What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for… Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?’

But it’s nicer here… So you were born to feel nice?  Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can?

People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat.  Do you have less respect for your own nature than the engraver does for engraving, the dancer for the dance, the miser for money or the social climber for status?

Is helping others less valuable to you?   Not worth your effort?”

The message is simple, clear and reminds me of Bill Belichick: “Do your job” – because that’s what we were made to do.  

Whether you’re a CEO, intern, salesperson or grocery store cashier – your job is important. And if you do it well, you can help make the world a better place.   

Whatever you’re looking for – more money, a promotion, a new job, a fancy car – it’s on the other side of doing today’s job well.  At the very least, it requires getting out of that warm comfy bed.

In other words..

Do sharks complain about Monday? No.  They’re up early biting stuff, chasing shit, being scary – reminding everyone they’re a fucking shark.

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