When do you like to get most of your work done? Some people like to go to the gym first thing in the morning. Others want to wait until lunch or after work. Many wait until after dinner to go for a walk or run. Everybody is different, and life presents unique challenges along the way.
We can all agree that as your life evolves, time becomes a scarce resource. No matter how efficient and disciplined that you are, you can rarely seem to get ahead. Why is that?
Well, as you add other people to your life, your time doesn’t just belong to you. I am a family man, and there are three other souls in my family—my wife, my 14-year-old, and my 10-year-old. They all require some form of time throughout the day.
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Also, as you add assets to your life, they too require time. We have three houses, and they can expect me to deal with an emergency at any precise moment. My wife and I have a dividend portfolio that has to be managed from time to time. We have tenets that all want some form of attention.
It can be a bit overwhelming sometimes, especially if you can’t find some time for yourself. But there is a way to take back some of your time and gain some measure of control. However, most people will not agree that it is a method they will want to try. I can appreciate that opinion, but hear me out.
I like to work throughout the magic hours. What are the magic hours? I consider these the hours between 2 am-5 am (0200-0500 for military folks). These are the quietest hours of the day, and you can accomplish much. I have worked through these hours for the last seven or eight years, which has changed my life. I review how I slowly started on this path and what the future holds.
In 2013, I was stationed in South Carolina. I was much busier at work at this time. Every morning, I wanted to go to the gym for an hour and run 3 miles directly afterward. I would then have to change over and be ready for work by 7:30 am. My only solution was to be at the gym right at 4:30 am. It started then.
When we moved to Japan in 2014, I figured I would normalize my hours. Nope, the idea of going to the gym and running super early in the morning stuck with me. We moved to Florida in 2017, and the gym on base opened at 5 am. That wasn’t going to cut it for me. I joined a 24-hour gym and started going to the gym at 2 am. It is a part of who I am.
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Why do I like working through the zombie hours so much? Working these hours allows me to accomplish my basic tasks and still be present in my family life. I can handle emergencies as they pop up and not worry about missing my gym time or catching up on emails.
By working through these times, I can accomplish more before 7:30 than most people accomplish in a day. We used to joke that 8 am is like my lunchtime. Waking up at this time also gives you something that can be life-changing—options.
You see, when you have a 2-3 hour block of time just for yourself, you can do as you please. You are in control. My favorite schedule in Florida was to wake up at 2 am, go to the gym, come back, shower, catch up on the stock market, go back to bed at 4:30 am, and wake up at 6:30 am with my wife.
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My wife missed me leaving and returning from the gym. I turned the zombie hours into magic hours. There is something about getting stuff done in the middle of the night that is hugely satisfying. You can become even more efficient by creating your own gym at your house. Now you save 15-20 minutes of preparation and travel times.
It gets better. If you have read some of my work, I am a huge proponent of starting a business and creating content. Most people say that they don’t have time. Welcome to the magic hours. I am writing this article at 2:30 am. I will go to the gym at 4:00 am.
I have made myself insanely productive, and it has opened my eyes of what I can accomplish. In less than four months, I have created enough content to publish two 300-page books. Imagine if I keep this up for the next 5-10 years. It is insane.
My favorite part of converting the zombie hours into magic hours is that no one can prevent you from accomplishing your tasks. As life adds more to your existence, you will have to take some extremes to get on track and stay there.
What I find is that many people let life get the best of them. They allow soccer games, work events, marriages, maintenance issues, etc. bog them down and prevent them from being their best selves. In the end, life is what you leave behind.
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The only way to be insanely productive and keep your family is to create a window of opportunity for greatness. Some families are functioning at a high enough level to allow them to work on their stuff throughout the days. Others have young children running around. Whatever your scenario, you have to find the time and place to work towards greatness.
We know that the Federal Reserve is printing money. We understand that money sitting in our bank accounts is losing value every day. The only way forward is to buy and hold assets that produce our money. We can also create assets from thin air in the form of videos, music, books, and artwork.
To produce assets and understand investments, we need time to read, learn, and take action. This time is where the magic hours come into play. Even if you decide to wake up at 5 am to read for an hour, this will be life-changing. Nothing can propel you to greatness faster than reading financial education books.
Again, I know that this isn’t for everyone. I thought I would share my method for getting and staying ahead. Nothing in this life is free; my approach helped me achieve greatness in the military and entrepreneurship.
I leave you with this thought. My wife and I love to wake up at 7 am together and make coffee, tea, or go for a drive on a beautiful Florida morning. It is our dream retirement. Even better for me is that I have exercised for an hour by this time, written an article, managed my investments, and then went back to bed to wake up with her. The only person on Earth that knows I did all this is me, and that’s how I like it.
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https://www.pinterest.com/kingmarine/military-family-investing/Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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