1. Remember that when God sees you He sees Christ’s perfect obedience.
Christ has already been perfectly obedient for us. God is not looking at you, going “Why can’t you get up earlier?” He is not disappointed when you wake up late. He is greatly glorified in our obedience, but He still uses our stumbles, too! (This is a great point to consider, especially during tough seasons like the sleeplessness of having a newborn.)
2. Focus on your evening routine first.
Trying to get up early will be killer, if you do not go to bed earlier. This is the first battle. Win it, before you try to tackle getting up super-early.
3. Set an alarm for bedtime.
My phone goes off at 9:30 every night with the caption: “Head to bed!” This is a reminder for me to start wrapping up whatever I am working on, and start getting ready for bed. If I take its heed I am in bed, lights out, by 10pm.
4. Take small, manageable steps.
My first morning goal (while I was working on my evening routine) was to get up just 15 minutes before the kids. Six months later, I was consistently up an hour and a half before them. To get there, every once in a while I backed up my time 5-15 minutes (I also took advantage of the “falling back” time change for a big jump). Change takes time!
5. Sit up as soon as your alarm goes off, put your feet on the floor, and start walking.
This really works. I am a complete zombie for that first minute, but the biggest victory is getting out of bed! I have come to realize that whether it is 5:30am or 8:30am it is just as hard to get out of bed. If I can get vertical and moving, the rest follows.