Wake up!

I'm not a morning person.

Actually, I'm convinced there are no morning people.

Most folks, whatever their job, whatever their attitude, would rather sleep just a little bit longer. Even if they'll accomplish more by being awake. Even if it means losing their job.

It's the rare go-getter who bounces out of bed at 6:58 a.m., tells his alarm, "Don't worry, I'll take it from here!" and turns it off pre-ring.

Most of us are not that guy. Good, because he's kind of creepy.

If you can't get out of bed at all, Steve Pavlina offers excellent advice on forcing yourself to do that. I'm more c0ncerned with your attitude after your feet hit the ground.

It's been said that "the first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day." Likely, this pearl comes from some overachieving freak like Benjamin Franklin or God, but there's a lot of truth to it.

If you wake up in a lousy mood, you will likely stay that way throughout the day. Conversely, if you wake up in a good mood - or rather, if you put yourself in a good mood right away - your day will be infinitely better.

So it's not just the first hour - I'll argue that the first minute of your day has far-reaching effects. How can you spend it ideally?

If you're like me, it's your natural state to wake up and think, "I hate my job, the weather stinks, and nobody likes me." At the very least, you're mad at the world for making you leave the comfort of your bed.

Resist it. These lousy thoughts will follow you the rest of the day. Attempts to change them will be less and less effective the longer you wait to think positively.

Train yourself to think good thoughts as soon as you wake up. Get high on the weather, even if it's pouring rain - on your job, even if you hate it - on yourself, even if you suck.

Think good thoughts. Lie if you have to.

Make this a habit. Do it a minute after you wake up. Then 45 seconds the next day. Then 15 seconds. Finally, do it the moment your eyes open. It's a habit. It can be learned.

When I do this, my day feels lighter. I'm happier. I don't go to work and grumble all day. I don't spend my weekends in an emotionless stupor.

This especially helped when I had to wake up at 5 a.m. every day to teach. At 5 a.m., there's nothing around me to improve my mood. It's dark. It's cold. The world is still asleep, and I should be too.

The solution is to look beyond your immediate situation and think about the good things in your life. Tony Robbins supplies these questions, which have always worked for me:

What are you happy about? What are you excited about? What are you proud of? What are you grateful for? What do you enjoy? What are you committed to? Who do you love, and who loves you?

Come up with a few good answers for each one. Switch them up a bit each day as appropriate.

Immerse yourself in those thoughts as you stumble to the bathroom and brush your teeth. It takes effort, but it beats hating the world while you brush.

I can be a real maniac about this. I wake up at 3 a.m. to use the bathroom, and even though my eyes are barely open, I smile and mumble, "I'm awsm......lifes grt.....back t slp now."

You don't have to be a maniac. Feel free to give your mind a rest in the middle of the night.

Still, make the effort to think positively the moment you wake up. You might never love the morning, but you'll make peace with it, and your outlook on the day will be much better.