Influence Yourself Unwind Your Mind | Weekly Wisdom With Dan Isaacman

I have discovered that the journey of righteous growth begins by changing our habits.
Recently, I have made an effort towards three uncomfortable challenges:
* Waking Up Early
* Working, When I Don't Feel like It
* Not Complaining
So many of us wish to change the world, but first, we need to straighten our own affairs to live as an example.
How can we expect to make a positive change in the world if we cannot first influence ourselves?
I chose the three habits above because they are demanding yet within my control.
It's a shift towards the hard things that will make life easier instead of the easy things that will make my life hard.
Like Carl Jung Said - "As any change must begin somewhere, it is the single individual who will experience it and carry it through. The change must indeed begin with an individual; it might be any one of us. Nobody can afford to look round and to wait for somebody else to do what he is loath to do himself."
Progress and growth can be slow and painful, but it is the only way forward.
Despite the claims from the people trying to sell you something, nothing in life will lead to innovation and creativity unless there is an element of challenge.
I hope that you will start to strengthen your resolve by practising some intentional difficulties.
1. Waking Up With The Birds
Anyone who says it is easy to wake up early is lying.
For the past eight months, I have woken up at 4:08 AM, 4 out of 7 days, and every single time, it sucks.
However, knowing that you are creating more time in your day is a mental advantage.
My routine is made possible by putting an annoying alarm at a distance so that I have to get up and out of bed to switch it off.
Then comes the real challenge of avoiding getting back into bed.
When I first wake up, my thoughts are almost always negative as the natural morning cortisol (stress hormones) pumps through my veins.
I have to consciously interrupt my thoughts of "It's too cold" or "Just jump back into bed" by laughing at myself in the mirror as I think ", you crazy b*****d!"
There are some tricks I use to counteract these thoughts.
The first thing I do every morning is to brush my teeth.
The Tooth-brushing trigger starts a chain of events, so all I have to do is convince myself to quickly brush my teeth.
I sometimes have to dupe myself by actively thinking, "after I brush, I can go back to sleep".
This simple act gets the ball rolling and allows me to drag my body towards the bathroom, even if every ounce of my mind tells me to go back to sleep.
As my thoughts race, I make a conscious effort to stare into my eyes in the mirror, breaking the loop of thinking.
I become more present in the moment.
Then I smile at myself and think, "what are you doing!?" allowing me to crack a smile at the insane man who stares back in my direction.
If my mind is in a negative loop, I will attempt to break the cycle with some grateful thoughts.
I think, "what is something small I could be grateful for?"
Using a memory trigger, I try and expand that feeling of gratitude to realise how lucky I am to be alive.
If nothing comes to mind, I use my default line; "my time is limited, and my ancestors went through so much struggle for me to be here now".
I have learned that there is no better time to enjoy every moment of life than in the morning when the world is quiet.
2. Getting Sh!t Done
Do you have to wait until you are in the zone to get something done?
Doing meaningful work or practice can seem like a chore. So how do we fight procrastination?
Recently I have been using the 20 | 10 working method. 
The basic premise is to set 20 minutes of pure focus on the task at hand.
Close all tabs on your computer, put your phone out of reach and focus for 20 minutes only on one task.
When the 20 minutes is up, take a 10-minute break to do whatever you want before repeating.
If you are on a roll and the 20 minutes is up, go for another 20.
As a result, I can approach any task without being overwhelmed. In addition,