It’s 03.25 am in the dawn. My alarm ringing. Feel little bit sleepy because I slept at 10.30 pm before, as it is Ramadan, so we must have a night prayer (it’s called Taraweeh Prayer). Usually, it was until 9 pm. It took about 15 – 30 minutes to get from our favorite mosque to our home. The time depended on the traffic, because Jakarta-Indonesia, is a very busy and bustling city. From 9.30 until 10.30 pm, usually I do one of my hobbies, which is watching a movie on Netflix. And then I go to sleep. Back to the alarm situation, you know how it feels right? When we don’t have enough sleep, but we are forced to wake up. But it has to be done. I have to wake up, because I have to prepare food for sahoor (eat before fasting) for my family. My husband and my older kids also wake up to help me prepare sahoor.
In the usual days (not Ramadan), we also have to wake up at 4.30 am in the dawn, because we have to perform the early morning prayer. And then, I prepare breakfast for the kids and lunch box for them for school. The kids also wake up at the same time, as they have to prepare, take a bath, and get dressed to go to school. We never wake them up, they wake themselves, using an alarm. There was a time that we, as parents, had to wake them up, because they were not getting used to waking up immediately after the alarm ringing. It’s natural right? Because as an adult we also often do that. But here’s the thing. My husband always says to me and my kids, the tiny habit will make a big impact. Indeed, waking up immediately after our alarm is ringing is hard to do. We tend to postpone, and get back to sleep. But you know what is the impact, our activities will be ruined the whole day, because we are late. And what makes it sad is the cause is not an unpredictable, but because we are lazy to instantly wake up. It means something within our control. We have the power to make it happen or not.
But, it’s only an alarm, what makes it special? Here me out, the truth is, we can find another dimension in the name of the alarm. There’s disciplines, there’s responsibility, there’s persistence. Disciplines, waking up immediately after the alarm rings, shows self-control, we resist the temptation to snooze and stay in bed. Instead of giving ourselves a comfort, we stick to the plan, and start our day as we intended. It also shows our habit to build a commitment and consistency. It’s about doing what needs to be done, even when we feel we don’t like it. God knows how much we want to stay in bed, more over it’s a long and tiring day! But, waking up on time strengthens our habit of following through with our decisions. That’s what we called commitment. Responsibility, waking up immediately after the alarm rings, shows that we take our commitment seriously. It means we are accountable for our actions. A responsible person doesn’t make excuses or delay what needs to be done. We notice it has to be done. We feel responsible for not letting others down. That we ensure we don’t delay or bring inconvenience to others. In the end, it will build reliability and self-trust because we have already proven to ourselves we can be trusted to stick to our plans. And people will see us the same as we see ourselves, that we are reliable and trustworthy. Persistence, by waking up immediately after the alarm rings, shows that we are persistent people. Because we follow through with our decisions, pushing through our discomfort and resisting the urge to snooze. Persistence is about not giving in to short-term comfort when there’s a bigger goal in our mind. It also proves that we do not give up easily, why? Because snoozing up means we are “giving up” on our original plan, while waking up immediately means we are sticking to our plan and commitment. We have this kind of mindset: “I will not give up, no matter what.”
Can you imagine if we do not wake up after the alarm rings for sahoor? My kids won’t eat and feel hungry all day long because we can’t eat before it’s time to break the fast. They will feel weaker than usual to do their daily activities. And it means that they are not productive enough to do their daily plans/goals. The same thing will happen to me even though I’m an adult. As a matter of fact, we need energy from meals to do our daily activities.
So, it’s not that simple as an only ‘tiny’ alarm. If we have already built this tiny habit to wake up immediately after the alarm rings, it will bring us a big impact in the future. This tiny thing that we already get used to doing it repeatedly will become second nature, it will become a habit. This habit will help us build a strong daily routine, which leads us to long-term success. It’s a tiny act but powerful impact. Not to mention, by building this tiny habit, it will make our life easier and happier. Oh really? Why? Yes. It’s because by waking up on time, it reduces stress and rushing. Allows us to start our day calmly, with enough time to prepare. We start each day within our control. More over, it will make our morning effortless and smooth. We throw away our mental energy to debating whether to get up. And if we already have this tiny habit, it will bring a joy of small wins. Gives us a sense of accomplishment from the ‘first moment’ of the day. It will start our day with a success mindset. It will create a positive domino effect on the rest of our day. Who doesn’t want to feeling complete and happy all day long? I bet there’s no one.
Love,
Kirana
