The Morning Myth

CHAPTER 13 Diet, Nutrition, and Other Secrets to Better, Deeper Sleep

Early to rise and early to bed makes a man healthy and wealthy and dead.

—James Thurber

DISCLAIMER: The information presented from hereon in is based on my own personal experience along with thousands of hours of research. I am not a doctor and don’t pretend to be one, so it’s essential that you check with your healthcare provider prior to using any dietary supplements or any other advice given.

It’s obvious that the so-called “problem” with us night owls is not so much that we can’t get up early, but the fact that we have difficulty falling asleep at what society deems to be a reasonable hour.

I’ve personally struggled with this all my life, or at least until I started the business that set me free from society’s dictates; now that I have kids, I struggle with it once again because I like to see them—and my beautiful wife—before they head out the door in the mornings. And considering the fact that they leave at 7:40 a.m., that’s really, really early for me!

Having said that, on days when I do manage to get up around 7:30 a.m. and see them, I realize the full advantage of being a night owl. That’s because even though my rising time is earlier than my internal clock dictates, the beautiful truth is that night owls can go the distance while early risers cannot! So, while I may have gotten up two hours later than they did—still early by my standards!—I can keep on going and going long after they’ve crashed ...