This morning, when I woke up to the alarm on my phone at 5:42 AM, two things immediately caught my attention. Right in the middle of the screen of my phone is the large orange ‘Snooze’ button, and at the bottom, hidden, is the small ‘Stop’ button. I have two problems with this. The prime real estate is being given to ‘Snooze’ and somewhere hidden is ‘Stop’. Both are negative options. ‘Snooze’ puts me back to where I was, and ‘Stop’ is not how I want to start my day. Instead, I want to start my day with excitement.

Over the years, I have often pressed the snooze button every morning, again and again. In a state of semi-consciousness, it allows me to defer a decision. Eventually, I became a snooze addict. But one day, I paused and realized that I do not want my phone to dictate how I start my day. I asked myself, “How do I really want to start my day?” The answer was simple, “I want to jumpstart my day, with the excitement of a 100-meter runner darting out of the starting block.” I felt good things only happen when my day starts, not when I am snoozing.

So, one night, I asked myself, “What’s the one thing I am looking forward to tomorrow?”. I realized I was excited to record a podcast episode with Ramon the next day. So, before I went to sleep, I wanted my phone to give one positive option that wasn’t ‘Snooze’ or ‘Stop’. The option I wanted was, “Arjun! Arjun! Wake up! Wake up, buddy! Ramon’s podcast is today!”.

If Arjun was given that option, what would he do? He will jump out of bed. The moment we all find the purpose that we are excited about, and that connects to our heart, ‘Snooze’ gets whooshed. We automatically get to the ‘Are we there yet?’ moment. So, finding that purpose the night before is very important to jumpstart the day the next morning.

On a personal level, if I start my day by being excited about every wake-up call that comes my way, then during the day, I will open myself to a lot of opportunities. If I take the snooze and stop options out of my decision making and replace it with a ‘Let’s do it, Arjun!’ attitude every time, your day totally changes. My phone can truly be my best cheerleader every morning.

Let’s say, each of the 8.1 billion people on the planet on average hit snooze for 15 minutes before waking up reluctantly, and we manage to change that. If each one of us were to wake up with excitement every morning, think what will happen to the planet once we add 2 billion hours a day of additional productivity. That will result in the world having 730 billion constructive hours every year. Our excitement, and those extra 15 minutes of snooze time, can be the path to changing the world.

Although it’s a cliché which some wise man must have once said, “If you snooze, you lose!”, it holds a lot of truth. Once we start the day as a snoozer (meaning loser), we give up on all opportunities to build momentum throughout the day. Instead, why can’t we be excited about every opportunity and embrace them with enthusiasm?

Let’s have a blast in life. Let’s enjoy. Thank you.

Please Listen, Subscribe, Review, and Share the Secrets to Win Big® Podcast where each week I talk to leaders from all walks of life.