Changing old habits? Yes, it's possible

I used to believe that changing a habit, which is as old as I'm, is difficult, rather next to impossible. But recently I'm able to change one such old habit.

Right from my childhood days, I used to go to bed late in the night. I could never wake up early in the morning. In those days, my school started at 9:30AM or 10AM and we used to leave for school half an hour or one hour before that. Children in my neighbourhood would get up as early as 4 AM and then study for a few hours. (In Assam, the sun rises at 5AM in summer days.) I could never do that despite my parents often telling me the virtues of early risers (Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise). I would get up at 8 AM, and then leave for school at 9AM. I continued the same habits throughout my days as engineering student during my under-grad and grad school.

The same habit continued in my work life too. Usually I have late night meetings. Then I'll work into the night till 1 or 2 AM and get up late in the morning. Will come to office at 11 to 11:30AM. So every thing was late in the day. It was like a consistently late-running train that reaches every station late. I remember one of my friends telling me about the Guwahati-Trivandam train that sometime used to run 24 hours late and you never know if it was today's train and yesterday's train!


Very recently I've changed my style. Even Indian Railways too is changing. Nowadays Guwahati-Trivandam trains run in time. So why cannot I? :-) I have started going to bed early at around 11PM. Next morning I get up from bed at around 6:30AM to 7AM. Then I am in office by 8:15AM. I go back home at 6PM. I don't log-in from home in the evening. I've started liking this new time-table.

What is the catalyst for this change in my old habit? There are three catalysts

1. I have joined a gym. The gym is in my office-complex and I do my work-out from 11AM to 12:30PM there every day.
2. The second is a realisation that most of us, including me, tend to waste lot of time in office in reading mails, surfing net, coffee-table etc. If I utilize my time efficiently, then there is no extra pressure to work from home in the evening and I can spend the evening with my family.
3. I couldn't attain any of three characteristics - healthy, wealthy and wise - attributed to early risers. I am neither healthy nor wealthy nor wise. :-) By waking up early, if I can get at least two of these attributes, I'll be happy. :-)
   

It's too early to say that I'm successful in changing my old habit. It's just three weeks into this new habit. I hope I'll be able to stick to this new time-table.