The One Habit That Accounted for Most of My Success: Going to Bed Early

Most disasters in life don’t happen at 2:00 p.m. They happen at 2:00 a.m.

I guess I’m really lucky that I had a career in construction.

The 6 a.m. start time forced me to change a bad habit that stemmed from growing up in Hawaii.

My first real job after high school—making good money—was working at Orson’s Restaurant near Waikiki.

Famous with the locals and packed with tourists. Especially when the chef had his "stuffed ahi" (3 thin filets of yellowtail tuna stuffed with 2 layers of a crabmeat filling, so ono!) on the specials menu.

People would literally call to see when he was serving it.

I often worked the night shift, better tips. And after closing the restaurant, some of my coworkers and I would head to the beach with a few hibachi charcoal grills. We’d make food, bring drinks in the cooler, and hang out on the beach.

Other nights we’d go to the clubs. Drinking, dancing, having fun until last call at 4 in the morning.

That was my life in the early and mid-80s. And I thought it was normal.

Then I moved to LA in ‘86. “The big city on the Mainland.”

I found clubs to check out in Westwood, Hollywood, and other more sketchy neighborhoods.

But what shocked me was that last call was at 2 a.m. In Hawaii, 2 a.m. was when things were just getting started. And here we were getting shut down.

But that didn’t matter for long.

About six months after moving to LA, I got my first job in construction. Working as a fire alarm tech for Bellini Electric, a subcontractor of SASCO Electric, at the Beverly-Wilshire Hotel on Rodeo Dr. (the same one that the movie, Pretty Woman, took place in.)

And I was told: Work starts at 6 a.m.

I remember the cold morning showers I took just to wake up. Just to somehow shift my circadian clock.

6 a.m. to go to work. In Hawaii, 6 a.m. was when I was getting to bed after grabbing grub at Zippy’s—Hawaii’s version of Denny’s all-night eatery.

Little did I know that needing to be at work at 6 a.m. would change my life.

Often I’d wake up at 4 a.m. or even earlier so I didn’t show up to work groggy. So I didn’t need an hour or two to get my head straight—unlike some of my 80%er coworkers.

Which meant developing the habit of getting to bed by 10 at the latest.

Yeah, in my twenties and some of my thirties, I was surviving—barely—with five to six hours of sleep.

​I learned years later that this was the equivalent of being inebriated every day.

But even that was better than the alternative.

Recently, I came across wisdom from Charlie Munger that made me think about my teens and early twenties compared to my late thirties and the years that followed.

Going to bed early was possibly the best habit to have if you want to live a happy, fulfilling life.

It worked for me.

Why Most Disasters Happen at 2 a.m., Not 2 p.m.

Here’s the truth most people don’t want to hear:

Nothing good waits for you after midnight except bad decisions, bad environments, and bad judgment.

When you stay up late, you drink more. You drive tired. You say things you shouldn’t. You end up in places you never intended to be.

You let impulse replace intelligence.

And once you start stacking those mistakes, life becomes a downward spiral.

I’ve seen it.

​I’ve lived it.​

I’ve watched friends and coworkers destroy their lives one late night at a time.

Not because they were bad people. But because they were making decisions when their brains were shut down.

When you’re tired, your brain shuts down the part responsible for judgment. And judgment—not intelligence—is what determines the quality of your whole life.

A tired mind makes emotional decisions. An emotional mind makes impulsive decisions. And impulsive decisions are the enemy of every long-term goal you’ll ever have.

What Changed When I Started Going to Bed Early

When I started going to bed by 10 p.m.—not because I wanted to, but because I had to be at work at 6 a.m.—everything changed.

1. I stopped making stupid decisions.

I wasn’t out at 2 a.m. making choices I’d regret in the morning. I wasn’t drunk. I wasn’t tired. I wasn’t in environments where bad things happen.

I eliminated 95% of the problems I used to create for myself.

2. I showed up to work clear-headed.

While other guys were dragging ass for the first two hours, I was ready to work. Ready to think. Ready to solve problems.

That made me more valuable. And more valuable meant more opportunities.

3. I had energy for the things that mattered.

When you’re exhausted all the time, you don’t have energy for anything beyond survival. You can’t train. You can’t learn. You can’t build.

Going to bed early gave me the energy to invest in myself.

4. I avoided accidents.

Construction is dangerous. You can’t afford to be half-asleep operating power tools, working on ladders, or running conduit in tight spaces.

Being well-rested kept me safe. And staying safe kept me employed.

5. I built discipline.

Going to bed early when your friends are out partying requires discipline. Saying no to late nights requires discipline.

And that discipline carried over into every other area of my life.

The Cost of Staying Up Late

Here’s what most people don’t realize:

Staying up late isn’t just about losing sleep. It’s about losing judgment.

• You want fewer accidents? Go to bed earlier.
• You want fewer stupid relationships? Go to bed earlier.
• You want fewer financial disasters, fewer hangovers, fewer missed opportunities, and fewer mornings filled with regret?

Go to bed earlier.

It sounds almost childish. But it’s one of the highest forms of leverage you can give yourself.

You change one behavior and you eliminate twenty different problems.

Why Sleep Deprivation Is Like Being Drunk

I learned this years later, but it explained so much:

Getting five to six hours of sleep is the equivalent of being legally intoxicated.

Your reaction time slows. Your judgment deteriorates. Your ability to think clearly disappears.

And just like being drunk, you don’t realize how impaired you are.

You think you’re fine. But you’re not.

I was operating like that for years in my twenties and thirties. Surviving on five to six hours of sleep. Thinking I was handling it.

I wasn’t. I was just lucky I didn’t destroy my life in the process.

The Framework: How to Make Going to Bed Early Work

Here’s how you do it:

Step 1: Set an alarm for when you go to sleep, not when you wake up.

Most people set an alarm to wake up. That’s backwards.

Set an alarm for 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. That’s your signal to start winding down.

Step 2: Respect your sleep like you respect your future.

Because that’s what it is. Your sleep determines your judgment. Your judgment determines your decisions. Your decisions determine your life.

If you don’t respect your sleep, you don’t respect your future.

Step 3: Eliminate late-night temptations.

Don’t go to places where bad decisions happen. Don’t hang out with people who keep you up late. Don’t scroll your phone until 2 a.m.

Create an environment that makes going to bed early the default.

Step 4: Wake up naturally.

If you’re going to bed on time, you won’t need an alarm to wake up. You’ll wake up naturally, clear-headed, rational, and ready to handle life.

And rational people win.

They may not be the smartest or the fastest or the most talented. But they compound fewer mistakes.

And in life, avoiding stupidity is a far more reliable strategy than chasing brilliance.

Step 5: Measure the results.

Track how you feel. Track your productivity. Track your decision-making.

You’ll notice the difference within a week.

What I Wish I’d Known in My Twenties

If I could go back and tell my twenty-year-old self one thing, it would be this:

Stop staying up late. It’s not making you cool. It’s making you stupid.

All those late nights at the beach, at the clubs, hanging out until 4 a.m.—they weren’t building anything. They were just burning time and energy I could’ve invested in something that mattered.

I don’t regret the experiences. But I do regret how long it took me to realize the cost.

The good news? Construction forced me to change. The 6 a.m. start time didn’t give me a choice.

And that forced habit became the foundation for everything that came after.

The Truth About Discipline

Discipline isn’t complicated.

Discipline is simply controlling the hours when you are most likely to be stupid.

And the hours when you’re most likely to be stupid are the hours when you’re tired.

So go to bed. Protect your judgment. Protect your future.

It might feel small. But small decisions made consistently are what build a life you’re proud to live.

The Challenge

Here’s what I want you to do this week:

Go to bed by 10 p.m. every night for seven days.

Not 10:30. Not 11. 10 p.m.

Set an alarm for 9:30 p.m. to start winding down. Turn off your phone. Turn off the TV. Get in bed.

Then notice what changes.

Notice how you feel in the morning. Notice your energy during the day. Notice the quality of your decisions.

Notice how many problems you avoid just by not being awake at 2 a.m.

The One Habit

Going to bed early isn’t sexy. It’s not exciting. It doesn’t make for good stories.

But it’s the one habit that accounted for most of my success and happiness.

It gave me the energy to train. The clarity to learn. The judgment to make good decisions. The discipline to build a life I’m proud of.

And it can do the same for you.

So respect your sleep. Respect your brain. Respect your future.

Go to bed on time.

It might feel small. But it’s one of the highest forms of leverage you can give yourself.

What time are you going to bed tonight?