“The early bird gets the worm” has always been a foreign concept to me. On a typical day, I’d roll out of bed 15 minutes before I had to leave, causing myself to go into panic mode to get ready before school. Recently, I’ve discovered this habit doesn’t work for me anymore. It leads to a grumpy, unhappy version of myself, so I decided to try something new: waking up at 5:30 a.m. every morning.

What inspired me to do it? I’m honestly not sure. I spent my winter break watching countless videos on YouTube, and one afternoon I stumbled across a channel about health. Wanting to be healthier myself, I watched a few of the videos and found myself wondering if I had ever be as motivated as the girl on the screen. After watching most of the videos on her channel, I realized it didn’t matter if I was 100 percent motivated. I just needed to make myself do it.

On the Monday school started again, I did the unthinkable. I woke myself up at 5:30 a.m. and drove to the gym. I forced myself to go in and workout, and the result was awesome. I wasn’t tired anymore, and I felt great. Then, I went home and made myself a healthy breakfast, which is atypical since I usually skip breakfast or swing through a drive-thru everyday. While I thought I would be tired and irritable, I felt better than I had in a long time.

Waking up at 5:30 everyday isn’t easy. I have to make myself get out of bed and go to the gym. I’m not always motivated. I don’t always feel excited to go run or do a workout. But regardless of my attitude, I make myself get it done. Once I broke the barrier between a wish and an action, things changed completely.

If you want to change your lifestyle or be healthier, just take the first right step in that direction. I’m not saying if you want to go on a diet then you should quit gluten, dairy and all sugar in one day. What I am saying is to take one small step in that direction. For me, it’s making myself get out of bed everyday at 5:30, regardless of how I feel. My next step may be to start a harder workout plan than I’m currently on. Whatever your goal is, go for it. Take one small step today, and you’ll thank yourself tomorrow.