Taking Control of my Life

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I’ve been a failure—my entire adult life.

I think this is a nice way to start my first-ever newsletter.

I'm 30 years old & I've been

• working a 9-5 for the past 6 years. Finally quit.

• a smoker for 11+ years (ever since 18). Finally quit. 

• I’ve been hitting the gym for 8+ years—with little to show for it.

• I’ve tried launching a digital business 3 times and failed every time. (Burned out) 

Despite wanting to take control of my life, I couldn’t.

Until now.

(Converted this into a fire post)

Back to where we were.. 

If you’re anything like I was just a few months ago:

• Feeling like a failure

• Running in circles

• Procrastinating

• Overwhelmed

• Unmotivated

• Burned out

• Confused

• Addicted

• Stressed

This letter is for you.

Why?

Because I’ve found the formula.

• The formula that helped me to take control of my time.

• The formula that helped me develop consistent daily habits.

• The formula that helped me build positive systems for myself.

The formula that helped me stay focused on what truly matters.

It’s quite simple really. 

Sleep, before the world. 

Wake, before the world.

This is the formula that changed everything for me.

I’ll break it down for you soon.

But first,

My Goals:

1. To Be richer than I can possibly fathom.

2. To Give the best life to my future wife and kids.

3. To Retire my parents so they live the life they deserve.

4. To Achieve complete freedom—equal work, equal rest.

5. To Build a Global Network

6. To Build a Legacy of Giving

The Problem:

I didn’t know how to start, just like most people. 

It’s probably the silliest excuse I ever gave myself—because the solution is so simple.

If you don’t know how to start, you must start with the lowest hanging fruit - your body. 

I’ve wanted to be rich since I was a kid. 

But wanting isn’t getting. I learned that the hard way. 

3 failed attempts at building my business. Three. 

Then one day, it hit me.

“What do all billionaires have in common?”

3 thoughts came to mind:

• They take care of their body.

• They take care of their mind.

• They take control of their mornings.

I was hitting one or two of those—on a good day. 

Never all three, never consistently. 

I thought to myself, “Why not just go for it?” So, I did. 

No overthinking, no more excuses. Just action.

How I Started:

With a disadvantage: 

I worked a 9-5 like the majority of people on the planet.

This means a significant part of my day—probably the most productive hours—was consumed by my job.

By the time I was done with work, I had no energy or creative ability left to write or even think about how to start a single short post on X.

And so something had to be done. 

I made a decision:

Instead of waking up at 8 a.m. to get ready for my 9-to-5; I’d wake at 7.

Why? Because I knew one thing:

All the greats—athletes, leaders, everyone—start their day early. 

Some even wake at 3am.

Tim Cook: CEO of Apple, reportedly wakes up at 3:45 a.m.

Michelle Obama: Wakes up around 4:30 a.m. for her workouts.

Richard Branson: Founder of Virgin Group, typically rises at 5:00 a.m.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson: Starts his day at 4:00 a.m.

They’re up before the world.

I wasn’t ready to go that extreme—but I thought, “Let’s wake up an hour earlier and see if anything changes.”

It was the Best decision of my life.

The next morning, I was up at 7. 

By 7:15, I was more or less awake, and I had 45 minutes of the day completely to myself.

No texts, no emails, no distractions—just silence.

The silence felt golden.

"The early morning has secrets to tell you. Do not go back to sleep." – Rumi

And secrets I found. 

I found the answer to How to Fuc*ing Start!

I took small steps.

In that silence, I thought to myself, “I can do 20 pushups. No one’s watching, no one’s counting, no one’s judging.”

After the pushups, my mind raced: “What do I do next?”

I drank water and did 20 more.

Restless again, I grabbed my phone.

But instead of scrolling through Instagram, I searched YouTube for “The Science of Getting Rich.” 

(My mind automatically went there - maybe because I so badly want to get rich)

I found an audiobook and spent the remaining 20 minutes listening to it, all while stretching and moving my body.

By 8 a.m., it was time for the usual morning routine before heading to work.

But after work—that’s where the magic happened.

Exhausted and drained, I found myself ready for bed an hour earlier than usual. 

So, I went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up at 7 a.m. again. Same routine: moved my body, fed my mind. This cycle repeated every day for a week.

By going to bed an hour earlier, I ended up cutting out the cigarette I usually smoked during that last hour and the unproductive Netflix series I was watching.

This got me thinking… 

Leveling up to a new routine:

After a week, I thought, “Let’s take it up a notch.”

I set my alarm for 4 a.m. instead of 7.

Now that I’m waking up 4 hours earlier, 

I needed to go to bed 4 hours earlier. 

This meant I had 4 fewer hours of bad habits each day.

8 weeks later, here you are, reading this newsletter.

What Changed?

I built great habits - and cut down the bad ones. 

• I had fewer distractions.

• I had more time to myself.

• I had much better clarity of thoughts. 

"If you want a new outcome, you will have to break the habit of being yourself, and reinvent a new self." - Joe Dispenza

To become a millionaire:

• I need to have millionaire thoughts.

• I need to have millionaire habits.

• I need to do millionaire things.

I need to have a millionaire mindset before I actually become one.

And so, I set a morning routine for myself:
In the extra 4 hours that I get, I use:

• 60 minutes: for breathwork + meditation (improves focus)

• 60 minutes: for reading + writing (builds my business)

• 60 minutes: for movement (builds my mind & body)

• 60 minutes: Miscellaneous activities (time w family)

No distractions, no bad habits, no phone.

My negative habits started fading, and the key was simple: going to bed earlier, not just waking up early.

An early bedtime is a gateway to a focused, distraction-free mind.

I’m a completely different person now.

My 1 big idea:

Go to bed early.

"Peace begins with an early night, free from distraction." - Mahatma Gandhi

Start small. 

• Go to bed early enough that you can wake at least 30 mins early.

• Use that time to move your body—take a walk, stretch, do whatever gets you going.

• Plan the first 2-3 tasks for your morning to avoid wasting mental energy on decisions when you wake up.

And then, all you’ll have to do is: Maintain consistency.

Now this is probably the hardest part.

Waking up early for a week or two is doable, but sticking to it consistently?

That’s a whole new challenge.

You can’t change overnight.

But if you start small, you’ll build momentum.

And that momentum? It’s everything.

4 Steps to do Today:

By the way, this will only work - if you genuinely want to make changes to your life. 

1. Think about the first 2-3 things you’ll do as soon as you wake.

Is it drinking water? 

Is it stretching? 

Is it simply, staring out the window? 

Write it down, make a list, put it on a board or a sheet of paper—anything works. We do this to save mental energy, so you don't have to decide what needs to be done after waking up.

2. Going to bed early = Waking up early

Early enough to be able to wake up at least 30-60 mins earlier. We discussed the reasoning behind this earlier. 

3. Exercise/move = Oxygen & blood to the brain: 

Once you're up, it's crucial to move your body.

Movement promotes blood flow, fully waking you up and delivering enough oxygen to your brain so you can start thinking clearly.

4. Feed your mind:

In the beginning, my focus was just on moving my body.

But after a few days, I realized I could make better use of this time by listening to an audiobook or an educational YouTube video. 

Over time, I started filtering out the noise and gravitated toward content that truly interested me. For example, I found myself drawn to 'How to start a business in 2024.’

That’s pretty much what I did.

I started waking up 1 hour earlier for a week & then immediately pushed it to 4 hours earlier.

That was the only way to break free—in my mind.

“Nothing in life changes, until we change” – Joe Dispenza

Wrapping It Up

So here we are—8 weeks in, and I’m not the same person I was.

If you’re still reading this, you’re already on your way to becoming a better version of yourself.

Remember:

The goal isn’t just to wake up earlier or move your body; 

It’s to take control of your life, one small habit at a time.

This isn’t about overnight success.

It’s about building a foundation that will carry you to where you want to be.

• Start with 30 minutes. 

• Start with movement. 

• Start with intention. 

Trust the process.

Soon, you’ll be looking back at this moment as the one where everything started to change.

If I can do it, so can you. 

You got this!

Until next time,

Vaibhav.