I awoke this morning to the dragon’s hot breath on my face. I was disoriented, not quite knowing where I was. I struggled to open one eye. Then another.
And there he was. A dragon. A very big dragon. With three heads. Sitting in my bedroom, like so many mornings before, he was waiting. His heads swerved back and forth, dancing in the dim light. Each head alternately belching fire and hissing smoke.
I groaned. Here we go again, I thought. If only I could shut my eyes and will him away. No such luck. His presence only grew more menacing.
I knew that I had to act. I leapt from the bed and ran straight at him. I have learned by experience that my only chance at victory is to slay the dragon while it is still dark. Before the first rays of sunshine strengthen his already substantial advantage. Fortunately, once again I prevailed. But my victory is short-lived. I will face him again tomorrow. And the day after that.
Although this sounds like a fairy tale, it’s not. It’s my reality, day after day.
I face a dragon named Lethargy every morning. It has three heads: Pneuma (spiritual), Soma (physical), and Nous (intellectual). If I don’t slay this dragon before breakfast, he usually gets the best of me. After breakfast—when the day’s activities are crowding into my life—my chances of doing battle and winning drop dramatically. Sometimes I can emerge victorious. But rarely. My chances are better if I get in my basic disciplines before I get assaulted with the demands of the workday.
So, before breakfast, I try to complete the following:
- Read the Bible. I use this weapon to cut off the dragon’s middle head. I don’t know why it is so hard to defeat, but it is. A thousand and one distractions vie for my attention. That’s why I grab a cup of fresh coffee, head to my favorite den chair, and begin reading at once. The Scriptures prime the pump and strengthen my resolve. If I can cut off the middle head of spiritual lethargy, the other two go down much easier. Currently, I am reading through the Bible in a year, using the OneYearBible.net system.
- Engage in exercise. I use this weapon to cut off the dragon’s left head: physical lethargy. Sometimes, I think this is even more important than the middle head. Why? Because if I am not exercising regularly, it negatively impacts every other area of my life. It becomes more difficult to manage stress. I find that I just don’t have the energy to fight the other beasts I encounter. Currently, I am running four mornings a week for one hour and doing strength training two days a week. Weather permitting, I run outside. Otherwise, I am in the gym. I use a trainer to hold me accountable. (This is probably the best investment I have ever made.)
- Listen to books. I use this weapon to cut off the dragon’s right head: intellectual lethargy. I learned a long time ago that “leaders read and readers lead.” By definition a leader (as opposed to a mere manager) stays out in front of his people. To lead, you have to set the pace. You have to be a thought leader. The problem I have is that it is difficult for me to sit still. I have a hard time finding a long enough strentch in the day to sit down and really read. I keep getting interrupted—or distracted. However, by downloading books from Audible.com onto my iPod, I can listen to books while I’m running. Honestly, there are days when I hate to stop running because I am so engrossed in my book. It makes the time fly by.
Though I don’t do it before breakfast, I have one other discipline that I try to practice daily: prayer. I find that the best time for me to pray is on my commute into the office. This usually takes 30–40 minutes, so I have plenty of time. It’s quiet, and I don’t have many distractions. It’s like being in a protected bubble. And, I can even pray out loud. People think I’m just talking on my handsfree phone!
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That is so true. If I don’t get my prayer, devotions, and planning completed before the work day starts it is almost impossible to get them done.
I used to think that it would get easier as the habits take hold – you know – 30 days, or 37 days, or whatever the flavor of the month is for making new habits stick, but it is still a fight most every day.
Somehow it is comforting to know that I am not the only one.
Thanks for sharing and have an awesome day!
MH
I was going to respond to this posr this morning but I ran out of time, again. Dragon 1 me 0. Great post, tomorrow I plan on (will) beat the dragon.
Jim
Mike -
This is something I have heard often, and am convicted everytime I hear it. I imagine your evenings are quite different with this kind of schedule. What do you sacrifice in order to accomplish this? Do you go to bed earlier? I assume TV is all but out of the question?
I’d also be curious as to how/if you did this while your daughters were younger and still at home.
Thanks…
Scott
How many cups of coffee do you drink a day?
Michael,
Just three cups of coffee!
Mike
Scott,
I feel your pain. It is tougher when your kids are younger. No question about that. I do occasionally watch TV, but usually I am working on the computer when doing so. I get to bed by 10:00. Up at 4:30. I would like to get to bed by 9:00, but I rarely make it. Usually 6-1/2 hours of sleep is enough. I catch up on Saturday.
One size definitely doesn’t fit all. You have to find what works for you!
Mike
Michael,
My dragon is nice. He hit my snooze this morning and brought me another donut!
Joel S.
Joel,
You’re supposed to slay the dragon not pet him!
Mike
I’m winning the battle with 2 out of the 3 you mentioned. I have been exercising some but I want to run more and have been contemplating your offer for the half marathon. It’s hard for me to run in the morning because of my mostly one-headed sleep dragon.
I am also loving the audio resources that are available. When i’m in the car I listen to Greg Koukl mp3’s from his radio station or his “Tactics in Defending the Faith”. You should check out Stand To Reason at http://www.str.org. Awesome stuff to combat the intellectual dragon!
Thanks,
Brandon
This was a great post, really speaking to my personal battle w/ the dragons. Thank you!
My biggest dragon is just getting out of bed. I know, lame. I’m home from school on Christmas break and so my body says SLEEP! If I decide to just get out of bed and get rolling the day is much better. Thanks for sharing your 3 dragons with us, its an encouragement for me to fight my own morning dragons.
Michael,
What a great post. Interesting timing too. I was late to work this morning because of lethargy. :^/
I use the excuse that to wake up early I’d have to be up at 3:30am to do those things because I have a 1-hr+ commute and I need to be in the office by 7am. However, I’ve been inspired to rethink my mornings. Thanks for that.
This was great! Thank you so much. I used to think I was the only one who battled that early morning lethargy. Sounds like we’ve all got a little slaying to do. I find that God renews my strength through reading the Scriptures – so very needed above all.
God bless you!
Thank you for this post. My dragons have nearly defeated me, I am on performance management at work, have not been to church in over 2 weeks and am now at the overweight / obese margin. I have a 9 month old and fear things will not improve. Please pray for me.
That pesky “stay in bed, put it off til tomorrow” dragon is oh, so seductive. :/
Nice strategy. ;]
This is a nasty drgagon to fight. I have been fighting him for years but now that I have a little one that dragon has been killed.
I’m glad I ran into this post. I work for a church, so I have Thursdays off to make up for working on Sundays.
Work days are fine for me; Thursdays kill me. Thanks for writing this.
Shalom,That is exciting.I like to read at nights.Is that ok?I guess my prayer time in the morning does not give me enough room to read in the morning other books other than the bible.
Thanks for this insight.
Martins.
I agree with your post and add my fourth….passionately seek God's peace and ask for His wisdom before choosing to begin. In some things God will have only one direction for us to obey…in others like all fathers, it is His good pleasure as Father to allow us to choose a path to our happiness and follow the desires of our hearts…it is my experience that God's peace will remain even in the throes of the most complex storms if it indeed is where He has guided you to be….and His answers given to us through the Holy Spirit will not only move the mountains we face in extraordinary ways, but the dragons will at times even open the doors to the formerly blocked kingdom!
Typo point #3 "a long enough strentch in the day to sit down and really read.
Stretch
If I ran before breakfast, my plummeting blood sugar would have me on my face. A trainer suggested a banana spread with peanut butter before exercise.
Loved the analogy, though. I'll remember that.
Great post Michael!
Indeed, we should take advantage of the early morning hours (the "Golden Hours') to slay those dragons. Reading the Bible is essential, I find reading and meditating on the book of Proverbs first thing in the morning gives one a good mindset to start the day strong.
Exercising first thing in the morning is also a great habit and you can spend the rest of the day knowing that you have done your exercise for the day. As you mentioned, one can also kill two birds with one stone by listening to audio books while you exercise.
I like your analogy and these things are definitely worth practicing. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to be highly productive throughout the day.
I love how you pray while you drive. I pray while I work-out. I bet you probably do that a lot, as well. It takes me 25 minutes to drive to the gym. I’m going to start disciplining myself to pray during that time. Thanks for this post – I’m excited about my creative prayer time now!
Wow. I felt like you were speaking for me, but SO much more eloquently. I somehow stumbled accross your blog a day or two ago and wish I had tuned in years ago.
I can relate to the dragons, but it is because I once had them cleary defeated and tamed. But quietly and somehow undetected, they have captured me. I am fighting the dragon "when I want to".
But now I SEE the dragons. They have been there all the time. But now I can see them to fight.
SWORD please!
Last month, I realized I did not have peace in my life because of the middle head of the dragon. I began to practice reading the Bible a few minutes each morning, but like always, my resolve weakened due to physical lethargy. Soon I was going a whole week without spending the few minutes with God. I am still struggling. Yes, I pray throughout the day in my head, in the car, and I talk with Him. I watched the documentary on "Fireproof." Did you know they prayed ten minutes prior to spending the day shooting the film? I now spend a few minutes praying to God before I work on my book.
Any extra swords out there?
This is a great blog. It’s helped me to understand why it’s important to be disciplined in my daily practices to keep on track and remain focused. Thank you.
Excellent thoughts and writing!
Because of the word pictures you used, I will remember this and my mornings will be motivated more than ever.
Thanks!
I TOTALLY needed to read this today! Thanks for reposting on Twitter. I don't have time to pilfer through your blog and read everything you've ever written – but there's so much great content here – when you repost an old blog on twitter it is like a cool message in a fortune cookie! Thanks, Mr. Hyatt!
Well my dragons are some nasty customers I talk to everyday, yay!
Great ideas. Thanks for sharing! I'm going to give audible a try…
Well my dragon is (are) three almost four year old triplets. They are the lights of my life, but exhaust me emotionally and physically. I am getting up early every morning (4 am Pacific time) to read and plan and pray before the craziness of the day sets in. I walk after I drop the kids at preschool, and then eat breakfast.
This is so true and a great reminder of how to get our day started on the right foot!
Great blog and presentation. My biggest dragon each morning is getting my head in order to stay on track for the day that I work from home. So many distractions that I get off track easily.
I think this is an excellent post. I would like it if I could read the Bible before work, but usually I do my reading in the evening–except on the weekends when I have more time and can do it in the morning. Like you, I also practice daily prayer. I try, though not always successfully, to say the Lord's Prayer and certain Psalms throughout the day. And I also agree with you that exercise is key.
By the way, I am an Orthodox Christian who heard you last year on AFR, and I have so enjoyed your podcasts. I have learned so much from your teaching.
I am working on the Bible reading using Youversion.com's 1 year and praying throught the day. I just need to push a little harder and get the physical one in.
Great post. I know that you are human now. :D
Would it be ok to use the Hebrew word: “Harag”, which means: "To Smite with Deadly Intent"? Anything else will lead back to apathy and back to avoiding the responsibility to look after yourself in those three areas : "Pneuma (spiritual), Soma (physical), and Nous (intellectual)"
Not that I have any authority to preach from from.
But I have three swords at home – maybe I need to put them up in plain site to remind me. And reserve the Katana for the head that robs me of Pneuma. grrrrr
Michael, thank you for a great post. All three of those are dragons that I face. My daily devotional comes by e-mail and is waiting when I get up and I usually have a good business oriented audio book waiting on the iPod. The iPod works great either while exercising or driving. Last year I set a goal of a thousand words before breakfast and in four months had my first draft of a book done. Exercise for me works best in the evening, but that end of the day lethargy dragon can really attack when I sit down at the end of a busy day.
Thank you for the reminder that we really are under attack every day and that it takes action to overcome this beast!
Love this post. It's so true. The early morning choices are strategic for the rest of the day.
And we should remember 1 John 1:9 for those days when we don't do so well:
'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
As we are cleansed, we can begin again, at any time.
Frank Laubach wrote: "Every minute can be a fresh beginning." I like that. It reminds me that there is hope at any point on the path, and that Jesus is the one who ultimately has already won our battles. We walk in the victory that he has secured and continues to secure through his great sacrifice on our behalf.
Thanks for your comments. I have a hard time just getting out of bed in the mornings and feeling motivated to do anything!
I thought I was the only one with this type of problem.
Killing these 3 dragons using these 3 methods before breakfast has been my resolution this year. The problem is my other resolution was to give up coffee.
Tomorow the dragon is doomed! ;)
I am a Baptist Christian from Romania, but that does not mean I did not like your post or did not find it useful ;-). I really wish that our Romanian Christian Orthodox fellows could practice the Bible reading but I know this is not promoted by Orthodox church so it is a pity!
That's too bad. I am also an Orthodox Christian. We do promote Bible reading here.
Thank you! I nodded knowingly with a lopsided smile as I read this! Though I could never imagine running, let alone before breakfast, I relate to your demons and battle them daily. Most successfully before breakfast.
This is an awesome approach… I'm not a morning exerciser though so I guess I have to slay that one head closer to the end of my work day. The others definitely need to be done before breakfast or shortly therafter!:)
For me, my dragon usually gets half slain before breakfast because I start my day with a workout at the gym and reading Scriptures at the same time. If I extend my prayer time a bit, then it will be immobilized for the day, otherwise it re-emerges during the day with such symptoms as anxiety, fear, and just plain negative self-talk.
Thank you for being so transparent.