How The REAL Marcus Aurelius Can Help You Get Out Of Bed Each Morning

Marcus Aurelius wasn’t sleeping when Maximus won victory over the Barbarians.

I have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. And I find that reading a passage from philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius helps me more than saying to myself: 

“Get out of f*cking bed, you lazy pr*ck.”

The words of an inspiring emperor have more influence over my behaviour than my weak inner dialogue.

Without Marcus (we’re on a first name basis now), I set an alarm, it wakes me up, but I snooze, repeatedly. Then, finally I’ll check my phone or computer and waste the next hour or two slowly coming to life, waiting either for nature’s necessities or the dreaded realisation of wasted time to spur me to leave my warm, comfortable blanket fort and finally begin my day. 

“Just 5 more minutes” soon becomes an hour when you say it 12 times each morning.

This leaves me feeling tired and guilty.

Don’t the gurus say that happy, successful people are early risers who jump out of bed with a smile on their face as they put on their running shoes and hit the tarmac? 

Whilst I don’t prescribe to the idea that you MUST rise at 5am in order to be happy and successful in life, I do believe that how you begin your day is important and wasting time snoozing or struggling to get out of bed is not a wise way to spend your limited time on earth, particularly if it’s a daily habit. 

It’s reassuring then to know that the last of 5 great Roman emperors, the most powerful man in the world, Marcus Aurelius, shared our struggles with slumber.

He had the same voice in his head urging him to stay warm, comfortable and safe rather than to confront the day and do the work he was born for.

Below you’ll read a passage he wrote in his private journal Meditations; an incredible short book of wisdom, never intended for print, that we incredibly have access to today. I strongly recommend it for anyone interested in philosophy.

I find that leaving this passage open, on top of my phone and laptop, to read first thing in morning interrupts my internal dialogue long enough to encourage me to get out of bed and get to work. It’s something I intend to build into a daily habit, and, if you’re anything like me, it might be worth doing the same.

At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?’

— But it’s nicer in here …

So you were born to feel ‘nice’? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands?

— But we have to sleep sometime …

Agreed. But nature set a limit on that — as it did on eating and drinking. And you’re over the limit. You’ve had more than enough of that. But not of working. There you’re still below your quota.

You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you. People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat. Do you have less respect for your own nature than the engraver does for engraving, the dancer for the dance, the miser for money or the social climber for status? When they’re really possessed by what they do, they’d rather stop eating and sleeping than give up practicing their arts.

Is helping others less valuable to you? Not worth your effort?

So go forth my sleepy friend and shake off those sheets tomorrow morning and make the most of your time and have a good day. There’s never any guarantee that it won’t be your last, so don’t be idle. 

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You can print this page and leave it by your bed or leave the page open on your phone so it’s the first thing you see when you check your phone. Much better to read a little a Marcus Aurelius than check email in bed.

If you know anyone else who struggles to begin each day, then share this page with them so they too might make better use of their time.

If you like this article and think philosophy from the minds of some of the wisest people ever to walk the earth might help you to live a little better, and be a happier person, then sign up to the Academy Of Eudaimonia email list to get each article sent directly to your inbox, so you never miss a thing.