I’m convinced that if you wake up just one hour earlier every day for the next 10 years, you’ll not only accomplish far more, but also build significant wealth and unlock countless opportunities in life. Conquering the magic of the morning—while most are still asleep—will give you a massive edge. No doubt about it.
I’m reminded of this truth because I failed to wake up early one morning, and it cost me at least $2,000 so far.
After I published my June 22, 2025 newsletter—discussing what I thought might happen to the markets following the U.S. bombing of Iran and what we should do—I failed to fully execute!
Here’s what I wrote:
Repercussions of War on the Markets
As I highlighted in last week’s newsletter, the stock market has a complicated but often surprisingly resilient relationship with war. So far, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the Iran Tehran Stock Market Index have held up relatively well despite rising tensions.
Historically, markets have often digested the onset of conflict and refocused on earnings, monetary policy, and economic fundamentals—unless the war leads to prolonged uncertainty or global disruption.
Let’s hope diplomacy can re-emerge, but as always, we must prepare for a wide range of outcomes—both economically and personally. Here’s an another chart that highlights major conflicts and how the S&P 500 reacted.
Here’s how the Israeli and Iranian stock markets have performed. We’re talking all-time highs!
So the takeaway from this latest unfortunate event is simple: buy the dip—if there is one.
How I see the most likely scenarios playing out, in order of probability:
1) Bonds rally first, driving down interest rates. The stock market may sell off slightly in response to the initial uncertainty, but then recovers as yields decline and investors reposition for risk.
2) Both stocks and bonds rally. Risk-on investors anticipate more fiscal spending, increased certainty now that war has been declared, and potential windfalls in defense and energy earnings. Meanwhile, risk-off investors are still drawn to relatively high guaranteed yields, providing support for bonds.
I don’t expect both stocks and bonds to sell off simultaneously—but we’ll see how the market digests the news this week.
Another consideration is how the Trump administration approaches tariff negotiations. The majority of investors now believe Trump will back off on aggressive tariff hikes with continued delays. However, with the administration going from talks of peace a couple weeks ago to bombings this weekend, maybe our trading partners will be more ready to negotiate. That should be a net positive for the U.S.
Failed to Wake Up Early to Deploy Capital
Usually, I’m up no later than 5:30 a.m., reading the news and writing my thoughts on Financial Samurai before the stock market opens at 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time. I’ve been following this routine ever since I started working on Wall Street in 1999. It’s very helpful now with wife and kids, who wake up between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.
On Monday, June 23, 2025, I woke up at 5:30 a.m. again to do the same. But there was just one problem—here in Honolulu, the U.S. stock markets open at 3:30 a.m., not 6:30 a.m. as it does in San Francisco!
Of course, I knew this beforehand. But after eight days in Honolulu, I had fully adjusted to the time zone. It also didn’t help that I played a couple of hours of pickleball Sunday morning, followed by another hour and a half of pickleball and tennis starting at 8:45 p.m. I was spent.
Because I didn’t wake up in time for the market open, I missed the opportunity to buy the dip in the first 10 minutes—just as I had predicted. By the time I got up at 5:30 a.m., the market had already ramped and then begun to fade, so I was uncertain on what to do.
I did manage to buy about $8,000 worth of stocks when the market gave up all its gains by 6:30 a.m. HST, but that’s it.
Time To Be A Father
By 7 a.m., my wife and kids were awake, and I wanted to spend time with them before I drove them to school, departing at 7:35 am. By the time I arrived at the Diamond Head pickleball courts at 8:15 a.m., the S&P 500 had ramped above 6,000 (+1%) and later closed at a high.
My original plan was to invest $100,000 of idle cash, but I didn’t execute because I didn’t wake up early enough and chose to focus on father duties. Had I followed through, I would have been up at least $1,000 that very day on my new position alone. The next day, I would have been up another $1,200 as the market ramped higher.
Wake up earlier because family, hobbies, and outside responsibilities will distract you from making maximum money.
Thoughts Are Useless Without Action
I share my thoughts every week in my newsletter and publicly on Financial Samurai. And I’ve always tried to take action based on my beliefs. But this time, I barely did—due to a lack of discipline and a failure to adapt quickly to a new environment.
Hawaii is a fantastic place for early risers, especially in the summer when it gets uncomfortably hot by 10 a.m. However, as a capital allocator, you need to be up at an unnaturally early hour—before 3:30 a.m. local time—and be sharp. Otherwise, you risk missing opportunities.
You can come up with all the investment theses you want. But if you don’t take action based on your convictions, your thoughts are meaningless. You will not have a chance to make money. Yes, for the most part, you should buy and hold index stocks forever. But if you want to potentially outperform the masses who do with the experience and knowledge you have, you should try and take further action.
Most people aiming to achieve financial independence don’t have the luxury of being paid millions as Wall Street strategists to be wrong. We don’t get paid for analysis. Instead, we get rewarded only when we actually put our precious capital to work, generate passive income, and earn returns that enable us to stay free.
Hard To Be An Effective Stay-at-Home Father and Investor Without Rising Early
From April 2017 to June 2025, I considered myself a stay-at-home father, alongside my stay-at-home wife. But during that time, I also managed all of our family’s investments—a role that sometimes feels like a full-time job. In addition, I’ve written over 1,200 articles on Financial Samurai, and published two national bestselling books, Buy This Not That and Millionaire Milestones.
So in reality, I wasn’t a traditional, fully dedicated stay-at-home dad. I still had a strong desire to do something productive beyond fatherhood. The only way I could make it all work was to wake up earlier—to write for a couple of hours before the family woke up. Then, I’d reply to emails and comments sporadically throughout the day, and often put in another one to two hours after the kids went to bed.
I wasn’t satisfied with only full-time parenting. So I extended my day to get more done. There were definitely moments when I wondered how much more I could accomplish if I didn’t have childcare responsibilities. But in the end, I found a happy medium: writing 15–20 hours a week and then spending time with family.
Being OK with this dual role of being both a writer and a stay-at-home dad likely stems from my experience getting an MBA while working full-time in banking. I was putting in 60 hours a week at the office and another 20 hours on school for three years straight. I knew what was possible, so I just kept going.
Since the pandemic, plenty of people have taken on two full-time remote jobs to double their income—simply because they can. The notion that we must work only 40 hours a week and get eight hours of sleep every night is, in many ways, an artificial construct.
The Hidden Danger of Always Waking Up Before the Sun
Time is your most precious commodity, and since none of us knows how much we have left, waking up early is a hedge against an early death. It gives you a head start, helps you accomplish more, and can lead to a richer, more fulfilling life. If you get sleepy during the afternoon because you’re getting up so early, try to take a nap somewhere.
But there’s a hidden danger in always being the one who rises before the sun: resentment—both from others and eventually, perhaps, from yourself.
If you work a traditional job, colleagues or subordinates may begin to resent your 5 a.m. emails or your consistent early productivity. It can create unspoken pressure on them to rise earlier than they’d like or work longer hours than they believe is fair. Over time, this quiet tension can grow.
But perhaps the most emotionally charged form of resentment comes from your significant other, especially if they’re not a morning person. If they consistently wake up one, two, even three hours after you, they may start the day feeling behind—while you’re already fully in gear. Even if your early rising is partly for their benefit, they may feel guilt, stress, or frustration that unintentionally erodes your relationship.
You Could Start Resenting Late Risers Too
In turn, you may begin to resent them for sleeping in. You might wonder why they can’t just wake up just 20 minutes earlier to better prepare for the day, instead of always rushing to be on time. On weekends, you may feel out of sync—ready for a morning hike while your partner is still in dreamland. If you’re both retired, drastically different schedules could slowly create emotional distance instead of deeper connection.
So be mindful of the downsides of waking up much earlier than your peers or life partner. You probably know by now that “I’m not a morning person” is often just a convenient excuse for not wanting to get up early. It’s no different from someone saying, “I’m not an exercise person” or “I’ve got big bones” when they never go to the gym or for a run. We can find excuses for anything if we want to—it’s what we do with our time that defines who we are.
If you do rise more than an hour before your partner, remind yourself that the true reward is intrinsic—clarity, peace, and purpose—not validation or praise. Stay grounded in your why, and use your extra time to strengthen your life, not create quiet divisions within it.
If the tension between you grows too great, your partner may eventually make an effort to wake up earlier to preserve the relationship. But if they don’t, it could be a sign that they’re not willing to meet you halfway. Sadly, this may force you to question whether the relationship is truly built on mutual respect. Remember, you can’t change people until they want to.
Get Into the Habit of Waking Up Earlier For Your Sake
If you want to build more wealth and accomplish more in life, start by waking up earlier. Work while the world sleeps. In the quiet hours of the morning—without distractions—you’ll unlock a level of productivity that’s hard to match.
No more rushing to get out the door or feeling frazzled as you prep your kids for school. Early mornings give you the time and mental space for deep focus. Whether you’re working on a side project, learning a new skill, or building a business, your progress will accelerate.
Life will conspire against you to build wealth—through hobbies, family obligations, and unhealthy distractions. Don’t let it.
If you want to outperform the average person, start your day before they do. Stay consistent, and in 10 years, you’ll likely surpass even your own expectations of what’s possible.
Readers, why do you think more people don’t wake up earlier to get things done? With only 24 hours in a day, why spend a third of it sleeping? There are so many productive and enjoyable things to do? Wouldn’t you rather wake up early, knock out important tasks, and gain momentum before the workday starts or your kids need you?
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