The 4 AM Reset: How I Took My Life and Routine Back

Around September of 2025, I hit a wall. Not the dramatic movie-type wall where you sell everything and move somewhere quiet. This was the slow creep. The kind where you wake up one morning and barely recognize the person staring back at you.

Overweight. Tired. Sluggish.

And honestly, I felt like I was getting dumber.
All three of those were true.

So I decided to do something about it.

I bought a Hatch alarm clock, which for the record should be issued to anyone who hates waking up early, and set it for 4:00 AM. It wakes you with soft light and birds instead of a screaming alarm, which somehow feels less like punishment.  Literal gamechanger.

And the next morning, I got up. Then the next. And the next.

My routine became simple:

4:00 AM – wake up
4:15 AM – pre workout
4:30 AM – workout
5:30 AM – shower
6:30 AM – in the office

No snoozing. No excuses. No “I will start Monday.”

During workouts, I stopped listening to music and switched to audiobooks. Self help. Leadership. Entrepreneurship. Marketing. It became mental and physical training at the same time.

A few books hit me at the right moment:

Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
Never Finished and Cant Hurt Me by David Goggins
The Need to Lead by Jocko Willink
The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins
The 5 AM Club

Those books gave me a reset. They reminded me of the version of myself that showed up every day and refused to back down from hard work.

If you know my story, you know I have been working basically full time since I was 13. Washing dishes. Bussing tables. Cleaning bathrooms. Whatever I could do. Through college, I worked 40 to 60 hours a week and earned my degree at night and on weekends. When I started Nationwide Appraisals in 2010, I consistently put in 60 to 80 hours a week building my company from scratch.

Then in September 2020, I sold the company to Sedgwick.

And overnight, the pressure changed.

I did not have to worry about payroll for 60 employees.
I did not have to stress about losing major accounts.
I did not have to wonder if one deal would make or break the month.

Work stress still existed, but the survival stress of being a business owner was gone.
And when the pressure eased, so did my discipline.
I got comfortable.
Then I got lazy.

I went from working 60 to 80 hour weeks to 40 to 50.
The guy who used to joke "I remember my first part time job" suddenly became the guy I always joked about.

Not ideal.

Something shifted last year.
Maybe it was a book.
Maybe a conversation.
Maybe the moment my jeans got a little too snug.
Or maybe it was that gut feeling of I am not myself.

Whatever it was, one morning I just said enough.

For the last six months, I have been consistent. Wake up early. Get the workout in. Get to the office before most people are even awake. Get back to doing what I love which is building, leading and motivating.

Getting to the office at 630 has turned into a genuine superpower.
Side note: If you know me, you know I literally cannot work from home. If I am home, I graze like a wild animal and accomplish absolutely nothing.  Probably not a great idea that my home office looks directly at my pantry, but I digress......

Between 630 and 8, I get more done than I sometimes do from 8 to 4. No meetings. No distractions. Just real work.

Most days I stay until 630 or 7 finishing strong. On Sundays, I usually put in 4 to 8 hours planning the week and thinking about new ideas for Pro Insurance Group.

Not because I have to.
Because I want to.

And here is the bigger lesson.
A routine matters.
Structure matters.
Consistency matters.

When you build a routine and stick to it, your stress drops, your clarity increases, and you stop wasting energy deciding what to do. You simply do the work. A routine gives you momentum. Momentum gives you confidence. And confidence spills into every part of your life, personal and professional.

Here is what has happened in just six months:

I lost 25 pounds
I feel sharper mentally
Sedgwick Auto business has grown
Pro Insurance Group has grown
I feel more present as a husband and a father
And I know I am not done yet

It is incredible what happens when you stop hitting snooze on your own life.

This 4 AM reset did not just change my mornings. It changed everything.

If you have any good book recommendations to keep me going, let me know. If you have any good workout ideas, even better. Just nothing that involves burpees. I already know how to suffer.