Creative Energy Wake-Up Syndrome

Creative Entrepreneurialism, Creativity, The Funnel

Some people wake up at 2AM because they’re stressed. If you’re a creative or an entrepreneur (and yes, entrepreneurs are creatives), you know what it’s like to be jolted awake by ideas instead.

One of the greatest creatives of our time defines creativity as follows in his book “The Creative Act”.

“To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before.” – Rick Rubin

SIDE NOTE

Almost three years ago, my daughter gave me Rick Rubin’s book for Christmans… at a time when I really needed it.

It changed my life. If you’re a creative — or even if you live with one — I can’t recommend it enough.

Rick makes a powerful case that everyone is creative. Most people just don’t know how to access it yet.

Read it. Seriously. You won’t see your own mind the same way again.

That’s vision. That’s manifesting. That’s the mind refusing to rest until the thing it sees exists in the world.

My 2AM Wakeups

This happens to me a lot. Especially when I’m bringing a new vision to life. I wake up with so many ideas I have to get them out of my head.

For years, I’d get up, brew coffee, head into the office, and start building or writing. Sometimes for hours. It would go on for days or weeks — and of course, I’d be totally wiped out the next day.

Eventually, I found a better system.

The Shift That Helped Me

It started simple:

Don’t make coffee.
Don’t fully get up.
Keep my iMac by the bed.

Now when I wake up at 2AM buzzing with ideas, I open the iMac, dump the thoughts, and usually get tired enough to fall back asleep. No full wake-up. No caffeine. No next-day exhaustion.

Sometimes this means I miss my 5AM start. But even if I sleep till 7AM in Bozeman, that’s 9AM on the East Coast. The market doesn’t open until 9:30, so I still have time to shower, make coffee, and be fully functional by game time.

The 5AM Rule — And Why It Works

If you follow the 5AM rule, you already know how powerful those early hours can be. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs — creatives, really — swear by it. I think that’s because creativity naturally comes in two phases:

Idea Generation (also know as visioning)
Technical Execution

A lot of people have one but not the other.

Think of someone who’s amazing at drawing — the kind of kid who could sketch anything. Now think about how many of those people never pursued art. They had the talent, but not the creative vision and execution to turn it into a livelihood.

It takes all three and… a TON of fail forward persistence.

Why I’m Sharing This

I call it Creative Energy Wake-Up Syndrome, and if you have it, you know how real it is. But it doesn’t have to wreck your sleep or your productivity.

This simple habit shift changed everything for me. Maybe it’ll help you too.

Drop a comment or contact me directly if this resonates. I’d love to hear your take.

Over the years, I’ve started with the help of @wild_woman_MT: