I’m a heavy sleeper. I set alarm clocks on five-minute intervals, snooze them all, and then get up 30 minutes later. On my off-days, the process of leaving my bed could take up an entire hour.

I have come to terms with the fact that I am – and will never be – a morning person. Yet, Alex Tonelli, co-founder of Funding Circle, visited Koru last week and asked us, “What would make you beat the alarm clock?” In other words, what would motivate you to wake up hours ahead of your regular schedule? To drag your heavy body off the warm bed at 5am rather than at 7am?

The answer, according to our guest speaker, should guide the direction of your career path. Like many successful leaders, Mr. Tonelli claimed that he never feels like he’s “working” because he orients his career around his main passions. He recalled the question he received on his first day at Stanford’s MBA program:

What matters most to you and why?

The first step to finding the right career is to know who you are. What are your core values? Write them down. These values act as a personal alarm clock, inspiring you to wake up each day to a life of meaning and purpose. Therefore, to find a fulfilling career, your work must align with the values that define you as an individual.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been waking up at 6am each day just so I can make my one hour and a half commute to San Francisco. While I rose from my bed each day resembling a zombie, the thought of skipping Koru never occurred to me; I was always excited to see what challenge they had in store for us. It was then that I realized that one of my core values is continuous self-improvement. Because Koru strives to elicit the “best self” out of each participant, I truly enjoyed learning new skills and growing alongside my peers and coaches.

“The secret to being highly effective and happy in your career? Be your best self. Authentically you, in service, always learning, and hard-working.”

– Kristen Hamilton, CEO and Co-Founder of Koru

Now that Koru has ended, I’m looking forward to longer sleeping schedules and saying goodbye to my 6am alarm clock. Instead, I’m greeting each morning with a renewed sense of direction: to move forward with building experience in marketing and then shifting gears many years later to pursue my true passion – product development. From now on, my life will no longer be on snooze; it’s time to wake up.