The Rock released a tough-love motivational app — and using it to wake up earlier for a week made me acknowledge a difficult truth about goals

the rock

The Rock created a motivational alarm clock called 'The Rock Clock' as part of a larger initiative called 'Project Rock.'
I used it for five days to help me wake up an hour earlier.
In the app, you can set a project, a deadline, and select the sounds you want to wake up to.
After one week of use, I realized that motivation starts with me — and without that internal desire to reach a goal, external motivation won't have the the same impact.

Waking up is hard to do.

Sometimes I wake up when I intend to, but lay in bed for an extra 10 to 15 minutes staring at the ceiling, debating the value of those extra minutes, and coercing myself into actually putting my feet on the (cold) floor. Usually this happens somewhere between 7:15 and 7:30 a.m. — even though I tell my phone to wake me around 7 a.m. Usually I end up rushing and not actually checking things off my morning to-do list.

Ultimately, though, the problem isn't my inability to avoid the snooze button — it's that I really just need some extra time in the morning to shower, eat, dress, and chill out for a minute before getting on the subway and heading into work.

I've tested numerous approaches to my morning routine with the hopes I'd find something that sparked some inspiration to become that person that wakes up at 6 a.m. I tried some of the more sudden/scary Apple alarm sounds — like the one that sounds like a truck backing up — and I've made my alarm upbeat songs I liked (that have since lost their previous happiness-inducing power). I've also tried setting the time for drastically earlier thinking my snoozes would then equal out to the time I actually want to get up (that trick never works).

So when someone at work told me the Rock had a motivational alarm clock — well, I just couldn't resist giving it a shot.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is a wrestler-turned-actor who's equal parts funny and intimidating.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson made his professional TV wrestling debut back in 1996 on the Survivor Series. Since then, he's won the WWE heavyweight title six times, and has gone on to be one of the biggest action and comedy stars. As of this year he is the second highest-grossing actor in Hollywood — and according to Forbes, he's currently worth $65 million.

Over 95 million people follow his workouts, projects, and puppies on Instagram.

He released the 'Rock Clock' app as part of 'Project Rock,' a partnership with Under Armour to inspire people to strive for more.

In 2015, the Rock announced a new partnership with Under Armour called "Project Rock" — which officially launched in 2016 — intended to "bring you innovative and bad ass products that inspire men, women and kids to stay hungry, humble and always be the hardest workers in the room."

As part of this partnership, the brand aims to create inspiring products for audiences hoping to reach their goals — and these products are referred to as "projects."

The alarm is project number two of four to be released — the first was a backpack, and the last two have yet to be announced.

I downloaded the the Rock Clock and set it up for the work week.

When you first open the app it asks you to type in your goal or project and select an end date — so I wrote "Wake Up Earlier," and set the deadline for the upcoming Friday. I set the alarm for 6:30 a.m.

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