Rising at the gray of dawn can transform your life. I continue to consume endless resources on how to conquer the morning. This thirst for the fountain of morning delight compelled me to read The 5 Am Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life by Robin Sharma.
The 5 am Club is parable style mirroring “The Alchemist ” but lacks the enchanting prose of Paulo Coelho. Near the end, it offers the reader several valuable insights on owning your morning and optimal living. Here are the lessons from The 5 Am Club.
Seize the Day with Victory Hour
Sharma’s formula for winning the day begins at 5am with implementing the
20/20/20 Formula
20 minutes of sweat-inducing exercise. The sweating part is important. Exercising vigorously lowers cortisol levels, and increases your feel-good neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. It also releases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a key molecule related to learning and memory.
20 minutes of reflection: Mediate, journal, and plan the blueprint of your day.
20 minutes for growth: review goals, read books, listen to audiobooks and podcasts, study online.
How to: Wake Up Early Hacks
Don’t use your phone, buy an alarm clock to rise. Once purchased, advance the time 30 minutes ahead. Then set the alarm to 5:30am.
As soon as the alarm goes off, bolt out of bed before your weaker self takes over. If anyone is familiar with another book that’s not worth reading, The 5 Second Rule, you can use this method to blast out of bed in the morning like you’re counting down for lift-off…5…4…3…2…1.
Disciplined Evening = Productive Morning
The Bedtime Routine
Although the morning routine gets all the glory, how you end your day is just as important. This is the bedtime framework Sharma recommends:
7-8 PM last meal of the day with all devices turned off.
8-9 PM bath, conversation, meditation, reading
9-10 PM prep for sleeping. Evening gratitude practise. Put out your exercise gear.
10 Tactics for Lifelong Genius
It’s important to realize that this book is about living optimally. Set your limitations to the side and read these tactics with an open mind.
Mental Focus: Eliminate distractions by selling your tv or cancelling your Netflix subscription, don’t read the news, stay away from shopping malls, and turn off notifications on your devices.
Physical Energy: the two most valuable commodities in your life are your time and your energy. Guard them both with your life. To maintain energy throughout the day, Sharma recommends implementing what he calls the 60/10 principle; work for 60 minutes then take a 10-minute break.
The Daily 5 Targets: Set five mini targets to achieve each day.
Second Workout: follow up work with your second workout of the day. This could include going for a walk, bike ride, running, swimming, or practising yoga.
The Two Massage Protocol: Get two 90 minute massages every week.
Traffic University: Listening to hours of audiobooks and podcasts while I drive, has changed my life. I love a straight prairie road, endless blue sky, and a podcast expanding my mind.
Dream Team Technique: Outsource all tasks that do not bring you joy.
Design Your Week: carve out 30 minutes on Sunday to reflect on the week that has passed and plan the week ahead. This habit has changed my life and it can change yours too. Commit to it.
60 Minute Student: take an hour each day to study. Read books, listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, or an online course.
There you have it! You now have all the major lessons from The 5am Club, minus the parable fluff! You’re welcome. Getting up at 5 AM is not ideal for everyone, however, I do believe in getting up an hour early to implement a morning framework like the Victory Hour suggested by Sharma. As the great Jim Rohn said, “either you run the day, or the day runs you.”
The 5 AM Club Quotes
“When we are young we sacrifice our health for wealth and when we grow old and wise we realize what’s most important — and become willing to sacrifice all our wealth for even one day of good health.”
“Elite production without quiet vacation causes lasting depletion.”
“The world is a mirror. And we get from life not what we want, but that which we are.”
“Remember that each of your prized days represents your precious life in miniature. What we do today, is creating our future.”
“Courage is an exquisite weapon to defeat the armies of regret that wear away at lives meekly.”
“Your natural genius presents itself when you’re most joyful. We get our best ideas that change the world when we’re rested, relaxed, and filled with delight.”
“The world needs more heroes and why wait for them — when you have it in you to become one. Starting today.”
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Miss Susan Flynn 