The 5 AM Club

Book Review by Sonz Tirkey

Through my personal experience of the morning ritual, I can say that I have inculcated many good habits within me and have become a disciplined person somewhere, much before my ears got to know about the 5AM CLUB book. I was curious to know whether my morning ritual is somewhat close with the one mentioned in the book and wanted to get the knack of different angle brought in by the author which I was not aware of.

From morning routine to an organized day and how it can elevate your life have profoundly been described in depth step by step in this book. Not necessarily each bit of the book must be applied in one’s life at the beginning stage. The author has focussed on how great geniuses, business titans and world’s wisest people lead a world class life, what makes them achieve the enormity. There are people who will wake up today, takes a shower, put on their clothes, drink their coffee, eat their oatmeal and then kill themselves by hitting into the monotony. The author here meant that commit to being a highly unusual human being instead of one of those timid souls who behave like everyone else. Morning routine alone transform the life. Important areas of your professional and personal life is to install a world-class morning routine. The way you begin your day really does determine the extent of focus energy, excitement and excel you bring in it.

“It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth and wisdom”– Aristotle

So, here is the review of the book that might influence you in a way:

There are three main leads in the book, the billionaire – who is an expertise with the morning routine and the one who plays the role of a spellbinder in the lives of other two leads that are the entrepreneur and the artist through his experiences & teaching. The artist holds up a high dream but somewhere underestimates its own quality, procrastinate things, and is little confused about his own life. On the other hand, the entrepreneur indulges herself into the business life so fully that she slowly tend to feel lost somewhere in the chaos of the height. Having lots of money doesn’t make you different. It just makes you more of who you were before you made the cash. The billionaire had also gone through many dark sides in his personal life just the way the other two have been going through it. They all meet accidently in a motivational talk concert where the billionaire managed to influence the other two through his way of life perceptions and from there the teaching of the morning ritual starts.

There comes a time in life where we feel to give up everything is actually the instant when you must find it in your to press ahead. Every human gift comes with a downside. Believe in to freshly restart your life by changing your lifestyle. Little changes make the life interesting and enthusiastic. Nothing is late.

Chapters 12th and 13th, will give a push to adapt the morning routine. But I would suggest try to cover the whole book for other hidden gems as well.

According to my understanding, first step is todetox yourself from technologies. Giving up on social media, unnecessary chats, unwanted shows, which doesn’t add much productivity into your life. Kill your inside cyber zombies. Initially, it is very difficult. Your determination plays a keen part over here. Detoxing also emphasis on “people”. Life is way too valuable to hang with people who don’t get you. Who you just don’t vibe with. You anyway feel empty. You may lose few in order to find yourself. Most people can’t stand themselves. So they can never be alone. They need constantly be with other people to escape.Great ones all spent a lot of time alone. Escalation requires your isolation.A lot of us have been minimized and pushed down so much by the dark and toxic influence around us we have forgotten all we truly are.

Your surroundings really do shape your perceptions, your inspirations and your implementations. Be with people who has rich conversations, Chat with taxi drivers, workers and other people we don’t really know. It magnifies your thinking power and there lies positive vibes.

Either a person is morning person or an evening person or can be suspicious in rare case if not the other two. :-P

After detoxification, the author emphasized on how to start your day. Inculcate the habit of getting up early before the sunrises.“Starting your day with luxuriating in the quietitude only the early morning provides”.One of my favourite lines from the book. There is so much peace, no fragment of mental distraction that evokes from technologies & people. Only beautiful & soothing natural sound hits into your ear, ample of time is what you have with yourself. The easy it is to say to get up early on time is even more difficult when you actually try to get up. Nothing comes easy. If it wasn’t difficult at the start, it wouldn’t be real change. The best device that will wake you up is an alarm clock instead of mobile. All the gadgets should be out of your bed reach while you sleep. Jump straight out of your bed before your reasoning mind – the prefrontal cortex give you a bunch of reasons.

THE 20/20/20 FORMULA – beautifully elaborated in Chapter 13th

You get up with 20/20/20 Formula – 20mins for rigorous exercise. Run in an open place like park, empty road etcetra where you feel alive. There is a vital link between physical fitness and cognitive ability. Cultivate your body into shape through hard work, determination. It makes you feel good about yourself. After exercise, your mind releases a chemical “dopamine” which makes you feel pleasant. So, after this, invest another 20mins time into meditation. Calm your mind & soul. Listen to your inner voice. And the last 20mins is to relax through enjoying yourself by listening to music, read books, news which makes you feel alive. Truth speaks in the solitude of the days earliest light. Jot down few things, don’t write only positive elements of our current life but also those aspect of your experience that are causing discomfort and pain. Your will slowly be the owner of your own mind. Remember, you are from those cent % who is experiencing this morning ritual. You will feel you have done many things just in that early morning time before the world is awaken. Feel the greatness. Keep the consistency of 20/20/20 formula for say 90 days (3 months) to routinize the right habits. The new routine will become automated. One can modify the time table according to the suitability of day schedule. Patience and consistency is what require. There is no effort without error and shortcoming. But trying and attempting is what one need to do.

Further, the author stretches that It doesn’t end here. The hard work you put in behind 20/20/20 formula, it will be effective if you go to the bed on time. Sleep deprivation kills and over sleep of nine or more hours, also has been shown to shorten life. Before sleeping try to recollect what all shouldn’t had been done throughout the day spent so as to create room for not repeating it and also, recollect the next day activities well in advance. You will be aware of what there is to do in the day. You will not be vague.

The morning ritual links to you to the 04 sets –MINDSET(psychology),HEARTSET(emotionality),SOULSET(spirituality),HEALTHSET(physicality) which the author has coherently elaborated in words.

You may tend to give up whenever you find it impossible or uncomfortable with the routine. It is quite possible because this might be completely new for you. But if you really want to know yourself your inner self, go for it.

We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our window today. Human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. Complain about how bad things are for them instead of applying the power to make things better. When you think you can’t go further lies enormous opportunity to forge an entirely new level of willpower. We all have the magic. But most of us don’t know how to use it. When you feel you can’t continue, progress a little longer. Half-heartedness doesn’t reach into majesty.

There are other vital concepts described in the book like “The heroic human circle”, “Joy as a GPS”, “The legendary performance equation”, “The twin cycle of elite performance”, “10 tactics of lifelong genius”, which I feel is of another level to adapt it. I would suggest, master in one first, than on thousand pieces.

Happiness lies in when you are able to encourage and influence people by your own efforts. Keep trying to include many people in the 5AM Club (early morning routine). Experience it, feel the change, and try to spread the good to others, the way I am doing through my take always from this book & through experiences. If we could change, the tendencies in the world would also change.