We have all heard the popular adage, ‘Well begun is half done’. This may well apply to how we start our days! The 5 AM Club by Robin Sharma, (published by Jaico Books) is a book that literally teaches you how an excellent morning routine can build creative, productive, financial and happiness empires.
The story begins…
A successful entrepreneur is at a crossroad, ready to give up her life. She has experienced tremendous stress and pain. Thankfully, fate intervenes and she ends up attending a lecture that will change her life and thought process forever. At the conference she meets ‘the artist’, a fellow seeker. They listen to the Spellbinder who imparts wisdom. But, something strange happens. What happens when they meet the homeless man who teaches them the secrets of the ‘Victory Hour’ starting at 5 AM every morning? How do they change and evolve as they jet-set around the world with their guide who seeks to induct them into The 5 AM Club?
Many themes emerge as the story goes on, mainly in form of a conversation between the protagonists, as well as a gradual change in their attitudes and their lives. Some of these themes are the need for constant introspection, handling unriddled growth, personal discipline, positive thinking, the potential for brain growth and malleability, self-discipline, self-control, benefits of journaling, and so on. However, the overarching idea relates to how optimizing the Victory Hour every single morning can lead to unprecedented success and manifold gains.
Cyber noise and digital distractions
We live in times when technology is all pervasive in our lives, and social media assumes a vital role in how we communicate with each other. The book tackles this issue as well, alerting the readers on how precious hours flow away in these time consuming but often aimless and useless activities. It elucidates the difference between use and misuse of technology. This is something that all of us who want to maximise our time and work effectively could learn from!
Techniques for The 5 AM Club
How exactly will waking up early change your life forever? The 5 AM Club aims to bring about complete transformation and not just superfluous change in the readers. The book takes time to induct the readers into the philosophy gradually by first introducing several memorable and important lessons and habits which support the individual or prepare the base for actually making use of the Victory Hour every morning.
Some of these concepts include The Four Interior Empires, The Habit Installation Protocol, The 66 Day Minimum; The Automaticity Point; finding your GPS, having a pre-sleep ritual and so on.
The Magic Formula
The entire crux of the book lies in what Sharma calls the 20-20-20 formula. Well, this is in effect the heart and soul of the book. But, in order to understand this and internalise this, it is essential to read the book and set the mental stage for installation of this philosophy, which will be the stepping stone to a life of immense success.
A life manual
The progression of the book focuses not only on the why but also the how. How can the reader ensure a morning routine that is bulletproof? The techniques described in the book serve to ensure that one actually implements these time-tested ideas.
While the focus is clearly on optimising mornings, Sharma also asserts that how you spend your evenings before you go off to bed, also determines the success of your mornings. His guidelines for optimising the evening time are thus indispensable. In the sleep recession we all are experiencing these days; these pointers are quite helpful!
There are some other features in the book that work well- a generous sprinkling of quotable quotes from successful people world over; illustrations to explain the concepts in a lucid manner; several easy to understand references to brain studies that corroborate the points made; repetition of the points made as the story progresses so the reader can actually internalize them and so on.
As such, The 5 AM Club could be used as a manual to support the reader in his or her personal journey towards being his or her optimal self.
Robin Sharma has been a successful guru, guiding people on the path to success. The 5 AM Club combines his unique storytelling and philosophy with great actionable tips.
Title: The 5 AM Club
Author: Robin Sharma
Publisher: Jaico Books
Genre: Self-help
OTHER BOOKS BY ROBIN SHARMA
