K 's Key Ideas from The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma

3. The first part of any change is complicated, the middle is messy and the end is beautiful. The things you find simple now were once complex for you. Soon, you will become accustomed to getting up early.

4. To get to the top 5%, you must start doing what 95% of people are not willing to do. The majority will call you mad as soon as you start living like this. You will pay for excellence by being dubbed a freak.

5. Keep going even when you want to surrender. Success usually comes to those who are relentless.

Sharma provides a three-step formula that you can apply to all parts of your life. First, you should be working on improving your awareness. This heightened level of insight and consciousness will then optimize your daily decisions. Improved awareness will lead to better choices. Finally, once you get your daily choices correct, you will dramatically accelerate your ability to accomplish and have a significant impact as a leader.

So, these better choices will lead to better results.

Sharma researched where the most influential people place their focus. The result of this research is his four focuses of history makers.

These four focuses are:

1) Capitalization IQ

Natural talent is not what defines great individuals. It is the extent of that potential that they capitalize on through consistency and relentlessness. It doesn’t matter what sport or specialism an individual engages with. Those willing to put in exceptional dedication and commitment will become iconic.

2) Freedom from Distraction

An addiction to distraction is the death of your creative production. Strip away all the layers of complexity from your days. Simplify and streamline everything. Less is more. Concentrate on only a few projects, so you can make them exceptional. A few groundbreaking projects are better than spreading your attention across multiple tasks and producing lackluster results. Prioritize quality over quantity.

Have a few friends, but go deep with them. This will ensure that each of your relationships is prosperous for both parties. 

As with your projects and your tasks, it is much better to focus on developing solid relationships than making multiple shallow-level friendships. You want to have friends you can always trust.

Stop managing your time and start managing your focus. It might appear like spreading yourself thin saves you time. But your focus is ultimately the most important thing.

3) Personal Mastery Practice

All your actions within your environment are a result of what’s happening within you. Your fortune always follows your fearlessness, and your influence in the world is entirely attributable to the glory, nobility, vitality, and luminosity you have accessed in your consciousness.

External always expresses internal. Your creativity, productivity, prosperity, performance, and impact on the planet are always an expression of what’s going on inside you. Your internal reflections will always manifest within your external behaviors. So, challenge yourself when you are negative or distracted. If you can master your inner world, you will master the external world too.

4) Day Stacking

Each day is equally important in the bigger picture of your life. So, craft your life based on each day, focusing on the bigger picture of your life. Each of your special days represents your precious life in miniature. What we are doing today is creating our future. So, always consistently and relentlessly stick to your focus.

When we get up at five in the morning, the stillness, solitude, and silence trigger our brains. Our brain waves shift from beta to alpha, through to theta. And then, a pharmacy of mastery is stimulated in our brain. These changes help us produce groundbreaking thoughts that would not have previously been possible.

The cortisol levels in the brain decrease, while the dopamine and serotonin levels increase. The prefrontal cortex then rests, which allows us to enter into the flow state. Flow is a state of mind when we are genuinely engaged in the activity that we pursue and lose track of time. This state is most easily achievable in the early mornings because that’s when we have the factors required.

To be a genius and thrive in the long run, we need to take care of ourselves. Sharma calls these our interior empires and provides the four most important ones:

1. Mindset: Relates to the psychological aspect of our being, for example, our thinking and optimism.
2. Heart set: Relates to our emotional intelligence. How good are we at managing our own emotions?
3. Health set: Relates to our physical fitness.
4. Soul set: Relates to spirituality. How are we connecting to that Supreme power?

By taking care of these four empires, we can all achieve remarkable things and obtain life goals we have held forever.

Based on research, Sharma offers you five scientific truths that will help you develop habits:

1. Strong willpower isn’t something you’re born with. It’s a skill you can develop through constant practice. Getting up at 5 A.M. is perfect self-control training for the rest of your day. If you can push yourself to get up earlier than most other people, you can push yourself to do anything.
2. Just like a muscle, personal discipline will grow if it’s put under pressure. So, we should actively create conditions of relative stress. These experiences will build natural power.

3. Willpower weakens when you’re tired. So, to reach mastery, you should take time to recover and manage decision fatigue.

4. Developing a new habit and sustaining it long-term follows a clear four-part pattern. We will get into this later.

5. As you develop self-control in one area of your life, you will eventually improve it in all areas. That’s why being a member of the 5:00 AM club will give you a competitive edge in everything you do.

Sharma explains that the most proficient habit makers live by three key values. These are:

1. Persistence and consistency are the keys to victory. Of course, anyone can be great for just one day. But to be great consistently is what is required to become heroic.
2. Your level of respect for yourself is ultimately determined by how much work you put into completing what you have started.
3. How you practice when no one’s watching you is exactly how you will perform when you have an audience.

The lifetime habit arc is the four-part automation pattern we mentioned earlier.

The first step is the trigger. It’s the cue that initiates the habit. Once the habit is initiated, we need to follow a particular ritual to continue it. Then, after completing the habit, it’s time for us to reward ourselves. Finally, once that reward is pleasurable, that’s when repetition comes into the picture.

According to research, it takes around 66 days for any habit to become automatic. That said, these 66 days are divided into three stages. 

1. Stage one is destruction, where we destroy our old habits and try to implement a new one.
2. The following 22 days are part of the installation stage. This is the most challenging phase of all three. Installation is where we attempt to install this habit into our lives. We deal with how the habit impacts and is impacted by the rest of our habits.
3. The last stage is integration. Integration is where the habits slowly start to become more like an automatic response.

The first hour of your day should be split into three 20-minute pockets of exercise, reflection and study.

Pocket #1: Move

5:00 AM to 5:20 AM is when we have to move. This includes doing intense exercise, hydrating ourselves, or breathing deeply. This is because your body has been in a state of sleep, and you need to allow your body and mind to wake up fully.

When we exercise first thing in the morning, our cortisol levels decrease. Our dopamine and serotonin levels also increase. These changes elevate our mood and our metabolism. So, we are ready for the day ahead. We will be less stressed throughout the day, and our energy levels will remain higher than if we hadn’t exercised.

Pocket #2: Reflect

This pocket is from 5:20 AM to 5:40 AM. You should use this time to reflect on your life. You can reflect either by meditation or writing in your journal. You might also want to spend this time planning your day, praying, or creating a time of personal contemplation; anything that feels natural and involves active reflection.

This step helps us be more aware of ourselves and our mission, vision, and life goals. It ensures we are in alignment with our higher purpose.

Pocket #3: Grow

This pocket should generally occur between 5:40 AM to 6:00 AM. In these 20 minutes, you have to review your life, week, and day goals.

You can read books in your field, listen to audiobooks or podcasts, or engage with an online training course. This time should involve engagement with whatever will help you grow in your respective field.

Journaling multiplies our clarity and awareness. This clarity and awareness are the only way to ensure we are on the right path.

Journaling activates deliberate gratitude. It is often easy to get tied up in the business of our daily life and forget to be grateful. Journaling is a fantastic way to handle your emotions when you feel low, and express your gratitude for what is good in your life.

Journaling also allows you to plan effectively and set demonstrable goals. This means you will understand when your performance improves. As we have heard so many times, what gets written gets done. So, the act of journaling will help keep you more motivated. Finally, journaling captures your life’s best experiences. Journaling allows you to re-experience joyful times.

So, a simple act of writing in your journal can genuinely elevate your life.

When we talk about getting up at 5:00 AM, it’s impossible unless we sleep on time. We need to sleep on time and have a high-quality sleep. It is vitally important that you keep to a healthy pre-sleep ritual to ensure these two factors. Generally, this ritual should occur between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM. You should make sure that, by this time, you have had your last meal of the day. You will also want to turn off all your devices and keep them away from the bed.

Try to isolate yourself from overstimulation. From 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM, you can have family time.

 You can have honest conversations with your loved ones, or meditate if you want. You can spend some time reading or listening to audiobooks or podcasts. The idea is to just relax and calm your mind before sleeping.

9:00 PM to 10:00 PM is when you have to prepare for your sleep. Make sure your room is cool, dark, and technology-free. You can organize your exercise gear for the following day to be ready and motivated to start your day in the right way.

And last but not least: Practice gratitude before you sleep. Doing this means you are ending your day on a high note, on a positive note.

Sharma deconstructs what a fantastic day looks like. His day starts at 4:45 AM and ends at 9:30 PM.

Different people will have different timetables, and their needs will differ. However, you can still take this as a basic guideline and reframe the structure according to your needs. By keeping what works for you, you can tremendously improve your current lifestyle.

Sharma believes there are ten tactics that you should implement for the rest of your life to sustain success. These are:

Tactic One – The Tight Bubble of Total Focus

What this means is that people who excel in their field stay away from distraction. They work in the tight bubble of total focus. In this bubble, nobody can interrupt them. To execute this, all you have to do is ensure you have a scheduled routine away from interruptions and distractions. This routine will allow you to focus on your work entirely.

Tactic Two – The 90/90/1 Rule

For the next 90 days, you should use the first 90 minutes of your work to identify one thing that could revolutionize your work. By doing this, you’ve ensured your day’s first 90 minutes are wholly focused on the single most important activity of your career. This alone will give you excellent results. 

Tactic Three – The 60/10 method

After every hour of work, take a 10-minute break. Go for a quick walk, drink some water.. and then get back to work. By doing this, you ensure you are not over-stressed. You’re not sitting in one place for long, and you refuel yourself

Tactic Four – The Five Daily Concepts

You should write five goals that you want to complete on a particular day in the morning. Doing this should help every day become the best day it could be. You ensure you stay on track and move towards your ideal life.

Tactic Five – The Second-Wind Workout

We all know that workouts are crucial for us. So, why do we simply reserve them for the first half of the day? By scheduling a second workout, you can ensure you end your day on an energetic note.

Tactic Six – The Two Massage Protocols

Sharma believes it is a good idea to have two massages per week. This is because massages help you relax and gain the energy you lose throughout the week.

Tactic Seven – Traffic University

The idea is not to waste the time we spend commuting. We can accomplish so much more by utilizing this time productively. This is what Robin Sharma has called traffic university. If you are on public transport, you can use this time to think of creative ideas. If you are driving, you can listen to a podcast or an audiobook to learn as you commute.

Tactic Eight – The Dream Team Technique

We cannot accomplish what we want to accomplish without the help of others. By delegating some tasks to our team members, we can ensure everyone is doing what they are good at. So, having a dream team is a critical part of any pursuit.

Tactic Nine – The Weekly Design System

You should sit down and plan your entire week every weekend, preferably on Sunday. What does your week look like? What are the things you want to accomplish this week? What do you want to do each day?

By having this weekly plan, you can ensure you’re sticking to your goals. You can then develop this plan further by breaking those goals into five daily goals.

Tactic Ten – The 60-Minute Student

Those who are considered geniuses by society study for a minimum of 60 minutes each day. For you, it could be a book about your field or the latest update in your field. It could even be talking with your mentor. But, the idea is to learn. The moment we stop learning is the moment we stop growing.

We have five assets: mental focus, physical energy, personal willpower, original talent and daily time.

We have to protect these five assets. We protect them by following this twin cycle: the high excellence cycle and deep refueling cycle.

We work with complete focus in the high excellence cycle without any distraction or interruption. And then, in the deep refueling cycle, we cool down, relax and re-energize ourselves.

With this concept, the author has mentioned we can use joy to guide us on the right path. Spend time with people who spark joy in your life. You should also spend time on the pursuits and in the places that spark joy.

When you use joy as a GPS, you ensure you are happily achieving your goals.