The 5AM Club Book Summary (Everything You Need to Know)

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The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma presents a revolutionary morning routine that will help you upgrade your productivity, happiness, and wellbeing to levels you never thought possible. In this 5AM Club book summary, we will walk you through the key points and takeaways that will help you transform the way you live your life forever!

Now if you are anything like 95% of people on this planet, the idea of getting up at 5AM on purpose sounds crazy. In a world that has been taken over by electronics and social media distractions, who in their right mind would willingly start their morning at 5AM?

For many people, the best way to feel good the next morning is to go to bed early and sleep in. But, in the 5AM Club, best selling author and expert Robin Sharma presents an alternative early morning routine that will help you reach peak performance in your personal and professional life.

Let’s dig into this 5AM Club summary to see how this life-changing book can help you take advantage of this powerful new habit in your own life!

The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma is Available in: print | digital | audiobook

The 5am Club Book Summary: The Key Ideas

Key Idea #1: The Four Focuses of History Makers

History makers are the exceptional human beings throughout time. Not only were they great people, but they did extraordinary things with their lives. There are four things that history makers have in common that you can study to help you become an extraordinary person.

Focus #1: Capitalization IQ

Many people believe that natural talent is what makes a person a world class success. Our culture seems to praise talent without recognizing the effort that goes into growing a talent.

But behind every successful person is a growth mindset. This is a tool that extraordinary people have that allows them to believe that they can develop and build on the abilities that they had at birth.

People without a growth mindset often fall victim to their own limiting beliefs. These are the stories that we tell ourselves that limit what we are capable of achieving in our lives.

The first focus of history makers is that they believe that they can do anything, regardless of how good they are at something. These types of people see obstacles as areas for growth to challenge their limiting beliefs. They have the drive to get better no matter what it takes.

Focus #2: Freedom From Distraction

Is it even possible to live a life free from distraction? We have countless electronic devices that aggressively compete for our attention. And there are constant demands on our personal and professional lives that always seem to increase.

To make matters worse, our distractions usually make us think that we are relaxing and escaping from the demands of our lives. But even when we feel relaxed, the reality is that our distractions suck valuable focus from our day. This is focus we could be using on creative projects or problem solving.

But it isn’t always easy to just do something productive instead of starring at a screen. Our brains naturally want to embrace distractions because deep down we are afraid of challenges and growth opportunities. But our brain’s prefrontal cortex wants us to grow and develop. So how do we overcome this struggle?

This is just one of many secrets that this 5AM Club book summary will teach you!

For now, consider a social media hiatus. At the very least start by limiting the number of notifications you allow your phone to send you. Say ‘no’ to a small task at work that will distract you from a larger and more important project. You will almost be able to feel your brain cells energizing when they are free from distraction.

Focus #3: Personal Mastery Practice

Sharma describes four ‘interior empires’ that every person should concentrate on to deeply focus on improving themselves. These interior empires are:

• Mindset: these are the thoughts and beliefs that we have about ourselves and our experiences that shape our reality. Having a healthy mindset and a positive attitude toward challenges will help you optimize your outlook.
• Heartset: this is your emotional life. It isn’t possible to do great things if your heart is full of anger, rage, or fear.
• Healthset: making your physical health your best health possible can add years to your life expectancy that you can spend growing and refining your craft.
• Soulset: this is the process of remembering who you truly are by looking inward through meditation and reflection.

Many people have heard of the concept of a mindset. But this is only 25% of the battle toward personal mastery. A healthy balance amongst all four interior empires is the way toward reaching the highest levels of personal growth.

Focus #4: Day Stacking

Your life is the result of all of your days combined. By living excellent days, you create an excellent life.

During each 24 hour period that you are given in your life, focus on improving a little bit at a time. Even just 1% each day. It is these small improvements that produce the best results over a lifetime.

Key Idea #2: The Habit Installation Protocol

The key idea behind the habit installation protocol is that a new habit takes 66 days to form. Habits form over the course of three phases, each lasting 22 days:

• Phase 1 – Destruction: change is hard, but if it weren’t difficult, it wouldn’t be real change. This phase is so difficult because you have to literally rewrite parts of your mind and replace them with new ways of operating.
• Phase 2 – Installation: this is the phase where we are tempted to go back to the way things were.
• Phase 3 – Integration: your mind now sees this habit as part of a daily routine.

After these three phases, you will reach what Sharma calls ‘the Automaticity Point’. This is when you no longer need willpower for your new habit. Which means that you are now free to use that willpower to start a new healthy habit!

This installation protocol is a great way to understand how to build a new early-rising habit like starting your day at 5AM every day!

Key Idea #3: The 20/20/20 Formula

The next key idea of this 5AM Club book summary is the 20/20/20 formula. This is the core concept of the 5AM club and its revolutionary morning routine.

This formula is a guideline for how to break up the first hour of your day into 20 minute intervals, each with their own specific focus on high-value activities. The idea is that this first ‘victory hour’ is a distraction-free hour where you can focus on optimizing yourself for the rest of the day.

As the book says, when you “take excellent care of the front end of your day, the rest of your day will pretty much take care of itself. Own your morning. Elevate your life.”

Pocket #1 – 5:00am to 5:20am

The first pocket of 20 minutes is from 5:00am to 5:20am and requires you to move. The goal during this block of your morning routine is to focus on intense physical activity that gets you sweating.

Now, part of the appeal behind the 5AM club is that it sounds insane. Waking up at 5AM and exercising immediately? Who does that?

As it turns out, even if you are grumpy in the morning hours, using the 20/20/20 formula can transform your mindset.

Focusing on physical activity first thing in the morning will help you wake up fully and kick your focus into high gear. It will also help you increase your own self-discipline and be more creative throughout the day.

The book explains that exercising intensely for just 20 minutes in the morning can lower your coritsol levels. Cortisol is one of the main chemicals in your body that produces the feeling of fear.

Scientific research tells us that our body sees coritsol reaching its highest levels in the morning. Intense exercise helps lower these levels, and also releases the protein BDNF which can help you think and process faster. Serotonin levels also increase with exercise, making you feel happier.

This sets your entire day up for success before many people are even awake!

Pocket #2 – 5:20am to 5:40am

The second 20 minute pocket of time from 5:20am to 5:40am is dedicated to a period of deep peace and reflection.

After your intense physical activity block, the goal here is to slow down and reflect using journaling, meditation, and affirmations.

The first hour of the morning is the best time for this. This is the time before the demands of your job, your family, and your other responsibilities prevent you from enjoying a period of deep peace.

In a life where noise and distractions are quite common, we rarely make time for stillness. Who has time to just sit and be still?

The book explains that reflecting on how you are living, as well as intentionally focusing on your goals and dreams and who you want to become will help you live a better life.

Be honest with yourself. You don’t have time to do this during the day. So carving out 20 minutes of your ‘victory hour’ is the best place for it.

Pocket #3: 5:40am to 6:00am

The last 20 minute pocket of time is for a period of personal growth.

While this will look different for everyone, the goal is to spend 20 uninterrupted minutes on growth toward your best self. This could involve reading a book, listening to a podcast, or watching an educational video.

Making personal growth a consistent practice for twenty minutes each day will push you toward living an extraordinary life.

And since you just completed an intense workout, your body is full of all sorts of positive chemicals. So fill it with some growth!

Key Idea #4: The 10 Tactics of Lifelong Genius

After understanding the four focuses of history makers, the process for building new habits, and implementing the 20/20/20 formula, these 10 tactics will help you accelerate the rewards you gain from joining the 5AM club. Work each of these into your daily routine for epic results!

#1. The Tight Bubble of Total Focus (TBTF): This is the time where you remove digital distractions and technology from the room and protect your creative mind from toxic and negative energy. The key is finding a way to schedule a period of solitude and retreat to a place full of creativity and positive energy.

#2. The 90/90/1 Rule: For 90 days, the first 90 minutes of your workday should be spent on a single activity. Doing this will help you reach your most elite performance in that activity. This time of day should be spent completely free of technology and distraction.

#3. The 60/10 Method: After the 90/90/1 portion of your day, commit to not moving for 60 minutes straight. During this time, your goal should be to focus your best efforts on being as productive as you possibly can. After 60 minutes is up, replenish your energy for 10 minutes by meditating, going for a short walk, or listening to energizing music. After 10 minutes is up, repeat this process!

#4. The Daily 5 Concept: During your morning victory hour, spend some time writing down 5 things that you wish to accomplish that day. These 5 targets should be what you need to reach in order to make sure that you feel your day was well-lived. Doing this every day for one year would produce 1825 completed targets!

#5. The Second Wind Workout (2WW): schedule another workout at the end of your work day. This will help you overcome the feeling of exhaustion that many people experience after a day of work.

#6. The 2-Massage Protocol (2MP): massage therapy is another way to reduce the cortisol fear hormone while also raising serotonin levels. Making time in your weekly schedule for two 90 minute massages will take up extra time and money, but it could be a game changer!

#7. Traffic University: take advantage of the time you spend commuting. Sharma calculates that a person with a 60 minute commute to and from work will spend on average 3 years of their lifetime on their work commute. Use this time to listen to audiobooks or educational podcasts.

#8. The Dream Team Technique: if there are small tasks that take away from your productivity and happiness, find a way to delegate them to someone else who is able to help.

#9. The Weekly Design System: take just 30 minutes every Sunday to lay out the week ahead. Things that get scheduled get done!

#10. The 60-Minute Student: spend 60 minutes of each day studying and learning. Find a good book, a good online course, or a trusted mentor to help you grow and develop.

Who Should Read The 5 AM Club?

After reading this 5AM Club book summary, it is hard to ignore the power of this revolutionary morning routine. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy to make 5AM the first hour of your day.

As parents with young children, we found the idea of waking up at 5AM terrifying. Sleep is often in short supply in our house, so we try to get it whenever we can. Despite this, we still found plenty of valuable insights for living an extraordinary life in the 5AM Club.

If you are a young person starting out in your career, you may find it easier to take advantage of this world-beating morning routine to kickstart your path. If you have been in your role for a while and are feeling stuck in your work, consider applying this revolutionary morning routine to find more energy and creativity in your day.

So, will you be joining the world’s elite performers and setting your alarm clock for 5AM tomorrow morning?

Don’t forget to share this post with your friends and family on social media! The 5AM Club morning routine could change their lives forever!

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