Note: This article is from blogger Scott Bedgood, who shares his experience waking up at 5 a.m. based on the instructions of Robin Sharma, author of The 5 AM Club.
He stressed that if I wake up at five every morning and follow the (20-20-20) rule, which he called the “Victory Hour,” my life will change, my creativity will be enhanced, my fitness will improve, and I will feel better.
Although the only thing I feel now, at 4:58 AM on a Thursday morning, is fatigue, one of the motivating factors that forces me to get out of my warm bed is the desire to prove this man wrong.
Robin Sharma is a famous Canadian personal success coach and the author of several best-selling books, including The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.
Sharma might not care much about me trying to prove him wrong, but I do. A few days before I spoke to him, I read his new book, The 5 AM Club.
The book revolves around four central characters: Spellbinder, a homeless man who is a billionaire, a depressed artist, and a businessman. The lives of both the artist and the businessman change radically thanks to the instructions of Spellbinder and the billionaire.
The main point of their lessons was to wake up at five in the morning and arrange their days according to Sharma's rules.
I'm not saying I'm being sarcastic about the benefits, but it all seemed a bit exaggerated. I had to test it myself. When 5 am came, I reluctantly got out of bed to start my day with the 20-20-20 rule, which was supposed to change my life.
It All Started from Here
Robin Sharma is the son of an immigrant from India and Kenya who came to Canada. He said that he had humble beginnings and that the immigrant mentality that encourages many outstanding people has been rooted in him since his childhood. He graduated from law school and became a successful lawyer in a large firm in Toronto.
Sharma said, “But when I would wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, I didn’t like the person looking back at me. I was very empty. There was an angst.”
He turned to education and studying the lives of the world's greatest men and women, looking to understand their approaches and methods to apply them in his life. As a result of this transformation, he published his first book, Megaliving, in 1994.
Despite the difficulties that Sharma faced as a new author, he could sell enough copies to begin his career as a speaker, author, and personal success coach. From this modest success, he began to pursue a bigger dream. His second book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, was an exceptional success. Sharma became famous internationally.
Suddenly, Sharma, a thirty-year-old man, was speaking to thousands of people worldwide. His morning routine and disciplined life, shaped in his twenties, were crucial to helping him avoid the pitfalls many people face when achieving fame and success.
Exercise, Think, and Grow
Do you wake up at 5 am and start work before any of your coworkers or competitors? Is this how you progress and develop?
Not exactly.
Sharma's book includes a detailed routine. He claims it has helped billionaires, brilliant athletes, and others he's worked with over the years.
Here's how to apply the 20-20-20 rule: Devote the first 20 minutes of your day to physical exercise. In his book, Sharma draws on science to show why sweating and increasing your heart rate early in the morning are good for you.
Briefly, exercising to the point of sweating will increase your dopamine and serotonin levels and lower your cortisol (stress hormone) levels.
The next twenty minutes should be quieter and devoted to journaling, contemplating, planning for the future, or praying. This puts your mind, heart, and soul in the right position to start the day without difficulties and stress and enhances your gratitude and overall happiness.
Although exercise time is very important and is “non-negotiable” in Sharma’s terms, time spent alone allows you more creativity to do what feels comfortable to you.
Sharma also insists on the importance of journaling in the second 20 minutes. Writing down your goals, plans, commitments, and things you're grateful for shapes your day more positively.
The last 20 minutes are dedicated to growth and learning anything new you want to learn. Whether you want to listen to a podcast about successful entrepreneurs, read a great book, or work on a language you want to learn, you can do all of this in these 20 minutes. The goal is to stimulate your brain and improve your intellectual abilities.
Lots of Coffee, Yawning, and Productivity
This might all sound good. However, you might be like me; your productivity and focus reach their peak in the evening.
Whenever the book mentioned Hemingway as an example of rising early, I remembered Winston Churchill, one of the most productive human beings ever. He would write until two or three a.m. and stay in bed late into the day.
Of course, some are comfortable waking up at 5 a.m., but there are also those who are more suited to nocturnal activity.
Honestly, I am not as productive late at night as I used to be in my college years and early 20s — when inspiration came late at night — until I got hired and realized I had to change.
My wife and I tried to join the 5 a.m. club. So, according to Sharma's instructions, I set the alarm in another room, and my wife and I woke up to start our morning exercises. I found it easier than I expected. As soon as I put my shoes on and started warming up, I felt like I was waking up like any other time.
We eat breakfast after exercising, sit for 20 minutes quietly, and then spend the other 20 minutes reading, learning, and listening to things that benefit us.
Thus, the victory hour is fully completed, and 6 a.m. arrives. So what?
This is when we reap more benefits. Instead of sleeping until five or six in the morning, we are fully awake to take advantage of this extra time. My wife owns a home bakery. She now finds enough time to decorate the sweets she sells and manage her project after she used to stay up late at night—after returning from work—without finding enough time for that.
The same is true for me. I am a writer and did not have time to devote to writing after work. However, each of us now has the time necessary to carry out our tasks without distraction.
The most important principle I found in the 5 a.m. strategy is to ban electronic devices. Your bedroom has no phone, computer, or even an alarm clock. Your phone is no longer the first thing you look at in the morning. No more emails, tweets, Instagram, or any social media notifications.
You won't have to do that because no one will need you at 5 a.m. I've found that going electronic-free from 5 to 7 is simple yet magical.
However, this improvement was not regular, comfortable, or clear. Waking up at 5 a.m. was not easy. Sometimes, we would go beyond that and hit the snooze button, waking up at 7 a.m. to discover that we had lost extra hours in our day.
I asked Sharma if he sometimes hit the snooze button or didn't wake up at 5 a.m.. I thought that after 22 years of practicing his morning routine, he would not feel the suffering of someone who had just started this routine.
Sharma said, “I slip all the time. I think most people do. One time, the pilot on a little plane let me fly a little bit, and as I was holding the yoke, I noticed the plane was constantly being pushed off course by the winds. My goal was to make sure that we stayed on course. That’s what happens every single day to every single one of us. Some temptations and distractions get us off our habits and our priorities. Each day is simply about fighting the disruptive currents and getting back on track.”
Knowing that even Sharma slips and oversleeps, it is easier for me to get back on course and wake up early the next morning. I’m not a billionaire, a superstar athlete, or Ernest Hemingway, but I do feel more productive, alert, and ready for my day.
Maybe it’s as simple as not hitting snooze.
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