During my late 20’s and early 30’s I developed what many would call an “insane” habit…
…I started waking up at 3:57 am
While my peers were content to rise at 5, 6, or even 7 am…
I found I was happiest and most productive when my feet hit the floor before four o’clock in the morning.
This habit has stuck with me over the past decade and it’s become a core part of my identity and routine.
I love the feeling of being awake before the rest of the world (including “The Rock” who wakes up at 4:00 am like some kind of slacker)
Because my mind is sharpest during the early morning hours…
And I’m less prone to distraction and overwhelm whenever I can accomplish three hours of deep work before sunrise.
While this habit has certainly proven itself in my own life, the question remains…
…Should you join the 5 am (or 4 am) club?
Is it a guaranteed prescription for success, income, and happiness?
As Robin Sharma puts it in his book, The 5 am Club:
“Join the 5 a.m. club. Your most valuable hours are 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. They have the least interruptions.”
The idea is straightforward…
If you wake up before everyone else you’ll be more productive… less distracted… and able to accomplish your most important tasks before the rest of the world has even stirred.
And, I’m tempted to agree.
There is an undeniable magic surrounding early mornings that makes them ideal for creativity and productivity.
BUT… that doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone.
Research is now showing that we each have a unique biological hardwiring (dependent on our genetics) that determines our energy levels and productivity throughout the day.
For some people (like me), the early mornings are the ideal time to wake up and get straight to work.
Others cannot form complete sentences, let alone execute an effective block of deep work, until later in the morning after several cups of coffee.
According to Dr. Michael Breuss, one of America’s leading sleep doctors…
Fighting your natural chronotype instead of working with it will actually reduce your productivity and can even cause physical and mental health problems.
If you’re wondering what your sleep chronotype is…
You can go here to take Dr. Breuss’s Chronotype quiz and discover when you should wake, work, and exercise for maximum productivity.
However…
If your morning routine isn’t working for you right now or you simply want more uninterrupted time to focus on what’s most important to you…
Getting up earlier could be the best thing you ever do.
Just Don’t Go “Zero to 100”.
I cringe when people write about how they went, literally overnight, from getting up at 8 am to getting up at 5 am
That will only make you miserable and leave you tired all day. Changing your wake-up time so dramatically requires weeks for proper adaptation.
So right now, I want you to eradicate all ideas about forcing a 5 am alarm into your life.
The REAL secret to taking advantage of your magic time and getting the most out of your mornings is much simpler.
Wake up 15-minutes earlier than you normally do.
Getting up three hours, two hours, an hour, and even thirty minutes earlier than usual is too much.
Today I get up before 4 am, but I eased myself into the habit and it’s almost impossible for me to sleep any later than 4:30 am.
Although this habit has changed my life… you don’t need to go as far as I’ve gone.
What really matters is that you are making the right decisions for your life and working with your body and schedule to maximize every hour of your day.
Because here’s the thing…
Assuming you sleep 7.5 hours a night…
You will have the SAME 16.5 hours as everyone else.
The key to success is making sure you are awake and working during the hours that you are most productive.
So besides the quiz I linked above — how do you know if the 5 am Club is Right For YOU?
Well…
The 5 am club is definitely NOT for you if:
- You currently get up at 8 am, 7 am, or even 6 am and feel energized, productive, and happy doing it (if it ain't broke, don’t fix it)
- You can’t consistently get to sleep before 10 pm or take a 90-minute nap in the middle of your day.
- You’re a night owl and are most productive after 6 pm
- Your family or social schedule simply don’t permit it.
- You aren’t able to focus well enough to engage in deep work at 5 am
Ignore the dogma.
You don’t have to wake up early to be successful…
But, to achieve your big goals and dreams you should spend your mornings as productively as possible.
So tomorrow morning, I have a challenge for you.
Instead of waking up one, two, or three hours earlier than you do today...
Push back your wake-up time by just 15 minutes.
Grab a seat at your kitchen table, armed only with pen and paper…
Identify your number one priority in life…
And spend these fifteen magical minutes focused on identifying ways to solve the problem or take advantage of the opportunity.
For example, if you are in $5,000 worth of credit card debt…
Spend fifteen minutes thinking of ways to cut your expenses and increase your income.
Or if the biggest bottleneck in your business is that you don’t have time to do all the work yourself anymore…
That fifteen minutes should go to determining the highest leverage position you can hire for — and where you can find the perfect person for what you need.
If you do this six days a week…
You’ll fix your problems, take advantage of the opportunities in your life, and become much more successful...
...All without cursing the clock each morning or downing 500 mg of caffeine just to function like a normal human.
A little bit of discipline in waking up just fifteen minutes earlier yields great power.
Success Loves Speed,
Craig
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