The 5 AM Club 66 Days Challenge – Week 1

Lately I have been digging into the personal development area, which, in a way scares me, but also attracts me. I feel this is the right thing to focus on at this point in my life. Finally I am at that point in my life where I can start thinking about myself more, not only about the others around me (and here I mostly include my ex-husband and my kids). While listening to hundreds of TEDx talks so far, I came across Robin Sharma, and his 5 AM Club book. I have known about this book for a while now, but avoided to actually start reading the book. Why? Because the title itself scares me. How am I to wake up at 5 am, when I have never been a morning person until now? (See what I did here? Maybe you don’t, but let me explain: First, I wrote “How am I to wake up at 5 am when I am not a morning person” – Then I realized that it is only us and our thoughts which limit who we are and what we do. If I say about myself that I am not a morning person, guess what? I will also believe that. So, I changed my phrasing to : “… when I have never been a morning person until now”. That has a bit more positivity in it. Makes me believe in myself more. Am I a morning person now that I just said that? Not at all, but I am on the right path.

I ordered the book 5 days ago, and while I am waiting for it to arrive, I downloaded the 5 AM Club 66 Days Challenge App, created by Robin himself to help you and me keep track of our progress on this journey. You can find the app here: https://robinsharma.com/5am/the-66-day-challenge/day-1-welcome/ . It is free and it has some morning meditations included.

I have never been a big fan of meditations or spiritual life in general. As a scientist and an engineer, I always believed in my what I see and what can be proven. However, Robin convinced me to give it a try. Well, I am not sure how much it was Robin convincing me, or just my laziness. Let me explain myself. With all this Corona going around, I did a lot of working from home, and in the past 10 days I have been in quarantine with my kids, because my son had someone at his school that tested positive for COVID-19. So, our morning routine has changed a bit more, and we used to wake up at 9 – 9:30 am. This is quite far away from my 5 am goal. The first day trying the app, I did not manage to wake up at 5 am, but at 8:30 am – and still I was super tired and not motivated to wake up. So, half asleep I opened the app, and when to the meditation area – just to listen to something “while I wake up”. Secretly, I hoped that a boring meditation will put me back to sleep again, so I was very surprised when I found myself very into it after the first 5 minutes. And against all odds, I was off the bed and very energetic. Why? I am not sure that this was the intention with that meditation, but when I heard the words “imagine you are on a beach and walk barefoot in the warm sand” (or something to that effect), I just jumped off the bed and said: yes, I am ready for my beach walk 🙂 Here, we have -17 degrees Celsius and tons of snow, so my enthusiasm is understandable.

The 20/20/20 Rule

In the app you will find Robin talking about the 20/20/20 rule, which is 20 minutes of movement, 20 minutes of reflection/meditation and 20 minutes of growth. He talks more about this in his book (I assume) but also in his Day 5 video.

Day 1

No way I was going to make it to 5 am in the morning. I already knew that so I had my alarm for 7:30. I managed to open my eyes just enough to reached my phone and get into the app. I started with the meditation and then got some energy. I did 75 squats. Then the kids woke up. I did caught some time during the day and used the treadmill for 30 minutes or so, and I took the time to listen to the audio book The 5 AM Club which I found on youtube. I am still keen on actually reading it myself though.

Day 2 and 3

I did manage to wake up at 8 am, tried the meditation part of 20 minutes, but not really having the motivation to do the movement and the grow parts that early. I did however, exercise during the day, and listen to “Think and Grow Rich ” (audiobook) by Napoleon Hill. I decided that I will wait for my 5 AM Club book to arrive, so I will not be listening to the audio.

Day 4

I had my alarm set for 7:30 am, and this time I managed to wake up. Then, same routine as the other days: meditation, lazy to do the movement right away. However, during the day, I had a cup of tea with my best friend and her boyfriend, and they inspired me to start with some personal development seminars, in my native language. I have bought a monthly subscription of $20 , and now I have access not only to personal development seminars, but also business mastery classes, which is the area I am aiming for. I started listening to the seminars and took notes. The kids left today to their father for a week – but I will get to see them two afternoons during this week.

Day 5

Today I woke up at 6:55 am. Yey, a bit closer to my goal. My alarm was still for 7:30, so I was very happy when I saw that I managed to wake up on my own. I felt more motivated today, so I did the movement part for 30 minutes, then the reflection part for … well, 1 hour already, and I will continue with the growing part, but I already know that is going to be more than just 20 minutes. One hour at least. So, I will start my work day today at 9.30 am. That is not too bad. Tomorrow I plan to wake up at 6 am. Part of my motivation today was Robin’s 5 minutes video were he talks a bit more about the 20/20/20 rule, and part was my new boyfriend who has started with the same app. He actually managed to wake up at 5 am since day 1. He did need some power naps throughout the days, but his will is of steal. I admire him for that. He slept over at my place last night, and I remember hearing the alarm at 5 am. He woke up and he left (probably part of his 20 minutes of movement). He didn’t want to wake me up so early. He knows I need more time to come down to the 5 AM routine. He is an intelligent man, not to mess with my sleep 🙂 I love him.

Day 6

The day started at 6:15 am for me today. The credits should be given to my boyfriend, because he was the one that made sure I wake up so early. I did hear his alarm for 5, but I couldn’t get off the bed. He cleaned the floor as part of his morning movement. Yes, you read it right: my boyfriend wakes up at 5 am and he starts cleaning the house 🙂 Who would have thought that I would get so lucky?

It’s 7 am now and it is so dark outside. A candle lights next to my laptop, and my green plan is smiling at me, giving me energy. Everything seems so peaceful in the morning. I can see the school from the window. It is empty. Kids are not here yet. I enjoy in silence my cup of tea while writing on my progress.

Day 7

Today I woke up at 5:35. Not too bad for the first 7 days. The message for today: be a hero. Be the change you wished to see in your world. Genius is less about genetics, but more about your daily habits. Take action today!