The 5 am club

Always
bring it on
.
The homeless man now had his eyes closed. And was down on the floor
doing a series of one-armed push-ups. All the while he was chanting, “Own
your morning. Elevate your life.”
The entrepreneur and the artist shook their heads.
“One of my favorite books is 
The Prophet,
” mused the artist. “It’s one of
the bestselling works of poetry ever written. I read that Khalil Gibran carried
the manuscript around with him for four long years and refined it constantly
before giving it to his publisher, just so it was pure art. I still remember the
exact words he spoke when he was interviewed by a journalist about his
creative process because they guide me a lot when I’m in the studio. His
words keep me reaching for a greater power as an artist, even though I battle
procrastination a lot. Like I said, I’m pretty good. But I know I can be great.
If I could just beat my self-sabotage. And my demons.”
“What did he say?” asked the homeless man, now standing and twiddling
with his big watch. Beads of perspiration meandered down his angular face.
“Here’s exactly what he said,” mentioned the artist: “‘I wanted to be sure,
very sure, that every word of it was the very best I had to offer.’”
“Gnarly,” replied the homeless man. “That’s the standard that the best
ones always hold themselves to.”
Abruptly, The Spellbinder could be heard coughing in the audio. His
comments that followed seemed to struggle out of him, like an unborn child
fiercely reluctant to leave the security of its loving mother’s warm and safe
womb.
Anyone can become an everyday leader by showing up as I’m encouraging. When it’s easy and
especially when it’s difficult. Starting today. And if you do so, a guaranteed victory is in your

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future. And I need to add that there’s not one person alive today who cannot lift their thinking,
performance, vitality, prosperity and lifetime happiness magnificently by wiring in a series of
profound daily rituals and then practicing them until they become your second nature. And this
brings me to the single most important principle of my talk: The greatest starting point for winning
in your work and making a splendid life is joining what I call The 5 AM Club. How can you ever
be world-class if you don’t carve out some time each morning to make yourself world-class?
The entrepreneur was now taking notes with a ferocious intensity not
previously seen. The artist’s face had a “this makes me feel strong” smile on
it. The homeless man burped, then got down to the floor and held a plank, the
kind fitness pros at the gym love to do to build a strong core.
You could hear The Spellbinder begin to cough even more fiercely. A
brutal—and sustained—pause followed.
Next, he uttered these words, haltingly. He was wheezing audibly. His
voice began to quiver like a novice telemarketer on her very first sales call.
Rising at 5 AM truly is The Mother of All Routines. Joining The 5 AM Club is the one behavior
that raises every other human behavior. This regimen is the ultimate needle mover to turn you into
an undefeatable model of possibility. The way you begin your day really does determine the extent
of focus, energy, excitement and excellence you bring to it. Each early morning is a page in the
story that becomes your legacy. Each new dawn is a fresh chance to unleash your brilliance,
unprison your potency and play in the big leagues of iconic results. You have such power within
you and it reveals itself most with the first rays of daybreak. Please do not allow past pains and
present frustrations to diminish your glory, stifle your invincibility and choke the unlimited
possibilitarian that lurks within the supreme part of you. In a world that seeks to keep you down,
build yourself up. In an epoch that wishes you would stay in the dark, step into your light. At a
time that mesmerizes you to forget your gifts, reclaim your genius. Our world requires this of each
of us. To be champions of our crafts, warriors for our growth and guardians of unconditional love
—for all of humankind.
Display respect and compassion for all other people who occupy this tiny planet, regardless of
their creed, color or caste. Lift them up in a civilization where many get energy tearing others
down. Help others sense the marvels that sleep within them. Show us the virtues we all wish more
would practice. Everything I’m saying will speak to the unspoiled part of you, that side of yourself
that was ferociously alive before you were taught to fear, hoard, contract and distrust. It’s your job
as a hero of your life, as a creative achiever set to change the culture and as a citizen of Earth to
find this dimension within you. And, once done, to spend the rest of your days reconnected with it.
Accept this opportunity to human mastery and I promise you that a synchronicity of success as
well as an orchestrated magic well beyond the boundaries of logic will infuse the remainder of
your days. And the larger angels of your grandest potential will begin to visit you regularly.
Actually, an orderly series of seemingly impossible miracles will descend onto your most genuine
of dreams, causing the best of them to come true. And you will evolve into one of those rare and
great spirits who upgrade the whole world by the simple act of walking amongst us.
The conference hall was now dark. The entrepreneur let out a sigh the size
of Mexico City. The artist was motionless. The homeless man began to cry.
He then stood on a chair, raised his arms like a preacher and boomed these
words of Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw:
This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the
being a force of nature instead of a feverish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that
the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

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I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community,
and as long as I live it is my
privilege to do for it whatever I can.
I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life
for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold
of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future
generations.
The homeless man then fell to his knees. Kissed his holy beads. And
continued to weep.

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Chapter 5
A Bizarre Adventure into Morning Mastery
“Everyone holds his fortune in his own hands, like a sculptor the raw material he will fashion into a
figure. . . . The skill to mold the material into what we want must be learned and attentively cultivated.”