The 5am Club: It is Really THAT Easy?

"Victims have big TVs, leaders have big libraries."
           -The Tycoon, The 5 am Club 
"Poor people have big TVs, rich people have big libraries."
        -Jim Rohn, an American entrepreneur, author, and speaker

The 5 am Club: Owning Your Morning, Elevate Your Life by Robin Sharma is an interesting book. I am on my second listen on Audible. I may be a little bit in love with this book, even though I almost quit listening to it the first time. 

The formatting of this self-development (formerly known as self-help) book is different from any book in this genre that I have ever come across. Instead of the author telling us how to make our lives better, Sharma has taken himself out of the equation. The concepts covered in the book the reader learns about via a hallmark movie type story (I mean that in the best possible way). The main players in the story are:

• An artist (representing the creatives of the world).
• An entrepreneur (representing the more business-minded).
• A billionaire. 

Both the artist and the entrepreneur remain unnamed. Which I think is pretty smart. It allows the reader to visualize themselves in the characters' place (if you know me, you know which character I am). 


"There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches."
-Proverbs 13:7

As the book opens, the tycoon is described as a homeless man. Although a bit skeptical (guess which one), the artist and the entrepreneur trust the homeless man/ tycoon and take him up on his offer to go to his island "called solitude." Even if you are not a religious person, we have all heard stories of characters who aren't beautiful (or are different in some way from the norm) offering help to the protagonist. Sometimes the protagonist refuses to help (or refuses to receive the support offered), and they are punished. Disney's Beauty and the Beast comes to mind. In other stories, the protagonist (sometimes against others' warnings) takes the help, and their path to the goal is eased. But I think that modern media gives us very few of these stories. The different are usually just plain ole bad/ evil and have nothing to offer. 


The central learning from this self-development book can be simplified into three points. 

1. Waking up at 5 am will provide you with solitude and an improved brain state to perform like the pros.
2. Balance your four "interior empires" to achieve self-mastery.
3. Don't waste time when you wake up early. Use the 20/20/20 formula.

I will not go more deeply into Sharma's points, but this is where some of the issues with the book start. 


Granted this those points are not just with Sharma but with self-development books in general. 


The pull yourself up by your boot straps/ all you have to do is...


The artist and the entrepreneur both have the time/ resources to just up and leave to go on an adventure with the billionaire. I have been a single mother since 2001. If I had gone to this conference and meet the homeless man, I would not have been able to go (as much as I would have wanted to). Both characters also have freedom in their careers (the entrepreneur owns her company, and the artist is a freelancer. What about those who have to clock in/out of a 9 to 5? 


And if we forget about the fictional opportunity of the adventure (gosh, Jamie, that's why the man wrote the book). The book's main concept is waking up at 5 am and using that first hour to change your life, but although we all have 24 hour days, not everyone's 24 hours are equal. Beyonce can get more out of her 24 hours than I am. She has a staff that probably includes a chief, trainer, personal shopper, and things I haven't even thought of. I can get more of my 24 hours than someone who has to work zero-hour contracts (and therefore has to work multiple jobs). I have health insurance, some savings, and I don't have to worry about having enough to pay my bills. 


This book and many others like it do not acknowledge that resources (even time) are not applied equally to everyone in society. 


"When people talk about the good old days, I say to people, 'It's not the days that are old, it's you that's old.' I hate the good old days. What is important is that today is good."
        -Karl Lagerfeld

In the past, they had the answer. If only we didn't have modern technology, we all would be perfect people. 


It erks me when authors use the past as shorthand for all that is right and good and paint technology with the brush of evil. There have always been humans who are exceptional (the overachievers and the layabouts), and there have always been humans who are just getting through life (the majority of us). I do not understand why writers feel the need to compare the imperfect present with the supposedly perfect past. I think this comparison takes away from the actual message. The message that no matter your place, position, or personality, if you follow the prescribed plan, you to can be great. 


Why is every self-development writer a Luddite? I wonder if they were writing their books if they would hate on using the printing press, the steam engine, or the loom. I agree that all new technology comes with contemporary issues and consequences. Still, the answer is not getting rid of the technology. Like your daily coffee (from your coffee house of choice) isn't making you poor, having a smartphone isn't making you stupid and lazy (I can be lazy without using my phone, thank you very much). 


The 5 am Club doesn't include any new innovations in the world of self-development; it is a nice easy listen. If you purchase the Audible, it comes with a PDF that contains the models that are covered. 


Have you read the 5 am Club? What did you think about it? Do you have any self-development suggestions (I am looking for suggestions written by people of color and women).