The 5 am club is author and leadership expert Robin Sharma’s philosophy for how to live an all-around productive, successful life. Sharma has written that waking up at 5 am and then following is 20/20/20 rule- 20 minutes of exercise, 20 minutes of quiet journaling or meditation, and 20 minutes of time spent learning something new- will make you feel happier, more healthier, and ready for whatever the day has in store for you.

Immensely popular, the Sharma’s way of life has been adopted by millions, all of who say their lives have changed for the better after they started following his techniques for living a more fulfilling life.

1) It Gives You Self-Control:

Robin Sharma says, “getting up at dawn is perfect self-control training…increasing self-control in one area of your life elevates self-control in all areas of your life”. The idea is that once you’ve accomplished the terribly difficult task of waking up at 5 am, you’re then inspired to complete all the other things which seem difficult. You’re more likely to get started on you to-do list and write a few pages of the book you’ve been trying to write. Waking up hours before work starts will also give you the feeling that there’s plenty of time to do everything you want to do, but feel like you have no time for.

2) It Gives You Clarity:

The 20/20/20 aspect can help you gain clarity in what you’re doing and what you want to achieve in life. Exercising, then spending time connecting with yourself through practices like meditation, journaling, goal-setting for 20, and then studying or learning a new skill ensures that you’re aware of who you are and what you want. It means you’ve broken down your dreams into concrete steps and planned to take action to accomplish them. You’re constantly growing and evolving everyday as you learn new things- the planned time means your learning is more than a quick Google search of something you momentarily thought was interesting.

3) It Gives You Healthier Habits

If you’re going to wake up at 5 am and work on yourself, then you need at least 6-8 hours of sleep. This not only means sleeping early and restricting screen time and partying, but also eating early and healthy, and avoiding having too much alcohol. It means organising your day better, so you do get to spend time with your loved ones and have a few drinks, but just with enough time to do everything else. The 5am ritual then transforms every aspect of your life and makes you healthier and more productive overall.