I have been exclusively reading books / listening to audio-books related to business, finance and personal development. There is a list of books i would like to write about and review. I will start with The 5 am Club by Robin Sharma.

The 5 am Club. Book Review.

Will share my own opinion before i quote some review from around the internet. I have recommended this book to a friend before finishing it, and honestly regretted it, thus choosing it as the first book to review seams fair.

To be able to have a fair and systematic way to compare different books, reviews is comparing after all, i will try to answer 5 questions, each question can grant the book 1 star or even half a star. Here’s the questions:

1- Would i read it / listen to it again?
No, i don’t think my time would be well spent reading the book or even listening to the audio-book again.

2- Did I give up or wanted to just stop?
No, the book was actually enjoyable, the story quite interesting. +1 Star.

3- Did the book deliver on the expectations?
No, the way the content is presented makes it difficult to detect the essential key points. The author should try to present the reader with a clear way to “own the morning and elevate your life”. Without really some extra research and reviewing the summary, the book will sounds like theory rather than practice. +0.5 Star.

4- How do the masses see it?
This star is based on how the masses see the book. If the book have 3+ rating on all platforms, i will grant it the star, otherwise can be half a star or no star.
In the case of The 5 am Club, the masses are loving it on Amazon review, Goodreads reviews and Google reviews: Thus +1 Star.

5- Do the book have potential to induce a change in opinion or behavior?
Not much. I wouldn’t count on it anyway. There is nothing revolutionary or even new in this book. We have heard it a thousand time that waking up early is good for productivity, is it really ? What to do if you are a night owl? Does the hour you wake-up at matter more than how much you sleep and how you manage your time?
Anyway, none of these points were addressed and i dare to say there were few important points.
However to my surprise i see that some people are having behavioral change thanks to this book. Thus whether i agree or not: +1 Star.

My review: 

If we ignore the fact that the fictional story makes the key ideas just hard to notice, there is nothing really new.
Some ideas presented, like the 20/20/20 or the 90/90/1, feel like experimentation rather than established productivity tips. Other ideas are common sense and even some ideas are just opinions. I personally do not put high value on this book, and if i would want to give it a rating based only on my view, it would be : 1.5 to 2 Stars.
But i do recommend that you read it once or listen to the audiobook, but maybe read the summary first, this way you will be able to pay attention to the key points when presented.

Internet Reviews:

I am selecting few reviews from around the internet, that are honest and straight to the point:

The story used as the vehicle for conveying the advice is frankly just weird, and not in an interesting or entertaining way.

the actual insights could have been much better presented in a 5 paragraph essay or article for some magazine…

it’s supposed to be a book full of insights on how to enhance your daily routine but in reality its a terribly executed

This book is dry philosophy with no actual advice on how to implement the ideas. What the people need right now are straightforward ideas and facts so that they can improve their lives. I highly suggest reading ‘The Miracle Morning’ by Hal Elrod. It’s a beautiful book which mentions precise steps to become the awesome person you aspire to be. Highly useful and very practical. ‘You are a badass’ by Jen Sincero is also a good read. Don’t waste your precious time on this one guys. Sorry for the rant, I’m super frustrated after reading this trash.

I couldn’t be more lost for words how this book genuinely saved me from a potential lifetime procrastination. Great book, highly recommended

5am club has changed my life recently. I look forward to my 5am walks. Even when it’s raining and I’m pissed off, by the time I get home I feel accomplished. Money can’t buy that

The 5 am Club. Book Summary.

I will not go into the details of the inspirational fiction story, instead will focus on the key point from a personal development perspective:

– The victory hour: The first hour after you wake up, should be split according to the 20/20/20 rule.
20/20/20 rule is splitting the first hour into chunks of 20 minutes:
1st 20 minute: for exercising: Cardio or yoga: objective get the heart rate up and sweat, morning exercise gets us into the perfect cognitive state.
2nd 20 minutes: for reflection: Write down what you need to accomplish during the day, or journal about anything, or even practice meditation. This pocket is about focusing and thinking clearly.
3rd 20 minutes: for learning: Read a book, listen to a podcast or research a topic. Getting the brain into high gear.
You can customize the routine, and not actually follow the 20/20/20 to the letter, and instead have a 10/10/40 or 10/30/20 or whatever other combination that fits you.

– The habit protocol: In the book the author referred to the Taj Mahal. You will need a little bit of “Will power” to get the habit started, and a lot of “Consistency” to be able to get to the point of having the habit automatic and part of your routine.

– The Four focuses:
+ Capitalization by focusing on the right things: Cultivate our talents and gifts.
+ Eliminating distractions: Eliminates unnecessary distractions from social media to useless meetings.
+ Personal mastery: Always improve yourself by focusing on the 4 interior empires:
> Mindset:  Self talk
> Heartset: Emotions.
> Healthset: Physical fitness
> Soulset: Contemplation or meditation on who you are.
+ Day staking: Plan to make each day better than the last one, habit and consistency is essential not bursts of short lived motivation.

-10 Tactics for life long genius:
+ Tight Bubble of focus: A place to work that allows creativity and productivity and is free of distractions.
+ The 90/90/1 rule: In the next 90 days, spend the first 90 minutes of your day on the single most important project.
+ The 60/10 method: Split the rest of the work day into chunks of 60 minutes of work followed by 10 minutes of relaxation.
+ The daily 5: Write down and then cross off the 5 things you can achieve each day.
+ The 2nd wind workout: After workday ends do a 30 min to 1h workout.
+ 2 massages a week: Get 2 massages per week or 2 activities a week outside your normal structure.
+ Traffic university: If  you commute, use the time for audio-books or podcasts.
+ The dream team: Find, build or create a team around you that can help you work on tasks that do not need your specific attention (delegate away most of your work and focus on the important stuff that only you can do).
+ Weekly design system: Spend time on Sunday to create the general outline of your work week.
+ Daily learning: Spend 60 minutes each day learning.

If you prefer to listen to a video instead reading the summary you can check the video below: