5 am Club Summary – Why Should You Get Up Early – Robin Sharma’s best book

The 5 am Club by Robin Sharma, is a phenomenal self-help book that doubles as a great parable. Sharma highlights how people can make habitual changes to their life to reach the ‘Top 5% of Performers’. With the enticing promise of productivity, health, and overall happiness, for the price of daily dedication – I was more than compelled to give this book a thorough read. Read our summary of the 5 am club to learn more about this book.

5 am Club Summary

This parable, or story with a great message, begins with the introduction of three characters; The Entrepreneur, The Artist, and The Billionaire. You learn quickly as the reader that the Entrepreneur’s life is in shambles, and the Artist struggles with the ability to unlock his full potential. The eccentric Billionaire, on the other hand, has had a string of successes in life and wishes to pass on his knowledge to those in need.

5 am club summary

By chance, the three happen to meet at a conference where the ‘Spellbinder’, is speaking. He is a business guru, famous for his ideologies on human potential and peak performance. After the seminar concludes, the Billionaire, who’s disguised as a poor man, discloses to the other two that the Spellbinder is his mentor and the reason for his wealth and success.

The Billionaire proposes that the Artist and Entrepreneur come to his private home where he will teach them all he knows – if they meet him at 5 am the next morning. Despite their hesitancy and dislike of awakening early, the Artist and the Entrepreneur embark on their journey to self-betterment. Throughout their time with the Billionaire and Spellbinder, the Artist and Entrepreneur are immersed into proper life habits, to reach their peak level of success.

Steps to Success

Essentially, Sharma lays out the concept that to achieve the top 5% of success, you have to be willing to do what the other 95% aren’t. This starts with the choice of how you will lead your life, and what changes you’re going to implement. Waking up daily at 5 am, beginning your day in the right mindset, and adopting other positive habits, are all part of your path to success.

Sharma also discusses three steps that you can take, to further your potential. He explains to have better personal awareness; to know your values, your reasoning for doing this, and what you’d like to be remembered for.

He also says to be conscious of your decisions; they should be beneficial for your overall goal and you should be rigorous in your daily routines. Lastly, he explains that consistency with the previous two steps will lead to better results.

Top Factors Influencing Performance

Sharma additionally describes factors that influence top performance like; the elimination of distractions, actualizing your natural talents, stacking your daily successes, and constantly working to improve your abilities.

He also highlights the very crucial 20/20 method for personal growth and achievement. This involves utilizing the most beneficial first hour of the day (5am-6am) for; 20 minutes of exercise and movement, 20 minutes of reflection or meditation, and 20 minutes of skill-building or education.

All of the information that Sharma outlines throughout this book is highly factual, utilizing information and knowledge on the brain, personal willpower, habitual formations, and much more.

He explains that the driving force behind joining the 5 am Club will be a person’s willpower, ability to implement a tough routine, and adhere to a said routine. While it is difficult to do, once implemented, a habit will become an enjoyable, and effortless aspect of your life.

Who Should/Shouldn’t Read The 5 am Club

As stated previously, the main purpose of the book is to help someone who’s looking to achieve the top level of personal success. It’s made for the type of people who are willing to put forth a tremendous effort to receive results. If you’re the type of person that wants to implement habits into your daily life that are going to further you in your journey of self-betterment, then this is the book for you!

However, as this is a large commitment, where satisfaction isn’t achieved immediately – some may struggle with this book. Inevitably, not everyone will have the same passion and hunger for peak performance, nor the dedication it will take for these life changes. Those who don’t may want to refrain from reading this book.

Review of the 5 am club

I’ll preface this by saying, I did personally enjoy this book. I found the overall storytelling concept, mixed with the self-help aspects to be a very fresh and insightful take on this genre. I also found the use of medical information, habitual patterns, quotes, etc, to be incredibly factual – which further proved the accuracy of the book to me, as a reader.

I have attempted to implement many of the changes that Robin Sharma describes, although I will admit that some days the 5 am wakeups are too difficult. However, the positive self-help guidance and steps to bettering your life are excellent for anyone to go by! That being said, I can view some of the negative aspects of this book; not the information itself, but the actual habitual life changes are difficult.

Due to the difficulty or lack of desire for the challenge at hand, some readers may find the information and parable provided to be redundant. Although I personally disagree with this standpoint, some may find that the entirety of the book could have been summarized in a shorter form. This is more than likely because they don’t intend to implement every change that is described in great depth.

In conclusion, I think that regardless of what you believe your capability to stick to a routine is, or what the level of success you can achieve is – you should read this book. Despite whether you choose to implement every life change or not, this book is highly insightful on ways to achieve personal growth and happiness. It’s both an informative and fun read, with the added benefit of the choice to ‘join the 5 am club’.

Marilyn Nissen
Written by Marilyn Nissen

Marilyn Nissen is the founder of BestSellerSummary.com, a highly reputable book summary and reviews website. With over a decade of experience in summarizing and reviewing books, Marilyn is a trusted authority in the book industry.