The 5 Am Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life.

After arriving in India, Riley and his two students meet the next day at 5:00 a.m. Riley previews the day’s lessons, noting he will be showing the two how to install “peak performance regimes” (159). As a means of demonstrating the results of people who have achieved great things, Riley brings the artist and the entrepreneur to the world-famous Taj Mahal. Because it is so early and because of Riley’s great influence, they have the place entirely to themselves. Riley hands each of his students an embroidered shawl, and on it is written “The 5-3-1 Creed of the Willpower Warrior.” This includes “5 Scientific Truths Behind Excellent Habits,” “3 Values of Heroic Habit Makers,” and “1 General Theory of Self-Discipline Spartans.” Each part of the code is detailed on the shawl and given a brief description.

Riley then begins telling the story of the Taj Mahal, including how the idea began as the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s tribute to his recently deceased wife. The project ended up taking 22 years to complete. Riley uses this as an example of commitment and dedication to an idea; he also points out that having the ambition to do something great is only one small step in the process; the rest depends on action. As part of this commitment to action, developing effective habits is an essential skill. Before escorting his students inside the Taj Mahal, Riley reminds them that the goal is not to make some kind of fleeting change. Instead, he argues that the goal should be permanent, positive change that remains throughout one’s life.

After entering the Taj Mahal, Mr. Riley explains neuroplasticity, a term from the field of neuroscience that describes the brain’s ability to grow and strengthen. Riley likens this process to working out other muscles, noting that when one does nothing to build strength in actual muscles, those muscles atrophy. Therefore, in order to keep the brain growing and becoming stronger, one must be committed to exercising it. This takes willpower, and it is also difficult to do on a regular basis. Riley again repeats that the difficult challenge of strengthening the brain is what ultimately yields the best outcome. Most people, according to Riley, give up when something gets too difficult; Riley argues that this is precisely the time to double effort. He advocates for building a routine that includes things that are purposely difficult, such as taking cold showers, as the process of pushing one’s self through the difficulty builds willpower.

Riley leads his students to a room within the Taj Mahal where a blackboard is sitting. On it is a diagram of the “Lifetime Habit Arc,” which consists of four components: the trigger, the ritual, the reward, and the repetition. Riley analyzes and explains each of these components and how they work together to foster the development of positive habits. As he discusses this concept, he mentions off-the-cuff that he will be bringing his two students to Rome but quickly moves on with his explanation without stopping. As his explanation continues, Mr. Riley begins coughing, which the others notice as something of a concern. They leave the room they currently are in and are escorted to another room, where Riley pulls a chart out of a backpack. The chart reveals “The Habit Installation Protocol.” Riley breaks down the three stages of habit formation. Stage 1 is destruction and energy consuming. Stage 2 is installation, when many people begin to waver in their resolve. Stage 3 is integration, which is when “automaticity” is achieved and the new habit becomes integral and is performed naturally. Each of the stages takes about 22 days, totaling 66 days, a fact Riley claims is backed up by scientific research into the process of habit formation. Riley notes that each new habit implies a kind of death/rebirth cycle, pointing out that it can be daunting and even scary but that at the end of the cycle, true growth really happens.

Meanwhile, the entrepreneur enters into some contemplation. She recognizes that the way she has been living her life and arranging her priorities has been counterproductive and harmful. She thinks to herself that Mr. Riley is showing her and the artist a better way of living. She begins to sense that her animosity toward those who seek to push her out at her company is misguided and instead chooses to forgive them, realizing that their mistreatment of her is due to their own self-hatred. The entrepreneur feels grateful, and she is adamantly making up her mind to reorient her life toward the values Mr. Riley is teaching. Her reflection is interrupted by Mr. Riley, who shines a flashlight on the ceiling of the room they are in. On it is written these three rules: “1. To make a habit last, never install it alone. 2. The teacher learns the most. 3. When you most feel like quitting is the time you must continue advancing” (193). Riley comments briefly on these before once again coughing. This time he rubs his chest, signaling he is in pain. He offers the artist and the entrepreneur more words of encouragement and validation and departs from the room.

The group of three arrives in Rome. They meet at the Spanish Steps at 5:00 a.m., where Mr. Riley informs his students that he will be introducing the artist and the entrepreneur to “The 20/20/20 Formula”. The narrator reveals personal information about Mr. Riley, specifically recalling the time when he met and fell in love with his wife, Vanessa. At first, Vanessa was rather lukewarm in her response to Mr. Riley; however, over time, he impressed upon her, and they married. They enjoyed a good life together, not without its own challenges and adversity, until Vanessa died from an illness in her fifties. Riley was devastated, and in the time following her death, he no longer sought the company of anyone else, instead choosing to immerse himself completely in his work.

Prior to finally speaking about the 20/20/20 formula, Riley once again has a coughing fit that draws more concern from his students. He had a temporary tattoo inscribed on his hand with 20/20/20 written on it and uses that as his starting point for the conversation, although he also continues to tease out the lesson, which garners high interest from his two students. To begin with, Mr. Riley says that no matter how much success one has, it is always imperative for the person to stay grounded and continue growing. Complacency is the enemy of personal growth, and Riley reminds his students of this before delving into the formula. He also says to them that “procrastination is an act of self-hatred” and that they should have a sense of urgency about adopting the methods he lectured about (205).

Riley introduces the 20/20/20 formula at last. He claims it is a “[a] beautifully engineered, flawlessly calibrated morning routine for a world-class business and personal life” (223). The three 20s represent minutes one should spend during the victory hour each morning when one first wakes up. The first 20 is “pocket 1” and calls for the person to immediately begin exercising upon waking. Riley provides research that suggests that physical activity in the morning helps reduce the stress hormone cortisol and increase dopamine. Before discussing the second pocket, the entrepreneur asks Riley for advice on how to best ensure waking up at 5:00 a.m. everyday. He suggests that all technology be removed from the bedroom and that an old-fashioned alarm clock be used. He also recommends setting the clock ahead half an hour and the alarm for 5:30. He argues that this can trick the person into waking up earlier than they think.

The second pocket calls for the person to reflect, advising the artist and entrepreneur to “savor some stillness. Contemplate how you’re living and on who you hope to become” (212). This act of contemplation will have ripple effects for the remainder of the day, or what the Spellbinder refers to as “residual wisdom” (212), and can impact mood in a positive way.

As Riley proceeds through this lesson, he stops twice to take a pill, and he is evidently beginning to feel ill. A woman appears with a briefcase, and Riley pulls from it two handcrafted journals. He gives one each to the artist and entrepreneur and introduces the third pocket, which directs them to focus on their professional lives. Riley encourages the students to use the gifted journals to write their thoughts and suggests using a strategy provided by the Spellbinder for journaling called the “Journalling Habit Deconstruction” (216). This strategy offers a checklist of possible topics for journal entries. Mr. Riley encourages his two students to consider writing both positive and negative feelings in the journal, noting that the act of journaling is a kind of catharsis that can keep fear and other negative emotions in check.

Riley continues to show signs that he is ill, as he winces and at one point becomes hunched over from an unidentified ailment. He mentions that they will be traveling to South Africa for the next part of the lesson, where he will instruct them further on how they can gain access to a “magical life,” but that he is not allowed to provide further information on that (218). Riley again experiences physical pain and urges the artist and the entrepreneur to carry on the lessons they learn during this experience, noting he might not be able to. As the chapter concludes, Riley states that the next stage of the lesson will take them to “visit the dead” (222).