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

Why do Riley’s lessons always involve a diagram that is presented on some kind of rare object? Analyze what this does for his teachings and for the narrative. Do you think there’s a rhetorical strategy at work? Why?

Why do you think the only character in the book who is identified by name is Mr. Riley? What do you think this does for the narrative? Is it important that the other characters are simply archetypes? What does this say about what is revealed about the characters’ lives, including Riley’s?

Does the book make a convincing argument in favor of rising early in the morning? Explain why it does or why it does not. What is foundational to this process about rising early in the morning? Analyze why it may or may not be possible to follow the book’s guidelines without rising at this time.

On various occasions, the author’s voice leaks through the narrative and directly addresses “you,” the reader. What is the author’s purpose for these intrusions? How does this affect the guidelines that the book is instructing? What does this do for the narrative structure?

What purpose does the death threat levied at the entrepreneur and the surrounding intrigue serve in the book? Analyze how the characters respond. What does this say about the entrepreneur’s character arc? What does it say about the guidelines put forth by the book?

Evaluate the apparent mysticism that surrounds Mr. Riley’s general demeanor. What is the reader to make of his ability to levitate the box from the ground in Chapter 16? What does this say about him as a character? Does this make the narrative more impactful in terms of what the author is instructing to readers? Why or why not?

Why would the author decide on Mr. Riley passing away rather than the Spellbinder? Does this have any larger symbolic meaning? Analyze these two characters. What is the purpose of the Spellbinder in relation to Mr. Riley?

The book takes a stand against the many distractions that result from living in the digital age. What could you add that would help readers limit distractions in their own lives? How much of the book’s guidelines are simply about limiting distractions? What role does focus play in the book?