Re-read Nov 2021: 1st Read in Oct 2019: The only thing that I didn't really like was how the book was written. It could have been much more simplified and cut down to half it's size. There's narrative and storytelling in it that I don't see the purpose in but the take-away's are still so valuable I still have to give it 5/5 stars. Notes: Rule #1 Rule #2 Rule #3
Such a classic! So many great take aways. I just hate the way this book is delivered. Soooooo much fluff of a few random characters, completely unnecessary but still absolutely love the practical take aways from this book.
My my my this book really moved me. It influenced me greatly to wake up at 5am daily and to be not only the most productive I've ever been but to also have fun! Work hard play hard as they say.
- "Adults are deteriorated children... When you were much younger, you understood how to live. Staring at stars filled you with delight. Running in a park made you feel alive. And chasing butterflies filled you with joy... Then, as you grew up, you forgot to be human. You forgot how to be bold and enthusiastic and loving and wildly alive. Your precious reservoirs of hope faded. Being ordinary became acceptable. "
- "Education is the kindling of a flame." - Socrates
- "Self-Education is, I believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov
- "Heavily resist all piracy of your mastery from this world tempting you into distractibility and causing digital dementia. Force your attention back to the Everest's of potential aching for fuller expression and, today, release all reasons that need any stagnation of your strengths. Start being an imaginationalist - one of those rare individuals who leads from the nobility of your future versus via the prison bars of your past. "
- "(at halfway point in our lives) We begin to realize that we're not going to live forever and that our days are numbered. And so, we connect with our mortality. Big point here. We realize we are going to die. What's truley important comes into much sharper focus. We become more contemplative. We start to wonder if we'e been true to our talent, loyal to our values and successful on the terms that feel right to us... The last 50 years ten become less about me and more about we. Less about selfishness and more about service.
An addiction to distraction is the end of your creative production. Empire makers and history creators take one hour for themselves before dawn, in the serenity that lies beyond the clutches of complexity, to prepare themselves for a world-class day.
Excuses breed no genius. Just because you haven't installed the early-rising habit before doesn't mean you can't do it now. Release your rationalizations and remember that small daily improvements, when done consistently over time, lead to stunning results.
All change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end. Everything you need to now find easy you first found difficult. With consistent practice, getting up with the sun will become your new normal. And automatic.
Rule #4
To have the results The Top 5% of producers have, you must start doing what 95% of people are unwilling to do. As you start to live like this, the majority will call you crazy. Remember that being labelled a freak is the price of greatness.
Rule #5
When you feel like surrendering, continue. Triumph loves the relentless.
- "Real riches come from living by the noble virtues of productivity, self-discipline, courage, honestly, empathy, and integrity as well as being able to lead your days on your own terms versus blindly following the sheep.
- "Elite production without quiet vacation causes lasting depletion. Rest and recovery isn't a luxury for anyone committed to mastery - it's a necessity... I've also learned that inspiration gets fed by isolation, away from the ceaseless digital diversion and mindless overcommunication that dominates the hours of the majority of these days... Your natural genius presents itself when you're most joyful. We get our ideas that change the world when we're rested, relaxed and filled with delight.
The 5 Scientific Truths Behind Excellent Habits:
Truth #1
World-class willpower isn't an inborn strength, but a skill developed through relentless practice. Getting up at dawn is the perfect self-controlling training.
Truth #2
Personal discipline is a muscle. The more you stretch it, the stronger it grows. Therefore, the samurais of self-regulation actively create conditions of hardship to build their natural power.
Truth #3
Like other muscles, willpower weakens when tired. Recovery is, therefore, absolutely necessary for the expression of mastery. And to manage decision fatigue.
Truth #4
Installing any great habit successfully follows a distinct 4-part pattern for automation of the routine. Follow it explicitly for lasting results.
Truth #5
Increasing self-control in one area of your life elevates self-control in all areas of your life. This is why joining The 5am Club is the same game-changing habit that will lift everything else that you do.
The 3 Values of Heroic Habit-Makers
Value #1
Victory demands consistency and persistency.
Value #2
Following through on what is started determines the size of the personal respect that will be generated.
Value #3
The way you practice in private i precisely the way you'll perform once you're in public
- Successful people - "lies in fact that they formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do... Top producers make it a habit to do the high-value activities that average ones don't feel like doing - even when they, too, don't feel like doing them... And by practicing the desired behavior over and over, their self-mastery and personal discipline grows. And the new routine becomes automated."
-"...will power weakens once it gets tired. Scientists call the condition "ego depletion." You wake up with a full battery of self-control. That's why I want you to do the activities that are most important to the rise of your inner empires at the time when your capacity is strongest - 5am. As you go through your day... your ability to self-regulate decreases - and so does your capability to handle temptations and manage weak impulses. The fact that human discipline muscles get tired from all the decision fatigue explains why so many massively successful people end up doing something foolish that destroys their careers.
- "The best thinking has been done in solitude. The worst has been done in turmoil."
The 10 Tactics of Lifelong Genius
Tactic #1 The Tight Bubble of Total Focus (TBTF)
An addiction to distraction is the death of your creative production. Your attraction to digital interruption is costing you your fortune - financially, cognitively, energetically, physically, and spiritually. TBTF is a metaphor that you build around your assets of genius so they are not only strong they increase. The 5 primary assets that all superproducers defend are mental focus, physical energy, personal willpower, original talent, and daily time. The real key here is solitude for a scheduled period every day, in a positive environment that floods you with creativity, energy, happiness and the feeling the work you're doing is for the upliftment of humanity.
Tactic #2 The 90/90/1 Rule
Doing real work, instead of artificial work, daily and with absolute consistency, will give you a gargantuan competitive advantage born of mastery. Legendary achievers concentrate all their attention and effort on one core project at a time so they harness the fullness of their cognitive capacity and their precious energy on releasing glorious products that turn their industry on their head. The 90min period must be completed free of any noise and interruptions.
Tactic #3 The 60/10 Method
The way elite creatives do what they do is by understanding the power of oscillation. They structure their work cycles so they alternate bursts of deep focus and ferocious intensity of performance with periods of rest and full recovery. Even 10min of regeneration - go for a walk, meditate, read a book, so that your brain shifts from the worrying of behaviors of the left hemisphere into the creativity and flow of the right section.
Tactic #4 The Daily 5 Concept
Studies show that the most effective business leaders are at their peak when they'v actively engaged their mindset on the progress they've made. Make consistent 1% wins and micro-achievements throughout each hour of your workday.
Tactic #5 The 2nd Wind Workout (2WW)
Schedule a second workout at the end of each work day, you'll re-energize your willpower batteries so you improve your evening choices and even find your craving for sugar in the night time significantly lower. Go for a 1hr nature walk.
Tactic #6 The 2 Massage Protocol (2MP)
Studies have shown that massage therapy is a modality that generates significant improvements to brain performance, mood, your ability to fight stress, and general wellness. 31% reduction in cortisol (fear hormone), 31% increase in dopamine (motivation), 28% elevation of seratonin (regulates anxiety and rising happiness), reduced muscle tension improved pain relief, and more mitochondria growth. So get 2 90min massages per week
Tactic #7 Traffic University
While your on your commute listen to audiobooks
Tactic #8 The Dream Team Technique
Superproducers outsource and then automate all activities except those within the realm of their mastery, allowing for purity of focus and freeing up huge amounts of time.
Tactic #9 The Weekly Design System (WDS)
Every Sunday take 30min to carve out your next week. Start by reflecting on the past week, the highlights, lessons learned, optimizations for the following week
Tactic #10 The 60 Minute Student
Legendary leaders all have boundless curiosity and a limitless appetite to grow into their greatest selves. Peak producers are lifetime learners. For 60min/day study.
