The 5 AM Club

The slender figure remained as fixed as a palace guard awaiting the arrival of the royal motorcade.

“Mr. Riley,” echoed the entrepreneur passionately.

No response. The man just kept looking out at the sea and at container ships the size of football stadiums that sat sprinkled across the horizon.

The artist soon stood behind the set of intensely tanned shoulders of the figure and tapped three times on the left one. Instantly, the figure spun around. The two visitors gasped. The entrepreneur put a slender hand over her mouth. The artist jerked backward, instinctively, before falling to the sand.

Both were stunned by what they saw.

It was The Spellbinder.

CHAPTER 7

Preparation for a Transformation Begins in Paradise

“A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It’s only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.”

    Steven Pressfield

“Um. Wow!” declared the entrepreneur with a crooked smile that displayed part surprise and part delight.

“We were at your seminar. Um. You were brilliant up on that stage,” she finally managed to express, pivoting impressively from soft shock to the master-of-the-universe business bearing she was more accustomed to. “I lead a technology company. We’re what pundits in our industry call ‘a rocket ship’ because of the exponential growth we’ve been experiencing. Things were going phenomenally well until a little while ago …” The entrepreneur’s voice trailed off.

She looked away from The Spellbinder and stared at the artist. For a moment she played nervously with her bracelets. The lines along her face became more vivid. And her visage gave off a heavy, tired and injured look in that instant, on that spectacular beach.

“What happened?” asked The Spellbinder. “To your business?”

“Some of the people who invested in my enterprise felt I had too much equity in it. They wanted more for themselves. Super-greedy people. So, they manipulated my executive team, convinced key employees to rally against me and are now trying to throw me out of the firm. That place is my whole life.” The entrepreneur choked up.

A school of luxuriously colored tropical fish swam through the shallow water at the edge of the sand.

“I was ready to take my life,” she carried on. “Until I showed up at your seminar. Many of your nuggets of knowledge gave me hope. A lot of your words made me feel strong again. Not sure exactly what it was, but you pushed me to believe in myself and my future. I just want to thank you.” She embraced The Spellbinder. “You’ve started me on the journey to optimizing my life.”

“Thank you so much for your generous words,” The Spellbinder replied, appearing dramatically different from the way he looked the last time the entrepreneur and the artist saw him. Not only did he have that healthy glow people get from time in the sun, he now stood steadily and had gained a little weight.

“I’m grateful for what you’ve said,” The Spellbinder continued. “But the truth is that I didn’t start you on the quest to improve your life. You are changing your life by starting the process of bringing application to my insights and methods – by implementing my teachings. So many people chat a good game. They tell you all the ambitions they’re going to get done and all the aspirations they plan to deliver on. I’m not judging. I’m just reporting. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying: most people stay the same their entire lives. Too frightened to leave the way they operated yesterday. Married to the complacency of the ordinary and wedded to the shackles of conformity while resisting all opportunity for growth, evolution and personal elevation. So many good souls among us are just so scared they refuse the call on their lives to go out into the blue ocean of possibility where mastery, the dignity of bravery and the authenticity of audacity await them. You had the wisdom to act on some of the information I shared at my event. You’re one in a tiny minority of people alive today willing to do what it takes to become a better leader, producer and human being. Good on you. And I know transformation isn’t an easy play. Yet, the life of the caterpillar must end for the glory of the butterfly to shine. The old ‘you’ must die before the best ‘you’ can be born. You’re so smart not to wait until you have ideal conditions to step up to a work world and private life of stainless excellence. Great power is unleashed with a simple start. When you begin to close the loop opened by your utmost aspirations by making them real, a secret heroic force within you makes itself known. Nature notices your effortful actions and then goes ahead and replies to your faithful commitment with a series of unanticipated wins. Your willpower heightens. Your confidence climbs. And your brilliance soars. A year from now, you’ll be so happy you began today.”

“Thank you,” said the entrepreneur.

“I heard a man say he needed to lose weight before he could start running. Imagine that. Lose the weight so he could initiate the running habit. That’s like a writer who waits for inspiration to begin the book, or the manager who waits for a promotion to lead the field, or a startup that waits for full funding before launching a status quo – disrupting product. The flow of life rewards positive action and punishes hesitation. Anyway, I’m thrilled I could contribute to your rise, in some small way. Sounds like you’re at a difficult yet exciting time on your personal adventure. Please consider that a bad day for the ego is a great day for the soul. And what your voice of fear claims is a mean season the light of your wisdom knows is a splendid gift.”

“We thought you were dead,” the entrepreneur announced, unfiltered. “Thank God you’re okay. And I appreciate how humble you are.”

“I believe the humblest is the greatest. Pure leaders are so secure in their own skin their main mission is the elevation of others. They have such self-respect, joyfulness and peacefulness within themselves that they don’t need to advertise their success to society in a feeble attempt to feel a little better. I should also say, if I may, that there’s a big difference between real power and fake power,” The Spellbinder explained, dropping even deeper into the guru mode that had made him so famous worldwide.

“Our culture tells us to pursue titles and trinkets, applause and acclaim, money and mansions. All that’s fine – it truly is – so long as you don’t get brainwashed into defining your worth as a human being by these things. Enjoy them, just don’t get attached to them. Have them, just don’t base your identity around them. Appreciate them, just don’t need them. These are only forms of fake power our civilization programs us to believe we must pursue to be successful – and serene. The fact is that should you lose any one of these things, the substitute power you derived from them evaporates. Just vanishes in an instant, revealing itself as the illusion it was.”

“Tell us more, please.” The entrepreneur was absorbing every word.

“Real power never comes from anything external,” The Spellbinder continued. “A lot of people with a lot of money aren’t very wealthy. Take that line to the bank,” stated The Spellbinder as he slipped off his bright yellow flip-flops and placed them neatly on the sugary sand. “Genuine power – the stuff legends are made of – doesn’t arise from who you are outside and what you possess externally. The world is lost right now. True and enduring power expresses itself when you contact your original gifts and realize your most lavish talents as a human. I should also say real riches come from living by the noble virtues of productivity, self-discipline, courage, honesty, empathy and integrity as well as being able to lead your days on your own terms versus blindly following the sheep that so many in our sick society have been trained to become. ‘Sheeple’ is what too many people now are. The excellent news is that this kind of power I speak of is available to anyone alive on the planet today. We might have forgotten and disowned this form of potency we have as life has hurt, disappointed and confused us. But it’s still there waiting for us to build a relationship with it. And develop it. All of the great teachers of history owned very few things, you know. When Mahatma Gandhi died he had about ten possessions, including his sandals, a watch, his eyeglasses and a simple bowl to eat from. Mother Teresa, so prosperous of heart and rich with the authentic power to influence millions, died in a tiny room containing almost no worldly goods. When she’d travel, she’d carry all her things in a white cloth bag.”

“Why do so many of the heroes of humanity have so little?” asked the artist, now relaxing on the sand.

“Because they’ve reached a level of individual maturity that allowed them to see the futility of spending their days chasing objects that count for nothing at the end. And they had cultivated their characters to such a degree that they no longer had the common need of most to fill the holes within themselves with distractions, attractions, escapes and luxuries. The more their appetite for superficial possessions dematerialized, the more hungry they became for substantial pursuits like honoring their creative vision, expressing their inherent genius and living by a higher moral blueprint. They viscerally understood that being inspirational and masterful and fearless are all inside jobs. And once true power is accessed, external substitutes pale in comparison to the feelings of fulfillment this treasure provides. Oh, and these heavyweights of history, as they discovered their supreme natures, also came to realize that one of the primary aims of a wonderfully crafted life is contribution. Impact. Usefulness. Helpfulness. What business-builders might call ‘unlocking stakeholder value.’ Like I suggested at my seminar before I fell, ‘to lead is to serve.’ The philosopher Rumi made the point much more brilliantly than I ever could when he observed, ‘Give up the drop, become the ocean.’”

“Thanks for sharing,” offered the entrepreneur sincerely, sitting down next to the artist on the sand and placing one of her hands carefully only a short distance away from one of his.

“It’s good to see you’re doing better,” mentioned the artist, his boots now off. He was sockless. As he basked in the strong rays like a sunbathing cat he asked, “What the heck happened to you anyway?”

“Exhaustion,” confided The Spellbinder. “Too many cities. Too many airplanes. Too many media appearances. Too many presentations. I just ground myself down in pursuit of my mission to help people accelerate their leadership, activate their gifts and become heroes of their lives. I know better.”

The Spellbinder then pulled off his sleek sunglasses and extended a hand to his two students. “It’s a great pleasure to meet you both.”

“You too, brother,” the artist replied. “Your work has helped me make it through some tough times.”

As the artist spoke these words, he spotted a catamaran overflowing with festively dressed tourists whizzing along in the distance. Another school of fish, called capitaines, could be observed swimming busily in the clear water. The Spellbinder spied them, smiled broadly and then continued.

“You must be wondering why I’m here,” he stated.

“True,” said the entrepreneur as she took off her shoes and twisted her feet into the white sand alongside her companion.

“Well, I’ve been advising Mr. Riley since he was a thirty-three-year-old man. All pro athletes have peak performance coaches, and so do all extraordinary businesspeople. You just can’t get to iconic alone. He was starting out when we met, but even then he understood that the more one learns, the more one can achieve. Growth is the real sport that the best play, every day. Education truly is inoculation against disruption. And as you become better you will have better, within all arenas of your life. I call this The 2x3x Mindset: to double your income and impact, triple your investment in two core areas – your personal mastery and your professional capability.”

“Love it,” the artist said as he scratched his flabby belly. Then he picked at a decrepit toenail.

“Mr. Riley understood, early on, that to rise to world-class, you need world-class support. We’ve become fantastic friends over the years. We’ve shared tremendous joys together, like five-hour-long lunches with palm heart salad, fresh grilled prawns and excellent French wine here on this private beach of his.”

The Spellbinder stretched his arms into the air. He looked over at the mighty mountains. He remained silent for a few moments.

“And we’ve experienced deep sorrows together as well, like the time my buddy got sick with cancer just after his fiftieth birthday. He appeared to have everything a man could desire. But without his good health, he realized he had nothing. That one changed him. Health is the crown on the well person’s head that only the ill person can see, you know? Or, as one tradition says, when we are young we sacrifice our health for wealth and when we grow old and wise we realize what’s most important – and become willing to sacrifice all our wealth for even one day of good health. You never want to be the richest person in the graveyard, you know.

“He beat it, though,” The Spellbinder quickly added, staring at the noisy tourists partying on the catamaran. “Just like he defends himself against everything that tries to defeat his dreams. Stone’s an amazing guy. I love him like a brother.

“Well, look, it really has been good to meet you both,” The Spellbinder continued. “I heard you were coming. Mr. Riley’s tremendously excited to share what he promised he’d share with you about reaching maximum productivity, sustaining exceptional performance and creating a life you love by coding in a superior morning routine. I’m pleased he’s paying it forward and sharing what I, as his mentor, taught him. You’ll love all the insights and learning models that will soon be coming your way. The 5 AM Club will be revolutionary for you both. I know it sounds strange and unbelievable, but being exposed to the methodology Stone is about to teach you will cause outstanding shifts deep within you. Just being around the information will awaken something special in you.”

The Spellbinder put on his chic sunglasses.

“Anyway, Mr. Riley asked me to tell you to make yourselves at home here over the next few days. You won’t see a lot of me because I’ll be snorkeling, sailing and fishing most of the time. Fishing is one of the things I most love to do in life. I come down to Mauritius not only to coach the great and kind soul you’ll soon meet, I show up here to regenerate and get away from this overcomplicated world of ours, flush with so many difficulties, damaged economies, saturated industries and environmental decays, just to mention a few of the factors that threaten to bring down our creativity, energy, performance and happiness. I show up here to renew and refuel. 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 taught that principle for many years – yet I forgot it myself, and paid the price at the event. 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 these days. And, know too that 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. This tiny spot in the Indian Ocean helps me reaccess my best. It’s also a genuine sanctuary of safety, staggering beauty and awesome gastronomy, with affectionate people who still wear their hearts on their sleeves. I just adore the Mauritians. Most still have an appreciation for the wonders of life’s simplest pleasures. Like family meals or swimming with friends, followed by sharing a roast chicken dinner purchased from the Super U, washed down with an ice cold can of Phoenix.”

“Phoenix?” asked the artist.

“It’s the beer of Mauritius,” replied The Spellbinder. “And I must say that I always leave the island one hundred times stronger, faster, centered and fired up. I really work hard in my everyday life. I hope this doesn’t sound like vanity, but I care so much about uplifting society and am so committed to doing my part to reduce the greed, hatred and conflict in it. Coming here remakes me. Reconnects me to what’s important. So I can go back and work for the world. We all work for the world, you know? Anyway, you two have fun, okay? And thanks again for coming to my seminar and for your positive words. They mean more to me than you could ever know. Anyone can be a critic. Takes guts to be an encourager. Being a high-impact leader never requires being a disrespectful person. I wish more leaders understood this principle.

“Oh, one last thing,” The Spellbinder added as he flicked some sand off his camouflage-patterned surf shorts.

“What?” asked the entrepreneur in a respectful tone.

“Please be here on the beach tomorrow morning. Your training will begin then.”