The 20/20/20 Formula is the foundation of The 5AM Club morning protocol. So literally, I’m going to walk you through it, from five o’clock to 5:20, the first pocket. If you were journaling this or deconstructing it, P1 is what I call it. The first pocket is Move. You want to move at 5AM. The first thing you want to do is intense physical activity. Why? Because science has confirmed when you sweat, you release BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor. And Dr. John Ratey over at Harvard, calls BDNF Miracle-Gro for the brain. Did you know that BDNF actually repairs brain cells damaged by stress? Did you know that BDNF actually accelerates your ability to learn? What would that do for you as an elite performer in your career? Did you know that BDNF actually regenerates and cements and fortifies neural connections? Your brain will get on fire just by sweating first thing in the morning. What else? In that first 20-minute pocket of movement, you’ll release dopamine automatically. This is how your brain works. It’s not just for Beckham and Federer and Kanye and Warren Buffett and Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and Sergey Brin and Shakespeare and Tolstoy and Mother Teresa and Nelson Mandela and the F1 racers. This is part of your brain’s wiring and that’s why I want you to share this message. I want children to know this. I want firefighters to know this and police officers to know this, and managers to know this. If you sweat first thing in the morning, and move, you release dopamine, the inspirational neurotransmitter, and that’s why you start to feel energy.That brings us to pocket number two. It’s now 5:20. Your energy is alive. Your brain is on fire. Our Yourpharmacy of mastery has kicked in. You’re feeling incredible confidence because I often get on the bicycle first thing in the morning, and I’m listening to audiobooks as well, which fills me with hope and information about mastery and being legendary. Okay. 5:20 to 5:40, what do you do? Second pocket. Second pocket is simply this. It’s called reflection and I’ll walk you through it in The 5AM Club. It’s called Reflection. We live in a world where most people are so busy being busy, they don’t have any time to think what the true heroes do. A Mandela, 27 years in prison. 18 years on RobbenIsland. Part of what made Mandela, Mandela, is the opportunity in solitude to reflect. Well, we don’t do that anymore. Very few people say, “Oh, I got up this morning.””What did you do?” “Oh, I reflected.” “What did you do?” “Oh, I spent an hour in solitude.” But solitude is one of the great traits of genius-level performers. They spent a lot of time alone. So now, by building this in, 66 days until you hardwire it to the point of what the researchers call automaticity, every single day, you now have this morning routine or habit. And the second thing you do from 5:20 to 5:40, you reflect. That could look like prayer. I pray. I meditate. I just drink coffee, which isa great cognitive enhancer, and I write. I do blessing lists almost every day because I need to. The world is negative. You’ve got to bulletproof your interior core. You’ve got to fireproof your mighty mission, by coming back to your journal while your family and your loved and the world is asleep, and writing here’s what I’m grateful for. Here’s my dream. Here are my deliverables. Here’s my big five for life. Here’s what I want to stand for today. Okay? And there’s a lot of great research from positive psychologists saying, knowing your story and writing out who you want to be, literally locks in that commitment, that allows your behavior to change. So the final pocket, it’s learning. You see, the job of the leader is to grow. I got to repeat that again because it’s so fundamentally important. The job of the leader is to grow. The game is not about money. Money’s fine. The game is not about acclaim. Acclaim is fine. We’re all social animals. We want the applause of our peers. The real game is not about a bigger house, more social media followers, a private jet. If you want it, that’s fine. I have no judgment. It’ll get you there more quickly. I think the game of legends is a different game, and part of that is understanding leadership is about growth. Life is about personal mastery. Who can you become? How many people can you help?But the point of the third pocket is, leaders love to grow. The best human beings, the real obsession evolution and personal optimization. How close to the fullness of your human potential can you actually live and exploit for the benefit of your craft and for the service of the world?And if you’re saying, “Robin, that’s inspiration. Great, but here’s the science and research.” James Flynn, American psychologist, calls it capitalization. And he studied athletes and he says, the best athletes, the best boxers, don’t have the most talent. They had the most fire and grit and commitment to practice, so that they lived whatever potential they had. Pocket number three is Learning and Growing. And when you do that consistently every day, you start to own your days. So, run this for 66 days. I challenge you with great love and respect. Do not give up when it’s hard. It’s meant to be hard. Leadership is not the easiest game in the world. It’s the best sport you can ever do.
