Day 9 of the 5AM Club Book Review

Another day into week two of the 5AM Club book morning routine challenge and I’m growing in confidence. While I’m not doing this with any ease whatsoever, I do now believe that it’s possible for me. Yesterday I was glad to be back doing the challenge after the weekend and today I moved up another gear. Life is good.

5AM = Move it! I have to admit that the first movements of the morning are still a challenge. So I’ll warm up a little and then start with 10 push ups. These are super challenging. My body is all “what the hell! Aren’t we meant to be sleeping now?“. And then they get easier. The second 50 push ups are easier than the first 50 push ups of a morning. The second hundred push ups are always challenging though, it doesn’t matter what time of the day or night it is.

So, I did 200 push ups and 100 sit ups, followed by some aerobic exercises like boxing and jogging on the spot. Exercise portion, success!

5:20AM = Reflect and Ponder! Like usual, I focused on writing in the journal and planning a to do list for the day ahead. I’m going to keep the daily diary habit going regardless of whether or not I continue with the 5AM wake up habit ( I do think I will keep both habits going though).

I love writing, especially if I don’t have to worry about the words making sense to others. So with this blog post I have to write, but I also think about the finished product, so can people understand what I am saying and am I saying it properly? Even though I’m writing very casually and in a conversational manner I still have to make sense. I don’t have to make sense in my daily diary, I’m just writing whatever comes to mind.

5:40AM = Acquire Knowledge! I’m continuing to read and review my notes from the 5AM club book by Robin Sharma. I’ll do a review of the book sometime during these 66 days of creating a new habit. Maybe I’ll do a summary or add some 5AM club quotes too.

For now though I do highly recommend reading the 5AM Club book. Don’t listen to the audiobook until you have read the hard copy of the book, meaning actual words on paper. If you can read a whole book on a digital reader or on your computer then I guess that’s an option too, but I’m old fashioned and love the smell and feel of a good book. I do plan to buy the audiobook from Audible but only as a refresher or reminder of the concepts. There’s a lot of lists and diagrams that are good to see and touch in the paper book.

9th Day of the 5AM Club Book Challenge

Being summer here in Istanbul, Turkey means it’s easy to do the sweating part first thing in the morning but it’s much more challenging throughout the day when you’re sweating and trying to be as productive as possible. I can’t complain though as I’ve lived with much hotter summers in Australia all of my life. I don’t even have an air conditioner in my apartment here and it’s still tolerable. Summer is about to finish too, so I’m not even thinking about buying an air conditioner this year. All good.

Still, I was very productive all day today. I looked into some possible new ways to make money online which I’m quite excited about. I also did some good things in the woodwork studio. I kept busy all day and still had energy to spare 👍

Exercise: 200 push ups, 100 sit ups, and more than 75 minutes walking. Half of those 75 minutes were carrying shopping bags too so my arms got a workout!
Diet: Ate well, cooked a chicken and vegetable dish for dinner. I’m getting good at going into and out of a supermarket without buying any junk food.

How Could I Improve?

Find a time to do weights and stick to it. I made it the end of the day and realized that I didn’t lift my weights. It’s a new habit that I need to give time and focus to. It’s just a set of dumbells, so I’m not planning to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger anytime soon. I just want to firm up my upper body while I’m working on my stomach and love handles.

Conclusion for the Ninth Day of the 5AM Club Morning Routine

All is good. Life is good. I love my life. I’m not pretending this morning routine habit is easy for me as it isn’t, but I am starting to enjoy this ride. That’s probably the masochist in me speaking as waking up at 5AM still hurts. I’m destroying the night owl self that I have clung to all of life and I’m replacing it with a new early bird self! Big changes, massive changes.

Be sure to follow my progress on this 66 day habit changing journey here. Remember to let me know in the comments about your experiences with the 5AM Club book. Would you recommend it to others? Why or why not?

Own your morning, elevate your life!
See you tomorrow people 😀