You might have heard of the 5 AM Club. According to this popular concept that was created by leadership expert Robin Sharma, harnessing the quiet, undisturbed hours of the morning by waking up at 05:00 will do wonders for your personal growth, productivity, and overall well-being. We were curious about two things. First; which MeetDistrict Members have adopted this lifestyle into their daily routines? And second; could we last a week doing the same? In this blog, discover more about the benefits of joining the 5 AM Club, why some of our Members swear by waking up early, and how team MeetDistrict struggled through the week in hopes of transforming our lives for the better.

First and foremost; waking up at 05:00 gives you a head start of the day and rewards you with increased productivity. This quiet time is often free from distractions, allowing you to already accomplish tasks and activities before the rest of the world wakes up. Thanks to this head start, you can finish work earlier and have more time for self-care, hobbies, and relationships. Or you can create a clear boundary between work and personal life: a crucial balance for maintaining a healthy and fulfilling life.

Talking about healthy; both your mental and physical health will benefit greatly when correctly applying the 5 AM Club philosophy into your life. The club suggests dividing this early morning time into three equal parts of 20 minutes each: for physical exercise, reflection or meditation, and learning or planning. Start this so called Victory Hour with physical exercise to improve overall fitness, boost energy levels, and kickstart your metabolism. 

Follow up with activities like meditation and reflection to reduce stress, improve focus, and promote a positive mindset throughout the day. During the final 20 minutes, expand your knowledge by taking dedicated time for personal development. For instance by reading a book, taking an online course, or journaling.

The main benefit of being part of the 5 AM Club is that it both challenges and supports you to become the best version of yourself. You’ll train your self-discipline by consistently waking up early and following a morning routine. Before you know it, this discipline will translate to other areas of your life, leading to better time management and goal achievement. Let this lifestyle build a strong foundation for success in all aspects of your life and enjoy the confidence and motivation boosts by checking off accomplishments early in the morning.

Reading into the 5 AM Club philosophy, team MeetDistrict was intrigued to wake up at 05:00 for a week too. Who knows which tremendous benefits we could enjoy from adding this Victory Hour to our day? In our minds; it would have transformed us into superheroes. By the end of the week we’d be fitter, more at peace, smarter, and our checklists would have been completely empty. In reality however, waking up this early proved physically painful, car rides required a lot more focus, and coffee was consumed by the dozens.

Some quotes from our week that underline MeetDistrict’s experience with the 5 AM Club: “Life and limbs are in shock”, “This morning feels like a week ago”, and “My brain fogs are becoming extreme”. Showing how we struggled through the week, and that we might have rushed ourselves into this project instead of slowly easing into it which could have proven more productive. It is true what they say though; getting up an hour earlier really creates so much more time for beautiful and valuable experiences. We witnessed the sunrise, brushed up on some personal growth literature, joined our cats on their morning hunts, and spotted a real-life heron in the Antwerp Stadspark during the earliest jog of our lives. We met up for a delicious breakfast as well – enjoying a full morning and a lovely activity together all before hitting the office at 09:00.

So, do we believe in the power of the 5 AM Club? We surely do! It’s just that we haven’t found the best implementation yet, and one week was simply far too short to enjoy its benefits.

Two MeetDistrict Members who have sworn with waking up early for years now, are Bram Leroy at Page Personnel and Caroline Anseeuw at YouConnect.

Caroline joined the 5 AM Club after reading Robin Sharma’s book. “I’ve always been an early bird, but the fact that the 5 AM Club motivates you to spend alone time for personal growth is simply amazing”. However, Caroline admits she doesn't strictly follow the 20-20-20 rule, and that she wakes up at 05:30 instead of 05:00. “Good enough!” [laughs]. “When my children were still at home, waking up about an hour and a half before them gave me some time to myself where I didn’t have to be a mother. And by the time they moved out, it had developed into a habit I’d grown to enjoy”.

Her morning activities vary from physical workouts, to meditation, to following online courses on personal growth and health. “These activities never have anything to do with work; it’s just for me, and I perform them at my own pace”. Thanks to this extra time to herself, Caroline has been able to work out some amazing projects on the side, like her laugh workshops and 365 Smiles. What started with giving more time to topics that inspired her, ended up in beautiful and concrete projects.

Sporty Bram joined the 5 AM Club out of necessity due to his commute to Brussels. “When I started travelling to Brussels more often, I was confronted with more traffic as well. So I decided to be ahead of traffic and find a gym in Brussels for a very early morning workout”. It took Bram a few months to adjust and to start noticing and feeling the benefits, but they have been absolutely incredible. “When you go to work, you’ll always have some excuses not to implement some physical activity into your evening. But when you start your day doing it, you’ve already checked it off. When I don’t have any energy left in the evening: no problem! Or I can do something else; my evening is free”.

According to Bram, you should really use this extra hour to wake up your body. “When I do get up at 07:00, I need so much more time – and coffee – to actually wake up. It takes ages! But now, I’m ready. It still hurts every time the alarm clock goes off, but during the day I’m hyper focused thanks to all those endorphins that I’ve already activated. At the end of the day, I don’t even experience an energy dip anymore. I’ve really grown accustomed to it”.

Establishing a new habit takes time, so be patient and persistent. Stick to your wake-up time, even on weekends, to help regulate your body's internal clock. Consistency is key to making early rising a habit.

Caroline: “Even when I’m on a holiday, I try to stick to the 05:30 routine or slightly adapt to waking up at 06:00.

You don’t want to change up your habits again by staying in and having to reimplement the early waking lifestyle when you get back to reality”.

Bram: “Do ease into it though, don’t go cold turkey. Maybe start with a couple of days in the week”.

Restful sleep is indispensable, so encourage it by creating a bedtime routine where you turn off electronics an hour before bed, read a book, or practice relaxation techniques to wind down.

Caroline: “The biggest trick to stick to the 5 AM Club must be to go to bed early. I try to get 7 hours of sleep every day, which surpasses waking up at 05:30 for me. So when I go to bed later in the weekends, I’ll skip waking up so early”.

Before ending your day, make sure to lay out your clothes, prepare breakfast, and define an early morning activity that excites you. Having a plan and a motivating reason can make it easier to get out of bed and start your day.

Caroline: “Choose what works for you, like those workouts work for me. You really have to be rewarded by the activity you’ll get to do. I tried jogging, but I quickly dropped that since it was not my cup of tea at all”.

Bram: “I love the tranquillity of early mornings: less people in the streets, less people in the gym... I have all this time and space to myself and don’t have to go from 0 to 100 when I arrive at the office. I’ve been awake for a couple of hours already”.

Be proud of what you achieve by waking up this early. Not many people are up at this time, so you can really set yourself apart from the rest of the world by giving a productive interpretation to this early hour. It’s more than fair to delve into that feeling.

Caroline: “You can check off so many things before the actual start of your day. I already worked out; check – I already meditated; check – I already did some brain sport; check!”

Bram: “The cool thing about waking up this early is also the fact that you actually did it. The sense of accomplishment, like you’ll have when you took a cold shower: you did it! Everything in your body screams that you shouldn’t wake up this early, but your mind takes over and convinces you of the fact that you should. To dig deep and to keep going even when it gets tough. And every morning when you’ve made it out of bed, you already won something that day”.

Ready to start winning at 05:00 too? Take on the challenge to join the 5 AM Club and don’t forget to share your experiences, we’d love to be your accountability partner!