The 5 AM Club. Robin Sharma

that this street person has got some great insights, for sure. And he obviously seems to have a lot of experience. But just look at him! Man, the guy looks completely down and out—a complete mess. I don’t think he’s had a shower in weeks. His clothes are all ripped. He’s beyond freaky. And sometimes he talks total crazy talk. We have no idea who he is. This could be dangerous. He could be dangerous.”

      “Yes. Definitely super-weird. Everything that’s happened here today is super-weird,” confirmed his companion. The entrepreneur’s lean face then softened. Her eyes still seemed melancholic, though. “I’m at a place in my life where I need to make some big changes,” she confided. “I just can’t keep going on like this. I hear what you’re saying. I’ve been suspicious of pretty much everyone and everything ever since I lost my dad when I was eleven. A daughter growing up without a father is incredibly scary. To be honest, I still carry a lot of the emotional trauma with me. I think of him every day. I’ve had some bad intimate relationships. I’ve struggled a lot with low self-worth and made some horrible choices in the relationships I’ve had.

      “About a year ago I started seeing a therapist who made me aware of why I was behaving the way I was behaving,” the entrepreneur continued. “Psychologists call it ‘fatherless daughter syndrome.’ Deep within, I had a huge fear of abandonment and all the strong insecurities that come with that wound. Yes, this made me extraordinarily tough on the outside. And ruthless in some ways. The chip on my shoulder over the loss of my father gave me my drive and my ambition. Yet the loss also left me empty within. I’m learning that I’ve been trying to fill the void that he left, when he left, by pushing myself to exhaustion in my work with the belief that when I’m even more successful I’ll get the love I lost. I’ve been attempting to fill my emotional holes by chasing more money like a heroin addict needing a fix. I’ve been starving for social status and hungry for industry approval—escaping online for quick pleasure hits of entertainment when I could be doing things that matter. As I said, I’m realizing a lot of my behavior has been pushed from the fear created by my early challenges as a young woman. I felt inspired when The Spellbinder spoke about never doing something for the money but, instead, reaching for world-class as a leader and a person for the meaning it provides, for the opportunity to grow it provokes and for a shot at changing the world. His words made me feel so hopeful. I want to live in the way he spoke of, but I’m nowhere near that place now. And recently, what’s happened at my company pushed me to the edge. I’m really not doing well at life right now. I only came to this meeting because my mom gave me a free ticket. And I’m so desperate for a change.”

      The entrepreneur took a deep breath. “Sorry,” she apologized, looking embarrassed. “I hardly know you so I’m not sure why I’m revealing all this to you. I guess I just feel safe with you. I’m not sure why. I’m so sorry if I’m oversharing.”

      “No problem,” said the artist. His body language showed he was engaged. He no longer anxiously played with his goatee and dreadlocks.

      “We’re so honest when we chat with taxi drivers and other people we don’t really know, right?” the entrepreneur went on. “All I’m trying to say is that I’m ready for a transformation. And my gut tells me this down-and-out man who wants to teach us how an excellent morning routine can build creative, productive, financial and happiness empires really can help me. And help us.

      “And,” she added, “remember his watch.”

      “I like him,” said the artist. “He’s a character. I love that he expresses himself so poetically sometimes and so passionately at others. He thinks so vividly and quotes George Bernard Shaw like his life depended on it. Really cool. But I still don’t really trust him,” the artist expressed as he punched a fist into an open palm again. “Probably ripped the watch off some rich idiot.”

      “Look, I understand how you’re feeling,” responded the entrepreneur. “A lot of me feels the same way. And you and I just met as well. I’m not sure what it would be like to go on this trip with you. I hope you don’t mind me saying that. You seem like such a nice person. A few rough edges maybe. I think I understand where those come from. But you’re good deep down. I know it.”

      The artist looked mildly pleased. He glanced at the homeless man, who was eating slices of avocado from a plastic bag.

      “I’ll have to see if I can arrange my schedule to be away from the office so we can spend time with him,” shared the entrepreneur as she pointed to the homeless man. While he was munching on his snack he was also talking on a relic of a mobile phone and staring at the ceiling. “I’m starting to like the idea of spending some time near a village called Solitude on some tiny island, eating fabulous food and swimming with wild dolphins. I’m beginning to feel this will be a phenomenal adventure. I’m starting to feel more alive again.”

      “Well, now that you say it that way, I’m liking the sound of this, too,” said the artist. “I’m beginning to think there’s a delicious insanity to all of this. A special opportunity to access a whole new universe of originality. This might be the best thing yet for my art. It makes me think of what the writer Charles Bukowski said: ‘Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.’ And The Spellbinder did encourage us to leave the boundaries of our normal lives so we grow into our gifts, talents and strengths. Some instinct is also telling me to do this. So, if you go, I’ll go.”

      “Well, you know what? I’ll take the leap. It’s done. I’m all in. Let’s go!” pronounced the entrepreneur.

      “All in,” agreed the artist.

      They both stood up and made their way to the homeless man, who was now sitting with his eyes closed.

      “What are you doing now?” quizzed the artist.

      “Intense visualization of all I want to be and the higher order life I wish to create. A Turkish fighter pilot once told me that before every flight, he’d ‘fly before we’d fly.’ He was suggesting that meticulously rehearsing the way he and his team wanted the mission to unfold in the theater of his imagination set them up to execute that vision of mastery in reality, flawlessly. Your Mindset is an enormously potent tool for private greatness, prodigious productivity and creative victory—along with your Heartset, Healthset and Soulset. I’ll teach you all about these remarkable concepts if you accept my invitation. Anyhoo, back to why I closed my eyes. Nearly every morning, I envision my ideal performance for the day ahead. I also reach deep into my emotions so I feel what it will feel like when I achieve the wins I’ve planned to accomplish. I lock myself into an extremely confident state where any form of failure isn’t within the realm of possibility. Then I go out and do my finest to live out that perfect day.”

      “Interesting.” The entrepreneur was fascinated.

      “This is just one of the SOPs I run daily to stay on peak. Good science is confirming that this practice helps me upregulate my genome by turning on genes that were previously asleep. Your DNA isn’t your destiny, you know. Not to worry, cats. You’ll learn about the breakthrough field of epigenetics when you’re on the island. You’ll also learn some beautiful neuroscience on multiplying your success in this age of scattered attention, so the weapons of mass distraction don’t destroy your amazingness. I’ll reveal everything I’ve discovered about creating projects that are so masterfully done they endure for generations. You’ll hear about fabulous ways to armor-plate your mental focus and fireproof your physical energy. You’ll discover how the best businesspeople in the world build dominant enterprises and learn a calibrated system that the most joyful human beings on the planet apply each morning to create a life that borders on the magical. Oh, in case you were wondering, an SOP is a standard operating procedure. It’s a term my special adviser used when he’d speak about the daily structures needed to find triumph at the game of life. I assume you two are coming?”

      “Yes. We’re coming,” confirmed the entrepreneur in an upbeat tone. “Thank you for your offer.”

      “Yeah, thanks, man,” added the artist, now looking more composed.

      “Please,” the entrepreneur said earnestly, “teach us everything you know