The 5 AM Club. Robin Sharma

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