Transcription
[Music] you're absolutely going to love this module of the 5 a.m. Club method because it's all about how Superstars and Ultra disciplined people install habits that last. I'm going to walk you through the Habit installation protocol, and I'm going to deconstruct how world-class habits are installed and how they're formed based on the latest science.
The first metaphor I want to offer to you is the space shuttle metaphor. Did you know that it takes the space shuttle more energy in the 60 seconds after liftoff than the space shuttle will use in the entire high circumference or orbit around the Earth? Why would the space shuttle use more fuel in the first 60 seconds after a liftoff than in the entire circumference of the earth? Well, obviously, it's because the space shuttle must overcome escape velocity, or get to escape velocity. It must overcome the gravitational forces of the earth until it reaches escape velocity, and it just soars.
And a habit is very much like that. It's hard at first, messy in the middle, beautiful at the end. At the beginning of installing the 5 a.m. Club method, at the beginning of rising before the sun, at the beginning of embracing morning mastery, it's hard. Because like that space shuttle, you are having to overcome your gravitational forces, all your old habits, maybe sleeping longer than usual, maybe staying up too late, maybe eating not ideal food before you go to sleep, maybe getting up and watching the news, or checking your digital device, or checking email. All those things that slow you down. So you're overcoming those gravitational forces, just like that space shuttle. So it's, it's harder at first. But once you reach escape velocity, you, you start to fly. It becomes so much easier. You develop momentum. And as I said, you go from hard at first, messy in the middle, to beautiful at the end. And it becomes easy.
Remember, please, everything that you now find easy, you once found hard. And remember that the ultimate human gift, in many ways, is the ability to install a new habit. People for thousands of years have not been early risers. They, they made the commitment, they set up the conviction, they stayed with the process, they installed the habit to the point of automaticity, and now it's easy.
Okay, let's have a look at the actual model or learning framework of the Habit installation protocol. What you're going to see is every habit, as it's installed, goes through three particular phases. I'm going to draw a line across the model from stage one, which is destruction, right up to the automaticity point. And I'm going to call this the, in my methodology, I call this the 66-day minimum, based on the research of University College London, who, as you now know very well, the research has found that it takes approximately 66 days to wire in any new regime or ritual to the point of automaticity, which is simply, it becomes automatic. It becomes easier to jump out of bed than to stay in bed.
Let's, and here's another interesting thing. One of the great secrets of top performers, whether they're great entrepreneurs, whether they're financial titans, whether they're elite athletes, is they understand that installing a training regime, for example, or a new habit takes a lot of willpower at first. Almost like that space shuttle, that's why I offer the metaphor. Installing the Habit takes a lot of energy at first. But once you reach automaticity, your willpower is freed up to install the next habit. Incredibly important point. You only use a lot of energy as you're installing the Habit. Once it's automatic, once you've routinized it, once you've ritualized it, you don't have to use much willpower. It's automatic. It's a part of your internal wiring.
So what the great athletes then do is they use their willpower to install the next habit. And they continually keep on using their willpower, or deploying their willpower, or what's called self-regulation, to build new habits. And they basically create this architecture of extraordinary habits, which allows them to dominate their sport. So as you can see from the model, once you reach the automaticity point, your willpower is freed up for the next ritual. It's very, very powerful. So most of your energy and willpower is, is during the 66-day minimum, during the process of wiring in the 5 a.m. Club morning routine.
So each one of these three stages is approximately 22 days, 22 days, 22 days. And the metaphor, which is now a brain tattoo, and I want to keep on repeating it to reinforce it. So even when I'm, you're not here with me in the course, you're going through your day, and you hear me with you, I want to be with you each morning, each day. And so the foundational brain tattoo is: all change is hard at first, messy in the middle, gorgeous at the end.
So for the first 22 days, stage one is destruction. This is hard. It's hard at first. 22 days of hardship to lock in the morning routine of genuine heroes. It's worth it, isn't it? 22 days of suffering, 22 days of difficulty, as you let go of the old you to wire in an even better you. So it's hard at first. Again, if it's not hard, it wouldn't be real change. It wouldn't be worth it. All of the great things in life, I've realized, require hardship to build. A great relationship, it's hard. To be masterful in your work, it's hard. To get super fit, it's hard. To build a strong spirituality, it's hard. So what you want to do is each day, you want to ask yourself, what hard things can I do? Because we grow stronger, and we as human beings grow more powerful. And to be an elite producer, you must get into the habit of moving towards difficult things. Our society and the majority, they pursue a life of ease, which actually ends up with a lot of hardship, because then your health isn't great, your finances aren't great, your work isn't great, your relationships are not great. You're not really that happy. You don't really have a lot of enthusiasm, because you've taken the path of least resistance. If you want to live an amazing life, do hard things.
So for 22 days, as you install the habit of 5 a.m. rising before the sun, remember that Sanskrit term, Brahma Muhurta, which is basically the Creator's hour, where you actually get to create yourself. 5 a.m. joining the 5 a.m. Club, owning your morning so you can win your days. Rising before the sun, the first 22 days are going to be hard. Why are they going to be hard? Because again, you're overcoming your gravitational forces. You're letting go, and you're allowing your old habits to atrophy, and you're starting the process of building new neural pathways, new neural connections for the 5 a.m. Club method, rising before the sun. And again, you're building new neural pathways. Remember that metaphor I offered to you, the mountain meadow metaphor? Well, on day one, that is just a mountain meadow in front of you. And every morning, you're starting to build that through that grassy meadow. You're walking by getting up at 5 a.m. It's like you're walking through the meadow. It starts off as a little bit of a pathway. Keep on doing it for day two, day three, it becomes a trail. Day five and six, it becomes a little bit of a road. And then after a week and a month, it can become a highway. And then after a year, it becomes a super highway. Well, that's a great metaphor for what we're doing here. So that's 22 days of hardship. I know you can do it. Commit yourself. There's a great word to play with: conviction. Not only commitment, conviction. Just say, I simply will do whatever it takes to get through stage one of destruction, because you are destroying your old ways of being. The spiritualists, the great ones, will always say the current you must experience a crucifixion before the greatest you can experience a resurrection. Part of you must die for your greatness to emerge. Of course, that's going to be hard.
Which brings us to stage number two: confusion. Which makes me think of what Carl Jung once said. He said, "In all disorder, there is a secret order." Isn't that interesting? So a bad day for the ego is a great day for the soul. Stage two, roughly 22 days. Your ego is screaming. Your ego is giving you all of these excuses. Your ego is coming up with reasons why you should not join the 5 a.m. Club and not stay with the 66-day minimum process. Your ego is going to wave the white towel of surrender and say, "I'm not an early riser. It's not true that I can't change. Neuroplasticity doesn't make sense. I'm a night owl. I just can't do this. Grandma couldn't get up early. Mom couldn't get up early. I guess I just don't have early rising genes." That is not true. Remember, I walked you through the mistruths of getting up early. Remember those?
So for 22 days, approximately, you're going to experience confusion. The philosophers call it the Dark Night of the Soul. When you are going through profound human transformation, it will feel like everything is falling apart. I must say that again, because it's so incredibly important. When you are going through revolutionary human change, like wiring in a morning routine that will transform the rest of your life, it will feel like everything is falling apart. Why? Because everything is being completely reordered. Please do not be seduced by the fact that externally it looks like things are falling apart. Please do not be confused by thinking, "Oh, I'm tired. I'm confused. I'm frustrated. Maybe I'm a little angry. I feel like giving up. This isn't working." That is just your weaker self screaming at you. Please, during this second stage of confusion, listen to the whispers of your most heroic self. You can do this. You are building intimacy and fluency with your inner heroism. Give yourself 20 days. Move through the confusion, because all change is hard at first. It's messy in the middle. That's the messy middle, those 22 days. Soldier through it. Keep practicing the 5 a.m. Club method. If you have to take a nap, it's fine. Napping is one of my secret weapons. But stay with the process. Those new neural pathways are being wired, and they're going deeper and deeper. The path is turning into a trail, which is turning into a road, which is building a neurological, the neural circuit is becoming a highway. And over time, days, weeks, months, and years, it'll become a super highway. And then the fatty tissue of myelin, which many neuroanatomists and neuroscientists believe is the secret of genius, myelin wraps around this singular pathway related to getting up early, and that'll give you advanced perception and advanced abilities and advanced performance. And remember what neuroscientists also say: brain cells that fire together, wire together. You've got to get that neurocircuit for getting up early firing together, over and over. Those brain cells firing together with reinforcement, then they will wire together into a bulletproof morning routine that just can't be stopped.
After those 22 days, all change is hard at first, it's messy in the middle, it's gorgeous at the end. Good days are coming. Human beings are built through the power of neuroplasticity, which is our brain's ability to adapt and to grow to new conditions. We can grow. Think of all the people who just said, "I couldn't get up early," but I stayed with it, and I did it. Think about all the people who were couch potatoes and now they're marathoners. Think about all the people who never saved any money, now they've got financial freedom. Think about all those people who were pessimists, and they read the right books, they learned the right visualizations, they found the right mentors, they did the right things, and through that daily practice, that daily activity, they strengthened themselves into positive people. We are built to change. Do not let anyone tell you that you cannot become an early riser, because rising before the sun and joining the 5 a.m. Club is a habit. And any human being, if they go through this habit, habit installation protocol, which is based on tremendously strong science, any human being can install any habit, especially a great morning routine and joining the 5 a.m. Club.
So the final 22 days, as you can see, is all about integration. And the, the second metaphor of the Habit installation protocol, after the space shuttle metaphor, is the home renovation metaphor. So we've got the space shuttle. I'm going to write it in here for you. The space shuttle metaphor. I want you to remember it over these next 66 days, right? The space shuttle uses more fuel in that first 60 seconds after a liftoff than it does during the entire circumference around the earth. Why? Because changes, it had to overcome the gravitational forces of the earth that were pulling it down until it reached escape velocity. Remember that. You, that first 22 days is hard. And that second 22 days of confusion, it's, it's messy in the middle. But once you reach escape velocity, you're going to fly. And you're going to reach that automaticity point. And that's that final third stage of habit installation, which is all about integration.
And the second metaphor, then, is the home renovation metaphor. Metaphors are great adult learning teaching tools. And so you'll remember, if you've ever, ever done a renovation, or you've seen one of those home renovation shows, wow, it's, they tear it all apart in the middle, and it looks messy and confusing. But then, as they stay with the process, and they install the new structures, and they build the new walls, and they make the windows larger, and they put in the flowers, they put in the art, and they clean up everything, you see a masterpiece. And the owner walks in and says, "Wow." And if you've watched some of those home renovation shows, they start to cry, and they hug the contractors, and they say, "I can't believe it. I did it. We did it. I'm in a new home." And that's the metaphor for the integration stage. Your new neural structures have been integrated. Your new emotional architecture is being integrated. And of course, this is a lifelong process. But you're going to, on this third stage, the final 22 days of the habit installation, you're going to start feeling better. You're going to start having more energy. You're going to start finding it easy to get up. And then you're going to start that upward spiral of success. Remember that keystone habit? Well, the keystone habit of rising at 5 a.m. and going through the Victory Hour and running the 20/20/20 formula, which yes, I'm about to finally come to, but running that 20/20/20 formula will lift every, that keystone habit will lift all the other habits. You'll eat better. You'll be kinder. You'll do better work. You'll save more money. You'll spend more time learning versus wasting your time. You'll be more positive. Every other regime and ritual will rise, simply because of the mother of all habits, 5 a.m. in the 20/20/20 formula.
So that's the Habit installation protocol. Yes, I'm very passionate about it because I think installing great habits is the real essence of living a world-class life. You might say, "Well, Robin, right now I don't have any habits." You have habits. They could be average habits. They could be mediocre habits. But right now, you are running habits. I am just passionately dedicated to serving you by helping you install the mother of all habits, the 5 a.m. Club method, which will then lift up all the other habits that are essential and substantial to an absolutely legendary and beautiful and soulful and meaningful and positive life. Okay, that's the Habit installation protocol. Hope it's helped you, and I'll see you in the next module. Keep up the great work. You're doing amazing.