The 5 Am by Sharma Book Review- A flop, a fabrication, and a fantasy
Updated: Nov 19, 2022
Robin Sharma's “The 5 am Club” attempts to shed light on the practice of waking up at five am. I myself have always prided myself in being a night owl and so this book was intriguing with one question in mind, “will my life be better if I switch my life around and wake up at 5:00 am?” This is a question that fellow readers are facing when reading this book. And I must say that my practice of the principle was more powerful than the style of writing that Sharma fashioned.
I am all for a good story and a good plot. I am not for sporting an illusory promise of a better tomorrow with a fictional representation with a vulnerable entrepreneur and budding artist.
I value good messages and powerful principles, I do not like them to come in a way that is unsupported and full of ego.
The way I found Sharma’s story formatting was as if you’re washing a car by hand. What you don’t know is that it is this incredible sports car, or so Sharma says, and you start trying to pull away the enormous amount of bubble, fluff, and soap that is surrounding the alluring concept of being in the 5 am Club.
The more you scrub the more you start to see the color of the paint on the car and still you can’t figure out what kind of car it is. I couldn’t even finish the book because there was just an illusion completely wrapped in his personal hubris. He was all in the book, the entrepreneur, the artist, the mentor, and the man who had everything.
There is an illusory method of persuasion to this book that has cause for alarm. It is a dangerous. Sharma wraps and intertwines three main characters from different background with principles and concepts that are good and sells them in a “WOW” factor way. It is more of a pulling away the bubbles.
You will find that instead of hoping to drive a Ferrari you are stuck with a Cadillac.
Here is what I wish the book would have shared:
Here is what you do at 5 am. Take us through a step-by-step understanding of the benefits of waking up at 5 am. Give us a 21 day challenge or help us implement the joys of waking up at 5 am.
Here are the lessons that a life time of waking up at 5 am have taught me: then proceed to list and expand upon each principle and life lesson he has learned. The more concrete and real you make it the more people will trust you.
Share information, backing it with research and use plain language so that every person can understand it and feel they walked away with more than what they thought they would. Have solid evidence, research, and backing: not just your word on it. Sharma fabricated this whole story and shared the “mysteries of success” with the climax being anticlimactically unfulfilling. There is no evidence, no forward written by a previous client or successful mentor that resonates with Sharma. There wasn’t any evidence of all that he promises in any aspect of his book. And his promises and solutions and “keys” to success are spread wide. The bubbles just keep getting lathered as his wax on, wax off method produces no real substantial evidence.
If you have read this book and have felt differently or the same, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Article Written By: Kaitlyn Andrews, an International Life Coach for Women