The 5 am club

but also the management
of the last hour of your evening
, if you’re truly serious about experiencing
premium results.”
He held the candle under his face, creating a near-mystical effect.
“What makes genius-level performance is a delicate balance between the
mastery of your morning routine and the optimization of your nightly ritual.
You won’t be able to orchestrate 
The 20/20/20 Formula
Stone walked you
through this morning if you don’t sleep properly.”
“I’m almost always sleep-deprived,” acknowledged the entrepreneur.
“Sometimes I struggle to function. My memory is off. And I feel exhausted.”
“Yeah,” agreed the artist. “My sleep’s a mess. I’m up a bunch of times
through the night. But since I’ve been on this trip, I’ve slept good each night.”
“That’s great to hear. Because we’re in midst of a ferocious global sleep
recession,” vocalized The Spellbinder, clearly articulating the dramatic
languaging he’d become internationally known for. “The internet and social
media and the widespread absorption with our devices are fueling much of it.
Research is now confirming that the blue light emitted from our tools of
technology reduces the amount of melatonin within us. Melatonin is the
chemical that informs your body that it needs to get sleep. There’s zero doubt
that checking your gadgets all day long impairs cognitive function, as you’ve
learned. And there’s no question at all that being in front of your screens
before bedtime causes sleep dysfunction. I could go deeper and explain how
the light of your devices activates photoreceptors called ‘intrinsically
photosensitive retinal ganglion cells’ that limit melatonin production and
negatively affect your circadian rhythm, which hurts your sleep—but you get
my point here.”
“I do,” confirmed the entrepreneur. “I really do. I’ll restructure my pre-
sleep routine so that I wake up at 5 
AM
feeling better and full of energy. I
promise to do this so I rest well and so I can implement 
The 20/20/20
Formula
flawlessly.”

---

“For 
The 66 Day Minimum—
until it becomes an automatic habit,”
interjected the artist. “And then for the rest of my life, so it actually becomes
easier to run The 5 
AM
Method than to stay in bed sleeping.”
“When we don’t sleep enough,” The Spellbinder picked up, “not only is it
fiercely difficult to get up early, but a number of other highly damaging things
impair your productivity and minimize your performance along with reducing
your happiness and eroding your health.”
“Tell us,” requested the entrepreneur.
“Yes, tell them,” encouraged the billionaire, now squatting in the
catacomb. “This posture’s really good for your lower back as well as for your
digestion,” he added, oddly.
“Well, when you sleep—and the key here is not only the quantity of sleep
but the 
quality
of your sleep states—your neurons shrink by 60% as cerebral
spinal fluid washes through your brain. It’s also been discovered that the
lymphatic system, which was previously believed to be only in your body, is
in your skull, too. All this means that we, as human beings, have
evolutionarily architected a powerful process to essentially wash the brain so
it stays in optimum condition. And this cleansing mechanism only happens
while we sleep.”
“Unbelievably interesting,” the entrepreneur noted.
“Tell them about HGH,” implored the billionaire.
“Sure,” said The Spellbinder. “HGH, human growth hormone, is produced
in the pituitary gland of the brain and is important for healthy tissues in your
body, a strong functioning metabolism and a long lifespan. Increased levels of
HGH raise your moods, cognition, energy levels and lean muscle mass, while
reducing your cravings through the regulation of leptin and ghrelin. Here’s the
main point: while HGH is released through exercise, which is part of the
reason pocket number one of