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Discussion on: The 5am {Hack}

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crownvic profile image
Nikolay Nikonov • Edited

That depends. For example, I can't think straight in the morning. At all. Even if I went to bed at 7pm and woke up at 5am. Crickets. My mind is just filled with impenetrable fog.

I usually work from 10pm (sometimes from midnight or 1am) to 4-5am and sleep till noon/3pm. And I do this almost all my life (even in school, I was showing up at noon or later and persuaded all my teachers that I can educate myself at home and then show them what I learned).

And yeah, I have two children (a 15-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl). My wife takes care of them in the morning, I help with feedings and other activities at night). She doesn't work and doesn't want to work every day. Basically, she's doing what she loves - working as a personal trainer from time to time with a select cohort of clients she likes. I provide more than enough money to not worry about it and think that's okay. We are together 24/7 (often in the same room, although the son is sitting in his room minding his own business as most teenagers do) with rare exceptions. I understand that it doesn't fit everyone. Many people like to switch environments during the day. I like to be with my family all day.

And this '5am club' is not for everyone, obviously. How many NOT successful people wake up at 5am? This is the survivorship bias at its finest.

The good exception here is Carl Icahn. He mostly sleeps till noon, but sometimes sleeps till 4pm before an important meeting to get a better deal persuading already tired lawyers (and he is well-rested and kicking a**). And, sure, he is a billionaire who's never been to '5am club.'

My take on all that is if you want to be successful - do the work you'd agreed to do on time, and show up where you'd agreed to be when you should be there. And get connections. Your friends and colleagues are the best source of life force you can obtain to get things done. In my experience, 1 mind plus 1 mind is not 2 minds, but 3 or even 5, sometimes. Never go alone.