“The life given us, by nature is short, but the memory of a well-spent life is eternal.” —Cicero
The sunrise was dazzling as the entrepreneur and the artist walked hand-in-hand along the seashore to meet the billionaire at the designated meeting spot for the next morning’s mentoring class.
Mr. Riley was already there when they arrived, sitting on the sand, eyes closed in a deep meditation.
He was shirtless, wearing camouflage-patterned shorts similar to the ones The Spellbinder styled the day he appeared on the beach and a pair of rubber diving booties with smiley face emojis scattered over them. You would have been more than amused if you saw him in them.
An assistant rushed out of the billionaire’s home the instant he raised a hand toward the heavens, displaying the universal victory sign. Three crisp pages of paper were efficiently extracted from a shiny black leather satchel and handed to the titan of industry without a word being exchanged. Stone Riley simply offered a slight bow of appreciation. In turn, he gave a sheet to each of his two students.
It was exactly 5 AM.
The billionaire then picked up a seashell and skipped it across the water. It appeared as if he had something profound on his mind this morning. Gone were the usual lightheartedness, festivity and awkward antics.
“You okay?” inquired the entrepreneur as she touched a bracelet engraved with the words “Straight on hustle. Rise and grind. I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”
The tycoon read the words on the bangle. He placed a finger onto his lips.
“Who will cry when you die?” he asked.
“What?” exclaimed the artist.
“What will those who know you whisper about how you lived once you’re no longer here?” The billionaire articulated the question in the manner of a skilled actor. “You live as if you were destined to live forever, no thought of your frailty ever enters your head, of how much time has already gone by you take no heed. You squander time as if you drew from a full and abundant supply, though all the while that day which you bestow on some person or thing is perhaps your last.”
“Those are your thoughts? Brilliant,” stated the artist.
The billionaire looked mildly embarrassed. “I wish! No, they belong to the stoic philosopher Seneca. They came from his treatise On the Shortness of Life.”
“So why are we talking about death on this beautiful morning exactly?” queried the entrepreneur, appearing a little uncomfortable.
“Because most of us alive today wish we had more time. Yet we waste the time we have. Thinking about dying brings what matters most into much sharper focus. You’ll stop allowing digital distraction, cyber diversions and online nuisances to steal the irreplaceable hours of the blessing called your life. You never get your days back, you know?” said the billionaire in a friendly but firm fashion. “I reread Chasing Daylight yesterday after my meeting in town. It’s the true story of high-powered CEO Eugene O’Kelly, who was informed he had only a few months left to live when his doctor discovered he had three brain tumors.”
“So, what did he do?” asked the artist softly.
“He organized his last days with the same commitment to orderliness he ran his business life by. O’Kelly tried to make up for the school concerts he’d missed, the family outings he’d passed up and the friendships he’d forgotten. In one part of the book he shared how he’d ask a friend out for a walk in nature and that this ‘was sometimes not only the final time we would take such a leisurely walk together but also the first time.’”
“Sad,” was the contribution of the entrepreneur as she nervously played with her bracelet. The worry lines on her forehead reappeared in full blazing glory.
“Then last night I watched The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, one of my favorite movies,” the billionaire continued. “It’s also a true story, about a man who was also atop the world, an editor-in-chief of French Elle magazine. Jean-Dominique Bauby had it all and then suffered a stroke that left him unable to move any muscle in his body—except for his left eyelid. The condition’s called ‘locked-in syndrome.’ His mind still worked perfectly. But it was as if his body was encased in a diving bell, totally paralyzed.”
“Sad,” said the artist, echoing his companion.
“Get this,” added Mr. Riley. “His rehabilitation therapists taught him a communication method called ‘silent alphabet’ which allowed him to form letters of words by blinking. And with their help, he wrote a book about his experience—and the essential meaning of life. It took him two hundred thousand blinks, but he completed the book.”
“I have nothing to complain about,” the entrepreneur said quietly.
“He passed away shortly after the book was published,” the billionaire kept on. “But the point I’m trying to offer with all this is that life is very, very fragile. There are people who will wake up today, take a shower, put on their clothes, drink their coffee, eat their oatmeal—and then be killed in a motor vehicle collision on their way to the office. That’s just life happening. So, my advice to you two special human beings is not to put off doing whatever it takes to express your natural genius. Live in a way that feels true to you and pay attention to the small miracles every day brings.”
“I hear you,” commented the artist as he tugged a dreadlock and fidgeted with the Panama hat he’d chosen to wear for this morning’s coaching session.
“I do, too,” stated the entrepreneur somberly.
“Enjoy every sandwich,” added the artist.
“Very wise insight,” said Mr. Riley.
“It’s not mine,” the artist replied sheepishly. “They are the words of songwriter Warren Zevon. He spoke them after he discovered he was terminally ill.”
“Be grateful for every moment. Don’t be timid when it comes to your ambitions. Stop wasting time on insanely trivial things. And make it a priority to reclaim the creativity, fire and potential that is dormant within you. It’s so important to do so. Why do you think Plato encouraged us to ‘know thyself’? He understood intimately that we have vast reservoirs of ability that absolutely must be accessed and then applied in order for us to lead energetic, joyful, peaceful and meaningful lives. To neglect this hidden force inside of us is to create a breeding ground for the pain of potential unused, the frustration of fearlessness unembraced and the lethargy of mastery unexplored.”
A kite surfer whizzed by. And a school of crown squirrelfish sailed through the water that was as clear as Abe Lincoln’s conscience.
“This brings us beautifully to what I wanted to walk you through this morning. Please look carefully at your sheet of paper,” the billionaire instructed.
Here is the learning model that the two students saw:
History-Maker Focus #1: Capitalization IQ
The mogul explained the concept of capitalization developed by eminent psychologist James Flynn. The valuable insight he conceived is that what makes a legendary performer so good isn’t the amount of natural talent they are born into but the extent of that potential they actualize—and capitalize. “Many of the finest athletes in the world,” Mr. Riley observed, “had less innate skill than their competition. But it was their exceptional dedication, commitment and drive to maximize whatever strengths they had that made them iconic.
“It’s the old ‘It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog’ insight,” declared the billionaire as he rubbed his chiseled abdominals absentmindedly and put on a new pair of sunglasses, the kind you’d see on a surfer in southern California.
“The Spellbinder taught me early on that by joining The 5 AM Club, I’d have a gorgeous window of opportunity every morning to cultivate my highest assets, take some time for myself and do the preparation needed for me to make each day a tiny gem. He helped me understand that successful people use their mornings well and that by rising before daybreak, I’d win a primary victory that would set me up for a triumphant day.”
“I never seem to have any ‘me time,’” interjected the entrepreneur. “My schedule’s always so full,” she repeated. “I’d love to have a block in the morning to recharge my batteries—and do some things that would make me a happier and better person.”
“Exactly,” remarked the billionaire. “So many of us lead time-starved lives. We absolutely need to have at least an hour first thing in the morning to refuel, grow and become healthier, more peaceful people. Getting up at 5 AM and then running The 20/20/20 Formula, which you’ll soon learn will give you an extraordinary head start on your days. You’ll be able to concentrate on high-value activities instead of letting your day control you. You’ll experience energy you never knew you had. The joyfulness you’ll reclaim will blow you away. And your sense of personal freedom will totally soar.”
Mr. Riley then turned around to display a temporary tattoo on his muscled back. It bore a quote by French philosopher Albert Camus that read: “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”
Below these words, on the industrialist’s back, was an image of a phoenix rising from the flames. It looked exactly like this:
“I so need this,” the entrepreneur said. “I know my productivity, gratefulness and calmness would improve so much if I had some personal time every morning before it all gets so hectic.”
“Me, too,” said the artist. “An hour to myself every morning to reflect and prepare would be a game-changer for my art. And for my life.”
“The Spellbinder taught me early on that investing sixty minutes in developing my best self and my greatest skills during what he called ‘The Victory Hour’ would transform the way the rest of my life unfolded mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. He promised it would give me one of those Gargantuan Competitive Advantages we discussed yesterday. And lead to the formation of absolute empires of creativity, money, joy and helpfulness to humanity. And I need to say he was completely right.
“Anyhoo,” chirped the billionaire. “Back to the concept of capitalization and the importance of intelligently exploiting whatever primal gifts you’ve been given. Too many among us have bought into the collective hypnosis that those with extraordinary skill are cut from a different cloth and have been divinely blessed by The Gods of Exceptional Talent. But that just ain’t so,” observed the billionaire, a wisp of his farm boy manner emerging.
“Dedication and discipline beats brilliance and giftedness every day of the week. And A-Players don’t get lucky. They make lucky. Each time you resist a temptation and pursue an optimization you invigorate your heroism. Every instant you do that which you know to be right over the thing that you feel would be easy, you facilitate your entry into the hall of fame of epic achievers.”
The billionaire stared at a gigantic seagull clutching its slimy breakfast. He then released a loud burp. “Oops. So sorry,” he spoke in the tone of apology.
“As I mentioned earlier, a lot of the latest research emerging on successful people is confirming that our private story about our potential is the key performance indicator on whether we actually exploit that potential.”
“What do you mean?” requested the entrepreneur as she stopped taking notes on her device to look into the eyes of the billionaire, who had now put on a tight t-shirt that read, “Victims have big TVs. Leaders own large libraries.”
“Well, if you’re running a mental narrative that says that you don’t have what it takes to be a superb leader in business or an acclaimed expert of your craft, then you won’t even start the adventure of getting there, will you? And world-class is a process, not an event. Running a limiting psychological program that says ‘everyday people can’t become great’ or ‘genius is born, not developed’ will cause you to think it would be a complete waste of time to do the studying, put in the practice hours and prioritize your days around your heartfelt desires. What would be the point of investing all that labor, vigor and time and making all those sacrifices when virtuoso-level results are impossible for someone like you, under your belief system? And then, because your daily behavior is always a function of your deepest beliefs, that very perception of your inability to realize victory becomes real,” noted the billionaire. “Human beings are hardwired to act in alignment with our self-identity, always. You’ll never rise higher than your personal story. Important insight there.”
He then peered out into the ocean at a small fishing boat with a net strewn across the end of it. A fisherman in a red shirt was smoking a cigarette as he navigated the vessel away from some dangerous coral reef. The billionaire mumbled another mantra to himself.
“I am grateful. And I am forgiving. I am giving. My life is beautiful, creative, productive, prosperous and magical.”
Then he continued the discussion around capitalization.
“The positive psychologists call the way we embrace a story about who we are and what we can achieve and then behave in a way that makes that fantasy actually come true ‘The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.’ We subconciously adopt a thinking pattern by learning it from the people who most influence us at an early age. Our parents, our teachers and our friends. Then we act according to it. And since what we do creates the results we see, this generally faulty personal story becomes a reality of our very own causing. Amazing, right? But that’s how most of us operate through the best years of our lives. The world is a mirror. And we get from life not what we want, but that which we are.”
“And I guess that the more we accept that core belief about our inability to produce excellent results in whatever it is we hope to do, the more we not only reinforce it so it becomes a trusted conviction but we also deepen the behavior that’s associated with it so it becomes a daily habit,” recited the artist, sounding professorish instead of bohemian in the pure morning air.
“Wonderfully said!” replied the billionaire excitedly. “I love the ‘trusted conviction’ idea. That’s good. You should share that phrase with The Spellbinder if you see him today. I think he’s out fishing but, knowing him, he’ll be getting some sun here on this beach later in the morning.”
The billionaire continued. “Every human being has an instinct for greatness, a hunger for the heroic and a psychic need to rise toward the heavens of their finest capability, whether we remember this consciously or not. A lot of us have been minimized and pushed down so much by the dark and toxic influences around us we’ve forgotten all we truly are. We’ve become masters of compromise, slowly and steadily allowing in more aspects of mediocrity until a point arrives where it’s our standard operating system. Real leaders never negotiate their standards. They know there’s always room to improve. They understand that we are most connected to our sovereign nature when we are reaching for our best. Alexander the Great once said: ‘I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.’”
The billionaire inhaled audibly. A butterfly fluttered by. And a crab scampered past him.
“I’m here to remind you,” he carried on, “that each one of us holds a profound capacity for leadership within us. And as you now know, I’m not speaking of leadership in the sense of having a title, a lofty position or needing some formal authority. What I’m referring to is so much more weighty and exquisite than that. It’s the true power inside a human heart versus the transitory power delivered by a big office, a fast car and a large bank balance. What I’m speaking of is the potency to do work that is so great we just can’t take our eyes off you. The capability to create massive value in your marketplace. The capacity to impact—and disrupt—an entire industry. And the power to live with honor, nobility, audacity and integrity. So that you fulfill your opportunity to make history, in your own original way. Doesn’t matter if you’re a CEO or a janitor. A billionaire or a ditch digger. A movie star or a student. If you are alive today, you have the ability to lead without a title and make your mark on the world, even if you don’t currently believe you can due to the limits of your current perception. Your perception isn’t reality. It just isn’t. It’s just your current perception on reality, kindly remember that. It’s simply the lens you happen to be looking at reality through at this moment of your ascent toward world-class. Makes me think of the words of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who wrote, ‘Most people take the limits of their vision to be the limits of the world. A few do not. Join them.’”
“So, there’s a large difference between reality and our perception of reality, right?” inquired the entrepreneur. “It seems from what you’re saying that it’s almost as if we see the world through a filter that’s made up of all our personal programming. And we run the program so much we get brainwashed into believing that the way we are seeing the world is real, right? You’ve got me rethinking the way I see everything now,” she admitted as the skin on her forehead scrunched together like a rose contracting in the cold.
“I’m beginning to question so much,” she went on. “Why I started my business in the first place. Why social status is so important to me. Why I have such urges to eat in the sleekest restaurants, live in the best neighborhoods and drive the most stylish cars. I think part of the reason I’ve been so crushed by the takeover attempt at my company is because I get my identity as a human being from being the founder. Honestly, I’ve been so busy driving my career, I haven’t stopped for gas in terms of really thinking things through—and living intentionally. And it’s like The 3 Step Success Formula you taught us yesterday. As I develop better daily awareness around myself and why it is that I do what I do, I’ll make the better daily choices that will give me better daily results.”
The entrepreneur was unstoppable.
“I have no clue what my authentic values are, what I want to represent as a leader, why I’m building what I’m building, what really makes me happy and how I want to be remembered when I’m no longer here. The story of that CEO and the stroke of that editor really spoke to me. Life really is super-fragile. And—now that I’m speaking so openly—I think I’ve been spending many days chasing the wrong things. Stuck in the noise of complexity instead of hearing the signal of those top-value pursuits in my career and in my private life that would really make a difference. And I think about the past a lot. What happened to me in my childhood. I also haven’t had any time for any friendships. I have no real passions. I’ve never watched the sun rise, until now. And I’ve never found true love,” said the entrepreneur as she anxiously rubbed her bracelet.
The entrepreneur looked over to the artist. “Until now.”
Tears filled his eyes.
“Trillions of planets in this universe,” he pronounced, “billions of people on our planet and I was fortunate enough to meet you.”
The entrepreneur smiled and then proceeded to respond in a gentle tone. “I hope I never lose you.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” interjected the billionaire. “We’re all on our paths, know what I mean? We’re all exactly where we need to be to receive the growth lessons we’re meant to learn. And a problem will persist until you get the education it showed up to bring. And I do agree with you that human beings have a tragic habit of remembering the things that would be smart to forget and forgetting the wonderful things it would be wise to remember. Anyhoo, I do understand you. Please just trust that the highest and wisest part of you is leading you. There are no accidents on this path to legendary and the making of a life that matters. And, if you ask me, there’s nothing wrong with magnificent homes, fast cars and lots of money. I really, really need you to hear me on that. Please. We are spiritual beings having a human experience—as the old saying goes. Having plenty of money is what life wants for you. Abundance is nature’s way. There’s no scarcity of flowers, lemon trees and stars in the sky. Money allows you to do superb things for yourself—and for the people you care most about. And it offers you the chance to help those in need.”
A tourist waterskiing behind a speedboat zoomed by. You could hear him laughing with glee.
“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” the magnate continued. “I’ve given away most of my vast liquid fortune. Yes, I still have the jets and the Zurich flat and this oceanside place. And though my business interests are still valued at an amount that makes me a billionaire, I need none of it. I’m not attached to any of this.”
“I read a story that I think you’ll like,” shared the artist. “Kurt Vonnegut, the writer, and Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, were at a party hosted by a renowned financier on Long Island. Vonnegut asked his companion how it felt to know that their host made more money in the day before the gala than he had made from all royalties of his bestselling book. Heller replied, ‘I’ve got something he can never have.’ Vonnegut asked, ‘What on Earth could that be, Joe?’ Heller’s reply was priceless: ‘The knowledge that I’ve got enough.’”
“Brilliant!” enthused the billionaire. “Love it!” he shouted inappropriately loudly as he high-fived the artist. He then performed the little dance he loved to do when he was happy yet again before launching into a series of jumping jacks. His eyes were closed as he did them. Such an oddball.
The artist went on talking. “Anyway, I understand what you’re teaching us on this point about capitalization and The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. No one will believe in our ability to do great things until we first believe in our greatness and then put in the sincere and rigorous effort to realize it. You know what Pablo Picasso once said?”
“Tell us, please,” implored the entrepreneur, her stance showing that she was very open in this instant.
“Picasso announced, ‘My mother said to me, if you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the pope. Instead, I was a painter. And became Picasso.’”
“Gnarly, man,” the billionaire remarked. “Now that’s faith and confidence in one’s potential.”
The billionaire ran a fist along his tanned chin, looking down at the white sand for a moment.
“And it’s not only our parents who are responsible for the limited programs most people are running through their minds during the finest hours of their greatest days. Like I suggested, many well-meaning yet unaware teachers reinforce the idea that the heroic geniuses of the arts, sciences, sports and humanities are ‘special’ and that we need to accept that we are ‘ordinary,’ incapable of producing towering work that leaves people breathless by its excellence and generating a life that is matchless. And then we have the association of our friends and relentless messaging of the media supporting the same ‘facts.’ Essentially it all becomes this consistent hypnotization where, without us even knowing it, the once-blazing fire of genius within us grows dimmer. And the once-passionate voices of possibility get quieter. We minimize our abilities and begin a lifelong process of playing small with our powers and constructing prisons around our strengths. We stop behaving as leaders, creative producers and possibilitarians. And we start acting as victims.”
“Disappointing what happens to so many good people. And most of us can’t see this brainwashing away from our best selves happening,” reflected the entrepreneur.
“Yup,” responded the billionaire. “Even worse, the potential unexpressed turns to pain, I need to emphasize.”
“What do you mean by that?” wondered the artist, turning his eyes away and shifting his posture somewhat nervously. “Maybe I’m sabotaging creating art as original and exceptional as the great masters did because I’ve avoided capitalizing on my potential for so long that I’m hurting deep inside,” the artist thought to himself.
“Well, our noblest selves know the truth: each of us are built to do astonishing things with our human gifts and materialize astounding feats with our productive talents. The word ‘astonish’ is actually derived from the Latin word ‘extonare,’ which means ‘to leave someone thunderstruck.’ Every single person alive today carries the capacity deep within their hearts—and spirits—to do this. The more we decrease the volume of our unhealthy narrative which, neurobiologically speaking, is a creation of our limbic system, the more we will hear this sublime call on ourselves to rise up to the blatant expression of our greatest genius. This is true whether you’re a supervisor within a large organization, a programmer in a small cubicle, a teacher in a school or a chef in a restaurant. You absolutely have the capacity to lift your work to the level of artistry and have an impact for the betterment of humanity. And yet we resign our lives to apathy because of this faulty perception of who we truly are and what we can really accomplish, staying violently stuck in half-alive lives. And here’s the really big idea: as we betray our true power, a part of us starts to die,” noted the billionaire.
“Dramatic insight,” acknowledged the artist. “I seriously need to make some massive changes. I’m tired of feeling tired. And neglecting my creative abilities. I’m beginning to get that I’m special.”
“You are,” affirmed the entrepreneur. “You are,” she repeated, in a voice of tenderness.
“I’m also starting to see that I care too much about what others think. Some of my friends make fun of my paintings. And they say I’m a screwball behind my back. I’m realizing they just don’t understand me. And my vision for my art.”
“Many of the great geniuses of the world were not appreciated until decades after they died, you know,” the billionaire offered, in a murmur.
“And on your point about your friends, I’m not so sure you’re surrounding yourself with the right ones. And maybe now it’s time to do you rather than limiting your talent and aliveness because you are seduced by the opinions of others. Kurt Cobain said it better than I ever could: ‘I was tired of pretending that I was someone else just to get along with people, just for the sake of having friendships.’”
“Hmm,” was the artist’s only response.
“What I’m sharing is accurate. We become our associations. And you’ll never have a positive influence in your field and make a beautiful life if you hang with negative people,” continued the billionaire. “Oh—and that pain I was just speaking of—if not attended to and released—starts to form a deep reservoir of fear and self-hatred within us. Most of us don’t have the awareness or possess the tools to process through this well of suppressed anguish. Most of us are unconscious to this quiet torment created by the disrespect we have shown to our promise. And so, we deny it if someone even suggests it. We flee from it when presented with an opportunity to manifest it. And we subconsciously develop a series of soul-crushing escape routes to avoid feeling this pain generated by our talents denied.”
“Like what?” quizzed the entrepreneur.
“Addictions. Like constantly checking for messages or scanning for ‘likes.’ Or spending vast chunks of our daily lives watching too much television. TV shows have become so superb these days, it’s so easy to get hooked. And when one episode ends, on some viewing platforms, the next one begins automatically. Many among us also make flights from their greatness by chatting and gossiping endlessly, not really understanding that there’s a staggering difference between being busy and being productive.
“High-impact performers and genuine world-builders aren’t very available to whoever seeks their attention and demands their time. They’re hard to reach, waste few moments and are far more focused on doing real work versus artificial work—so they deliver the breathtaking results that advance our world. Other avoidance tactics from the pain of potential unexpressed are hours mindlessly surfing online, electronic shopping, working too much, drinking too much, eating too much, complaining too much and sleeping too much.”
The tycoon sipped from his water bottle. Another fishing boat motored by. The woman who captained it waved to Mr. Riley, who bowed mightily in reply.
“The Spellbinder calls this whole phenomenon ‘Learned Victimhood,’” the billionaire carried on in a wonderfully exuberant way. “As we leave our youth, there’s a pull toward complacency. We can start to coast, settle for what’s familiar and lose the juicy desire to expand our frontiers. We adopt the paradigm of a victim. We make excuses and then recite them so many times we train our subconscious mind to think they are true. We blame other people and outer conditions for our struggles, and we condemn past events for our private wars. We grow cynical and lose the curiosity, wonder, compassion and innocence we knew as kids. We become apathetic. Critical. Hardened. Within this personal ecosystem the majority of us create for ourselves, mediocrity then becomes acceptable. And because this mindset is running within us each day, the viewpoint seems so very real to us. We truly believe that the story we are running reveals the truth—because we’re so close to it. So, rather than showing leadership in our fields, owning our crafts by producing dazzling work and handcrafting delicious lives, we resign ourselves to average. See how it all happens?”
“Yes. At least it’s all becoming clearer. So, the key is to rescript our personal story, right?” inquired the entrepreneur.
“Absolutely,” confirmed the billionaire. “Every time you become aware of yourself dropping into victim mode and make a more courageous choice, you rewrite the narrative. You raise your self-identity, elevate your self-respect and enrich your self-confidence. Each time you vote for your superior self you starve your weaker side—and feed your inherent power. And as you do this with the consistency demanded by mastery, your ‘Capitalization IQ,’ that is your ability to materialize whatever gifts you’ve been born with, will only grow.”
The billionaire invited his two students to move to the terrace of his home to continue the morning’s lesson on The 4 Focuses of History-Makers.
History-Maker Focus #2: Freedom from Distraction
The billionaire pointed to the model with a pinky finger.
“Remember that important brain tattoo of successful people? ‘An addiction to distraction is the death of your creative production.’ It will guide us through this section of today’s mentoring session. And I’ve decided to go deep into the importance of winning the war against diversion and cyber nuisances because it’s an extremely serious issue in our culture. In some ways, the new technologies and social media are not only eroding the Everests of our glorious productive potential, they are also training us to be less human. We have fewer real conversations, fewer true connections and fewer meaningful interactions.”
“Um. Yes, I’m realizing this more and more as the mornings pass on this beach,” admitted the entrepreneur.
“Filling valuable hours with meaningless moves is the drug of choice for most people,” the billionaire continued. “Intellectually we know we shouldn’t be wasting time on zero-value activities, but emotionally we just can’t beat the temptation. We just can’t fight the hook. This behavior is costing organizations billions of dollars in lost productivity and deficient quality. And as I suggested earlier, people are making more mistakes in their work than ever before because they aren’t present to what they’re doing. Their precious concentration has been hijacked by a foolish use of technology and their priceless focus has been kidnapped, costing them their chance to create their best work and calibrate their finest lives.”
The stillness and quietude that only the day’s earliest hours provide was still evident.
The industrialist paused. He scanned the entire scene, gazing at the flowers neatly ordered around his home, then at the cargo ships on the horizon that looked like they hadn’t moved and finally at the ocean.
“Look, cats,” he said at last. “I love the modern world—I really do. Without all the technology we have available to us life would be a lot harder. My businesses wouldn’t be as successful as they are, I wouldn’t be as efficient as I am and I possibly wouldn’t be here with you two.”
“Why?” wondered the artist as a single dolphin swam by gracefully. Astoundingly, it then soared high out of the ocean and spun in the air four times before returning to the water with a lavish splash.
Mr. Riley looked delighted. “I’m so happy I discovered how to become a magnet for miracles,” he whispered to himself. “And I can’t wait to teach these good folks how to do the same for themselves.” He then kept on with his discourse.
“All the innovations in healthcare tech saved my life when I was sick,” the billionaire explained. “Anyhoo, technology well used is a phenomenal thing. It’s all the silly ways people apply it now that really concerns me. So many potentially outstanding people are suffering from ‘broken focus syndrome’ because they’ve filled their professional and personal lives with so many gadgets, interruptions and cybernoise. If you’re in the sport of winning, please model all of the great masters of history and strip away all the layers of complexity from your days. Simplify. Streamline everything. Become a purist. Less really is more. Concentrate on just a few work projects so you make them amazing versus diluting your attention on too many. And socially, have fewer friends but go deep with them so the relationship is rich. Accept fewer invitations, major in fewer leisure activities and study, then master, a smaller number of books versus skimming many. An intense concentration only on what matters most is how the pros realize victory. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.
“Stop managing your time and start managing your focus,” added the billionaire. “Now there’s a principle for greatness in this overstimulated society we live in.”
“Thanks to your teaching so far,” said the artist, “I now understand that being busy doesn’t mean you’re being productive. I’ve also come to see that when I work on a new painting, the closer I get to great art, the more some darker part of me wants to get me distracted so that I avoid doing something mind-blowing. It happens fairly often now that I think about it. I’ll get nearer to fantastic work and I then begin to break my work routine. I’ll go online and just surf. I’ll sleep later and watch entire seasons of my favorite shows or play video games with my virtual friends all night. Sometimes I’ll just drink too much cheap red wine.”
“The closer you get to your genius, the more you’ll face the sabotage of your fears,” agreed the billionaire powerfully. “You’ll become scared of leaving the majority and having to deal with the by-products of mastery, like being different from most people, jealousy from competitors and the pressure to make your next project even better. As you rise toward virtuosity, you’ll become anxious about failure, threatened by a concern of not being good enough and insecure about blazing new paths. So, your amygdala—an almond-shaped mass of gray matter in the brain that detects fear—gets all fired up. And you begin to tear down the productivity you’ve built up. We all have a subconcious saboteur that lurks within our weakest selves, you know? The good news is that once you become aware of this condition . . .”
“I can make the better daily choices that will give me better daily results,” the artist interrupted with all the energy of a puppy seeing its owner after a long day alone.
“Exactly,” said the billionaire. “Once you are aware of the fact that, as you near your highest talents and most luminous gifts, the scared side of you will rear its ugly head and try to mess up the masterpieces you’ve been creating by pursuing every distraction and escape route possible to avoid finishing, you can manage that self-destructive behavior. You can step outside of it. You can disempower it, simply by watching its attempts to denounce your mastery.”
“Really profound insights here,” contributed the entrepreneur. “This explains so much about why I’m limiting my productivity, performance and influence at my company. I’ll set an important target. I get the team enrolled in it. We sequence the key deliverables. Then I get distracted. I’ll say ‘yes’ to another opportunity that adds more complexity to our business. I’ll fill my days with useless meetings with people who love to hear the sound of their own voice. I’ll check my notifications obsessively and watch ‘breaking news’ reports religiously. This morning it’s become super-clear how I’m totally sabotaging my effectiveness. It’s also pretty obvious that I am addicted to the digital nonsense you’re speaking about. I’ll be honest, I haven’t gotten over some of my exes because it’s so easy to watch their lives on social media. I’m understanding now that a lot of the hours I could be super-creative I trade for online recreation. Like you said, Mr. Riley, it’s a form of escape. I can’t seem to stop shopping on my devices. It’s just too easy. And it makes me feel happy, for a few minutes. I’m getting why Steve Jobs didn’t give his kids the very things he sold to the world. He understood how addictive they could be, if improperly used. And how they could make us less human and less alive.”
The billionaire raised a hand. Another assistant sprinted from the beach hut up to the now sun-soaked terrace. He wore a crisp white shirt, charcoal gray sailing shorts and well-cared-for black leather sandals.
“Here you are, sir,” the young man said with a French accent as he handed the mogul a tray with mysterious markings on it. In the center was a model of the human brain.
It looked exactly like this:
“Merci beaucoup, Pierre. Now let’s explore the neuroscience of self-sabotage so you cats can understand it better—and then beat it. Remember, each of us has what The Spellbinder calls ‘The Ancient Brain.’ This is made up of the limbic system—a set of brain structures that sit on both sides of the thalamus, right under the cerebrum. The amygdala that I mentioned a few moments ago is part of this. This basic and lower-functioning brain served to keep us safe thousands of years ago in a primitive world of relentless threats like starvation, temperature extremes, warring tribes and saber-toothed tigers. It functions to do one main thing: maintain a steady state while warning us against dangers so we survive and propagate our species.
“With me so far?” asked the billionaire politely.
“Understood.” The entrepreneur and the artist responded in unison as a housekeeper served fresh lemon tea with some chunks of ginger in it.
“Excellent. One of the fascinating traits of our ancient brain is its negativity bias. To keep us safe, it’s far less interested in what’s positive in our environment and significantly more invested in letting us know what’s bad.
“This brain’s default is to hunt for danger,” the billionaire continued happily. “So back when life was much more brutal, we could respond swiftly and stay alive. That mechanism served our ancestors exceedingly well. But in today’s world, most of us don’t face death daily. The reality is that the ordinary person lives a higher quality life than most members of royalty did even just a few hundred years ago. Please think about this blessing.”
The tycoon slurped some tea.
“And yet, because of this built-in negativity bias within our ancient brains, we’re constantly scanning for breaches against our security. We’re in hypervigilance mode, mostly anxious and uptight, even when everything’s going great. Fascinating, right?”
“Explains a lot of why we think the way we do,” noted the entrepreneur as she, too, enjoyed the tea. “Now I see why I always seem to feel I’ve never achieved enough, even though I’ve accomplished more than anyone I know,” the entrepreneur carried on. “I have such a successful business, a robust net worth and before my investors got greedy—a fairly wonderful life. Yet despite everything I have, my brain seems to always focus on what I’m missing, where I don’t have enough and how I’m falling short of expectations around winning. Drives me crazy. I hardly feel any peace. Ever.”
The entrepreneur crossed her arms. The artist blew her a kiss as his dreadlocks dangled in the fragrant breeze.
“Theodore Roosevelt said something I think it’s important you hear,” expounded the billionaire.
“What did he say?” inquired the entrepreneur, her arms clenched tightly.
“‘Comparison is the thief of joy,’” responded the billionaire. “Someone will always have more fortune, fame and stuff than you do. Think about my earlier point about detachment and embracing the wisdom of knowing when enough is enough.”
“Yes. I remember,” said the entrepreneur courteously.
“More and more of this hunger you have comes from deeper feelings of scarcity. And a lot of this is stemming from the workings of your ancient brain. It’s scanning your environment and the negativity bias is being activated, preventing you from enjoying all the good you have. Okay,” said the billionaire. “Let’s go even more granular. As time advanced, our brains evolved. And the prefrontal cortex developed. This is the part of our brain responsible for higher thinking. Neuroscientists consider it the crown jewel of advanced reasoning. The Spellbinder calls it ‘The Mastery Brain.’ But here’s the thing: As we began to dream bigger, learn quicker and raise our levels of creativity, productivity and performance, the ancient brain and the mastery brain began a conflict. They went to war. The primitive brain senses our growth, knows we’re leaving our safe harbor of the known and gets fired up because we’re leaving our traditional ways of being. It senses the threat—even though the threat is essential to our personal ascension and professional advancement. We absolutely must venture into those unexplored places where possibility lives to become more intimate with our primal genius and to become all we are meant to be. Knowing we have higher reaches of talent and courage left to visit floods a human heart with immense excitement. This knowledge is one of the vast treasures that make life worth living. The celebrated psychologist Abraham Maslow once stated, ‘If you plan on being anything less than who you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.’ But the amygdala kicks into high gear as we exit what’s familiar and try something new. The vagus nerve gets provoked, the fear hormone cortisol gets released. And we begin to destroy the very intentions and implementations that our mastery brain so intelligently wants us to realize.”
“This explains why so few people are highly creative and extremely productive,” the artist observed. “As we leave our comfort zones, the ancient brain gets triggered. As we raise our expertise and lift our influence, it gets frightened by the change.”
“Exactly,” applauded Mr. Riley. “Then cortisol is released, our perception narrows, our breathing grows shallow and we drop into fight-or-flight mode. Actually, the three options of fear are flight, fight or freeze.”
The artist added, “Our higher thinking wants us to grow, evolve, do more masterful work, lead better lives and inspire the world,” continued the artist. “But there’s a battle of our brains going on. And the ancient, lower—more primitive—brain inside all of us wants to stop our evolution.”
“Exactly,” said the billionaire as he fist-bumped the painter.
“And so, speaking to the second focus of history-makers on the model you’re walking us through—freedom from distraction—I guess it’s because of this fear we face that we embrace as many diversions as possible to make us feel better, even if only for a minute?” questioned the entrepreneur.
“Truth,” confirmed the billionaire. “And to escape the discomfort that comes with us becoming more intimate with our inherent genius.”
“This is such a big piece for me.” The artist couldn’t contain his enthusiasm. “You’ve just walked us through why our culture is so addicted to distractions. And why the majority don’t experience their greatness. And I guess that’s why creative and productive people are the real warriors of our society. We not only have to face the insults of our naysayers and the arrows of those critics who don’t understand our art, we also need to have the guts to push past the alarm bells of our ancient brains pleading with us not to reach for our brilliance.”
“Poetically said, my friend!” exclaimed the billionaire gleefully. He did that little dance again. The housekeeper, who was sweeping the veranda, just shook her head.
“It takes an awesome amount of courage to feel the terror of true personal and professional growth—and to keep going—even when you sort of feel you’re dying,” taught the titan. “But continuing when you’re frightened is how you become a legend. You two cats are makers, builders of great things. And all builders consistently break through their fear, daily, to find higher levels of prowess, impact and human freedom. Oh—and the fantastic reward you’ll receive as you fully express your strengths and gifts isn’t only the product of your heroic efforts. It’s who you’ll become by advancing through the fire of your fears and the heat of your trials along the process to mastery. You get to know who you are, you see your abilities more clearly, your confidence soars, you need the stroking of the crowd a lot less and you begin to live your authentic life versus a plastic one manufactured by a world that doesn’t want you to be free.”
The billionaire sipped from his water bottle before continuing to explain the importance of breaking free from the death grip of device distraction and digital diversions.
“And that’s where being a member of The 5 AM Club can also work its magic for you,” he told his audience of two. “One of the ways the great men and women of the world avoided complexity was by incorporating tranquility and serenity into the front part of their days. This beautiful discipline gave them absolutely essential time away from overstimulation to savor life itself, replenish their creative reservoirs, develop their supreme selves, count their blessings and ground the virtues that they would then live out their days under. Many of the people who fueled the progress of our civilization shared the habit of rising before daybreak.”
“Could you name a few of those people?” quizzed the entrepreneur.
“John Grisham, the famous novelist, for one,” replied the billionaire. “Other celebrated early risers include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Georgia O’Keeffe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway, who said that early in the morning ‘there is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write.’”
“Beethoven rose at dawn,” said the artist.
“The great ones all spent a lot of time alone,” offered the billionaire. “Solitude—the kind that you can access before the sun comes up—is a force multiplier around your power, expertise and connection to being human. And your escalation requires your isolation. See, you can be in the world all day long chatting endlessly on your phone about one thousand senseless things or you can change the world by exploiting your talent, refining your skills and being a light of upliftment that raises us all. But you can’t do both. Princeton psychologist Eldar Shafir has used the term ‘cognitive bandwidth’ to explain the point that we have a limited amount of mental capacity when we rise each morning. And as we give our attention to numerous influences—ranging from the news, messages and online platforms to our families, our work, our fitness and our spiritual lives—we leave bits of our focus on each activity we pursue. Massively important insight to consider. No wonder most of us have trouble concentrating on important tasks by noon. We’ve spent our bandwidth. Sophie Leroy, a business professor at the University of Minnesota, calls the concentration we deposit on distraction and other stimuli ‘attention residue.’ She’s found that people are far less productive when they are constantly interrupting themselves by shifting from one task to another throughout the day because they leave valuable pieces of their attention on too many different pursuits. The solution is exactly what I’m suggesting: work on one high-value activity at a time instead of relentlessly multitasking—and do so in a quiet environment. Albert Einstein made the point exquisitely when he wrote, ‘Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason, mastery demands all of a person.’ This really is one of the most closely guarded secrets of the virtuosos and history-makers. They don’t diffuse their cognitive bandwidth. They don’t dilute their creative gifts chasing every shiny diversion and every attractive opportunity that comes their way. No, instead they exercise the fierce discipline required to do only a few things—but at an absolutely world-class level. It’s like I said before: the great ones understand that it’s far smarter to create one piece of art—a genuine masterpiece—that endures for generations rather than thousands of projects that express no genius. And please also remember: the hours that The 95% waste The Top 5% treasure. 5 AM is the time of least distraction, highest human glory and greatest peace. So leverage The Victory Hour well. You’ll make quantum leaps in your productivity as well as in your personal mastery. I don’t want to get too much further into the neuroscience I’ve shared this morning, and I have an amazing surprise planned. But there is one more concept that I’d love to share with you two. It’s called ‘transient hypofrontality.’”
“Transient what a whatta?” queried the artist as he laughed.
The billionaire walked over to a towering palm tree with a thick trunk revealing its vast age. A sun-bleached wooden table with a wide circular top sat under it. A model had been meticulously carved into the wood. You would have been most impressed—and fascinated—if you saw it.
The magnate cleared his throat and chugged some of the lemon tea. After a few seconds, he began to gargle. Yes, gargle. Then he carried on his discourse. “When you’re up early and all alone, away from the overstimulation and noise, your attention isn’t being fragmented by technology, meetings and other forces that can limit maximum productivity,” mused the billionaire. “And so the prefrontal cortex, that part of your brain responsible for rational thinking—as well as constant worrying—actually shuts off for a short time. Lovely information, right? That’s the ‘transient’ part of transient hypofrontality. It happens only temporarily. Your nonstop analyzing, ruminating and stressful overthinking stops. You pause from trying to figure everything out and being so concerned about things that will probably never happen. Your brain waves actually shift from their usual beta to alpha, and sometimes even down into theta state. The solitude, silence and stillness of daybreak also triggers the production of neurotransmitters like dopamine, the inspirational fuel that serves superproducers so well, and serotonin, the beautiful pleasure drug of the brain. Automatically and naturally, you enter what I described earlier as ‘The Flow State.’
Mr. Riley waved his left hand over the diagram on the table. It looked like this:
“The Flow State is the peak mindset that all exceptionalists like top violinists, iconic athletes, elite chefs, brilliant scientists, empire-building entrepreneurs and legendary leaders inhabit when they produce their finest product,” the industrialist added enthusiastically.
“When you give yourself the gift of some morning peace away from your busyness, the hardwired capacity of every human brain to access the realm of pure genius becomes activated. The excellent news for you two cats is that with the right moves, you can habituate this state of awesome performance so it shows up with absolute predictability.”
“Transient hypofrontality. A very helpful model,” declared the entrepreneur as she gingerly placed her phone into her shorts.
“The entire world would transform if people knew this information,” pronounced the artist.
“They should be teaching all this to kids in schools,” the entrepreneur suggested.
“So true,” agreed the billionaire. “But, again, I need to give all the credit for this philosophy I’m sharing with you—and the transformational methodology that I’ll soon walk you through so you implement all this potent information—to The Spellbinder. He’s been my greatest teacher. And with zero doubt, the finest human being I know. Ingenuity without integrity isn’t so impressive to me. Unusual accomplishment free of uncommon compassion is senseless. And, yes, if every person on the planet was educated in this material and then they had the commitment to apply it, the entire world would be advanced. Because each of us would own and then live our latent power to realize extraordinary results. And rise into completely glorious people.”
History-Maker Focus #3: Personal Mastery Practice
The billionaire walked his two students past the expansive terrace that offered delightful views of the ocean around to the front of his house. A black SUV shimmered in the driveway, as the rays of the morning sun washed over it.
“Where are we going?” asked the entrepreneur.
“Well, I promised you both at that dramatic meeting we had at the conference that you would swim with the dolphins if you came to visit me in Mauritius. So, I’m delivering on my promise. We’re going to the western part of the island, to a small seaside village called Flic-en-Flac. Two young and delightful dudes are waiting there for us. They’re skilled at finding where the dolphins are. Get ready to be blown away by what you’re about to experience, my friends. This will be unforgettable for you.”
The SUV was soon veering through the charming pocket-sized towns that surrounded the compound of the industrialist and rolling onto a perfectly kept highway. The billionaire sat in the front with his driver, asking about his children, his latest fascinations and his aspirations for the future. Throughout the journey, Mr. Riley would ask a thoughtful question, then lean back and listen carefully. One could see he was a man of towering depth. With a mammoth heart.
As the vehicle eased up to a lovely harbor, graced by a sandy beach, a few white cottages, a quaint fish restaurant and many aging boats moored in the water, a rooster proudly sang his morning anthem. And the miraculous sight of a double rainbow unfolded across the magnificent blue sky.
Two young fishermen greeted the billionaire with hugs. The group then set off into the vast Indian Ocean, searching for a school of dolphins they could swim and play with. The song “Strength of a Woman” by Jamaican singer Shaggy blasted from an inexpensive speaker roughly installed into the side of the boat with gray duct tape. The spray coming off the motorboat as it struck the waves soaked the faces of the billionaire, the entrepreneur and the artist, making them giggle like children dancing in puddles left after the rain.
After a few attempts, dolphins were spotted swimming jubilantly in a small cove surrounded by soaring cliffs, the kind you’d see along the Pacific Coast Highway in California. The way those creatures rejoiced as they glided through the ocean would make you feel as if there were a thousand of them in that little inlet. But there were only about eleven or so.
The billionaire threw on a diving mask and quickly slipped into the water from a platform at the back of the motor boat. “C’mon, cats,” he said excitedly. “Let’s go!”
The entrepreneur went in next, her eyes alive and her heart beating with an elation she hadn’t accessed since her youth. Her breathing sounded shallow and rapid through her snorkel. It sounded like hooosh, hooosh.
The artist followed, doing a belly flop off the end of the boat.
Guided by one of the young fishermen, who was wearing surf shorts with a colorful tropical print and sporting rubber shoes, the three adventurers frolicked with the dolphins as they swam smoothly just below the water’s surface. When the dolphins descended, so did their three euphoric companions. When they would twirl around, so would the members of The 5 AM Club. When they would flirt with one another, so would the entrepreneur and the artist.
The experience only lasted about fifteen minutes. But it was miraculous.
“That was unbelievable,” exuded the artist breathlessly as he emerged from the water and struggled to get back into the boat from the small stage near the motor.
“One of the most amazing experiences of my life,” gushed the entrepreneur, as she kissed him lavishly.
The billionaire soon surfaced. He was hooting with laughter. “Boy, that was a blast!”
On returning to the harbor, the morning mentoring class resumed on the beach, next to a pile of stones that locals used for barbecuing fish. The double rainbow remained extended across the sweeping sky.
The billionaire lifted a hand toward the heavens. Four white doves appeared abruptly, out of nowhere. Then a cluster of pink and yellowish butterflies sailed by.
“Good,” announced the tycoon as he stared at them. After letting out a few throaty coughs that also seemed to come out of nowhere, he proceeded to point to the third area of The 4 Focuses of History-Makers model he’d been walking his two students through on this particular day. It had “Personal Mastery Practice” printed on it.
“What are we talking about here?” wondered the artist, his dreadlocks dripping and his thick tattooed arms around the entrepreneur to keep her warm. She was shivering.
“Training the best parts of you,” was the straightforward reply. “Remember the Spartan warrior credo that The Spellbinder shared at the seminar? ‘Sweat more in practice, bleed less in war.’ Well, the quality of your morning practice determines the caliber of your daily performance. Battles are won in the early light of intense training—when no one’s watching. Victories occur before warriors walk onto the field. Triumph belongs to the one who prepares the most. It’s obvious that if you want to be the best in the world at business or art or chess or as a designer or as a mechanic or as a manager, you need to put in enormous amounts of practice time to advance your expertise. Specifically, a performer must invest at least two hours and forty-four minutes of daily improvement on their chosen skill for ten years, as preeminent psychologist Anders Ericsson of Florida State University has taught us through his groundbreaking research. This is the minimum viable amount of practice required for the first signs of genius to appear within any domain. Yet so few of us think of the importance of putting what amounts to ten thousand hours of training into becoming better human beings. And that’s why so few among us unlock that code which, once cracked, liberates our sovereign selves with all the wisdom, creativity, bravery, love and inner peace that comes with that manifestation. It’s only when we improve that our lives improve, know what I mean? What I’m suggesting to you two is that you need to practice advancing toward personal mastery daily, just as we must dedicate ourselves to any other skill we seek to be world-class at. Fortify and bulletproof and nourish the core dimensions of your inner life and, trust me, you’ll x100 your life. Everything you do in your outer world is an absolute consequence of what’s happening within you. This is where you need to do the real morning preparation. Then you’ll walk out into the world every day thinking, feeling and producing at levels that make you unconquerable. You owe this gift to yourself.”
“I’ve never believed much in self-improvement before The Spellbinder’s conference,” stated the entrepreneur flatly. “It’s never seemed real to me.”
“Have you ever tried it? I mean seriously practiced it over an extended period of time?” asked the billionaire, firmly. Yet another dove flew overhead. And when the mogul glanced up at the sun, it almost appeared that the clouds parted.
“Not really,” admitted the entrepreneur. “Until now. Until I joined The 5 AM Club.”
“Okay. Good. So, let’s keep going. Here’s the key,” said the billionaire. “During your Victory Hour, from 5 to 6 AM each morning, concentrate on upgrading what The Spellbinder calls The 4 Interior Empires. This will be the smartest, and sometimes the most difficult, work you will ever do in your life. Deeply working on you. Cultivating the four central inner arenas that I’ll walk you through in a moment is your golden key to transformation. It won’t be easy—I need to reinforce that. But it will be totally worth it.”
“Why?” wondered the entrepreneur. She’d stopped shaking from the cold water of the Indian Ocean. But the artist still held her. His dreadlocks still dripped. And the renegade rooster still crowed.
“Because inner empires need to be unfolded up to world-class before you’ll ever see outer ones. And your fortune always follows your fearlessness. Powerful insight, cats: Your influence in the world mirrors the glory, nobility, vitality and luminosity you’ve accessed in yourself. Very few people in this time of superficiality and human creatures behaving like artificial machines remember this essential life truth. External always expresses internal, without always reflects within. Your creativity, productivity, prosperity, performance and impact on the planet are always a sublime expression of what’s going on inside of you. For example, if you lack faith in your ability to get your ambitions done, you’ll never achieve them. If you don’t feel deserving of abundance, you’ll never do what’s required to realize it. And if your drive to capitalize on your genius is weak, your fire to train is dim and your stamina to optimize is low, it’s clear you’ll never take flight into the rare-air of outright mastery. And realize domain dominance. External always expresses internal. And to experience empires in your outer life you need to develop your inner ones first,” reinforced the billionaire.
He started to sip from a bottle of green-colored liquid that one of the fishermen had given him when he hopped out of the motor boat. If you looked very closely at the text printed on the glass, you’d read these words of Mahatma Gandhi: “The only devils in the world are those running in our own hearts. That is where the battle should be fought.”
“As you consistently increase the inherent power inside you,” Mr. Riley continued, “you’ll actually begin to see an alternate reality flush with gorgeous opportunity and luxurious possibility. You’ll play in a universe of the marvelous that members of the majority can’t even perceive. Because their eyes are blinded by doubt, disbelief and fear. Greatness is an inside game,” the billionaire affirmed as he drew yet another learning model into the sand. It looked like this:
“Okay, let’s go granular on this framework so you cats have a high and ultra-clear awareness of what aspects of your inner life to improve during your Victory Hour. I’ll provide you with the complete morning routine to run soon, when I teach The 20/20/20 Formula. For now, please just know that there are four interior empires to train, cultivate and iterate before the sun comes up: Mindset, Heartset, Healthset and Soulset. Together, these four private arenas form the foundation of the true primal power that rests inside every human being alive today. Most of us have disowned and discredited this formidable force as we’ve spent our days pursuing things outside ourselves. But we all have this profound and illustrious capacity within us. And the best time to optimize your four interior empires is from 5 to 6 AM. That’s the most special time of the day. Own your morning, and you’ll elevate your life,” encouraged the tycoon.
“Oh, a question: What if I only want to do this five days a week and take weekends off? How strict is this whole 5 AM Method?” asked the entrepreneur. An ancient dog shuffled by and the song “Occhi,” by Italian music legend Zucchero, could be heard playing from the fish restaurant. You would probably have found that part of this scene quite strange. But it really did happen this way.
“It’s your life. Do what fits you best and feels right to you. What I’m revealing is the information The Spellbinder shared with me. It caused me to make my fortune. And helped me find a consummate sense of daily joy and ongoing peace. Really, all of this gave me personal freedom. Apply it all in whatever way works for your values, aspirations and lifestyle. Yet also know that part-time commitment truly does deliver part-time results,” stated the billionaire as he turned to catch a fly with his fist.
“Could you please go deeper into The 4 Interior Empires?” the entrepreneur asked. “This piece you’re teaching us will really help me become a lot stronger in my fight with those investors and get even more of my hope, happiness and confidence back. I haven’t told you this, but over these past days since I met you, I’ve been applying so much of what you’ve been so generous to share with us. As I’m sure you saw, at first I resisted a lot of The Spellbinder’s philosophies. I really didn’t want to go to his seminar, you know. But at least I was open to his—and your—teachings. Desperately open. I love life, you know. And I now plan to live a long time.”
“Good,” the artist said as he picked up a heart-shaped seashell and placed it tenderly into a palm of the entrepreneur. He closed her fingers around it. And pressed her hand to his chest.
“I’m already noticing some significant improvements,” the entrepreneur went on. “By rising at five, I feel more focused, less stressed, more secure and way more energetic. I have a larger sense of perspective over all the aspects of my life. I’m becoming more grateful for all the positive in my world, a lot less concerned with the attack on my company and a lot more excited about my future. Look, those investors are bad guys. And I’m not ready to handle them yet. I will, though. But the fear I felt around the whole thing, and the dark sense of hopelessness about it all, well, that’s faded.”
“Neato,” said the billionaire using the vintage slang of hipsters of a bygone era. He then changed his t-shirt on the beach. The SUV had returned, and the driver was parked directly in front of the seafood restaurant.
“And you’re wise,” the billionaire added. “All this information is priceless. But—as you’re finding—it’s the ceaseless practice and daily application of it that will make you a heroic human being and an inspirational leader in business and a worldwide uplifter of many. And I congratulate you for letting go of your past. No one’s suggesting you act irresponsibly and not deal with the issue you’re facing at your firm. But your past is a place to be learned from, not a home to be lived in.”
The three friends climbed into the waiting vehicle and it pushed ahead to return to the estate of the eclectic host.
“So, let’s talk more about this learning model, because it is so crucial to your success and happiness,” the billionaire commented as the SUV sailed along. “Many gurus speak of mindset. They teach the importance of installing the psychology of possibility, to use Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer’s phrase. They coach you to think optimistic thoughts every day. These teachers tell you that your thinking forms your reality and that, by improving your mind, you’ll improve your life. For sure, calibrating your mindset is an essential move to make toward the personal mastery that will then lead to a legendary outer reality.
“Yet,” the billionaire continued, “and it’s incredibly important that you two understand this because most people don’t: The Spellbinder taught me that elevating your Mindset—the first of the four interior empires—is only 25% of the personal mastery equation.”
“Seriously?” the artist asked. “I always thought that our thinking determines everything. That there wasn’t much more to it than that. The whole ‘change your thinking and you’ll change your life’ and your ‘attitude determines your altitude’ kind of thing.”
“Look,” said the billionaire. “It’s definitely true that your deepest beliefs drive your daily behavior. You know I believe that. And you know I also agree that the way you perceive the world drives the way you perform in it. Yet, a superbly developed Mindset without a magnificently purified Heartset is a hollow triumph. Just working on your Mindset will never deliver the fullness of your sovereignty and fully express your resident genius,” the industrialist said with great clarity.
“I think I’m getting you,” noted the artist with a grin the size of Mount Kilimanjaro. “Charles Bukowski said, ‘Stop insisting on clearing your head . . . Clear your heart instead.’”
“He was right,” agreed the billionaire as he relaxed deeper into his rich leather seat in the SUV.
“So, help me understand exactly what ‘Heartset’ is?” asked the entrepreneur. She was watching a group of school kids running in a playground with unsparing exhilaration. Her thoughts drifted to her childhood.
“Heartset is your emotional life. Even with battleproofed beliefs and the distinguished thinking of a world-class Mindset, you won’t win if your heart is full of anger, sadness, disappointment, resentment and fear. Just think about it: How can you produce amazing work and realize astonishing results if toxic feelings are weighing you down? It seems like everyone’s talking about building a healthy and undefeatable Mindset these days. You hear it everywhere. But no one’s speaking of Heartset—or Healthset and Soulset. All four of these interior empires must be polished beautifully through morning practice for you to know the awe-inspiring power that lurks within you. And it’s only when you grow and deepen your relationship with this natural authority that exists at your core that you can ascend into the company of the virtuosos. And the gods. As you elevate your four interior empires, you’ll begin to achieve success in the external world at a level you’ve never believed you could achieve. And more elegantly than you’ve ever imagined. It’s as if you’ve developed the capabilities of a magic worker. You start to increase the power of others, by your very presence. An improbable yet consistently reliable stream of miracles will infuse your common hours. And a prolific joyfulness born of brilliant accomplishment and worldwide service will come to you, as life’s reward for the admirable ways you’ve behaved.” Mr. Riley looked out of the vehicle’s window. He then continued his discourse.
“So many of us know what we should do mentally but nothing extraordinary ever happens because our emotional life remains a mess. We stay stuck in the past. We haven’t forgiven the unforgiven. We’ve repressed all those unhealthy emotions from all that has hurt us. Sigmund Freud wrote that ‘unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and they will come forth later in uglier ways.’ And we wonder why our attempts at positive thinking aren’t working! What I’m sharing with you explains why so many self-improvement books don’t lead to lasting evolution. And why so few conferences make an enduring difference. Our intellectual intentions are good. We really wish to become brighter producers and better people. But we merely get the information at the level of thought. And then we sabotage our lofty aspirations with the residue of our broken hearts. So, nothing shifts. So, nothing increases. So, nothing transforms. If you want to experience exponential growth and unparalleled performance you need to dial in a masterful Mindset but also repair, rebuild and reinforce a winning Heartset. So that all the dark and toxic emotion from your past pains are cleared out. Released and cleansed and purified. Forever. And so your heart, once hardened by life’s trials, reopens in all its noble glory.”
“Amazing insights,” the entrepreneur acknowledged. “But how exactly do I do this during my Victory Hour from 5 to 6 AM?”
“You’ll learn how to implement The 5 AM Method in the near future,” the billionaire replied. “You two cats are becoming open enough and strong enough to embrace The 20/20/20 Formula soon. And like I’ve suggested since we’ve hung together, your lives will never be the same once you know and run it. The 20/20/20 Formula is an absolute game-changer. For now, please just understand that a great Mindset with a poor Heartset is a giant reason good people end up dissolving their attempts at greatness.
“Oh,” added the billionaire. “I should also mention that working on your Heartset isn’t only about removing negative emotions that have built up from life’s frustrations, disappointments and burdens. It’s also about amplifying the healthy ones. That’s why part of your morning routine needs to have a gratitude practice as part of it. To feed your sense of awe and fuel your reservoirs of exuberance.”
“Love it,” said the artist. “Profound what you’re sharing, brother. Revolutionary, I’ll admit,” he emphasized.
“Yes. Absolutely. And so The Spellbinder taught me to do some profound work on my Heartset each morning, during my Victory Hour. Yet here’s the thing: even upgrading your Heartset along with growing your Mindset before the first rays of the sun display themselves still means you’re only doing 50% of the personal mastery work required to materialize the interior empires that will yield the outer empires of your highest wishes. After Mindset and Heartset, you also need to fortify your Healthset each morning.”
“New word for me,” observed the entrepreneur. “Healthset. I like it.”
“Well, this one speaks to your physical dimension,” explained the billionaire as the SUV passed one of the many tea plantations in Mauritius. “One of the main elements of your rise to legendary is longevity. Here’s a quick tip if you want to lead your field and experience continuous escalations of your eminence: do not die. You’ll never become a titan of your industry and an icon who makes history if you’re dead.”
Both the entrepreneur and the artist grinned as the billionaire began to clap vigorously, apparently as happy as a family of squirrels playing in a forest, on hearing his own words.
“But I am being serious. Beautiful things happen once you commit seriously to peak fitness and go hard on cheating aging. Just imagine living an extra few decades—and staying ultra-healthy as you do so. That’s another few decades to refine your craft, to grow into an even more influential leader, to produce work that’s radical artistry, to compound your prosperity and to build a luminous legacy that will enrich all of humanity. Epic producers and great leaders understand that you just can’t rise to mastery without leveraging—and then armor-plating—your vitality. Every day’s just dramatically better with some exercise in it. I need to say that again because it’s so essential to a life amazingly lived: every day is just dramatically better with some exercise in it. And few things feel as good as getting uber-fit. I guess what I’m offering to you is that Healthset is all about dialing in your physical dimension so your brain is operating at its highest level of cognition and so your energy is igniting and so your stress is dissolving and so your joy is expanding. Getting really healthy and ultra-fit worked wonders for my business, you know?”
The billionaire paused. He drew his hands together as is the custom in India, where people say “Namaste,” which is Sanskrit for “I bow to the divine in you.”
“And that brings me to Soulset, lady and gentleman. I have learned that every single one of us has an unstained spirit and spotless soulfulness that rests at our very center. Most of the world is uninterested in whispers from and the requirements of the soul. As a race, we’ve neglected that portion of ourselves that is most wise, wonderful and eternal. The majority, programmed by society, is all about getting the goods that will boost popularity, gaining validation and social currency from their selfies and accomplishing popular results that will give them legitimacy. However, feeding your spirit—daily—is the activity of genuine leadership royalty.”
“And tell me, Mr. Riley, when you refer to Soulset, what exactly are you speaking of?” inquired the entrepreneur, clearly making steady progress as a student of The Spellbinder’s teachings. She also appeared more present, strong and free than at any time since the artist had met her.
“Yeah—I’m not clear either, brother,” mentioned the artist sincerely as he, too, reclined in his seat as the chauffeur navigated the vehicle up the winding driveway of the tycoon’s home.
More butterflies floated by. The double rainbow remained transfixed in the sky. The billionaire peered at it and then went on.
“‘There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportions,’” observed the billionaire as he waved to his gardeners and stuck his tongue out at a frog. “The English poet Christopher Marlowe said that. And, dude, he was speaking some truth there. Anyhoo, to help you understand the fourth interior empire, please allow me to bring this learning all together by simply saying that since Mindset is all about your psychology and Heartset is all about your emotionality, and Healthset relates to your physiology, Soulset refers to your spirituality. That’s it. Nothing mystical, really. Nothing religious. Nothing voodoo or freaky.”
“Go deeper, please,” pressed the entrepreneur. “You’re reordering my perception with all of these points.”
“Well, it’s all The Spellbinder’s work, not mine, kindly remember that. Anyhoo, my encouragement is to become a devout spiritualist. And just so that term doesn’t spook you—and shut you down to this education—all I mean to say is spend some time in the quietude of the early morning to make the return to the courage, conviction and compassion within you. All I’m encouraging is that you soar with the angels of your highest nature and dance with the gods of your most precious talents for a little time before sunrise, as a tribute to what’s most wise and true within you. Only then will you begin to know—and understand—the Shangri-las of greatness and Nirvanas of light that inhabit your sovereign self. Soulset is all about remembering who you truly are. The sages, saints and seers of history all rose at dawn to forge even weightier bonds with the hero we all have at our cores. Insecurity, scarcity, selfishness and unhappiness are all children of fear. These characteristics were taught to you. They sure aren’t your natural state. After we are born, we begin the departure from our spiritual power and descend into more of what this damaged world wants us to be. We become more about acquiring, hoarding and comparing instead of creating, helping and adventuring. Awake human beings work on elevating their Soulset in the serene hours before daybreak, in the sanctuary of solitude, silence and stillness. Through hope-filled contemplation of the finest version of yourself, without errors in your character. By marvelous meditation on how you wish to show up during the day ahead. By thoughtful consideration of the quickness of life and the suddenness of the exit. And by rich reflections on what gifts you aim to materialize so you leave the world in better shape than you encountered it, on your birth. These are some of the ways you can raise your Soulset game.
“Yes,” continued the billionaire, the vulnerability of his open-hearted delivery displaying itself even more potently in his now soft voice. “You two have a brave, loving and wildly powerful hero at your foundation. I know to most people this idea sounds crazy. But it is truth that I speak. And by spending some time on your Soulset during your Victory Hour, you’ll improve your awareness of—and relationship with—this most magnificent part of you. So you are consistently serving society instead of gratifying the ego hungers of your smaller self.”
“And with better daily awareness of our Mindset, Heartset, Healthset and Soulset, we’ll make the better daily choices that will guarantee better daily results, right?” pronounced the entrepreneur, reciting The 3 Step Success Formula she’d discovered in an earlier mentoring session.
“Precisely,” applauded the billionaire. “Exactly,” he added, nodding his head.
“And please, always stay sincere to what’s most important in a life greatly lived,” pleaded the billionaire. “Be not seduced by the superficialities that suffocate the human spirit and divorce us from the best within us.”
He pulled a thin wallet out of a front pocket and read the words of Tolstoy from a tattered piece of paper that had been folded in a sleeve. Here’s what you would have heard him say in his raspy yet dignified voice, if you were in that SUV with them:
“A quiet secluded life in the country with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor—such is my idea of happiness.”
The three companions were now standing outside the magnate’s house. An owl was perched on a lemon tree. It hooted terrifically as it saw the billionaire. He replied with a simple wave.
“Nice to see you, buddy,” the billionaire said. “What took you so long to come home?”
History-Maker Focus #4: Day Stacking
“Remember that each of your prized days represents your precious life in miniature,” the billionaire observed. “As you live each day, so you craft your life. We all are so focused on pursuing our futures that we generally ignore the exceedingly important value of a single day. And yet what we are doing today is creating our future. It’s like that sailboat over there,” expounded Mr. Riley, pointing to a water craft off in the distance.
“A few navigational shifts, seemingly irrelevant and infinitesimal, when done consistently over a long voyage, make the difference between ending up in breathtaking Brazil or fantastic Japan. All you need to do to pretty much guarantee a hugely successful and a splendidly meaningful life is Own the Day. Make those 1% course corrections and improvements over each twenty-four-hour allotment you receive, and these days will slip into weeks and your weeks into months and your months will slip into your years. The Spellbinder called such daily personal and professional optimizations ‘micro-wins.’ Enhancing anything in your day, ranging from your morning routine to a thought pattern to a business skill to a personal relationship, by only 1% delivers at least a 30%—yes, 30%—elevation only a month from starting. Stay with the program and, in just one year, the pursuit you’ve been focusing on has elevated 365%, at least. The main point I’m making here is concentrate monomaniacally on creating great days—and they’ll stack into a gorgeous life.”
“Small daily, seemingly insignificant improvements, when done consistently over time, yield staggering results,” reinforced the entrepreneur, recalling one of the brain tattoos she’d been schooled in during this magical adventure.
“Yes,” declared the billionaire cheerfully, as he stretched and then touched his toes while whispering to himself, “Life is good, and I must help these two kind souls become great—before it’s too late.”
“Here’s the real takeaway,” the billionaire carried on. “Elite producers and everyday heroes understand that what you do each day matters far more than what you do once in a while. Consistency really is a key ingredient of mastery. And regularity is a necessity if you’re amped to make history.”
In that moment, the entrepreneur’s attention was stolen by her phone as the screen lit up. Stunningly, the following words showed up in lettering that resembled blood dripping, leaving her trembling and shaken:
A killer IS coming
“Baby—what’s up?” asked the artist, revealing more of the growing intimacy of their relationship.
“Yes—what happened?” wondered the billionaire on seeing the ghost-white face of the entrepreneur.
“It’s . . . um . . . It’s . . . well . . . it’s . . .” she sputtered.
She fell to her knees, in a flower bed close to where the chauffeur had parked the SUV. Almost as quickly, she stood up again.
“It’s another death threat. They’re telling me someone is on the way to kill me. The investors again. Pushing me to leave the firm. Guess what, guys?” the entrepreneur said, pivoting into a posture of high confidence and mighty defiance. “I’m not leaving. I built this company. I love what I do. I would do anything for my team. Our products are incredible. And growing the enterprise has given me great fulfillment. I’m ready to fight them. Let’s go! Bring it on, I say!”
“It’s being handled,” murmured the billionaire, echoing what he’d said at his beach, on first learning about the situation. “Just stay fully present to the teaching you’re learning and this special opportunity of being a new member of The 5 AM Club. Keep having a blast here with me in Mauritius. Continue this little love story unfolding between you and my tattooed friend over here,” smiled the billionaire. “And keep strengthening the awareness of your natural power, as a leader, performer and human being. I’m really happy to see your progress. You already seem braver, lighter and much more peaceful. Good on you.”
“Getting up at 5 AM is getting easier as each day passes,” the entrepreneur said, feeling comforted and sounding composed. “The insights you’re sharing are valuable. I’m growing a lot. I can’t wait to go granular on how to make the habit stick and learn The 20/20/20 Formula so I know exactly what to do during my Victory Hour. I’ve been practicing some yoga and walking along the sea in the darkness before the sun comes up, yet I’d love some help on a more specific ritual. I know you have one. But the philosophy, so far, has been remarkably helpful.”
“The precise methodology is coming soon. At this point I simply want you to know that the concept I’ve just shared with you both is called The Day Stacking Foundation. Winning definitely does start at your beginning. Own your morning and the quality of your day rises exponentially which, in turn, upgrades the calibre of your life exceptionally. You’ll be so much more energetic, productive, confident, excellent, happy and serene—even on the most difficult of days, when you calibrate the front end of it. Okay, now you two go and have an amazing day together. I love the words of the poet John Keats, who wrote: ‘I almost wish we were butterflies and lived but three summer days—three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.’ Pretty great, right?”
“Totally,” voiced the artist as he tugged on three dreadlocks, patted his stomach and then laced up a black combat boot. “Totally agree.”
“And what time should we meet tomorrow, cool cats?” inquired the billionaire, with a look that confirmed he was quite sure of the answer.
“5 AM,” the entrepreneur and the artist replied enthusiastically, in unison
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