Hey there —

There are some clubs that are almost impossible to get in, like Marquee in Las Vegas on a Friday night. 🕺🏻 But, there’s another club where few strut in: The 5 AM Club.

Popularized by Robin Sharma’s book, The 5 AM Club, this refers to the club for people who get up early to seize the day and maximize their productivity.

Everyone seems to be telling us we must rise at the crack of dawn to get ahead, and when you see who's part of the club — people like Michelle Obama, Kevin O’Leary, and Tim Cook — you might believe that maybe the key to success really is an early start.

Unfortunately, for most of us waking up at 5 a.m. would produce this result:

That’s because our chronotype (the natural inclination of our body to sleep and rise at a certain time) influences whether we’ll be early risers or night owls. And a strong component that determines our chronotype? Genetics. 🧬

In other words, tweaking your biological clock might be difficult if your chronotype falls on the late spectrum. But does this mean you’re destined for failure as the doors of the 5 AM Club seal shut?

Of course not.

The key to success isn’t when you get up. It’s how you maximize your peak productivity hours, whether they begin at 5 a.m. or 5 p.m.

Creator Dickie Bush calls this time slot your “Sacred Hours”:

“Sacred Hours are blocked off chunks of time that are –you guessed it– sacred. No distractions, no responsibilities, nothing else to check up on. Just you and your work for at least two hours.”

Your Sacred Hours are for your high-leverage tasks, the ones that actually move the needle. If done consistently, two-hour Sacred Hours sessions can compound to impressive results. 📈

Determining your Sacred Hours is just a matter of experimentation until you find what feels right for you. Just know that waking up at 5 a.m. is thankfully *not* a prerequisite for optimal productivity. 😉

The unlikely cure for burnout? A second job

by Fadeke Adegbuyi

Meet the “Overemployed”: employees who secretly work more than one full-time remote job to achieve financial freedom.

It’s a movement that’s gaining steam. The #overemployed tag has over 4.3 million views on TikTok, and its subreddit has 121,000 members. Some consider it “deceptive and unethical,” while others argue that people have the right to protect themselves by not relying on a single stream of income.

In this article, Fadeke Adegbuyi uncovers how this movement is more than just a new way of working — it’s a cultural reset that challenges our hidden assumptions about who we owe our time.

Read the article →

Neil Gaiman - Inspirational commencement speech

by Neil Gaiman

In 2012, the University of the Arts asked Neil Gaiman to give a commencement speech. The kicker? He never enrolled in college, let alone graduated!

Yet that doesn’t stop Gaiman from delivering an incredible speech. In it, he shares the best advice he never followed, why being clueless is a competitive advantage, and why you should embrace mistakes (and how his mess up led to writing his iconic novella Coraline).

This speech is a must-listen for future speechwriters or anyone who hopes to be a successful creative.

Watch the video →

Insight Timer

by Christopher Plowman and Nicho Plowman

Here’s a fun fact about meditating you might not know. 💭

According to a study from NYU, a daily 13-minute “focus and refocus” meditation can boost your focus. That’s because the act of refocusing after your mind drifts helps build up the brain circuits for focusing, explains Dr. Andrew Huberman. 

If this tidbit is enticing you to finally try meditation, we got the tool for you: Insight Timer. This app has thousands of free meditations to help you unplug, refocus, or sleep. There are even courses, events, and yoga classes if you’re looking to get *extra* zen. 🧘

Check out the app →

Meet Valentin! He’s a full-time creator who’s passionate about learning, creativity, and building community. He shares his own creator journey, along with creator tips and chats, over on his YouTube channel, Creative Ties. And for the RPG fans, check out Valentin’s second channel, Cardboard Cleric, showcasing his love for D&D and some pretty awesome crafting skills.

🧙‍♂️Introduce yourself! Who are you?

My name is Valentin and I’m a recovering filmmaker turned full-time creator.

Why do you create? Who is your content for?

As long as I can remember I’ve never not created. I grew up in a creative household and being on YouTube is a natural evolution for me. As a creator I follow my interests and publish videos that hopefully bring some joy or insight to the people watching.

The biggest lesson you’ve learned since you began creating content?

Reach out to people! Most people feel just like you and get excited to share their thoughts. Having a regular chat with people in- and outside of my inner circle has benefited me way more than any app or productivity hack.Just make sure to be very specific why you reach out to someone - otherwise it's easily mistaken as spam.

One thing you wish you knew before you started?

If I could go back in time I’d tell myself to keep it simple and focus on the basics. Being able to comfortably talk to the camera is still something I’m working on and is probably much more important than any other skill.

In one to two sentences, what’s one piece of advice you’d give to aspiring creators or self-development nerds?

Whenever you try something new or things don’t go the way you planned remember that it’s always easier the second time around.Even if you have to start completely from scratch it's now going to be way easier, faster and most likely better. At least that's the way I think about it.

Would you rather talk like Yoda or breathe like Darth Vader for the rest of your life?

Rather speak like Yoda, I would because breath of Vader kills every microphone, it would. 🤣

Written by Alice Lemée

Edited by Matt D'Avella & Kerstin Sheppard