The Morning Routine of Billionaires | Excellent Interview with Robin Sharma

Hey, everyone. Richard Robbins here, and welcome to the show. My conversation today is with Robin Sharma. Now, I'm sure most of you recognize the name Robin Sharma. You might have been following his work for quite a while. But what was most interesting about this conversation for me was his backstory. A lot of times we watch his videos, we read his books. Maybe we've had the chance to see him live on stage. And what we're listening to is his teachings. But I think what is maybe most interesting to me because I've been a follower of Robin for so long, is his backstory and how he got where he is. The old saying, it takes 20 years to make an overnight success would ring true for Mr. Sharma in many ways. So he was a litigation lawyer till he was about 25 years old. And then he just. He said, when I was looking in the mirror, I didn't like who I saw in the mirror. And he decided to make a major change in his life. And I'm sure all of you can probably feel how much courage something like that would actually take. And he actually self published a book. And the book is the Monk who Sold His Ferrari. I'll tell you, that book, it really did have a major impact in my life. Because when I read the book, I'm going to say it had to have been. It had to have been 20 years ago, possibly when I read that book, if not very, very close to that, really helped me understand that it's not about going out into the world and just earning a living if you really don't like what it is you do. It's about finding a way in the world, if you will, where you can bring your greatest gifts, your natural talents to the world in a way that you can deliver value to the world, almost serve the world with that, what it is you're very good at. And that book helped me see that very, very clearly. But the story is amazing because he's self published. He talked about having some of it printed in Kinkos. His mom was his editor. His dad was helping him sell it in bookstores and at different clubs they went to. And he ended up finally meeting a publisher just by being out there in the world and trying to do it on his own. I think at first he only printed a couple thousand copies, and he'll tell you more about the story in this interview. But that book alone went on to sell over 7 million copies, like, it's just an amazing story. And Robin will say that he's no different than anybody else, but he was just out there Every day in the game. And like he said, he said, people don't get lucky. They actually create lucky. So I think you're really going to enjoy this interview. Since then, I think he's written, he's getting very close to 20 books. His latest is the 5am Club, which at the time of this recording, he said to me it was one of the bestselling books in the world, which he was very humbled. He said, it's amazing how it's taken off, but it took him four years to write the book. And he said, you put everything into this book that he has. So I love this conversation with Robin. I've known Robin for a little while, and I've had the good fortune of spending a little bit of time, not a lot, but a little bit of time with Robin. And he's just a good dude. If you ever have the chance just to spend some time with him, he's just truly a good dude. So saying that, I hope you enjoy this conversation. And now on with the show. Well, Robin, I want to thank you so much for being on the podcast today. It's my honor to have you here. My friend Richard, it's great to speak with you. Now, I think I've known you not really, really well, but we've had a bit of a relationship for probably 10 or 12 years. So I understand your backstory a little bit than most, but you were actually educated as a lawyer, is that correct?

That's right, yeah.

Now, what did you practice?

Well, we really want to get in the backstory. So I grew up in a small town on the east coast of Canada. Rich. I don't come from a silver spoon beginning or anything like that. And my parents always believed in education. They always encouraged me, basically, be a doctor or a lawyer. And so, long story short, I got into law school. I got my law degree, I did a master's of law, and I started working, working at a big firm on Bay Street. I was successful. But here's one of the things I really believe. What's the point of being successful if you've lost your sense of soulfulness? And I would wake up back when I was a litigation lawyer. I would wake up in the morning and I'd walk into the bathroom and I'd look in the mirror, and I didn't like. And I didn't really know the man who was looking back at me. And so what I decided to do was go on a bit of an odyssey, and I started to read the books of the great women and men of the world. I started to understand, you know, contemplation. I started to try different modalities, whether it was acupuncture or hypnotherapy. And I tried to really deconstruct what makes success, what makes epic productivity, how did the most creative people do it and how did the happiest people do it. And I slowly and steadily started to apply what I learned. And I really did make a profound transformation in my life. And so I decided to write a book. The book was called the Monk who Sold his Ferrari. And you know, maybe some of your people from around the world who are listening in have read that book, but that book actually came from very humble beginnings as well. It was self published in the Kinko's coffee shop. My mother was my editor. My father helped me sell it one book at a time at Rotary Clubs. My first seminar, rich 21 people attended and most of those people were my family members. But that book sort of led me into this field of leadership and personal mastery. Which leads us to the latest book, the five answers.

Great story. Now I'm curious, what city or town did you or were you born in in east coast of Canada?

Well, I was born actually in Africa and I moved to Canada when I was a year old. But the place I was referring to on the east coast was Port Hawkesbury on an island called Cape Breton.

Okay, very good. I was actually in Cape Breton last year. Beautiful, beautiful place, by the way.

Yeah, great people, you know, still, still very boots on the ground with very humble valleys.

Yeah, I agree. Now it was. I remember the story, but if I'm not mistaken, and I'd love the audience to hear this, you, because you self published, as you said, your first book, I love the whole story. Kinko's mother and father helping you out. But where did you find a publisher? It was a bookstore, I believe. Am I right?

Well, you know, one of the lines in the 5am club is you don't get lucky, you make lucky. And the backstory of all world class. I'm not saying I'm world class, but if you study Kobe, if you study Shakespeare, if you study Branson, if you Oprah, all of those people had one thing in common. They released their excuses. They were not all about can't. They weren't stuck. They were what I call possibilitarians. And so what I'm really trying to say is when you do your part, life responds. When you get in the game and you innovate and you bring on world class value to your marketplace and you believe in a world of naysayers, then life replies. And so I would. You know, I had written this book, the Monk who Sold His Ferrari. I believed in it. I published, I think the first print run was 2,000 copies. But I trusted my instinct over my intellect and I know I knew the book would help a lot of people. And so I was relentless. And one day I was in Chapters, it's a Canadian bookstore, with my son Colby, who was about 4 years old at the time. And I still remember the scene. It was a rainy night. Colby was perched up on this shelf, drink on this table by the cashier, drinking hot chocolate. I had one arm protecting him so he wouldn't fall over. And I was signing the three or four copies of the book that I had picked up off the shelf because someone once told me if an author signs a book, the bookstore can't return it. So I was just signing these books and I looked over my shoulder and there was a gentleman in a green trench coat who was just watching the whole scene unfold. And he walked over to me and he said, wow, the Monk who Sold His Ferrari. That is a fascinating title. And I said, yeah, well, you know, this is my labor of love. I know this book is going to help a lot of people. I'm a self published author. And he said, you know, that's really fascinating. And then he paused and he reached into his trench coat and he pulled out a wallet and he picked out a card and he said, this is my business card. And I looked at it, Rich, and it said, ed Carson, President, HarperCollins. And the point I want to offer to your many listeners is life has a very fair accounting system. And even though you might have a ridiculous dream, a mighty mission that seems crazy to the world, that's really your signpost for a really good dream. What I'm trying to say is when people think you're crazy and your dream won't work, it's probably a very disruptive ambition, which are the best kind. And so even though people laughed at me and they said, how could a litigation lawyer write a book, etc. Etc. I did my part and I was relentless. And even though I was really an army of one, you've got to believe in you. When no one believes in you before, everyone will believe in you. And because I did that, I'm not special. This is just a strategy that anyone could apply. But because I did that, I happened to find myself standing next to the president of HarperCollins. And about a month later, Harper Collins bought The world rights to the monk who sold his Ferrari for the magnificent and majestic sum of $7,500. And that book has gone on to sell, I don't know, 7 million copies.

Well, it was a wonderful book. I remember it was, you know, I know it was your first book. I remember reading, and I was very moved by it. Realized as I got to know you. It was very autobiographical, right? Like, it was really very much about your life to some degree, and what you had learned through your own struggles and doing something that maybe wasn't your passion. What you want to do with the rest of your life. Would that be a fair statement?

It's a very fair statement. And I think the point of service for your people who are listening in is.

The real measure of heartbreak is living a life that is not yours. I think heart. And there's a lot of people on the planet in the 5am club, I call them cyber zombies. They are addicted to distraction. But an addiction to distraction is the death of your creative production. And if you want to go deeper, I think so many people are living lives that are not full of awe and wonder and prosperity and service and soulfulness because they're in a lot of pain. And the pain is because of their potential unexpressed. And if I may, I want to repeat that again because I think it's a really valuable point. Potential unexpressed turns to pain. So when we're little kids, we are intimate with our best selves. That's just a reality. It's been borne out by a lot of science. When we are kids, we believe. When we are kids, we are full of joy. When we are kids, we don't hate and love. When we are kids, we are full of creativity, productivity and curiosity. And what starts to happen is, as we leave the innocence and perfection of childhood, our parents tell us, be practical. And our teachers tell us, don't color outside the line. And our friends tell us, don't dream too big, you'll get hurt. And we start to feel rejection. And we try to dream, but we fall and stumble and we get bloodied. And what starts to happen to most of us is we contract. And we start living in a way designed to protect our hearts and souls from being hurt. And it's often it's a subconscious evolution. So we wake up at 30 or 40 or 50 or 60. And I know most of your people, your followers, are real estate professionals. But often we don't even know what's happened to us. And yet there's this deep.

Longing and psychic heartbreak. Going on inside of us. And we don't realize why we're busy being busy or drinking too much alcohol or gossiping too much or finding other forms of escapes and addictions. But the real reason is not because it's not a world of possibility and we can't lead gorgeous lives. The real reason, Rich, is because we have betrayed ourselves. And a lot of the 5am Club goes into this process that we all fall into and then how to break free of it with daily tactics. So we reclaim our primal genius and our inner heroism. And that is not motivation. That is what I've Learned from over 20 years working with billionaires, CEOs, Fortune 100 on what happens to most people and how to start turning the process around so we can remember who we truly are.

Wow, Robin, that was so well said. It's so interesting and it so applies to, you know, most of our listeners because as you said, my space is the real estate space. Has been since I was 24 years old, over 30 years. And one thing that we do as an organization or what I'm passionate about is I understand how hard these people work and I understand the disappointments they deal with sometimes at 9 or 10, 11 o' clock at night. And I know generally, maybe the perception about the industry is that, you know, they, they do really well, they make a lot of money and they don't work that hard, but I can assure you it's exactly the opposite. And one thing that I stand for, and I know it's the same thing that you stand for, you know, with, with everybody that follows you, is that there's so many ways to build a wonderful, highly productive business that doesn't take control of your life. And what I see in the real estate industry is that so often becomes the case. And I've often said that our goal as an organization is to help you build a highly productive business and a beautiful life together and really build a business that fully supports the life that you want to live. So Your teaching is 100% applicable to the people that are listening to this podcast. And you know, when I read your book, and by the way, I finished your book about a week and a half ago, I'm going to say it's probably your best work so far. I hope that's okay to say. But I think it's probably your best work so far. I know that it's one of the best selling books in the world right now. And you talk in there and I know there's been many books written about getting up early The Miracle Morning was a very popular book when it comes to that. But I think what you've done in this book is not only have you created a bit of movement around this whole idea of the 5am Club, but what you've done is you've very clearly distilled which people should do when they do get up. One of the challenges I find is a lot of people wake up earlier, but they're not quite sure what to do with themselves. So you've got this 202020 concept. Could you sort of maybe explain that to the audience?

Sure. A little bit of a backstory. So, you know, I'm familiar with the Miracle Morning. Hal is a student of mine. I've been teaching the 5am Club method for 22 years to a lot of the billionaires on the planet, as I mentioned, a lot of CEOs, NBA superstars, film icons. And it was just creating such dazzling results, I decided to write a book to share the methodology. As you mentioned, part of it is the 2020-20 formula that I'm happy to get into. But I spent four years writing the 5am Club and I really appreciate your generous praise on the book I spent four years of hard labor making. I really took myself to the jagged edges of my creativity, my craft, my heart, my soul when I wrote the 5am Club. And the reason it's one of the number one selling books in the world right now is I believe when you pour your heart, your soul, your humanity, your spirituality, your potential into a piece of work, whether it's, you know, your real estate professionals doing a deal or the mortgage brokers who follow you doing a transaction and building a relationship, or if you're a baker, into the food that you serve. I think if you do that and you operate like that, rich, then people feel it. There's a line I really believe, which is, if you release magic into the world, then the world replies with magic. And I really put a lot of sweat equity into writing the 5am club. And I think that's the response. So the 202020 formula is basically, you rise at 5am and in the book, I explain the 66 day rule, which is based on the research at University College London that confirms that if you do any skill or practice any new habit for 66 days in a row, you will reach a point called automaticity. You see, we all can install the 5am Club habit, or any habit if we really want to, but most of us try it for a week or two weeks and we give up. The latest research says stay with it for 66 days and through the power of neuroplasticity, any person on the planet can get up at 5am we just need to give it a long enough time. So the 202020 formula is basically this from Five O'. Clock. I get into it in great detail in the book high level from 5 to 520 you absolutely want to do sweaty exercise. This for all of your listeners is a total and absolute game changer. Here's why. If you get up at 5am and the first thing you do is you sweat, you're going to release brain derived neurotrophic factor B, D and F. John Rady over at Harvard University says that's miracle grow for the brain. It will accelerate your processing ability. BDNF will repair brain cells damaged by stress. BDNF will optimize your thinking. How valuable is that for elite performance? Also by sweaty exercise, first thing in the morning you're going to release dopamine. Dopamine is the inspirational neurotransmitter that will translate to income and impact as well. Cortisol, the fear hormone. Fear limits us. In elite performance, the fear hormone cortisol is actually highest first thing in the morning. By Simply running the first pocket of the 202020 formula, you're going to reduce cortisol. And I could go on and on. I explain it all in the book even you're going to jumpstart your metabolic rate which will give you more energy by doing that first 20 minute pocket up to 202020 formula. Now it's 522nd pocket of the formula reflect. You see, clarity breeds mastery. The billionaires I have coached all have one thing in common. With great intimacy. They can tell you exactly what their vision is, exactly what their top five values are, exactly what their quarterly deliverables are, exactly what their mighty mission is. And yet most people spend more time planning their summer vacation than they do blueprinting their lives. So from 520 to 540 you reflect, you can journal, you can pray, you can meditate, you can visualize. Imagine what that's going to do for the quality of your day. Now it's 5:40 that gets to the final pocket of the 2020 24. And that's all about growing. I know you're all about helping people grow. And we all know that the marketplace rewards the value that you add. So by spending 20 minutes from 5:40 to 6:00 clock working on yourself, working on your skills, reading, studying your battle plans and your game charts, it's going to be six o' clock and you feel fundamentally different. And the final thing I'll say on that piece, the way you begin your morning is going to dramatically determine the way your day unfolds, the way your consistently great mornings lead to consistently great days, which can lead to consistently great weeks, quarters, years, decades and a lifetime. Simply by running the 2020-20-20 formula, you are going to completely alter the way the rest of your life is going to unfold.

I love it. I absolutely love it. You know, we've been, as a, you know, as a company, we, we've been teaching something called R and R time, review and reflection time. And it's, it's much what you're talking about. But what I like that you've done in the book is you've taken it right down to granular levels. You've, it's very specific what it is they're supposed to do. Very tactical, let's say. So it's a great plan. Now I do have a question for you. One of the challenges I find that people face in getting up early is what time they should go to bed. So what would be your advice to the audience? It's one thing to say let's get up at 5, but if they're going to bed at midnight or want to o' clock in the morning, that's not going to work. So I would say that sometimes the discipline isn't getting up the discipline, sometimes, you know, getting our butts in bed, if you will. What advice would you give to somebody that struggles with that part of your theory?

It's a great question, Richard. And a lot of people are asking me, you know, does the 5:00am Club method that you teach in the book mean, you know, speak to sleep deprivation? And I would say absolutely not. As a matter of fact, there's a whole chapter in the book called the Essentialness of Sleep. And I get into some of the cutting edge research. For example, did you know that when you go to sleep it's been recently discovered that there is a mechanism that actually washes your brain?

So sleep is absolutely important to cognitive performance, to your moods, to your vitality. And for longevity, science confirms the number one way to cut your life short is, is don't get enough sleep. The latest science I've read says between seven and nine hours. And that's why you'll see that model in the 5am Club about the pre sleep routine. What is essential to a great morning routine is your nightly pre sleep routine. And there is a model where you're Right. It's very calibrated. And I explain exactly what to do in that last hour before you go to sleep so that you sleep deeply. And then when you sleep deeply, you're going to wake up feeling refreshed at 5am and some of the things you want to do, no white screen two hours before you go to sleep, no technology in your bedroom, a dark and cool room. And then part of your pre sleep routine could be meditation, which is awesome, or journaling gratitude, which is magnificent. Marty Seligman, the father of positive psychology, did some research and he found that the simple act of asking yourself what three good things happened to me today radically optimized people's levels of joyfulness. That's a great question to ask yourself before you go to sleep. What three great things happened to me today? So the larger point is once you lock and load a great pre sleep routine and you practice it for the 66 day minimum, that's what I call it in the 5am club, you will reach a point of automaticity where it becomes easier to do the new skill than not to do it. For any one of your listeners who might be resisting this or saying, I'm not an early riser or this sounds too hard, I would simply remind with great respect and love, all change is hard at first and it's messy in the middle and it's gorgeous at the end.

I agree. Very, very well said and that mentioned many times in your book. The other part of the book, which is actually more towards the front, you talked about the four interior empires and I found it very, very interesting. Could you maybe explain that concept to the audience?

Absolutely. I very enthusiastic about it because I don't know if you'd agree, but let me ask you, please, Rich, are you finding all over the Internet there's this meme and idea, mindset is everything. Are you hearing that as much as I am? Everywhere, Absolutely everywhere. And that's why the 5am Club is a very disruptive book. Because one of the models is the one you mentioned. It's called the four Interior Empires. And what I, what I believe and what I'm writing about in that chapter is that mindset is absolutely not everything.

Look, you can have a great mindset, which is your psychology.

But if your heart set this new word I'm introducing, in other words, your emotionality isn't in great shape, you're not going to be productive, you're not going to wow your customers, you're not going to own your game, you're not going to have the Stamina and energy to dominate your domain. So mindset is not everything, because mindset is just your psychology. We're not just our heads. We have emotions as human beings. So mindset is 25. Only 25% of the personal mastery equation is what I believe the second piece. The other 25% is your heart set. In other words.

Your emotional life. If you're sad, if you're angry, if you're depressed, if you are disappointed, that's going to affect your creativity and productivity. You absolutely want to work on that during the 5am Club hour. But it's not just mindset and heartset. I believe there's another 25%, which is your health set, and your health set is your vitality, your energy. So I talk about biohacking and book. I talk about how to maximize your energy, how to live longer. Because just imagine adding another 50 years to your life. What would that do for your prosperity, your creativity, your ability to serve and your ability to live a gorgeous and beautiful lifestyle. But still, that's only 75%. It's not just mindset. Heartset, health set. There's the final 25% of the personal mastery equation. And that's another new word that I'm offering in the 5M quad book, which is soul set. Now, people might say, oh, Robin, you just lost me, that's religious or it's mystical. I don't think it is. Your soul set is simply building intimacy and fluency with your primary relationship. You see, everyone's income, everyone, impact in the world really depends on one fundamental relationship, and it's the relationship with your most heroic, wise, and loving self. That's what soulset is about. So while the rest of the world is asleep, you're up at 5am running the 202020 formula and building your soulset, remembering who you truly are, locking into your bravery, locking into your love, locking into that inner warrior that rests at the core that most of us have forgotten about as we got busy and frustrated with life.

Wow. Like, I just, you know, just listening to you, I'm getting him. Getting pretty inspired here. I'm getting motivated. This is beautiful. But let me ask this. The challenge for a lot of people today, Robin. So we're, you know, and I love the part of the soulset, but what about, what about the world we live in today where there's, there's so much distraction? Everybody is trying to influence everybody. Everybody's trying to get everybody's attention today. And now with social media, and I think social media has become an addiction with Many, many people. How, how do they, they take this theory because this requires work. We all know that anything great requires work and everything in the book is going to require some work. I believe the challenge for most people in terms of doing the real work is to figure out how to deal with distractions. What is your suggestion or your advice and how we need to be dealing with the distractions, all the busy work that doesn't get us anywhere.

I'd love to answer that question. I just, if I may. Just you mentioned you're feeling motivation and the four interior empires and everything that I share in the book, hopefully everything that I release.

Into the world, just like you release into the world, isn't motivation. Because I don't really believe in motivation. I'm much more obsessed with transformation. I think motivation can be very superficial and not enduring. I mean, what I'm, if I've done my job properly in the book, in writing the book, it's about transformation. So I just wanted to make that point so that people understand that, you know, it's, it's scientifically based and it's, it's hardcore valuable information. Now how do you break free of distractions? And. Well, you know, I get into a lot of the methods to do that in the book. One of them is the tight bubble of total focus concepts. I mean, you can change the world or you can play with your phone. You don't get to do both. And so if I'm understanding your question properly, it sounds like part of you is saying we have to be available in the world and involved in social media to build brands and build relationships and build communities. And yet how do we find those the time for this? And I would say it comes down to your.

Daily routines along with what I call your ecosystem. So the 5:00am Club, for example, from 5:00 to 6:00 clock is one routine. There's no distractions. Then that's when you do your interior work on your four interior empires. That's when you look at your game plans. That's when you build up your yourself. That's when you plan out your day. You're free from distraction, the rest of the world is asleep. But then during the day, if you're asking me how do you beat distraction? Well, one of the tactics is the 90, 91 rule. For the first 90 minutes of your workday, for the next 90 days, you lock yourself away in a quiet place and you focus on your single most important valuable project that will allow you to dominate your domain. That's an example the 9091 rule of a tactic or institution that you can apply into your day to break free of distraction.

Now, what do you do with the rest of the time? That's the 90 minutes. What do you recommend after that?

Well, I mean, it depends on your day. If you have meetings, then you schedule meetings. If you have a period for social media, you schedule that for social media. If you want to go get a massage from three or four o' clock, because one of the tactics I talk about in the book is the 2 massage protocol, which is a total game changer. You go get your massage. I mean, I think the larger point is the things that you schedule are the things that you get done. If you don't have a written daily and weekly schedule, then you're going to be reactive and you're going to be, oh, I better go post on Instagram right now. Oh, someone is asking me for a meeting, I better do it. If you look at the billionaires I've worked with and I've worked with Starbucks, Nike, FedEx, IBM, etc. The A players have methodically built out weekly plans that they then follow. Now, some of your listeners might say that sounds very rigid. And I would say let planning be your springboard so spontaneity can be your splash.

Beautiful. That's what I was looking for, the whole idea, scheduling. Because one thing that we promote to our, our listeners, our coaching members, people that attend, you know, our master's academy, is that, you know, what you have to do is schedule what's important. And the challenge is, I think in the world we live in today, very few people will actually sit down and plan out the week. So before we start taking a different direction and we're going to move into some lightning rounds and start to close this out, I want to ask you this. How do you plan? So a lot of people, you know, it's one thing to read the book, but you know, a lot of people want to know, they want to know about Robin Sharma. I want to know what he does right, sort of look in into your own life. How do you plan your weeks? What is your, what is your routine?

Every Sunday morning while my family is asleep, I pull out this. I don't know what the size is, but it's a large sheet of paper. I call it my blueprint for a beautiful week. And it literally has the next Monday to Sunday from 5:00am to 11:00 clock on that sheet. And I asked myself, what are three professional wins that I must achieve for this week to be for it to be a great week and three personal deliverables. And I write those down and then I build out using blocks of time. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. For example, one of the methods I talked, I shared with you that I teach in the 5am Club book is the two massage protocol. It really, it sounds like a lot of people go, that's a waste of time. It costs a lot of money. I don't have time. What will people think? I've heard all of those rationalizations and yet I've seen my high level clients do this and say, I've never felt so good, I've never been so productive, I've never slept so well. The return on the value has been magnificent. So on my schedule, I'll write down my two blocks for two 90 minute massages. Another tactic in the book is the second wind workout. If you believe exercise is important, why would you only do it once a day? So I might go Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, whatever. I'm going to go for a nature walk from 4 o' clock to 5 o'. Clock. Those go on in the schedule. Then I'll say four family nights. I might go to a basketball game with my family. That goes on there. My team meetings Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm at the office, my team meetings go there. My 60 minute student protocol goes onto there. And literally what I do is I take not only the professional meetings, but the personal meetings and the spiritual pursuits and my nature walks and my mountain bike ride. They all are released from my cognition out onto a piece of paper so I can let them go. And then Monday morning I just lock and load.

Beautiful. And this is done on a hard copy? Yes.

And I often get the question, can I do it on my phone? And I would say there is great power and there's emerging research about the link between the writing hand and the brain habit. Researchers call it a pre commitment strategy. When you write something out in a journal or on a written page, it becomes more sticky and it builds your willpower around getting those things done.

Beautiful. Okay, thank you for that. One last question before I go to the lightning round here. Where do you get your inspiration? What keeps you going on the tough days?

Say, you know, when I was growing up rich, my father used to quote Rabindranath Tagore. And he used to tell me often, he said, robin, when you were born, you cried while the world rejoiced. He said, son, live your life in such a way that when you die, the world cries while you rejoice. And from my father this commitment to be of service has become the dominating drive of my life. And then, you know, two years ago, I stood in Nelson Mandela's prison cell on Robin Islands. And my life fundamentally changed from that experience when I understood how he was tortured in the 5am Club. In the last chapter, I shared one of the stories, how he was asked on Robben island to dig his own grave, and he thought he was going to be shot and then put in the grave, and the jailers urinated on him. And as I've studied the great women and men of the world and been to many of their homes or workspaces or whatever it is, I've been dramatically influenced and reminded that life is not about ultimately about money and homes and jets and yachts and all of these seduction societies telling us life is about two things. It's about who you become and about how many you help. And so what inspires me.

Is to be of service. You know, I look at Instagram, for example, and I'm just flooded by DMs of people reading the 5am Club. And this is just a reality. It's. You know, they're just going, this book is doing this for me, and here's what it's happening, and here's the transformation. And that's my fuel. I mean, I don't need to work as hard as I do. I don't need to travel as much as I do. I don't. But it's. If I am helping people, you know, this world is full of hate. There's so much tragedy. There are. There are wars right now. There are so many people who have forgotten, you know, that we're all brothers and sisters on a tiny planet. And if I can do my part to wake people up and remind people of the luminosity and the glory inside of them and help them make more money and help them live better lives and help them do their dreams, then I'm on fire until the last breath that I can take to make sure that gets done.

Wow. You know, I must say this publicly here on this podcast is, you know, over the last. I don't know, over the last five years, every once in a while, I'll send Robin a text, and I just sent him a text saying that I was just speaking to one of your great fans. And I just remember, you know, one time as an example, I asked them, you know, where there's a group of people, and I said, you know, what's your favorite book? Common question I like to ask. And gentleman said the Moku Sold his Ferrari. And of course, I just sent Robin a text. I think it was the next day. I just want you to know the. This guy's a huge fan. Every time I've done that, Robin has taken the time to sign and send that person a book. And I don't know if I had a chance to tell you this, but there was somebody many years ago that I know was going through a difficult time. I know that she was very inspired by you. And I happened to have the good fortune she was a speaker. We're traveling through Europe on a bit of a tour together. And she was just, you know, confiding in me a little bit as to what was going on. And. And we get talking about you and your work, and you had made a huge impact in her life. And again, I sent you that text. You sent her a book with a note, and it caused her to cry when she got it. Just so you know. And the reason I'm saying this is I just want the audience to know that how committed you are to the work that you do. And I'm a huge fan. I'm a huge fan of not only your work, Robin. I'm a huge fan of you as a human being. Being. Because I know how hard you work, because we're in a similar business. You know, you're at a whole different place, whole different level than I am. But I look at it, and I know how hard it is to be on the road all the time. I know how hard it is to do the work that nobody sees until the finished product. And they have no idea how hard it was to spend four years writing a book when, at the end of the day, you don't need to do it for money, nor are you doing it for money, because I know you well enough that's not the case. So I just want to say to you that I just think that what you're doing in the world is you're making a huge difference. And not only making a huge difference, you're making a huge difference for the right reasons. So thank you for all that.

You touch my heart when you say that. And I just say thank you. And I would say so little is required to help another human being. And I really believe our job is to be so kind to people that we bring tears to them.

Yeah. And it's a beautiful thing. And guess who. You know, obviously, it's like they always say that the giver receives the most. And it is true. It's like when you give something to somebody else, you've made a difference in their life. But you've already made a difference in your own right because of the way you feel. And it's funny how we were created in a way. It's innate in all humanity beings. And we do something for somebody else. Not only does it affect them in a positive way, it affects us in a positive way. It's a beautiful thing.

You know, Rich, I don't think joy comes from getting. The greatest joys I've received in my life are when you serve or help or make some. You know, even you go into a coffee shop and you just have a conversation with someone and you celebrate them. They don't know how to take it anymore because they hear the criticism. They don't hear the love and the appreciation. And yes, if you do that, you'll be a freak. But it's freaks who change the world.

Couldn't agree with you more. Okay, a little fun here really quick because I want to be respectful of your time. Favorite food?

Caciopepe. It's a Roman pasta.

Beautiful. Favorite musician?

Nightmares on wax. Chill out artist.

Okay, have to look them up. Favorite day of the week?

Friday.

Friday. Why?

It's a day of reflection, refueling and often mountain biking.

Okay, great stuff. Favorite country? I think I know the answer to this one. Favorite country to visit?

Yeah, it's Italy and probably favorite city?

Rome.

Would I be wrong in saying that?

You are never wrong, Richard.

Favorite app that you use. Most people would not know about.

What a great question.

Soul cycle.

I'm a massive fan of Soul Cycle and I love the app.

Good stuff. I've actually got into Peloton in a big way. I've purchased the bike and I use the app on the road, so same sort of thing. Okay, so let's two last questions and then we'll let you move on. So first of all, what advice would you give to your younger self? Let's say you could give advice to yourself 20 year old self. What would it be?

I wouldn't. I think my good moves have served me and my tragedies have made me great. And the great. Pardon me.

Great answer. Yeah, I like that.

I just think, you know, I just think no one knows what tomorrow brings. And there's a line in the 5am Club, a bad day for the ego is a great day for the soul. And so when we go through the hard times, the ego is like, oh, why did this happen? It's so bad. Poor me. But I believe life has our back. And everything that happens to us, the good and especially the Suffering is all part of a glorious journey meant to mold us into who we're meant to be.

Wow. Couldn't agree more. I can look back at my life and there is as anybody could. You could, we all could. There's been many challenges. When you're in the middle, you're wondering why you're there, but when you come out of it and look back, you, you go, wow, right? I'm a better person today because of all that. And then, you know, I sign off a lot of videos, I do my events. It's a beautiful life. Make it count. And I just believe that life is beautiful. And why not, quote, make it count. How would you describe a beautiful life?

Well, that's, that's, that's such a great question. I could spend a whole lot. I would simply say a beautiful life is where you're in the world, but not of it. In other words, you know, life is meant to be enjoyed. Great food, great trips, great hotels, all those material things can provide a lot of pleasure. So those are, those are awesome. I'm not saying they're not incredibly great, but I don't build my foundations on those things. So I think a great life is a great lifestyle. But it's also being creative, doing work that is helpful and being true to yourself.

Beautiful life, beautiful answer. So let me ask you this, how? First of all, just for the people listening, if they don't know how to find you, I can't believe that would be the case. You're pretty easy, dude, to find. Where can they find you? And by the way, where is the best place to get the 5:00am Clock Club?

Sure. So people can find me. I'm very passionate about Instagram and it's just Obin Sharma. That's my Instagram sign. I'm also on YouTube so they can just search Robin Sharma. And I've got a podcast called the Mastery Sessions. And to get the 5am Club and book. And I do want to mention, at the end of the 5am Club, there's a 66 day free digital mentoring program to help all of the readers lock in the 5am club method in the 202020 formula until it becomes automatic. So details are at the end of the book. No charge whatsoever for that 66 day digital program. And secondly, one of my greatest passions of my life right now is to do my part to help children suffering from lempdom.

And a portion of my royalties on the 5am Club are going to help reduce childhood poverty and reduce childhood leprosy so that readers of the book are not only investing in their own transformation, they're investing in helping a child who's in need to get the book. In Canada, it's as simple as going into an Indigo or Chapters bookstore. It's all over the place in there. In the US market, Amazon.com has the 5am club. There's also an audiobook format read by Adam Verner, who's done a beautiful job in bringing the book to life. Audible.com is how you get it and around the world because I know you have worldwide listeners. You know, it's in bookstore, it's rolling out into bookstores around the world right now and it's also available on Amazon in each country or again Amazon.com yeah, thank you, Robin.

And thanks for writing it because I truly enjoy it. And as I said, I've read all of your books. How many books have you written total?

It's close to 20 now.

Rich. Yeah, I know. I've read them all. I started with the Monk who Sold His Ferrari and then the second was who Will Cry when youn Die, a small or really cool book. Enjoyed it very, very much. Just, you know, I, I've read it. My staff is now reading it. We're actually meeting in about a month where we do a book review of the 5am Club. And then in the month of June, just, you know, our, I have a sort of a high end coaching group called Mac Members. We're going to be reading that as a group in the month of June as well because there's so much to learn from it. So Robin, thank you for your work. Thank you for what you do. Thank you for spending some time with today. I really appreciate it. It was an absolute, absolute honor to have you here, my friend.

Always a pleasure for you, Rich.

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