Robin Sharma reflects from inside Nelson Mandela's prison cell on Robben Island, where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years confined. Mandela did seven hours of daily limestone-quarry labor for seven years, hid his manuscript in a tomato plant, and maintained a 5am exercise routine that shaped Sharma's thinking on discipline.
My life changed when I stood in Nelson Mandela's prison cell a number of years ago recording this very quick video for you.
I'm actually here in Nelson Mandela's prison cell. Behind me right there is the bed where he slept. He's in this prison cell on Robben island for 18 years out of a total 27 years of his confinement.
I still remember taking the ferry from Cape Town to Robben island and it was a rainy day and then.
Guide to show me around. So I went to the limestone quarry where Nelson Mandela worked, did back breaking labor for about seven hours a day for I believe seven years. Because of the labor. The sun radiating off the limestone damaged his eyes, the dust damaged his lungs. But the real intention of him working in the limestone quarry was to torture him. Why? Because the limestone was not used for anything. It might have been used for some of the streets, but essentially his work had no purpose. And when your work has no purpose and when you have not connected with some mighty mission for your life, whether it's to be a great gardener or a great human being that uplifts people each day, maybe your mission is to launch a startup that will allow people greater ease and happiness or better health. Maybe your mission as a teacher, for example, is to in hard resources, uplift young lives and inspire kids to be curious. All I know is that by not having a purpose, they tried to defeat Nelson Mandela. And then I saw the courtyard where he actually would exercise each day. And little did the guards know, by the tomato plant, which I saw that's where he and his fellow political prisoners would hide the manuscript he was working on for a long walk to freedom. And then I walked by the propaganda office where they would actually redact and black out or not even give letters from his family to Nelson Mandela again to torture him and to break his spirit. Imagine that you don't receive a letter while you're in prison where your wife is updating you and telling you what's going on with the family. You don't receive letters from your children. Perhaps.
Nelson Mandela actually said his biggest regret while he was in prison was he wasn't allowed out of Robben island to attend the funeral of his eldest son who was killed in a car accident.
And then I was led up a few stairs from the courtyard and to a cell. There were these bright white lights down the hallway and the guide opened up the door and led me into Nelson Mandela's prison cell where he spent 18 years of his life. And I was stunned at what I saw. There wasn't even a bed. There was just a woolen carpet. There was just a little desk where Nelson Mandela would write letters to Winnie and write his thoughts. And he was a member of the 5am Club. And he would get up and he would run on the spot. In a world where we make excuses and give away our power, why we can't get up early and give ourselves the victory hour to prepare ourselves for consistently great days.
In those difficult times, he would get up at 5am and he would run on the spot and he would shadow box and he would do push ups. And my life changed that day. And I looked over at the guide and I said, did you know Mr. Mandela? And he said, yes, I knew Mr. Mandela. He said, as a matter of fact, I served with him for about eight years. And I asked the guide, what was he like?
And he paused and he said, oh, that man was a humble servant. And through soul set work, you will get to a place where the voice of your ego turns down and your selfish small self that is scared if the world starts to dissolve and you will start to become a humble servant. And that doesn't mean you're weak, it means you're strong. Doesn't mean you can't have money and nice things and a nice house and fame, fortune and applause, but you're not addicted to them. You're not like a hamster on the hedonic treadmill chasing it, because you're scared and you feel you're not enough and you want more, more, more and you're greedy.
