Why waking up at 5am won’t fix your life (but this will)

For the life of me, I cannot understand why early risers are so full of themselves.

As they are telling you how they got up at 5.45am, did their sunrise meditation, hit the gym, guzzled their celery juice, mapped out their goals for the day and were at their desk with a cup of coffee at 7.15am, you cannot help but notice the smugness in their voice.

As if to say – ‘Look at me, I’m winning in life, while you are wasting the valuable hours by sleeping until 9am’ (or god forbid, even past 10am).

Honey, I’ve got some news for you: it doesn’t matter what time you get up, we all have 24 hours a day. You don’t magically get more hours in yours just because you are up and running around before sunrise. So stop pretending your schedule is better than mine.

Because while you are in bed, fast asleep at 10pm, I’m running high on inspiration, creative downloads and plotting the creation of my empire, fully tapped into the quiet magic of the night.

Losing in life? More like living authentically and completely in sync with my natural energetic blueprint.

‘The 5AM Club’ ethos – a hard pass from me

No-one embodies this smug early riser superiority complex quite like ‘The 5am Club’ crowd.

You know the one – the book-turned-bible that preaches waking up before dawn as the secret to success, productivity, and inner peace.

But here’s the thing… what if the very idea of a one-size-fits-all routine is actually the most toxic advice we’ve swallowed?

In case you have been living under a rock, let me fill you in on what the cult book ‘The 5am Club’ by Robin Sharma is all about.

The book’s main premise is that waking up at 5am every day gives you a ‘competitive edge’ and leads to personal mastery, productivity, and success. It’s a story about a billionaire mentor teaching two struggling folks his life-changing secrets.

The book pushes the idea that those first 60 minutes between 5–6am are sacred and will set you up to ‘crush life’ (I just vomited a little) while the rest of the world sleeps.

(Disclaimer: I haven’t read the book because even the title makes me go ‘yuk’. Life’s too short to waste hours on something my intuition’s already side-eyeing. A quick summary told me everything I needed to know.)

The central method in the book is called the 20/20/20 formula:

• 20 minutes of intense exercise
  Get sweaty to activate your brain and hormones.
  
• 20 minutes of reflection
  Think journaling, meditation, gratitude – to “center” yourself.
  
• 20 minutes of growth
  Read, listen to podcasts, or study to build knowledge and skills.

Now, you might be raising your eyebrows, wondering why I call this rubbish? Am I not an advocate for reflection, growth and healthy living? I 100% am.

Stop giving your power away

But here’s where the problem lies. 

While all of these elements are powerful and supportive on their own, both the early rising culture and rigid routines promote outsourcing your personal power and alignment to externally-approved ‘success habits’ of some self-proclaimed guru… instead of listening to your own body, your own energy, and your own intuition.

Let that sink in for a minute.

By blindly following someone’s blanket advice, you are LITERALLY saying – I don’t know what’s best for me, but they do. Isn’t that absolutely insane???

But that’s what our society perpetuates – in particular for us women. Disconnecting us from our innate wisdom and making us constantly looking to ‘AUTHORITIES’ outside of us on guidance on how to live our lives – the government, the media, the education system, the so-called ‘experts’ (so much more to say on this, stay tuned).

In the beginning, I was blind too

I’m very happy to put my hand up and say that when I first entred the personal development space around 2016, I, too, fell into this trap of looking to what other ‘gurus’ were saying and treating that as gospel. 

Taking the advice from apparently ‘successful’ people, thinking that if I followed that, I would have success too. Being fully immersed in all the ‘shoulds’.

I remember back in 2017, after listening to my male mentor at the time preach how the only way to achieve any level of success was discipline and structured commitment, I set my alarm for 5:30am for a week straight to work on the side-hustle I was pursuing at the time. Let me tell you – it was a disaster. As someone who is naturally a nightowl (if you couldn’t tell by now LOL), I was cranky, the ideas weren’t flowing and the entire affair felt so forceful. Turns out, my magic hour is 5:30pm, not 5:30am.

Looking back, I can see how so much of that advice was given by men… and as a result, much better suited for men.

Now let me be clear, I have nothing against men, in fact I love how healthy masculine men perfectly compliment us, feminine energy beings. The problem is that us women are innately differently built (I will be writing a whole lotta blog posts on this topic, so stay tuned), which means that a lot of the personal development advice by men is not suitable for women. 

Like… at all.

Why male-specific advice doesn’t work for us

Male energy is linear and consistent, and men are naturally more mind and effort based. While us women are cyclical beings, cycling through 4 ‘seasons’ every month, and we are also more intuitive and in tune with our bodies.

And that’s why I find so problematic following one-size-fits-all ‘guru-advice’ like ‘The 5am Club’.

Because the entire framework leans heavily on masculine energetics – productivity over presence, routine over intuition, control over flow. It doesn’t account for:

• Cyclical energy patterns for us women, or anyone who lives intuitively
• The natural need for restorative, pleasure-based practices – again for us women in particular
• The importance of slowness, softness, or spontaneity in a fulfilling life
• How forcing early rising can trigger burnout and resentment

Basically, it’s rooted in a ‘conquer the day’ mindset, rather than ‘attune to your own rhythm and create from alignment.’

And for me, that is a textbook example of SELF-ABANDONMENT. Something that I stopped engaging in a good while ago, but sadly see so many women do (which also prompted me to start this blog!). Instead, I intentionally create a life that honours my body, my soul, and the values I live by.

How I’ve chosen to live my life

What does that look like, you ask?

Well… for me, it’s pretty straightforward. I don’t do routines – it’s as simple as that.

Because my number one value is FREEDOM. And strict rules and rigid routines remove freedom from my life.

You see, freedom for me is to have a CHOICE. Choice to tune into my body at any given time and feel into what would feel good and supportive. Am I called to journal? Go for a walk? Or put everything aside, sit in stillness and contemplate? 

If there’s something I HAVE TO do every day – and even worse, at the same time, in the same way – that’s no longer freedom for me. Routines, to me, are masculine and forced, while creativity, flow and intuitive action is the feminine, authentic way.

Of course, having some frames is good… but my question to you would be: can you allow yourself to flow within in those frames, rather than force yourself into some rigid structure that takes all the pleasure, play and fun out of life? 

Because if there is one thing I know to be true, is that all the ‘shoulds’ kill the magic and essence of feminine creation.

You do you, boo

Now, an important distinction here is that I’m not saying that waking up 5am in itself is bad. Or that having a morning routine is stupid. Absolutely not.

You might also say – well, that’s easy for you to say, you don’t have kids. And that’s correct – but that’s also because this, as well, is a conscious decision I have made.

However, this is not the point here.

The point is to get you thinking – are you a morning person because that’s how you are biologically wired, it suits your natural rhythm, and because it brings the best out of you every day? In that case, thumbs up – go girlfriend!

Or maybe you are a mother with young kids and 5am wake-up is the only way for you have any time for yourself. Then that’s a big thumbs up too, because 5am self-prioritisation beats no self-prioritisation any day.

Or you might be a person who thrives on structure, so daily routines keep you grounded and help you move towards your dreams and aspirations. Again – big thumbs up.

But if instead – when you get really honest with yourself – you realise that you’re doing allllll of the things because someone said that’s what’s going to bring success/happiness/health… but you are secretly hating every minute of it? THAT, my friend, is self-abandonement and giving away your power. And it is my sincere hope that this blog post will help you stop doing it. 

Like… right now.

Because we get to live a magical, DELIGHTFUL life, designed on our own terms, following what is right for US.

And if you are unsure? Just test it out and see what resonates. Swap the morning walk for an evening walk and see which one feels better (or do both, if you’re called!). Wake up later and check in with your energy levels throughout the day. Journal when you notice something wants to come through, instead of forcing pen to paper at set times.

Consider this your permission slip, beautiful soul. No more 5am wake-ups, kale juice or reading for 20 minutes before sunrise – unless it absolutely lights you up. Life is too short to follow someone else’s blueprint.