Okay, I’m back, and this Monday we’re going to dive deep and deconstruct the 20/20/20 Formula.

That is a term everyone needs to understand, because it’s well and good to learn something new and understand a new model for doing things, and it’s even better to understand a new routine, but—and this is a big “but”—what separates the legends and the big A players, as I like to call them, from the ordinary people who never gain traction or get their ideas or plans off the ground is the level of depth and rigor of their knowledge.

Deconstruction is taking, for example, this 20/20/20 Formula, which you learned last week, and going deeper into it. When you do this, you gain an awareness few have. This deep study is so rare in this world, because most things are taught at a level that just skims the surface. What you want to do is play at the level of genius, because A players go deep when the rest of the world goes wide. Let me put it another way: Is it better to know a few things really, really well, so deep that you can deconstruct all the layers and intricacies and become an expert in your field, or is it better to know many things without understanding and knowing them at a level of deep intricacy? Understand? Good, because no idea will work unless you do the work and deconstruct it.

So let’s start with the deconstruction of the 5 a.m. club:

From 5:00 to 5:20 a.m., what do you do? Intense exercise. You sweat. Why? Because it releases BDNF. Then you hydrate, and remember to drink while you work out. When you wake up in the morning, you’re dehydrated, and one of the keys to getting your brain optimized is to drink tons of water. You also need to breathe. Why? Because it cleanses cortisol. You wake up in the morning with a brain full of cortisol, your levels of which are highest in the morning, so what you’re doing by moving first thing, as soon as you get out of bed, is releasing that fear hormone. You need to clear out that fear hormone before you achieve whatever big dream you’re working on.

When you exercise, BDNF is like Miracle-Gro for the brain in that it repairs brain cells damaged by stress. It’s a myth that you can’t grow more brain cells that promote more connections and accelerate your learning. What else? Exercise gives you a dopamine rush, which helps you feel inspired and on fire. You know that fire and excitement in your belly that makes you feel you can accomplish anything? Now how helpful would it be to start your day with that? Exercise also increases your metabolic rate, your fat-burning engine. I bet just about everyone likes that. And when you increase your metabolic rate, you have more energy. Just remember it like this: You can have an amazing idea, the inspiration for a new project or career or to start something at a groundbreaking level, but if you have no energy, it’s not going to get off the ground. Here’s something else you can do: Deconstruct those days where you had the greatest energy, and ask yourself, what was I doing? Who was I around? What was I thinking?

So what are the benefits of all this? You have less fear, you beat stress, you have more focus, you have more game, and you increase your longevity. Clear? Do you need to run out and buy a bike, a treadmill, or whatever expensive exercise equipment you think you need? No, you do not. This is the number one excuse I hear from people, that they don’t have a bike, or they’ll start the 5 a.m. routine when they have more time, more money, more… You get the picture, the victim mentality excuses. You can do leg lifts, jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, planks, squats, anything. You can even run in place if you have a tiny boxlike apartment. You just need to move. Just find a way to do it. Great. Let’s move on to the next one.

From 5:20 to 5:40 a.m. is for reflection. What do you do in this pocket? Well, this where I grab my coffee and journal and pen, because now you journal, meditate, and do the “I am” 25 tool. You don’t have to do them all, you can pick one or two, but this gives you the idea. Everyone knows what the “I am” 25 is, right? You know, where you write out your “I ams.” Here is an example: “I am happy, I am healthy, I am brave, I am confident, I am loving, I am successful, I am a great mom…” Keep going and fill it in for yourself.

Then there is the Gratitude 20 tool, and everyone knows this. “I am grateful for…” Fill in 20 times what you’re grateful for. I’ve written a blog already about the outdoor program my son attended, because for two years I couldn’t get the public school onboard with his autism program and consultant. Yes, you heard me! But it was a good thing, because the skills taught were valuable, and the first one was gratitude. It was how the outdoor program started each day. The kids sat in a circle and went around, and everyone had to say one thing he or she was grateful for, because when you’re grateful, the brain doesn’t allow room for criticism and the automatic negative thoughts that plague us all. Gratitude grows joy. I’ve strayed off topic a bit, but you get the idea.

Ask yourself, do you want to have more joy in your life? The dopamine release from your earlier exercise is now giving you more energy and less reactivity. Remember the reactive vs. strategic mindset. Think back and ask yourself, how many times did you react to a situation and then wish you could go back and have a redo, maybe take a step back and be strategic instead? Not sure about you, but my list is pages long. LOL! Then there are affirmations and prayers, if you subscribe to that. All the above falls within your pocket of 5:20 to 5:40. Pick one or all, but these are techniques you can deconstruct further to really dial in on your best. So what are the benefits? You will be happier, have better performance, be better at and more aligned with your craft or passion, and be more positive. Does everyone like this one? Okay, now deconstruct, and you’ll start to see this for yourself.

Now comes the final pocket, 5:40 to 6:00 a.m., where you learn! Listen to audiobooks or a podcast, watch documentaries or online video courses (I love these, and this is where I spend my 20-minute learning pocket every morning), or review study notes from a recent course or conference. Some people even read fiction. You want a form of learning that resonates with you. So let’s get into this. For example, with your study notes, keeping in mind the 20/20/20 Formula, take them and actually deconstruct them. Dial them in, make plans around them, visualize them, meditate on them… You get the picture. Do this fifty times, a hundred times, so that it becomes second nature and you really hone in on it. How many times have you read something or taken notes at a conference, and when you go back through your notes, each time you learn something new? Or maybe you’re like me and always end up saying, “Oh, yeah, I missed that part!”

Maybe you don’t want to be a student in a world that celebrates superficiality. You know that thing people do, or maybe you recognize this as something you do or have done, when they say, “Just give it to me now,” “I don’t want to study,” “I don’t want to put in the work,” or “I don’t want to train”? That’s why so few people are in the top 0.0001 percent. So now that you’ve been walked through this process and can see what your true nature is, you can see where you are now despite what you were born into, what you were brainwashed to believe by well-intentioned people. You can see the journey and what it has taken. Unfortunately, though, most people don’t know this. Now that you do, you’ve developed insight and increased your opportunities.

Then there’s the ×20 value you can deliver, making you more valuable to the marketplace. Why spend all this time learning? Because it increases your inspiration. Look at Steve Jobs. Genius? No, but he focused on one skill for a lifetime! So what are the benefits? You can be legendary, a market icon. How many of you would like to be so good at what you do that your marketplace simply beats a path to your door? How many of you would like to create your own personal economy and be so good at what you do that when you walk into work on Monday morning, your team and people in the marketplace rise to their feet for you? Just kidding…but I’m not! You get the point, because people, especially kids out there, are looking for that kind of inspiration. So be it.

What’s next? Learn this at such a level that it becomes second nature. Share this and teach it to others. Make it your daily habit. Remember the 66 days—hard at first, messy in the middle, but absolutely beautiful in the end, because you’ve got it.

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