5am + reading ????

As I believe it to be a powerful tool for you as well, I want to share a short personal story. (3min read)

So, 6 months ago, I started my personal reboot. 

Thanks to my business partner Jér?me Lhoist I got the opportunity to meet my Coach/Mentor that would change the way I live and lead forever.

It started with a change in core habits: less alcohol, healthy foods, more sports I love, productivity hacks, and the most powerful impact of all: waking up at 5am, 6 days a week to completely recode my daily routine. This quickly added the habit of reading very early in the morning which was a thing I didn’t do for years, except for some daily quick fixes like online articles that didn’t give me any deep insight. At the start I had difficulties staying concentrated, and felt so very slow, feeling like a 9 year old looking for images. Today I read on average 1 book a week, 4 per month. And the impact I feel enormous.

This feels like a lot, but actually isn’t. I broke it down in a simple way to see it’s perfectly possible.

1. On average we all have a reading speed of 250 words per minute.With on average 250 words per page, this means 1 page per minute.
2. On average a paperback book has 350 pages, this means that we read a book in 5.8 hours.
3. So let’s say we just read 45 minutes per day, we need 7.7 days to read a book.

To compare, the average time spent watching television across all European countries comes to a total of 231 minutes per day (3h51min). This is 5 times more than reading a book for 45 minutes a day. 365 days per year gives us 48 books. Now let’s assume we only do 50% of that, we would read 24 books = 2 per month.

I used to see it as a painful task, today more like giving ourselves the possibility to have a 4 hour conversation with a genius of a certain topic. A gift to ourselves we put in our backpack forever. It changes everything.

Reading again has had the biggest impact on my life since the beginning of StoryMe in 2013. Grateful ?? with this powerful discovery. 

If you’re interested in reading, but don’t know why you should, you can find some insights here. And always happy to chat / share experiences.

1. What Executives are reading in 2019 by @McKinsey
2. How and why CEOs read by @inc

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The 12 Books I that impacted me:

1. The 5AM Club, Robin Sharma

The 5 AM Club explains the benefits of getting up 5 AM, build a morning routine, and make time for the self-improvement you need to become the best version of yourself. No snoozing. #5amclub #robinsharma

2. Daring Greatly, Brené Brown

A book about having the courage to be vulnerable in a world where everyone wants to appear strong, confident and like they know what they're doing. Daring Greatly sure was a surprise hit for me. #daringgreatly #brenébrown

3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey

It is written on Covey's belief that the way we see the world is entirely based on our own perceptions. In order to change a given situation, we must change ourselves, and in order to change ourselves, we must be able to change our perceptions. #the7habits #stephencovey

4. Power of Habits, Charles Duhigg

Habits are so powerful because they create neurological cravings. To create a new habit, put together a cue, a routine, and a reward, then cultivating a craving that drives the loop. You can't extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it by using the same cue, provide the same reward, but change the routine. #powerofhabits #charlesduhigg

5. The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni

This book uses a fable to explain why even the best teams struggle to work together and offers actionable strategies for them to overcome distrust and office politics to achieve important goals as a cohesive, effective unit. #thefivedysfunctions #patricklencioni

6. The One Thing, Gary w Keller

It gives you a very simple approach to productivity, based around a single question, to help you have less clutter, distractions and stress, and more focus, energy and success. Focus on just 1 thing. #theonething #garykeller

7. Insight Selling, Michael Harris

The author defines insight selling as “the process of creating and converting sales opportunities, and driving change with ideas that matter, creating real added value to the buyer”. #insightselling #michaelharris

8. How Brands Grow, Byron Sharp

Growth primarily comes from gaining new users (penetration) rather than driving increased loyalty. Most of a brand's users will be light users. Brands need to build physical availability (distribution) and mental availability (saliency). #howbrandsgrow #byronsharp

9. Les 7 graines de lumière dans le coeur des guerriers, Pierre Pellissier

Through the artfully crafted fable, the reader learns to tame his emotions and to live in harmony with those of others. #septgraines #pierrepellissier

10. Your Money or your Life, Vicky Robin

Your Money Or Your Life is different than other personal finance books because it emphasises choice, freedom and fulfilment rather than deprivation and discipline. You'll learn that money is life energy and how to become conscious of the movement of your money so it provides you maximum fulfilment. #yourmoneyoryourlife #vickyrobin

11. The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz

This book draws on the long tradition of the Toltecs, an ancient, indigenous people of Mexico, to show you that we have been domesticated from childhood, how these internal, guiding rules hurt us and what we can do to break and replace them with a new set of agreements with ourselves. #thefouragreements #donmiguelruiz

12. Radical Candor, Kim Scott

'Radical Candor' is a simple idea: to be a good boss, you have to Care Personally at the same time that you Challenge Directly. Being crystal clear honest as a manager, to let people grow and become the absolute best version of themselves. #radicalcandor #kimscott