Just hearing the phrase "5 AM Club" was enough to trigger an allergic reaction in me.
After reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, I was completely obsessed. Actually, to be more precise, I was completely captivated by the concept of "successful people's routines." I had learned about Kiyosaki's rich mindset, so I thought I should also follow the lifestyle patterns of wealthy people.
"All rich people wake up early!"
That's how my first morning routine challenge began. And it ended in spectacular failure.
Week 1: The Perfectionist Trap
Deeply influenced by the "rich mindset" I learned from Rich Dad Poor Dad, I started researching the morning routines of successful people. I discovered that they all woke up at 5 AM to meditate, exercise, and read.
My perfectly designed morning routine looked like this:
- 5:00 AM Wake up
- 5:05 AM Glass of water + stretching
- 5:15 AM Meditation (20 minutes)
- 5:35 AM Exercise (30 minutes)
- 6:05 AM Shower
- 6:20 AM Financial education reading (40 minutes)
- 7:00 AM Breakfast
Looks perfect, doesn't it? The problem was that I was an unemployed person who usually went to bed at midnight. I was resting at home after my IT business failed, with nothing to do during the day, yet trying to accomplish all this on 5 hours of sleep was an impossible plan from the start.
Day 1: Hit snooze 9 times, woke up at 7:30 AM
Day 2: "Better than yesterday!" Woke up at 7:00 AM
Day 3: Back to 7:30 AM... and a storm of self-blame
Week 2: The Motivation Content Trap
"Am I lacking willpower?"
I thought that to have the "rich mindset" I learned from Kiyosaki's book, I needed to act like successful people. I searched bookstores for books about "successful people's morning habits." Books like The Early Bird Catches the Worm and How Successful People Use Their Morning Hours were filled with sayings like "The rich wake up early!"
While reading these books, I thought, "That's right, I need to do this to become rich!" But when the 5 AM alarm went off the next morning? My body was honest. When tired, it was tired.
What's even funnier is that I started going to bed later because I was reading these books. The beginning of a vicious cycle.
Month 1: The Tool Temptation
"Maybe a good alarm clock is the solution!"
I tried various wake-up tools I found on the internet. Sunrise alarm clocks that wake you with light, digital clocks with multi-stage alarm functions, and I even installed a timer next to my bed. Each tool promised different sounds and different features.
But reality? I was still a slave to the snooze button. The more tools I used, the more complicated it became. When I woke up in the morning, multiple alarms went off simultaneously, and I was confused about which one to turn off first.
Month 2: Extreme Experiments
Now I was getting truly desperate. I started trying "extreme methods of successful people" I found in internet communities and self-help books.
Method 1: Put the alarm clock on the opposite side of the room
→ Result: Walked over half-asleep, turned it off, and went back to bed
Method 2: Ask a friend for wake-up calls
→ Result: Friend got annoyed, I felt guilty, eventually stopped
Method 3: Penalty system (save 10,000 won if I fail to wake up)
→ Result: Saved 50,000 won in a month... just accumulated money
Month 3: Signs of Burnout
By this point, the morning routine itself had become a source of stress. Every failure made me think, "I'm someone who can never become rich," "I'm someone who can never succeed."
What was more serious was that this failure kept haunting me throughout the day. Even when job hunting or meeting friends, I kept thinking, "I'm someone who can't even wake up in the morning."
Months 4-6: The Cycle of Giving Up and Self-Blame
I eventually gave up trying morning routines. But giving up was even more stressful. Whenever I saw books about successful people's morning routines in bookstores or TV programs introducing the daily schedules of successful entrepreneurs, I thought, "Why can't I even do this?"
Sometimes when I felt motivated, I tried again. But I never lasted more than 3 days. Then I'd blame myself again, give up again... this pattern kept repeating.
What I Realized After 6 Months
After 6 months of failure, here's what I learned:
1. Copying someone else's routine is impossible
It's impossible to follow successful people's routines exactly. I didn't consider my lifestyle, physical condition, or environment.
2. Build habits one at a time
The problem was trying to change 20 things at once. I completely ignored what Kiyosaki talked about—"the power of small habits."
3. Sleep comes first
What mattered more than a morning routine was adequate sleep. Trying to have a perfect morning on 5 hours of sleep made no sense.
4. Failure is data
Those 6 months of failure were actually valuable information about myself. I learned that I'm not a morning person and that I prefer gradual change over dramatic transformation.
What Kiyosaki Really Wanted to Say
When I reread Rich Dad Poor Dad after 6 months, I realized I had completely misunderstood it. Kiyosaki never said to "copy rich people's morning routines."
What he was talking about was "small habits compound over time." I was trying to create a grandiose routine, but what really mattered was something small I could do every day.
25 Years Later...
Looking back now, that attempt at a "perfect morning routine" was a complete failure, but without that failure, I wouldn't be who I am today.
25 years later, I've developed considerable expertise in morning routines and habits. But it started with creating "my own small morning habits." I began with waking up at 7 AM instead of 5 AM, and doing 10 push-ups instead of 20 minutes of meditation.
It wasn't perfect, but it was sustainable. And I learned through 6 months of failure that sustainability is more important.
Failure was also part of growth. I just wish I had realized it sooner.
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