Robin Sharma & Joy as a GPS
Navigating life with three of his most powerful models
Yes, I admit it. I love a good self-help book. In high school, my two favorite books were Steven Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. You could slap all the self-help stereotypes on me, and they’d stick.
In college the weekly planner was my favorite productivity tool. I tracked everything on it - academic goals, study hours, exam results and even sleep hours. And when I aced the plan, I'd reward myself with a checkmark. My planner was my compass for navigating student life.
But then I entered the world of monotone office cubicles and Microsoft Office calendars. The academic safety net gone. My days were instead filled with valuation spreadsheets and powerpoint decks. My library now included “A Practical Guide to Mergers & Acquisitions” and “Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies”. The organizing purpose of my life was the cold logic of shareholder value. And for many years it was all smooth sailing until it wasn’t.
I found myself mentally frayed and physically exhausted after an eight-month consulting project thousands of miles from home. To make matters worse, a promotion was nowhere in sight. I had assumed that shareholder value and personal performance were linked. If the client and the firm thrived, so would I. But that was no longer the case. What happened?
In the midst of this personal crisis, I stumbled upon a YouTube video by Robin Sharma. He knew the corporate grind, a kindred spirit with a legal background and a shared Indian heritage. And his models on personal mastery and professional capability helped me see the forest from the trees and recalibrate my compass.
In that YouTube video, he introduced the idea of the Twin Cycles of Elite Performance. It was like life’s seasons - growth and fallow periods. Just like we’d let farmland rest to regain fertility, we should rest and recharge our mind, body, willpower and talent.
“To double your income and impact, triple your investment in your personal mastery .” Robin Sharma
The goal Robin suggests is to create the conditions for sustainable world-class performance, not just for a day, or a year, but over a lifetime. This was music to my burned-out self. Daily exercise, journaling and meditation became my secret weapons.
And then it hit me: if I could be intentional about my personal wellbeing, why not apply the same principle to other areas of my life?
At a Personal Mastery event Robin shared the perfect model for that: Joy as a GPS. We all need a little guidance in life, right? So, why not let joy to be our North Star, leading us to the people, places and pursuits that light our fire? It's about making choices and living a life aligned with what brings us joy.
“You enter the magic by using your joy as a GPS.” Robin Sharma
I sat down and listed the people (my wife, my parents, close friends and family) and places (my home, Stowe, Santa Fe, Tokyo) and pursuits (learning, personal growth, teaching) that brought me the most joy. I hadn’t been intentional about making these choices for years. In fact, I hadn't been intentional about my career recently, and that's when it hit me - a major life recalibration was due.
The next year, I left my management consulting career and embraced a new path as a leadership coach and consultant. My mission: to help people rediscover the power of personal growth in the business world.
With this new chapter ahead, I needed a daily routine that would keep me on track. Enter Robin Sharma's The 20/20/20 Formula. This model is about kick-starting the day with a bang. Our personal victory hour sets the tone for the day by stacking it with small and big wins.
Your daily behavior reveals your deepest beliefs. Robin Sharma
The 20/20/20 formula nudged me to spend the first hour of my day (ideally at 5 AM) moving, (exercise), reflecting (journaling and meditation), and growing (learning and studying). It’s the time when I’m intentional and energized to do focused work that is aligned with my mission.
Studying Robin’s work and using his book The 5 AM Club as a reference guide is like being back in school - the school of life. But this time, joy is my GPS.
Thanks to Justine Leigh
for helping me go from draft to published.
I love a good self-help book too. I'm looking forward to checking out the videos
I've neglected the first hour of my day for the last two weeks, and it has shown as longer screen time, less reading, and a busier mind. I haven't read Robin's book, and I admit I've run from it given how popular it is, but I'll check it to see if I can strengthen my wake-meditate-read routine.