Going to the gym these days does not mean you are special.

It is the bare minimum of ‘self improvement’.

Spending 2 hours in the gym after work is not a good use of your time. When you could be working on a business, a skill, putting extra hours into progressing your career.

Think about it, this is probably your average evening:

You get home from school or work.

You eat.

You travel to the gym.

You train.

You walk home.

You eat again.

You watch content.

You sleep.

You are wasting so much time. Gym is an excuse, it is procrastination. It is time consuming.

The evening is your opportunity to work on your own craft. Having a good physique doesn’t mean you are ‘high value’ anymore. Everyone in this community has a six pack now.

So here’s what you need to do.

Wake up at 5:30am.

You already have your two litres of water, first meal, work clothes, and gym clothes ready from the night before.

You commute to the gym, finishing your two litres of water on the way.

You train, and are in the shower by 7am.

You get dressed, and are in the office earlier than any of your counterparts.

You feel more confident because of the endorphins (and the bicep pump).

This impresses the management who get in early - the important people, the people you want on your side.

Take advantage of this. Speak with them when they’re making a coffee, or making their breakfast.

Start your work. Revise for the exams you need to do - the CFA, ACII, ACCA. There’s a financial incentive. And a career incentive.

Its 11am. You’ve finished all your work early.

Working from home? Work on your side hustle. Working from the office? Take on more responsibility. Network with people. Or just leave early.

You’re now home. You don’t have to waste four hours eating, travelling to the gym, and training. You now have from 6pm, all the way until you sleep to work on what is most important.

4 hours of wasted time every night is 28 hours a week. 120 hours a month. 1,440 hours a year.

Here is my advice. Every night, spend five minutes learning something new. Spend at least an hour on your side project. And spend at least 30 minutes reading.

This is what you must do to improve. Going to the gym and coping is not enough anymore to be a top 1% man.

This article was originally going to be about the direct benefits of training early. You have more mental focus, less fatigue, you have something hard to start the day with. You already know this. And if you didn’t, you could’ve worked it out anyway.

But these indirect benefits far surpass the benefits you already know about.

Something as simple as this can skyrocket your productivity.