The 5 AM Club
Chapter 1
The Dangerous Deed
A gun would be too violent. A noose would be too ancient. And a knife blade to
the wrist would be too silent. So, the question became, How could a onceglorious
life be ended swiftly and precisely, with minimum mess yet maximum
impact?
Only a year ago, circumstances had been dramatically more hopeful. The
entrepreneur had been widely celebrated as a titan of her industry, a leader of
society and a philanthropist. She was in her late thirties, steering the technology
company she founded in her dorm room in college to ever-increasing levels of
marketplace dominance while producing products that her customers revered.
Yet now she was being blindsided, facing a mean-spirited and jealousyfueled
coup that would significantly dilute her ownership stake in the business
she’d invested most of her life building, forcing her to find a new job.
The cruelty of this remarkable turn of events was proving to be unbearable
for the entrepreneur. Beneath her regularly icy exterior beat a caring,
compassionate and deeply loving heart. She felt life itself had betrayed her. And
that she deserved so much better.
She considered swallowing a gigantic bottle of sleeping pills. The dangerous
deed would be cleaner this way. Just take them all and get the job done fast, she
thought. I need to escape this pain.
Then, she spotted something on the stylish oak dresser in her all-white
bedroom—a ticket to a personal optimization conference that her mother had
given her. The entrepreneur usually laughed at people who attended such events,
calling them “broken winged” and saying they were seeking the answers of a
pseudo guru when everything they needed to live a prolific and successful life
was already within them.
Maybe it was time to rethink her opinion. She couldn’t see many options.
Either she’d go to the seminar—and experience some breakthrough that would
save her life. Or she’d find her peace. Via a quick death.
