The 5-Hour Rule Used by Bill Gates, Jack Ma and Elon Musk

No matter how busy successful people are, they always spend at least an hour a day (thus five hours a week) learning or practicing. And they do this across their entire career.

Barack Obama is far from the only leader to credit his success to reading. Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk, Mark Cuban and Jack Ma are all voracious readers. 

Besides expanding your knowledge, reading can give you a good head start; this is often what your peers cannot obtain. 

Even if you can't commit to an hour or more of reading every day, start with 20 to 30 minutes.

The five-hour rule also includes reflecting and thinking. This could be just staring at the wall or jotting down your thoughts.

Focusing on the past gives you a chance to learn from mistakes you've made, as well as assess what you did correctly. As a result, you’ll be better suited to achieve your goals and improve your life.

Experiments are so useful because you have facts, not assumptions. 

Experiments show you what’s working. You can learn from your mistakes and obtain feedback from others.