5-hour rule may just be one of the secrets behind Bill Gates, Elon Musk's success

Reading is a habit common between Bill Gates and Elon Musk.

Elon Musk is famously known to have taught himself rocket science by reading books and speaking industry heavyweights. Bill Gates, on the other hand, reads 50 books every year and often shares his vacation reading lists with his fans and followers.

This brings us to the common trait between the two billionaires--reading--and to what the 5-hour rule is all about.

It advocates learning something new actively for at least one hour each workday. The 5-hour rule's primary focus is investing at least five hours a week in deliberate learning which can have significant advantages in the long run. The hours of the week can be broadly divided into three categories:

Reading
Reading forms an important part of the 5-hour rule. It is also such an integral part of Bill Gates’s life that his advice to his younger self was: Pick up a book.

Recently, Gates posted a photo on LinkedIn of himself as a teenager — wearing a black robe at his high school graduation ceremony in 1973 — and wrote that he’d been thinking “a lot about what I would tell my younger self.”

“I remember this guy,” Gates wrote referring to the photo. “A lot has changed since this photo, but I remember how excited I felt for the next chapter. My advice is simple: Read a lot and discover a skill you enjoy.”

Read more: Bill Gates on one of his favourite games that everyone can play

Experimenting
Apart from his reading habits, Elon Musk is involved not just in rocket science (SpaceX) but also in neurology and artificial intelligence (Neuralink), mechanical technology (Tesla), and even the technology required to establish and run social media platforms. Experimenting during the 5-hour rule helps one become more creative and innovative.

Read more: Elon Musk tweets he is buying Manchester United, then says it is a 'long-running joke'

AnalysingThe last category in the 5-hour rule includes analysing  information gathered through the week. The ability to reflect on the events of the week will enable you to learn better and take more informed decisions.