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The 2AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure
People always say, “Nothing good happens after 2AM’
But they probably have never narrowly escaped death while running with bulls in Pamplona, defeated Kiefer Sutherland in a drunken game of Jenga, or jumped into a moving limousine full of strangers only to take over a bachelorette party. That’s because they only got it half-right. Nothing good happens after 2 AM . . . except the most EPIC experiences of your life.
Why did they get it wrong? Because until now, no one realized there was a science of adventure. People generally believe that the most adventurous experiences of their lives happened by chance. But just think, if that were true, if it was pure luck we would all lead similarly exciting lives . . . but we don’t.
Adventures don’t happen by accident—just ask Jon Levy. Once a high school geek, he is now a world-traveling behavior scientist and the creator of the EPIC Model of Adventure, a breakthrough four-stage process for creating unforgettable experiences—from assembling the right team and the finer points of party crashing, to the science of being funny and ending the evening with style.
The 2 AM Principle combines outrageous triumphs, embarrassing failures, and life-changing lessons from Levy’s adventures with concrete science to show anyone how to live life more fully—and adventurously.
Jon Levy is a digital strategist and consultant, and founder of The Influencers Dinner, a secret community of private members who draw from every major media outlet. He is based in New York.
But they probably have never narrowly escaped death while running with bulls in Pamplona, defeated Kiefer Sutherland in a drunken game of Jenga, or jumped into a moving limousine full of strangers only to take over a bachelorette party. That’s because they only got it half-right. Nothing good happens after 2 AM . . . except the most EPIC experiences of your life.
Why did they get it wrong? Because until now, no one realized there was a science of adventure. People generally believe that the most adventurous experiences of their lives happened by chance. But just think, if that were true, if it was pure luck we would all lead similarly exciting lives . . . but we don’t.
Adventures don’t happen by accident—just ask Jon Levy. Once a high school geek, he is now a world-traveling behavior scientist and the creator of the EPIC Model of Adventure, a breakthrough four-stage process for creating unforgettable experiences—from assembling the right team and the finer points of party crashing, to the science of being funny and ending the evening with style.
The 2 AM Principle combines outrageous triumphs, embarrassing failures, and life-changing lessons from Levy’s adventures with concrete science to show anyone how to live life more fully—and adventurously.
Jon Levy is a digital strategist and consultant, and founder of The Influencers Dinner, a secret community of private members who draw from every major media outlet. He is based in New York.
359 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 3, 2016
116 people are currently reading
991 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
September 27, 2017
Jon Levy is still a nerd.
The book takes an overly ambitious stab at quantifying adventure which, like most attempted quantification, robs the subject matter of its beauty and power. Levy name-drops celebrities that he imposed on in public and recounts various instances where he very nearly got laid. His friend Liam seemed to have succeeded at least once, but despite Levy's repeated failures, he maintains that the wince-inducing E.P.I.C system is a foolproof method of achieving "the best nights of your life", with such exciting facets as: rating your friends, arbitrarily alienating around half of them, mooching drinks despite having enough money to hire a helicopter in Beijing "so the team's energy doesn't flag while in travel", inflicting skeevy Pickup Artists tactics on celebrities to impress your friends, and much, much more.
It wasn't all bad, there was some good science in it, it was an easy read (that I was unmotivated to complete), and the pages were much more colorful than the stories or advice. The saccharine adventurer's toast at the end of the book was probably the best part of it, but really, the author wanted to come off as some half-academic party messiah, sort of a cross between the dude from Lie to Me and Andrew W.K. Instead, he came off as a dude writing a tutorial on how to wander into public and suck everyone around you into your socially maladaptive, blundering attempts at Machiavellian manipulation that will, best case scenario, probably just leave them embarrassed for you.
Still, I respect his hustle, his curiosity, his desire for categorization, and his wanderlust. I don't think it's conveyed in the best way, but I'm sure his intentions were good.
The book takes an overly ambitious stab at quantifying adventure which, like most attempted quantification, robs the subject matter of its beauty and power. Levy name-drops celebrities that he imposed on in public and recounts various instances where he very nearly got laid. His friend Liam seemed to have succeeded at least once, but despite Levy's repeated failures, he maintains that the wince-inducing E.P.I.C system is a foolproof method of achieving "the best nights of your life", with such exciting facets as: rating your friends, arbitrarily alienating around half of them, mooching drinks despite having enough money to hire a helicopter in Beijing "so the team's energy doesn't flag while in travel", inflicting skeevy Pickup Artists tactics on celebrities to impress your friends, and much, much more.
It wasn't all bad, there was some good science in it, it was an easy read (that I was unmotivated to complete), and the pages were much more colorful than the stories or advice. The saccharine adventurer's toast at the end of the book was probably the best part of it, but really, the author wanted to come off as some half-academic party messiah, sort of a cross between the dude from Lie to Me and Andrew W.K. Instead, he came off as a dude writing a tutorial on how to wander into public and suck everyone around you into your socially maladaptive, blundering attempts at Machiavellian manipulation that will, best case scenario, probably just leave them embarrassed for you.
Still, I respect his hustle, his curiosity, his desire for categorization, and his wanderlust. I don't think it's conveyed in the best way, but I'm sure his intentions were good.
September 23, 2017
Really lame. Geared toward the male sex and there was a pretty central theme of involving alcohol. I wouldn't recommend it. I give it one star because I mostly thought that the book design was neat.
July 16, 2017
I couldn't finish the book... not sure what got in the way - the overly colorful pages (it's a book, duh! We can all handle the "dullness" of black on white) or the author who comes across too obnoxious to be taken seriously.
August 20, 2018
I didn't really enjoy this book that much but it did have a few things to note about choice and FOMO. After a few pages I became completely disinterested in the anecdotes of the author and just skipped to the main points. It's a great book if you have no responsibilities and seek pure hedonism while skirting the edge of lawlessness especially in foreign countries, not sleeping at regular hours of the day and drinking a lot. That's not my preferred lifestyle but I'm sure that it appeals to many people out there these days.
June 12, 2018
I read about 20% of this book, but had to stop. Some take-aways are pretty good and even scientifically backed, but the writer is too annoying, bragging about his nights out, his facebook invitations to parties, how his friends got laid etc.
December 12, 2017
The only reason I gave this book two stars is because it was an easy read. Other than that, I found the book pretty boring. None of the information was profound or very scientific. It felt like more of a forum for Jon Levy to brag about things he's done that he thinks are cool, and frankly half his stories made me cringe because they were so lame.
September 1, 2021
I think I expected adventures to encompass all types not just alcohol related ones which was the majority. This book probably will be enjoyable to those who enjoy this lifestyle and reading about the specifics of their adventures.
December 9, 2021
As an introvert, I had a bit of an inner struggle of beliefs with this book. Ultimately there were a couple aspects that I fundamentally disagree with (such as being incredibly calculative on who to be friends with based on their extraversion factor or traveling frequently internationally regardless of one's personal financial situation), but there were still a few more aspects that I found insightful and am working to add to my life (such as how to take them from an ordinary night to extraordinary experiences based on only a few small tweaks, and generally being more open to meeting new people). At any rate, this book made me take a hard look at a lifestyle unlike my own and see what might make sense to incorporate in my own life. The author lives in one of the top 5 major metro areas (as do I) and so some of his techniques definitely resonated with me on ideas of how to broaden my experiences even within my own city and daily life.
May 8, 2019
I could barely stand this book.
I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO HAVE THE ACTUAL BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST.
The book is a scenery, not a methodology, made by a green person who still can only write about how much he got laid.
It has a specific EXPLOITATION notion overall. It is that vibe, of how to exploit your surroundings, that was driving me away.
ADVENTURE IS MANY THINGS,
BUT NOT EXPLOITATION.
IT'S ABOUT EXPLORATION.
I WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO HAVE THE ACTUAL BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST.
The book is a scenery, not a methodology, made by a green person who still can only write about how much he got laid.
It has a specific EXPLOITATION notion overall. It is that vibe, of how to exploit your surroundings, that was driving me away.
ADVENTURE IS MANY THINGS,
BUT NOT EXPLOITATION.
IT'S ABOUT EXPLORATION.
October 26, 2023
This is a reasonably entertaining book, presented in an interesting and informative way about increasing the amount of social adventure in your life. I say social adventure because it's almost only about picking up girls and going to bars. But it's nicely formatted into stories and concepts and might be a fun read if you're into that kind of thing.
May 25, 2017
This book can truly help inspire you to live an awesomely incredible life. It provides great ideas, stories on how to make any night exciting and overall suspense and laughs as well. It is highly recommended for anyone looking to make life more adventurous!
April 1, 2024
1 star for design, another for the ideas and research which was provided. It's just boring his stories are not that interesting and what does enjoying in limit even mean? Obviously you can listen to your favourite album and ride the metro and convince yourself you had a good day.
November 4, 2017
I really liked the systematization of a process that until now was pretty random to me. Also appreciated all the sprinkles of science backed knowledge.
December 26, 2019
Not much depth to this book... nor the author. Maybe it's just me, but it's not likely that I would be friends with this guy, let alone take his advice on life with any degree of seriousness.
March 20, 2021
The author's definition of living a crazy and adventurous life is getting really drunk at a new bar or house party every night. Approximately 9/10 of his stories are that exact scenario.
June 8, 2024
An entertaining reading for fun adventure stories after midnight
August 31, 2025
0.5* - almost nothing of relevance to anyone other than a white male with no real responsibilities
August 1, 2021
Enjoyed the science, the adventure not so much.
November 9, 2024
Less an adventure and more a collection of bar stories and cliched activities. The usage of the term “epic” also fell in line with the Mountain Dew marketing campaign that leveraged the word “extreme”.
February 21, 2017
fun read, mostly about drunken antics. thought it would have more useful advice for the introvert who wants to meet people.
February 9, 2017
This book was an unexpected surprise. It teaches you the foundational principles of adventure, or perhaps it could be described as how to make opportunities happen. It is well written, engaging, the stories definitely pull you in and make you wish you were there, and it generally gives you the feeling that you can make anything happen. The fact that the author not only pulled off all of these adventures, but was able to turn his adventures and skills in meeting people and making opportunities happen into one of the most successful international gatherings of influencers in the world says a lot. If you listen to one person on this subject, make it Jon Levy.
I tested out the principles to see if they worked, and I have to say they work even better than I imagined. These principles apply to much more than a night out on the town. Even simply explaining the principles to strangers can result in some fantastic experiences and memories, and it really is true that you NEVER know who you are going to end up meeting. Don't believe me? Try it for yourself. See you at 2am!
I tested out the principles to see if they worked, and I have to say they work even better than I imagined. These principles apply to much more than a night out on the town. Even simply explaining the principles to strangers can result in some fantastic experiences and memories, and it really is true that you NEVER know who you are going to end up meeting. Don't believe me? Try it for yourself. See you at 2am!
November 9, 2016
What an original, fascinating book! I am surprised others have not thought of analyzing the common elements of "adventure" to consider how we might generate more of it in our lives. Levy does this with The 2AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure, and takes it even further by codifying these elements into a bit of a formula for adventure. This is a very good mix of framework and insights plus stories of the author's own adventures to elucidate each piece of the EPIC model and other elements.
My day today and the future has been positively moved and shaken up by having read this book!
Also, this Goodreads page says Kindle edition, but I read the paperback and recommend the hard copy format: Amazon Link
My day today and the future has been positively moved and shaken up by having read this book!
Also, this Goodreads page says Kindle edition, but I read the paperback and recommend the hard copy format: Amazon Link
January 10, 2017
Love it! In a world where we take everything way too seriously, where we define ourselves by our job or relationship, this is a perfectly-timed, fresh take on how to help lead a more exciting life. While it may not have been intentional, it is delightfully non-PC where the author recommends taking the bull by the horns (or in his case having the bull's horns take him) and doing the things you would never otherwise think to do. To get us out of our comfort zones. What surprised me is the science behind it and helps explain human nature and the reasons for our moods and happiness. In the end, it is indeed all about happiness and I'm happier for reading it. Can't wait for the clock to hit 2:00AM.
December 25, 2017
Good basic tips that can be applied and the given frame is good. Thought, if you are an introvert you would need to search some additional info elsewhere to get the full thing running.
The book thought seems to imply sometimes that if you want to have fun, you would need strong body language, be naturally fun, young and have guts, have quite some money (traveling lots, buy drinks to people, etc.).
The stories are not that crazy, I have heard way better ones. But hey, its a first step and there is no other book about how to party properly! Take big risks guys! I suggest to check out Love System's books and audio for social mastery, as this book doesnt really go into that fundamental part of great partying.
The book thought seems to imply sometimes that if you want to have fun, you would need strong body language, be naturally fun, young and have guts, have quite some money (traveling lots, buy drinks to people, etc.).
The stories are not that crazy, I have heard way better ones. But hey, its a first step and there is no other book about how to party properly! Take big risks guys! I suggest to check out Love System's books and audio for social mastery, as this book doesnt really go into that fundamental part of great partying.
April 21, 2020
The Adventure Formula
I just finished this very entertaining and informative adventurer’s manifesto by Jon Levi, a behavioral scientist who really likes to party.
This book follows the storytelling rich principal, anecdote, scientific reference format that makes non-fiction a pleasure to read. The author has a formula for epic experiences…
The book features a number of cool illustrations and infographics that visually break down Levi’s principles of adventure. I’d recommend that you get the print version of the book because it has a formating layout that is a little awkward to read on the Kindle app.
I enthusiastically recommend reading this if you’re a young single guy, an adventurer or a socialite who sees partying as a tool for networking up.
I just finished this very entertaining and informative adventurer’s manifesto by Jon Levi, a behavioral scientist who really likes to party.
This book follows the storytelling rich principal, anecdote, scientific reference format that makes non-fiction a pleasure to read. The author has a formula for epic experiences…
The book features a number of cool illustrations and infographics that visually break down Levi’s principles of adventure. I’d recommend that you get the print version of the book because it has a formating layout that is a little awkward to read on the Kindle app.
I enthusiastically recommend reading this if you’re a young single guy, an adventurer or a socialite who sees partying as a tool for networking up.
November 16, 2016
An epic and super fun read! This book is bound to take you on an exciting adventure!
This book is really fun to read - there are various insightful and interesting stories inside. It was hard to put this book down, as it captured my attention the whole way through. This book is inspiring and I enjoyed it throughout.
Be prepared to live a life packed full with adventures whilst creating your own unique experiences - where the ideal is to enjoy and live life to the fullest while it lasts. A definite must read for all!
Thank you for the giveaway, and I'm glad to have been able to receive a copy of this book.
This book is really fun to read - there are various insightful and interesting stories inside. It was hard to put this book down, as it captured my attention the whole way through. This book is inspiring and I enjoyed it throughout.
Be prepared to live a life packed full with adventures whilst creating your own unique experiences - where the ideal is to enjoy and live life to the fullest while it lasts. A definite must read for all!
Thank you for the giveaway, and I'm glad to have been able to receive a copy of this book.
September 27, 2018
Are you looking for a book to teach you how to have one of the most epic nights or days out of your entire life?
This is the book for you.
Jon shares stories from him traveling the world and experiencing all kinds of craziness by following his very specific formula for adventure.
I've taken this formula for a test ride and found that it was a raving success.
We danced, took shots of espresso, attempted to do the worm, exchanged shirts with a stranger, and started dance circles of strangers at 3 different nightclubs all in ONE night.
If you want to have a good time and do something different your next night out, read this book.
This is the book for you.
Jon shares stories from him traveling the world and experiencing all kinds of craziness by following his very specific formula for adventure.
I've taken this formula for a test ride and found that it was a raving success.
We danced, took shots of espresso, attempted to do the worm, exchanged shirts with a stranger, and started dance circles of strangers at 3 different nightclubs all in ONE night.
If you want to have a good time and do something different your next night out, read this book.
January 2, 2018
A roadmap to de-boringify your life.
I read this book because I wanted to start the year off with a new mindset: Be more adventurous. Jon presents many anecdotes but also includes explanations on how his experiences are congruent with his EPIC model of adventure. I'll definitely come back to this book frequently to remind me to live more adventurously and make as many memorable days in my life as I can.
I read this book because I wanted to start the year off with a new mindset: Be more adventurous. Jon presents many anecdotes but also includes explanations on how his experiences are congruent with his EPIC model of adventure. I'll definitely come back to this book frequently to remind me to live more adventurously and make as many memorable days in my life as I can.
December 30, 2018
As a person who always tries to continually develop himself and loves psychology I must say this was the book of 2016 for myself. Not only author gives numerous concrete hints on how to adventurize one's social life, but also provides many interesting patterns, methods, insights, inspiration and advice all backed by and explained in context of scientific research. Thank you John Levy for changing my life, you were right, life will never be the same after this fun and superinteresting read!
May 26, 2018
Full of great stories and ideas. I like the scientific approach to this while still being accessible to the layman. He's a behavioral scientist so he has an understanding and perspective of adventure that is unique and interesting. I look forward trying out some of the ideas in this book on those nights out with friends.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews