Miracle Morning summary
The Miracle morning: the not-so-obvious secret guaranteed to transform your life before 8 am by Hal Elrod.
What if there’s a method that would revolutionize your life? A practical way and results-oriented process exists to improve every aspect of your life.
This method consists of being more productive by getting up early and by following a morning routine (the life S.A.V.E.R.S as developed later).
Deep down, we all possess an unlimited but dormant potential. We all can improve our lives and ourselves.
If you’re looking for a book to help you achieve your best-possible self, then this book might be the right one for you, because it’s what the miracle morning is all about.
Introduction: my story, and why yours is the one that matters
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. —ALBERT EINSTEIN
Miracles do not happen in contradiction with nature, but in contradiction with what we know about nature. —SAINT AUGUSTINE Life begins each morning. —JOEL OLSTEEN
Clinically dead
On December 3rd, 1999, 11:32 pm, driving 70 mph southbound on Hwy 99, was involved in a terrible car accident. Yet, nothing predicted it. He was living his best life, enjoying success in all areas and earning more money than he ever imagined. A massive Chevrolet truck hit him and his girlfriend in their undersized Ford Mustang. Another car crashed into him and blood was just everywhere.
“The frame of the metal roof caved in on my head, slicing open my skull and nearly severing my left ear. The bones of my left eye socket were crushed, leaving my left eyeball dangerously unsupported. My left arm broke, severing the radial nerve in my forearm and shattering my elbow, while my fractured humerus bone pierced the skin behind my bicep.”
Clinically, he was dead but the paramedics succeeded in saving his life. He later spent six days in a coma, learning that he might never walk again. Between recovery and rehabilitation, he broke up with his girlfriend: life couldn’t hit you harder.
Turning adversity into victory
Feeling defeated, he returned to his old sales profession in 2000 and realized his best year ever. He quickly climbed the professional ladder and experienced real success. He later decided to share his personal story and write a book to inspire others from what happened to him. In 2006, he wrote a book and became a life and business Success coach.
Hitting rock bottom…again
With the financial crisis in 2007, his life fell apart. The world economy crashed and he immediately went broke, 425,000$ in debt. It’s in this moment that he sought advice and read self-help books but nothing worked until 2008. He started to have insight on the power of the miracle morning. As a friend recommended him a morning run, he quickly developed a routine to increase his productivity: it worked. With enough experimentation, trials and errors, he shared his findings to his surroundings. The miracle morning quickly became a trend. In 2009, considered as his best year ever, he got married and had a daughter. His coaching business was thriving and he wrote again.
It’s not about him but about you
Hal Elrod shared the previous series of stories not to brag but to inspire you. We can transform adversity into opportunity and seek growth from challenges. We all can overcome and achieve anything despite the difficulties. You can’t hide behind your excuses. So start to believe that you have the power to change and create anything in your life.
He highlights the difference between responsibility and blame. He could’ve used his car accident to blame the drivers but how he responded to that event was completely up to him. He’s also responsible for his reactions and actions after the car accident. You can’t change the past but you can decide how you’re going to live your life starting today.
Chapter 1: it’s time to wake up to your full potential
“Life’s too short” is repeated often enough to be a cliché, but this time it’s true. You don’t have enough time to be both unhappy and mediocre. It’s not just pointless; it’s painful. —SETH GODIN
You’ve got to wake up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction. —GEORGE LORIMER
Creating your “level 10” life
Are you satisfied with your life? Or do you feel that you could do more? Why are some of us settling for less than what we are capable? To Hal Elrod, we lost the sight of the miracle of life. A child would promptly answer his deepest desires but as we grow up, we lost that spontaneity. We limit our potentials with our limiting beliefs.
On a scale of one to ten, we all want to have level ten in any area of our lives. So why do we settle for less? If you were given the choice to earn 10 million $ a year or 100 000 $, would you say, well, I just want 100 000$. It’s the same for our health and happiness; we want nothing but the best.
But common sense is not always common practice. So the author shares how you can achieve level 10 in all areas of your life by simply changing the way you wake up in the morning.
Three imperative arguments:
– You are enough and you deserve to create the life you desire.
– You must dedicate time each day to becoming the best version of yourself
– Your morning routines and the way you wake up conditions the level of your success as they impact your focus and your productivity.
Benefits you can expect to gain from the miracle morning:
– Cultivating gratitude
– Wake up every day with more energy
– Increase your happiness and lower your stress
– Increase your productivity and your focus
– Overcome challenges and reduce stress
– Achieving financial success
– Living a life with purpose
Even if you’re not a morning person, Hal Elrod reassures that it’s a habit to develop. Once that habit is formed, you’ll get up with more energy and motivation. There’s a strong link between success and how you spend the first hour of your day. And the more fruitful days you have, the more likely you’ll have a successful life.
To read more on how to create long-lasting habits, consult my article: “The Atomic Habits” by James Clear
Chapter 2- The miracle morning origin: born out of desperation
Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape. —WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS
To make profound changes in your life, you need either inspiration or desperation. —ANTHONY ROBBINS
Adversity arises and it’s unavoidable. You’ll have two choices to make:
1- Let it control you, do nothing and fall into the victim-mentality
2- Take it as a challenge and turn adversity into victory
Hal Elrod chose the second even if he hit rock-bottom twice in his life.
The first challenge was his accident. A drunk driver crashed onto his car and he was clinically dead for a few minutes but then survived. The second challenge happened in 2007 with the financial crisis. He ended up deep in debt and deeply depressed.
He also shared that debt was worth more than death meaning his second rock-bottom hit him more than his car accident, why? Because after the accident his family took care of him
The second time however, he was left on his own, no visitors, no one to take care of him, let alone to bring him food.
“A domino effect led to struggles in every area of my life. Physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially—you name it—I was a mess” he shares.
The morning that turned my life around
Insanity is doing the same thing all over again but expecting a different result. One day, despite waking up depressed, Hal Elrod experienced something he never did before. He took a friend’s advice and went on a run. Hal then listened to Jim Rohn’s personal development content and it changed his life.
“Your level of success, will rarely exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become”
This quote from Jim Rohn was an “aha-moment” and made him realize one fundamental principle
The success parallel
If we want a level 10 success, our level of personal development must match that goal.
It works as a lid: your level of success will never exceed your level of personal development.
For you to succeed, you first have to change into the person you want to become.
Our inner world determines our outer world.
Creating the miracle morning
A few challenges arose such as finding time and doing what’s most impactful. He wanted to commit and dedicate some time for his own personal development. Adopting substitution logic, he dismissed the two options evening and afternoon, and chose the morning. He would be at his best in the morning.
On top of this, the first hour of the day affects your entire day. Steve Pavlina mentioned it in his blog post titled The Rudder of the Day: “It’s been said that the first hour is the rudder of the day. If I’m lazy or haphazard in my actions during the first hour after I wake up, I tend to have a fairly lazy and unfocused day. But if I strive to make that first hour optimally productive, the rest of the day tends to follow suit.”
To optimize his morning, he chose the most impactful activities like “meditation, affirmations, journaling, visualization, as well as reading and exercise”
He woke up at 05:00 am and dedicated 10 minutes to each activity. That decision transformed his entire life. After one hour he felt incredible and experienced peace, inspiration and more vitality. He did all of this and it was only 06:00!
A worldwide movement
A short time after his first experience, Hal Elrod shared his findings with his relatives and friends. They all encountered drastic changes in their lives, simply by modifying the way they wake up in the morning. Through video sharing and thousands of testimonies, the “miracle morning” rapidly became a global movement.
Hal Elrod also discovered his real mission which is “to empower people to transform their lives, their families, their communities, and the world by waking up every day and transforming themselves with The Miracle Morning”.
Chapter 3: The 95% reality-check
One of the saddest things in life is to get to the end and look back in regret, knowing that you could have been, done, and had so much more. —ROBIN SHARMA
The story of the human race is the story of men and women selling themselves short. —ABRAHAM MASLOW
If you take 100 people aged 25, all of them will say that they’re going to be successful. According to the Social Security Administration however, only 1 of the 100 will make the grade. Let me explain.
We followed the 100 people until they retired. 1 of them was wealthy, 4 financially free, 5 will still be working (forced to, not want to), 36 will be dead and 54 will go broke and dependent.
Only 1 makes the grade.
Hal Elrod calls it the 95% reality-check. To him, 95% of our society is either mediocre or average. We settle for less than we are truly capable. We become satisfied and sell ourselves short. Only 5% succeed and enjoy real success.
What can we do so that we join the 5%? Why do people struggle this much?
Step #1: Acknowledge the 95% reality check
Realize that 95% will be content with mediocrity and average. They will never see themselves beyond their comfort zone and achieve the success they truly want. It includes our surroundings, our family and friends. They don’t live a level 10-life physically, emotionally, financially, relationally and mentally.
Step #2: Identify the causes of mediocrity
As we are now aware of the 95% reality check, the next step is to understand: “WHY?” We must understand the reasons underlying other people’s failures for us to avoid them.
The main causes of mediocrity are:
Rearview mirror syndrome
We mistakenly think that what happened in the past will determine our future. “Who you were” is not necessarily “who you are”. As Brian Tracy will say: “You are not a human-being; you are a human-becomingness” Accept the paradigm: my past does not equal the future. Starting from today, think bigger and take massive actions.
Lack of purpose
Why did you wake up this morning? Do you have a burning reason why you should get out of bed? The average person hasn’t set a conscious life-purpose. They just wander through their day and their lives. We have to live a life of purpose, a reason so compelling that you can’t wait to get up each morning. Have you found that reason yet?
Isolating incidents
The actions that you take right now seem trivial but they can have long-term impacts. Nothing happens in isolation. A bad habit compounds overtime and might lead to disaster. On the contrary, we don’t always immediately see the positive results of a good habit hence we dismiss it. As T. Harv Eker said: “How you do anything is how you do everything”
Lack of accountability
Do you have a peer, a mentor or someone that holds you accountable? Most people don’t, that’s why they remain average. An accountability partner helps you talk the talk and walk the walk.
Mediocre circle of influence
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Choose wisely who you surround yourself with, increase or limit your time with them because their thoughts, words and actions will also positively or negatively impact yours.
Lack of urgency
As Brian Tracy highlighted, most people live in an imaginary called “Someday-I-will”. For the 95%, someday they will start working out, someday they will work on their dreams, someday… and the list goes on and on. Truth of the matter is, the someday mindset leads to a life of procrastination. It can bring all of your dreams to your grave and ultimately end up with regrets.
Step #3: Draw your line in the sand
It’s possible to live the life of your dreams. You can leave a mark on this planet but you have to start now. It begins with a decision and massive actions. You get what you tolerate in life so stop accepting mediocrity for yourself. What you do right now matters because it will impact the person you’ll become in the future. As the saying goes: “Do something today that your future self will be thankful for”
“Your life can be filled with an abundance of energy, love, health, happiness, success, financial prosperity, and everything else that you’ve ever imagined having, doing, or being.”
Chapter 4 – Why did you wake up this morning?
You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction. —GEORGE LORIMER
Your first ritual that you do during the day is the highest leveraged ritual, by far, because it has the effect of setting your mind, and setting the context, for the rest of your day. —EBEN PAGAN
A simple question: If you were given the choice, would you continue sleeping in the morning?
Most people would and this is the problem. The 95% wake up not because they want to, but because they have to. They must go to work, they must pay the bills and they must leave their warm, cozy bed.
The 5% high-achievers however can’t wait to wake up each day because it’s an opportunity. A new day is an opportunity for them to work on their vision and get closer to their dreams.
You snooze, you lose: the truth about waking up
The simple act of snoozing your alarm is a form of resistance. It’s similar to saying no to life; you are resisting your life. An opportunity to create the life you want is given to you; but you refuse it. Most of us wake up with dread. You are likely to become negative as you hit the snooze button.
When you wake up with passion and purpose however, you enter a state of abundance and join the 5%.
According to Hal Elrod, we should learn to consciously set our intention to wake up each morning with enthusiasm.
How much sleep do we really need?
There’s no magic number to how much sleep we need. It varies depending on your age, genetics, health, exercises etc.
After a few personal experimentations, Hal Elrod concludes that we need as much sleep as we believe we need. This statement involves the mind-body connection and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
No matter how many hours you sleep, if you set your mind to negativity, telling yourself that you’ll feel exhausted anyway, you will. On the contrary, if you think that you’ll have enough sleep no matter what, you will.
The key here is to consciously decide before bed that you are getting the perfect amount of sleep.
The secret to making every morning feel like Christmas
When was the last time you were so excited that you couldn’t wait to wake up for the next day? Think of when we were a child, we still felt all enthusiastic regardless of how much sleep we got.
The miracle morning is about recreating such an experience every single day. You can’t wait to wake up because the life you’ve always wanted is waiting for you, only if you take actions and get out of bed with purpose. Thousands of people around the world are already doing that, why not you?
Chapter 5- The 5-step snooze-proof wake up strategy (for the snooz-aholics)
If you really think about it, hitting the snooze button in the morning doesn’t even make sense. It’s like saying, ‘I hate getting up in the morning—so I do it over… and over… and over again.’ —DEMETRIUS MARTIN
I’d like mornings better if they started later. —UNKNOWN
Hal Elrod shares here 5 strategies that helped him become a morning person. Even if we don’t want to wake up in the morning, we’ll still be satisfied that we did. It’s the same as when we exercise: at the beginning we didn’t want to, but then we feel so energized after the exercise that we didn’t regret it at all.
Increasing your wake-up-motivation-level (WUML)
How to create an extraordinary day by giving yourself motivation to wake up in the morning? Here are 5 strategies:
Step #1: Set your intentions before bed
“You first thought in the morning is usually the last thought you had before you went to bed”. At bedtime, consciously set your mind and have positive expectations for the next morning. You can even create a to-do-list and map out how you’re going to spend the next day.
Step #2: Move your alarm clock across the room
Motion creates energy and you will naturally wake up. An alarm clock by your bed will be easier to snooze, which in return increases your chance of staying in bed.
Step #3: Brush your teeth
Brush your teeth and wash your face. This helps you wake up. My note: It’s even recommended to brush your teeth using your opposite hand: if you’re right hand, use your left. It actually helps you reactivate parts of your brain that are still “sleeping”.
Step #4: Drink a full glass of water
Hydrate yourself because you’ve been deprived of water for the last 6-8 hours. Dehydration causes fatigue so it’s important to rehydrate right after sleep.
Step #5: Get dressed or jump in the shower
The first option is to get dressed in your exercise clothes. Best option to get your pump rate higher and to oxygenate your brain. It’s also recommended to put yourself in an optimal mental, physical and emotional state.
The second option is to jump in the shower. A cold shower is often recommended and high-achievers like Tony Robbins or Tim Ferriss include that in their morning routines to prime their day.
Chapter 6 — The Life S.A.V.E.R.S. > Six Practices Guaranteed To Save You From a Life of Unfulfilled Potential
Success is something you attract by the person you become. —JIM ROHN
An extraordinary life is all about daily, continuous improvements in the areas that matter most. —ROBIN SHARMA
The average person feels stressed and overwhelmed, unaware of his real potential. Hal Elrod argues that most of us live on the wrong side of our potential gap. We don’t live according to our vision but think it’s unattainable.
But it’s possible to unleash that dormant power within us and the six tools presented in the Miracle Morning help you do that.
Your life is not what you think it is
We have to distinguish our life from our life situation. Our life situation, also called life condition is “the set of external circumstances, events, people, and places that surround us. It’s not who we are. We are more than our life situation.”
Our life is who we are and it’s made up of P.I.E.S:
Physical (body, health, energy)
Intellectual (mind, intelligence, thoughts)
Emotional (emotions, feelings, attitudes)
Spiritual (spirit, soul, our relationship with God or the Universe)
Your life is your inner world while your life situation is your outer world. The principle here is to change your inner world in order to change your outer world. To change the fruits, you must first change the roots. The miracle morning works on changing the invisible (your inner world) to change the visible later (your outer world).
Life S.A.V.E.R.S: S is for Silence
In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. —MAHATMA GANDHI
You can learn more in an hour of silence than you can in a year from books. —MATTHEW KELLY
Hal Elrod talks about purposeful silence. You dedicate a few minutes to quiet your mind and center yourself. The benefits are vast such as stress reduction, focus and clarity.
If most of us begin their day in a rush, hectic and stressful manner, the first activity of the Life SAVERS helps you create an optimum state.
In no particular order, you can choose from meditation, prayer, reflection, deep breathing and gratitude.
Celebrities, CEOS and successful people like Oprah practices regular if not daily meditation. It became an invaluable part of their daily routines and lifestyle.
Life S.A.V.E.R.S: A is for affirmations
It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. Once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. —MUHAMMAD ALI
You will be a failure, until you impress the subconscious with the conviction you are a success. This is done by making an affirmation, which clicks. —FLORENCE SCOVEL SHINN
For your personal development, affirmation stands as one of the most powerful tools you can use. You ultimately create your reality with your affirmations.
You might have negative self-talks. 80% of women have self-deprecating thoughts about themselves which lead into depression, negativity and even failure in their personal lives).
But you can change the way you talk to yourself and create supporting, positive thoughts. The more you repeat your affirmations and the more they will impress on your subconscious mind.
Your current life situation is the results of your thoughts, words and actions. If you want to get more out of life, start by changing the program and use positive affirmations. As the author says: “We must stop programming ourselves for a life of mediocrity”
You can use affirmations to improve all areas of your life including health, finances, relationships, confidence and overall happiness.
5 simple steps to create your own affirmations
Step 1: What you really want:
Write down your affirmations and articulate them in a way that concurs with your general objectives. Be specific and focus on what you want, not what you don’t want.
Step 2: Why you want it
“The wise begin with whys”. You must have powerful whys, reasons that drive you purposefully. You will easily overcome petty problems along the road once you define your purpose.
Step 3: Whom you are committed to being to create it
Who do you need to become in order to live the life of your dreams? Your outer world improves only after you’ve improved yourself.
Step 4: What you’re committed to doing to attain it
Set a routine or a system that will help you get closer to what you want. Identify the winning-actions that will inevitably lead to your success. If you want to get fit, creating a 15-minute whole-body exercise routine can help you reach that goal. Organized planning is where we need to crystallize our vision into reality.
Step 5: Add inspirational quotes and philosophies
Your general philosophy results in actions and behaviors. Hal Elrod likes to incorporate newly found quotes into his statements.
Final thoughts on affirmations
Tap into your emotions while you read your affirmations. Generate positive and authentic emotions. You can even add gestures to create more emotions.
Your affirmations might gradually change overtime and you’ll need to update them. For example, I have an affirmation in which I added a due date. As I’m writing this article, I haven’t achieved that goal yet so I updated the date. You don’t need to change your goals; affirmation is only a tool that supports your goals.
And finally, read more motivational and personal development content. Reading a nonfiction book is an affirmation to yourself because you program your mind.
Life S.A.V.E.R.S: V is for Visualization
Ordinary people believe only in the possible. Extraordinary people visualize not what is possible or probable, but rather what is impossible. And by visualizing the impossible, they begin to see it as possible. —CHERIE CARTER-SCOTT
See things as you would have them be instead of as they are. —ROBERT COLLIER
Everything around you was first imagined then created. There are two steps of creation: (1) what you visualize in your mind and (2) what is manifested in the physical world.
Creative visualization or mental rehearsal is a practice which consists in using your imagination to create mental pictures of what you want to have (or experience) and who you want to become.
Most successful people have been using visualization to create their stratospheric success. Jim Carrey for example “wrote himself a check in 1987 in the amount of 10 million dollars. He dated it for “Thanksgiving 1995” and added in the memo line, “For acting services rendered.” He then visualized it for years, and in 1994 he was paid 10 million dollars for his starring role in Dumb and Dumber.”
3 simple steps for miracle morning visualization
Step 1: Get ready
Make sure you won’t be disturbed for the next few minutes. You can sit in a comfortable situation. Some people like to play relaxing music in the background.
Step 2: Visualize what you really want
Visualize your dream life in all areas. What would you like to have, what would you like to experience and who would you love to become? Your limitations are self-imposed so believe that everything is possible. Sometimes, our past experiences set a huge mental barrier in what we think we can accomplish, work on that too. The key is to mix emotions, “see, feel, hear, touch, taste and smell every detail of your vision.” The more you involve your five senses the better.
Step 3: Visualize who you need to be and what you need to do
Visualizing what you want is one thing but visualizing yourself being who you want is another. Sometimes, our identity conflicts with the things we want to accomplish. The person we need to become must be aligned with our intentions. This is why it’s important to visualize yourself being in the process. See yourself enjoying the journey, acting confidently and being proud of yourself.
Life S.A.V.E.R.S: E is for Exercise
If you don’t make time for exercise, you’ll probably have to make time for illness. —ROBIN SHARMA
The only exercise most people get is jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, sidestepping responsibility, and pushing their luck. —UNKNOWN
In his book High Performance habits, the author Brendon Burchards shares how important to success exercise is. “One stunning finding from our research on over twenty thousand high performers is that the top 5 percent of all high performers are 40 percent more likely to exercise at least three days per week than the 95 percent below them. Clearly, if you want to join the top ranks of success in life, it’s time to take exercise seriously.”
Just in the same way, Hal Elrod says that morning exercise should be a staple in your daily rituals. The benefits are vast: more energy, general health, self-confidence, focus and concentration.
The author recommends Yoga which is a complete form of exercise because it includes stretching, strength training, cardio, focused breathing and even meditation. No wonder Hal says he would practice yoga for the rest of his life.
Even if you don’t have time, remember that exercise will help you maintain good health. Health is wealth so do not neglect it.
To help you form a new habit and make it stick, I recommend you the article: “Atomic habits” by James Clear.
Life S.A.V.E.R.S: R is for reading
A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read. —MARK TWAIN
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body and prayer is to the soul. We become the books we read. —MATTHEW KELLY
Don’t build yourself an ego; you will need to acquire more knowledge, ideas and strategies. One of the best ways to do this is to read non-fiction and personal development content.
Refer to people who already achieved what you intend to do and model them; you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
There are countless books that solve problems we are facing. For example, do you want to be financially free? The author recommends books like:
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker
- Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
If your goal is to improve your love life with your significant one, there are books:
- The Five Love Languages by Gary D. Chapman
- The SoulMate Experience by Jo Dunn
- The Seven Principles For Making a Marriage Work by John M. Gottman and Nan Silver
How much should you read?
You don’t need to read 500 pages a day like Warren Buffett, read a minimum of 10 pages per day, less if you want. The key is to get started and make reading a habit. Reading 10 pages a day will result in reading eighteen 200-page non-fiction books. If you do this, your life will drastically change as you’ll be equipped with new perspectives, mindsets and paradigms.
Final thoughts on reading
Do not hesitate to underline, circle or highlight any important parts of the book you read. Refer to them often, re-read good personal development books. The more you are exposed to the strategies developed in those books, the more you’ll internalize them; which inevitably will result in a change of behavior.
Life S.A.V.E.R.S: S is for Scribing
Whatever it is that you write, putting words on the page is a form of therapy that doesn’t cost a dime. —DIANA RAAB
Ideas can come from anywhere and at any time. The problem with making mental notes is that the ink fades very rapidly. —ROLF SMITH
Scribing or writing here is similar to writing a journal but in a more structured and strategic process. You might want to focus more on what you want to accomplish or get feedback on what you did so far; journaling can help you do that.
Scribing helps you recapture your thoughts in the past. It gives you more perspective and can even motivate you to overcome current challenges with the lessons learned.
As Hal Elrod put it well “The Scribing element of your Miracle Morning enables you to document your insights, ideas, breakthroughs, realizations, successes, and lessons learned, as well as any areas of opportunity, personal growth, or improvement”
The main benefits of keeping a daily journal are to gain clarity, to capture ideas, to review lessons and to acknowledge your progress.
Effective journaling
The author cites 3 simple steps to get started with journaling:
1- Choose a format – digital or traditional: you might want to write by hand or get easy access to what you wrote with a digital format
2- Get a journal: the main concern here is to get a journal that will last, the one that will be durable over the years
3- Decide what to write: decide which aspects of your life you want to journal about: gratitude journals, dream journals, workout journals, goals, plans, commitments, lessons learned.
Customizing the Life S.A.V.E.R.S
You might want to follow the sample schedule below
However it’s not mandatory as you’ll experience by yourself which sequence suits you best. For example, some people prefer starting with the Exercise as it increases their blood flow and wakes them up better. The duration can also vary depending on your schedule.
The crucial part is to make the life SAVERS part of your life hence developing a habit. It’s always difficult at the beginning but the more you practice, the more natural each of them will feel.
Chapter 7 — The 6-Minute Miracle (For The Busy People)
On the one hand, we all want to be happy. On the other hand, we all know the things that make us happy. But we don’t do those things. Why? Simple. We are too busy. Too busy doing what? Too busy trying to be happy. —MATTHEW KELLY
I don’t have time to wake up early —UNKOWN
Oftentimes, we adopt an all-or-nothing attitude. It’s true that we’re busy, everyone is. The point is to practice the miracle morning even on the most hectic days.
This is why the author developed an accelerated version of the Miracle morning, which will take only 6 minutes:
1-Minute one: You might practice purposeful silence, say a prayer and be totally present in the moment
2-Minute two: You recite out loud your affirmations; reminding you of how capable you are.
3-Minute three: Looking at your vision board or closing your eyes, exercising your imagination.
4-Minute four: One minute to write down things you’re grateful for.
5-Minute five: Reading your self-help book.
6-Minute six: Moving your body fast and get your heart rate up.
My personal note: The author doesn’t suggest that you stick to 6 minutes. Practicing even for one minute might not help you but it will reinforce your identity. Once you see yourself being the type of person who executes her morning routines, you will likely to repeat it again and again until it becomes a habit.
The miracle morning summary: Conclusion
Hal Elrod’s philosophy can be encapsulated in one sentence: “The first hour impacts the whole day”. If we repeat our “Miracle morning” every day, we will inevitably have a greater life.
He mentions that the Miracle Morning is 100% customizable. As long as you prime your day with positive morning routines, you’re sure to become more focused, motivated and ready even for the most challenging tasks.
I first read the “Miracle morning” back in December 2018 and wanted to implement it to my life. In 2019, I started to track and to register my daily rhythm. At first, I attempted to wake up at 04:30 am. The first month happened smoothly. It’s true that I was highly motivated for the day. The first hour of the day really impacts our day. Even if I woke up at 04:30 am, I still felt energized at the end of the day.
I continued waking up at 04:00 am – 04:30 am until I fell sick; it was just a coincidence because I got the flu. But I thought at that time that waking up too early, getting to work and not having enough rest resulted in that health issue. I was stuck in bed for two weeks and stopped regularly practicing my “Miracle Morning”.
A year later, as I’m writing this article, I still have morning routines, but not as Hal Elrod suggested, “Thoughtlessly” following the Life S.A.V.E.R.S. Once again, the philosophy behind the book is that “the first hour of the day impacts your whole day”.
My morning routines, after one year experimentation
That’s it for The miracle morning summary. I’d like to add one more thing. One year after I read the book and attempted to implement the philosophy to my daily routines; I can guarantee that the “Miracle Morning” works. One thing I noticed is my lack of productivity whenever I missed my morning routines. If I execute them in the first hour however, I will know that the day will be productive.
Now, my morning routines look like this:
– Wake up at 05:30 am
– Smile and be grateful for the day: I learned the smile from Sadghuru;
– Make my bed perfectly: I have to get a certain sense of pride
– Recite out loud my affirmations, preferably with some energizing gestures,
– Drink a full glass of water
– Go to the bathroom and wash my face
– Listen to motivational content/playing music (I prefer the first)
– Do 10-20 reps of kettlebell swing: I’m using a 16-kg kettlebell now. I used a 28-kg kettlebell before but it was sometimes too heavy hence I could hardly build a habit. To form a habit, it has to be easy, hence the lighter kettlebell. The goal too is to get your pump rate up.
– I sit calmly and write 15 times my most important goal; I’m also writing a few lines with my opposite hand: this technique helps your reticular activating system focus on what you do want. Writing with your opposite hand increases even more your attention.
– I will read and write
As long as I execute these tasks, I feel great about myself and about the day too. Your morning routines are fully customizable and they are likely to change overtime.
To help you form a new habit and make it stick, I recommend you the article: “Atomic habits” by James Clear.