The Miracle Morning
By: Hal Elrod
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It’s Your Time, This is Your Story
Know that wherever you are in your life right now is both temporary, and exactly where you are supposed to be. You have arrived at this moment to learn what you must learn, so you can become the person you need to be to create the life you truly want.
You are in the process of writing your life story, and no good story is without challenges. You have the ability to change – or create – anything in your life, starting right now. And this summary will help you do that.
There is nothing that says you have to settle for less than you truly want, just because everybody else does.
Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod builds three imperative arguments:
You are just as worthy, deserving, and capable of creating and sustaining extraordinary health, wealth, happiness, love and success in your life as any other person on earth. It is absolutely crucial—not only for the quality of your life, but for the impact you make on your family, friends, clients, co-workers, children and anyone whose life you touch—that you start living in alignment with that truth.
In order for you to stop settling for less than you deserve – in any area of your life – and to create the levels of personal, professional, and financial success you desire, you must first dedicate time each day to becoming the person you need to be, one who is qualified and capable of consistently attracting, creating and sustaining the levels of success you want.
How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) dramatically affects your levels of success in every single area of your life. Focused, productive, successful mornings generate focused, productive, successful days – which inevitably create a successful life- in the same way unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre mornings generate unfocused, unproductive and mediocre days, and ultimately a mediocre quality of life.
By simply changing the way you wake up in the morning, you can transform any area of your life, faster than you ever thought possible.
Our outer world will always be a reflection of our inner world. Our level of success is always going to parallel our level of personal development. Until we dedicate time each day to developing ourselves into the person we need to be to create the life we want, success is always going to be a struggle to attain.
The 95% Reality Check
Approximately 95% of our society settles for far less than they want in life, and never understand that they could be, do, and have all that they want. So, what can we do now to ensure that we end up in the 5%?
Step 1: Acknowledge the 95% Reality Check
It’s no secret that most people are living life far below their potential. Once we can acknowledge that, we can move on to the next steps.
Step 2: Identify the Causes of Mediocrity
To prevent mediocrity from happening to you, you must know what causes the average person to end up that way. One reason is because we carry our stress, fear and worry from yesterday with us into today. To move beyond your past and transcend your limitations, you must stop looking at your past and start imagining a life of limitless possibilities.
Another reason is that people don’t know what their purpose is. Choose a life purpose, anything you want, and align with it.
A third reason is isolating incidents. Realise that the real impact and consequences of each of our choices is monumental. Stop isolating incidents and start seeing the bigger picture. Everything we do affects who we become, which determines the life that we will ultimately create and live.
Another common reason is lack of accountability. Find someone to hold you accountable to what you do.
The next reason is a mediocre circle of influence. Research has shown that we virtually become like the average of the five people we spend the most time with. Who you spend your time with may be the single most determining factor in the person you become and your quality of life. If you are surrounded with lazy, weak-minded people, you will become like them. Spend time with positive, successful achievers and inevitably, their attitudes and successful habits will reflect on you.
Another reason is lack of personal development. Our levels of success will rarely exceed our level of personal development, because success is something we attract by who we become. Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development.
The last reason is lack of urgency. It’s human nature to have a “someday” mindset. Now matters more than any other time in your life, because what you do today determines who you will become, and that will always determine the quality and direction of your life.
Step 3: Draw Your Line In the Sand
Make a decision as to what you are going to start doing differently from this day forward. Not tomorrow, not next week, or next month. Today.
Your entire life changes the day that you decide you will no longer accept mediocrity for yourself. When you realise that today is the most important day of your life and when you decide that now matters more than any other time.
Why Did YOU Wake Up This Morning?
If you’re like most people, you probably hit the snooze button a few times each morning before reluctantly dragging yourself out of bed. Consider what you’re actually doing – resisting your life. Each time you hit the snooze button, and you think, “I don’t want to wake up,” you’re really saying, “I don’t want to live my life.”
The tone of our morning has a powerful impact on the tone of the rest of our day. If you wake up each day with passion and purpose, you will spend your day being passionate and purposeful.
For the most part, we need as much sleep as we believe we need. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you tell yourself you will feel tired in the morning, you will. If you don’t, you won’t. Experiment with this idea yourself, and then think about how many hours of sleep you really need.
The Five-Step Snooze-Proof Wake Up Strategy
Step 1: Set Your Intentions Before Bed
Your first thought in the morning is usually the last thought you had before you went to bed. So each night, consciously decide to actively and mindfully create a positive expectation for the next morning.
Step 2: Move Your Alarm Clock Across The Room
Moving your alarm clock across the room will force you to get out of bed and engage your body in movement immediately in the morning.
Step 3: Brush Your Teeth
Go directly to the bathroom and brush your teeth.
Step 4: Drink a Full Glass of Water
After 6-8 hours without water, you will likely be dehydrated, which causes fatigue. Rehydrate your body and mind as quickly as possible.
Step 5: Get Dressed or Jump In The Shower
Make sure to take the first steps to starting your day. From here, it requires very little discipline to stay awake for the rest of your morning.
The Life S.A.V.E.R.S. – Six Practices Guaranteed to Save You From a Life of Unfulfilled Potential
- Silence is the first practice, specifically purposeful silence, which means you are engaging with a beneficial purpose in mind. This can be found in meditation, prayer, reflection, deep breathing, gratitude or many other things.
- Affirmations are one of the most effective tools for quickly becoming the person you want to be. They allow you to design and then develop the mindset that you need to take any area of your life to the next level. Saying positive affirmations will immediately make an impression on your subconscious mind, which will transform the way you think and feel.
- Visualisation refers to the practice of generating positive results in the outer world by using your imagination to create mental pictures of specific behaviours and outcomes occurring in your life. Visualise what you truly want - your major goals and deepest desires. Next, visualise who you need to be and what you need to do.
- Exercise should be a staple in your daily rituals. Even if it’s only for a few minutes, exercise will boost your energy, enhance your health, improve your self-confidence and enable you to think better and concentrate longer.
- Reading is one of the most immediate methods for gaining knowledge, ideas and strategies that will help you in all areas of your life.
- Scribing is the last practice, and it means to write. Putting your thoughts down on paper will show you valuable insights that you wouldn’t otherwise see. Keeping a daily journal will help you gain clarity, capture ideas, review lessons, and acknowledge your progress.
These practices may seem difficult at first, but stick with it. They will change your life.
The 6-Minute Miracle
Everyone is busy. But everyone can find six minutes a day to become the person we’ve always wanted to be.
Spend your first minute sitting quietly in purposeful silence. Then, take one minute to think about your goals and priorities. Close your eyes, and take the next minute to visualise what it will look and feel like when you reach your goals. Open your eyes, and spend one minute writing down some of the things that you’re grateful for. Then, read one or two pages of a book that will teach you something new. Finally, stand up and move your body for one minute.
On days where you are pressed for time, this six-minute routine will accelerate your personal development. Anyone can improve his or her life. You have no excuse not to.
Customise Your Miracle Morning
The Miracle Morning is completely customisable. There is no limit to how personalised you can make this routine to fit your lifestyle and help you achieve your most significant goals.
Wake Up and Start Time
You don’t actually have to do Miracle Morning in the morning. There are advantages to starting your day with it, but if you cannot do it in the morning, you will still get many of the benefits.
When, Why, and What To Eat (In the Morning)
It’s best to eat after your Miracle Morning. If you feel like you must eat before, make it something light. Aim for foods that will fuel your body, such as fruits or vegetables.
Aligning The Miracle Morning With Your Goals and Dreams
Make sure your affirmations and visualisations align with your goals and dreams, and that they clarify what you need to think, believe, and do to achieve them.
Overcoming Procrastination: Do the Worst, First
One of the most effective strategies for overcoming procrastination is to do the least enjoyable tasks first.
The Miracle Morning On Weekends
Doing the Miracle Morning will make you feel more productive and fulfilled, so it is suggested to continue on weekends. See how you feel on days you skip it, and go from there.
Keep Your Miracle Morning Fresh, Fun, and Exciting
It’s important to mix things up and keep variety in your Miracle Morning. You can switch the type of exercise you do, or the meditation app you use. Adjust based on your daily goal.
The Real Secret to Forming Habits That Will Transform Your Life
Our habits create our life. Therefore, there is nothing more important than mastering and controlling them.
Habits are behaviours that are repeated regularly and tend to occur subconsciously. Whether you realise it or not, your habits control your life. So make the effort to control your habits.
Based on work with hundreds of clients, it seems that you can change any habit in 30 days, if you have the right strategy. Lucky for you, you’re about to learn the best strategy.
Days 1-10: Phase One - Unbearable
The first 10 days of implementing any new habit can feel almost unbearable. It’s painful. Many people don’t understand that this feeling is temporary. They think this is how it will always feel, so they give up.
However, if you’re prepared for the first 10 days – if you know they will be painful, but temporary – you can beat the odds and succeed. Push through the pain. Know that it will only get easier from here.
Days 11-20: Phase Two – Uncomfortable
The next 10–day phase is much easier, but still uncomfortable. It will require discipline and commitment to stick with it. Stay committed. You’ve already come so far.
Days 21-30: Phase Three – Unstoppable
The final ten days is where you positively reinforce and associate pleasure with your new habit. You’ve been associating pain and discomfort with it the first twenty days. These are the days that will make you feel proud and happy about your new habit, which is what will make you continue to do it in the future.
The Miracle Morning 30-Day Life Transformation Challenge
If you’re feeling hesitant, relax. It’s completely normal to feel that way. Especially if waking up in the morning is something you’ve found challenging in the past.
Take confidence in knowing that thousands of other people have already transformed their lives using the Miracle Morning.
It’s never too soon to transform your life. Commit to and schedule your first Miracle Morning as soon as possible (tomorrow!) and follow through.
Give yourself just 30 days to make significant improvements in your life, one day at a time. No matter what your past has been, you can change your future, by changing the present.