What if you could miraculously wake up tomorrow and any – or every area of your life was transformed? What would be different? Would you be happier? Healthier? More successful? In better shape? Would you have more energy? Less Stress? More Money? Better relationships? Which of your problems would be solved? What if I told you that there is a “not-so-obvious” secret that is guaranteed to transform any – or literally every area of your life, faster than you ever thought possible? What if I told you it would only take 6 minutes a day? Enter The Miracle Morning. What’s now being practised by thousands of people around the world could perhaps be the simplest approach to creating the life you’ve always wanted. It’s been right there in front of us, but this audiobook has finally brought it to life. Are you ready? The next chapter of your life – the most extraordinary life you’ve ever imagined – is about to begin. You deserve an extraordinary life. It’s time to wake up to your full potential.
This book was recommended to be by a coach as an approach that I might benefit from. I have never been a morning person and, in the restaurant business, am seldom up before 10AM at the best of times (often finishing work around 10PM to midnight). I was sceptical as I have heard of many ‘get up early, do great things because this works for other great people you might admire’ systems.
However, I listened to it as I know every self-help or self-improvement book has something inside its covers that I can learn and apply. And if there is more than one (ideally at least three) then the time is well spent.
Fortunately, Hal Elrod recognises that we’re not alike and does give you some leeway and not set rigid times. Essentially it is about getting up an hour earlier and performing a morning routine that sets you up for the day and energises you. Despite the slightly repetitive nature of the book, this actually worked on audio as you can be distracted while driving and so get a reminder of key points and so take more in.
Many of the top coaches and high performers all swear by their morning routine and I believe it’s something we should embrace in some form if we want to become a better person and achieve more in life – not just materially but in all areas including friends, family, contribution, and more (see also Transformation Week for a breakdown of areas of life we should strive to excel in). Hal does mention you can customise it to your preference and even split it up if you need to, but it is best kept as a morning routine as it is less likely to be interrupted or postponed if something comes up. And since it’s the one, key thing that’s helping drive your life towards your desired goals you don’t want to not do it.
Hal’s Miracle Morning focuses on his 6 key life SAVERS. These are not really new and there are other morning routines out there that follow a similar pattern, but I found the presentation of this method engaging and upbeat, and the examples made it sound just as accessible for the everyman. Hal’s method revolves around taking an hour in the morning to centre yourself, prepare for the day and look after yourself. His SAVERS are as follows:
- Silence
- Affirmations
- Visualisation
- Exercise
- Reading
- Scribing (aka Writing or Journaling)
You don’t have to do them in the same order and can vary them as you see fit. He even offers a 6-minute version you can adopt on busy days so you keep your momentum. Hal also offers some suggestions for what to do in each category as well as pointing you to his website to download ready-made templates. He even touches on looking at broader goals not just those for the day at hand) at weekends or other intervals which is really a hint at what systems like the Best Self Journal and the High-Performance Planner offer.
I have long known that exercise is essential for physical health, wellbeing and mental health, and adopt many of these practices in my daily life, though not always consistently and not always together as a miracle morning which does sound like I would get a better return on my investment instead of my sometimes skipped journaling, affirmations, meditation, etc. Though I do tend to do my meditations later as I do guided meditations and visualisations which can take up to 60 minutes and it’s easier to block off the time at the end of the day (as long as I don’t fall asleep!). However, I do see the benefit of adding a meditation slot into the morning routine.
Hal also talks about our negativity bias and how we can apply our own gap analysis so we move ahead instead of being stuck and wallowing in a negative state. His approach to journaling errs towards the positive and gratitude side, though I personally believe that an autopsy at the end of the day – an objective review of the day so we learn and grow from it – reaps greater rewards than just focusing on positivity. I learned this idea from the book Can’t Hurt Me.
I would recommend this audiobook as its easy to listen to, you will pick up some tips, and you may even get on board the Miracle Morning train. Whatever you call yours, I now strongly believe that a morning routine that embodies these elements is very important if you want to live the life of your dreams.
