This is a (very crude) summary of the Miracle Morning book by Hal Elrod that I wrote some time ago. The book builds on three imperative arguments:
- You are 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.
- In order for you to stop settling for less than you deserve 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. Someone who is qualified and capable of attracting, creating, and sustaining the levels of success you want.
- How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) affects your levels of success in every single area of your life.
Working on your personal development has several advantages:
- You can learn something new and start your day with a positive mindset.
- You’ll be more focussed and energised, and more motivated to apply what you’ve learned in the rest of the day.
- You are adding an hour to your day.
- Your development should be your #1 priority and be the first thing in the day.
Steps to rise above the average:
- Realise that being free of basic struggles already puts you up high. This applies to the physical, mental, emotional, relationship and financial dimension.
- Identify why most people end up settling for mediocrity:
- We continuously look back at our past (unconsciously), and fail to live beyond that in the present.
- A lack of purpose.
- We isolate incidents; we see events on their own rather than in relation to the bigger whole—shaping our identity. (Am I that person that would do this or not do that…?)
- A lack of accountability. Become accountable for the things you do.
- We surround ourselves with people that make mediocrity acceptable, or even seem desirable.
- Lack of personal development.
- A lack of urgency; we think that by itself, life will sort itself out. What you do now matters more than any other time in your life. The past has past, and the future builds on the now.
- Decide which person you want (and no longer want) to be.
The truth about waking up
When you hit the snooze button, you start your day with a sense of resistance. You’re fragmenting whatever sleep you still get (extreme poor quality sleep). Furthermore, you start to develop a new sleeping routine in which you do not allow yourself to finish. You are saying that you’d rather be unconscious than to live your life.
Waking up energised for the day
The amount of sleep we need to feel rested depends on our beliefs; how awake we expect ourselves to be with x hours of sleep is a core determinant. You make waking up in the morning easier by:
- Setting your intentions before going to bed. The last thing you think of at night is often the first thin you think of in the morning.
- Move your alarm across the room.
- Splash your face with cold water.
- Drink a glass of water.
- Get dressed in your workout clothes.
You can also add a timer to your bedroom lights to ‘simulate the day.’
Life SAVERS
S: Silence
The most effective way to reduce your stress level is to start your day with a moment of purposeful silence. Activities that embrace this include:
- Meditation
- Prayer
- Reflection
- Deep breathing
- Gratitude
A: Affirmation
Our affirmations make an impression on our mind, which runs an unconscious dialogue throughout the day. Our programming is the sum of our environment and life experiences. It can change or improve over time.
We can use affirmations to ‘reprogram’ the internal beliefs about ourselves. We can tell ourselves who we want to be, what we like to achieve and how we are going to accomplish it. With enough repetition, our sub-conscious mind will begin to believe what you tell it, act upon it and—if it is true—manifest it in our reality.
There are five steps to creating such affirmations:
- Define what you want; the ideal version of yourself in each area of life.
- Be crystal clear on why you want to reach the stated version of yourself in life.
- Who do you need to be to get there?
- Which actions do you need to take on a consistent basis to make this vision a reality. Define what you need to do in a measurable way.
- Add inspirational quotes and philosophies
While reading your affirmations, make sure that you tap into your emotions. You need to feel them in order for them to stick.
V: Visualisation
Visualisation entails using your imagination about desireable behaviours and outcomes in your life.
We are often constrained by visualisation of our past. With creative visualisation, we move beyond this and focus on projecting our future. There are three practical steps to it:
- Get ready by sitting in meditative position. Breathe calmly. In addition, you may find it more effective to visualise while listerning to music.
- Visualise what you really want.
- Visualise who you need to be and what you need to do. Make sure you see yourself enjoying that process!
E: Exercise
Getting your heart-rate up and moving your body sets the tone for the rest of the day. Incorporating an exercise routine is vital for an effective progression thereafter. Yoga is one of the alternatives.
R: Reading
Reading is one of the most immediate methods for acquiring the knowledge, ideas, and strategies you need to achieve your goals. Don’t re-invent the wheel. Set yourself to read at least 10 pages of personal development books each day, or re-read through one of your books’ summaries.
S: Scribbling
Write the thoughts out of your head through journaling. Revisiting your journal entries also helps you to see how you’ve grown and revisit things you’ve learned. You will be more grateful for the things you’ve accomplished.
Three steps to effective journaling:
- Choose a format: digital or traditional
- Get a journal. It is nice to have one that is numbered for every day, so that you avoid blank pages.
- Decide what you want to write about and review this format periodically.
It is recommended to eat after completing the miracle morning routine.
It can help to do the least enjoyable or hardest things first in the day, as it creates momentum to make the rest of the day more productive.
You should revise your miracle morning routines to keep them interesting and effective.
The moment you accept total responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you claim the power to change it.
It takes about 30 days to incorporate a new habit. You’ll go through the following phases when you do:
Phase 1: Unbearable
After overcoming the ‘excitement’-phase that is characteristic for adopting new habits, they become almost unbearable to maintain. It is important to realise that you are in the ‘unbearable phase’ and that the feeling is temporarily. It will become easier!
Phase 2: Uncomfortable
By now, the initial repulsive feeling has diminished. You are even beginning to develop some confidence and feel positive associations to the benefits of the habit. You might be committed to giving yourself a break here because you’ve been on the habit for such a long time. It requires discipline to move through this phase and persist in your habit.
Phase 3: Unstoppable
The first 20 days are required to form the habit, the last 10 days are to sustain it. Here, you positively reinforce and associate pleasure with your new habit. The habit transcends from what you’re trying to be to who you’re becoming.
