In my last blog post, I shared how my mornings and my entire day have been completely transformed by getting up at 5 am and completing a number of things before my kids are awake. Today, I want to share more details on exactly what I am doing, and what author Hal Elrod suggests in his book The Miracle Morning.
You can read here, or watch below, the details I pulled out of his book. I’m going to break it down into 5 parts.
- Head On
- Good Stories
- Why Mornings?
- Life S.A.V.E.R.S
- Habits 101
Head On- When the author Hal Elrod was 20 years old, he was killed by a drunk driver speading down the road at 70 mph. He was dead for 6 minutes. Many bones were broken and he suffered permanent brain damage. Yet, through it all, he decided to live his life Head On, and take responsibility for his own life. If you can take responsibility for everything, then you have the opportunity to do anything. You can be inspired to make the changes needed. Taking responsibility is not the same thing as blame.
Good Stories- Hal shares how the best stories have the biggest challenges. A Hero’s journey is one that faces obstacles. Instead of wishing for those to go away, wish for strength to over come. Be grateful for the challenges!
Why Mornings? The way you start your day dictates the rest of your day, then week, month, year, etc. If you never decide to change the way you wake up, then your days, weeks, months, and years will continue to be the same. The fastest way to make a change is to start in the morning. It will impact everything else in the day.
S.A.V.E.R.S- These 6 steps are recommended to implement in your Miracle Morning. Many very successful people like Oprah, do these each morning. For more details on them, check out the book, The Miracle Morning. Here is what they stand for.
S. Silence- Spend some time each morning in silence, meditation, or prayer.
A. Affirmations- You are what you think. Through affirmations you can begin to change your thoughts through repetition, which will change your actions.
V. Visualization- Did you know that when you visualize something in great detail that the brain can’t tell the difference between it and reality?! This is powerful!! Visualize each day exactly how you see your day going, and how you are going to feel in great detail when you reach your goals.
E. Exercise- Exercise in the morning has incredible benefits.
R. Reading- Successful people read. Take the time to read books that will help you to grow your mindset, and become a better person. Start with 5-10 pages a day.
S. Scribing (writing/journaling)- Keep a gratitude journal on this journey and go back to read it each year.
Habits 101- I’m sure all of us have made a resolution or two, or 100 at the New Year, then found that within a week you had given up. Creating new habits can be very hard. I love how he breaks it down for you. He said to create a habit, do it for at least 30 days. The first 10 will be unbearable. This is normal! The second 10 days will be uncomfortable. The third 10 days you will hit your stride and will be unstoppable!
Tell me below what you do to get your morning started off right. I’d love to hear your suggestions!
