The Miracle Morning Solution - How to create an extraordinary life
We all know that mornings are powerful. There’s just something about waking up in the early hours of the day, before the sun has even risen, that puts you in this state of intense bliss, extreme clarity, and laser focus.
By strategically taking advantage of your morning, you can radically alter the course of your life and accelerate the process of becoming the highly successful (in any aspect of life) person you know that you can be.
By creating a morning routine with the right habits, you can literally create miracles in your own life and in the lives of those around you. I guess that’s why Hal Elrod coined his morning routine as The Miracle Morning.
Today, I’m going to share with you what it takes to create your own Miracle Morning that will, in the words of Hal, “transform your life before 8 a.m.”
First things first - waking up early
In actuality, you can do the Miracle Morning during any time of the day. However, doesn’t it make sense to give yourself the incredibly powerful boost at the start of your day (as opposed to the middle or end)?
Now, I understand that hearing your alarm cluck buzz early in the morning might just be one of the most hated things in all of America, but it’s not that bad. I promise. If you aren’t convinced, keep reading and I’ll give you a few strategies to get you excited about waking up early.
Waking up early means different things to different people, but generally you should aim for the 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. range. Like I mentioned above, waking up before the world has started turning is, in my opinion, an unbeatable experience.
You may not feel that way now, but here’s some strategies to get yourself up and out of bed at those “deathly” hours of the morning.
How to wake up early without feeling terrible
- Place your alarm clock away from your bed and out of your reach
Instead of being able to hit snooze from the comfort of your warm bed, you’ve got to get your butt up and moving to reach your alarm. Movement is good – you’re now 1/5 of the way to not being miserable.
- Get a glass of water (have it ready the night before)
We are the most dehydrated when we first wake. Drinking a glass of water will at the same time be refreshing and energizing to your body – you’re 2/5 of the way to not being miserable.
- Brush your teeth and get a splash of cold water
Nothing says “Good Morning!” like fresh, minty breath. While you’re at it, give your face a splash of cold water. Now we are getting somewhere!
- Do some stretches or yoga
I’m sure the cold water was enough, but you may find it helpful to add some structured movement to get your blood flowing and get out of that sleep-like state.
- Think about why you're doing this
You want to become your best version. You want to reach level 10 health. You want to reach level 10 fitness. You want to reach level 10 love. You want to reach level 10 spiritually. You want to reach level 10 wealth. With a powerful routine to start your morning, you choose offense for the day and immensely increase the chances of achieving your goals. You are doing this because you want to fulfill your destiny.
Let’s get started.
What is the miracle morning?
The routine that I’m going to provide for you is not my own, although I use it every single day, it was created by Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning. Actually, Hal didn’t come up with these habits either, rather he combined proven habits that top performers across the glob have used and attributed to their success.
What is the miracle morning?
The Miracle Morning is a morning routine consisting of six habits that include, silence, affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading, and scribing.
The order in which you do these habits doesn’t matter and I’m writing them in the order that I like to do them. Feel free to change your ordering to fit your own needs and style.
Habit number 1: Scribing (journaling)
Journaling might just be my favorite part of the Miracle Morning. It’s a powerful tool that allows you to find clarity, purpose, gratitude and identify areas of improvement and the lessons you’ve learned.
Not only that, but journaling allows you to physically see progress and reflect on your goals and visions. Even just after one week of journaling, you can re-read what you’ve written and see the growth that you’ve achieved. The revelations and “Ah-ha!” moments become ever more prevalent when you can look back after months and years.
I think that is why journaling is the favorite of many highly successful and influential people today – they don’t just write down their emotions or use it like a diary, they use it as a growth tool to measure their progress, reassess their goals, and gain clarity on the areas in which they need to take action.
How and what should you journal?
During your journal time, which can be as long or as short as you wish (10 minutes is a good number to shoot for), you can write about anything that you want. All you need is a notebook, pen, and your brain.
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If you’re stuck, here are some elements that you can include in your journaling routine:
- What are three things that I am grateful for? *
- What are three areas that I can improve today?
- What are three things that I am looking forward to today?
- What lessons did I learn yesterday?
- What is something that I learned from a podcast that I just listened to?
- Who can I surprise with a gift, note, or sign of appreciation today?
- What are my top three priorities for today?
- What is my why, my northstar, my end goal or purpose for my actions today?
- Today will be a success if...
* I think one of the most important aspects of your morning is to wake up feeling grateful – you should either write down or think inside your head at least three things that you are grateful for every single day.
There’s a lot of writing that you can do with just those prompts alone. The first three or four prompts alone might just take up a full page. I recommend choosing just a few prompts to really focus on each morning so that way you don’t feel overwhelmed or spend too much time journaling (not that that is a problem though).
Now that you’ve got your creative juices flowing and some intentions set for the day, it’s time to say some affirmations.
Habit Number 2: Affirmations
If you’re unfamiliar with affirmations, they are simply a statement or declaration of anything you would like to attract into your life or become. You are to say the affirmation out-loud knowing that with constant repetition and feeling you will start to actually think, act, and behave in accordance with that statement. Here’s a great example of affirmations for self-confidence from the highly influential book, Think and Grow Rich:
First, I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my Definite Purpose in life, therefore, I DEMAND of myself persistent, continuous action toward its attainment, and I here and now promise to render such action.
Second, I realize that the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality, therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person.
Third, I know through the principle of auto-suggestion, any desire that I persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some practical means of attaining the object back of it, therefore, I will devote ten minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of SELF-CONFIDENCE.
Fourth, I have clearly written down a description of my DEFINITE CHIEF AIM in life, and I will never stop trying, until I have developed sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.
Fifth, I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure, unless built upon truth and justice, therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others. I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them and in myself.
I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory, and repeat it aloud once a day, will full FAITH that it will gradually influence my THOUGHTS and ACTIONS so that I will become a self-reliant, and successful person.
What should i affirm?
Your affirmations should hold a strong place in your heart. They should be full of emotion, feeling, and a burning desire for achievement. This is super important. Affirmations will have little to no effect if they are lacking emotion. Emotion gives them power and greater influence to reshape your subconscious mind.
Here’s some statements that you can use as affirmations, but be sure to attach an emotional value to whatever it is that you choose:
- I am confident, I am engaged, I am aware, I am courageous.
- I am full of high energy, purpose, passion, and hope.
- I will not let limiting beliefs stop me from achieving and living the life that I know I am capable of living. I choose to focus on positive thoughts.
- I am creating a successful business that serves others every single day.
- I am capable of creating massive amounts of success in my life and I am getting one step closer to my goals every single day.
- I give without expectation, and receive without resistance.
- I am highly influential and comfortable in my own skin.
- I deserve all of the successin the world I am working on becoming ther person I need to be to live the life and contribute to others at the level I want every single day.
- I am open to receiving all of the good, health, wealth, love, joy, happiness, bliss, truth, love, purpose, opportunity, success and abundance that the universe has to offer.
- The universe is sending me an abundance of good, health, wealth, love, joy, happiness, bliss, truth, purpose, opportunity, success and I openly receive them with gratitude and take immediate massive action.
- I am not reactive to my life situation. I choose to respond appropriately and actively create the life I want to live.
- I am infinite, I am rich, I am health, I am happiness.
-
I am enough.
Habit number 3: Silence (meditation)
Meditation is one of the most life changing habits you could ever add to your life. It’s many benefits, including lowering blood pressure, reducing stress, calming nerves, finding clarity, enhancing self-awareness, generating kindness, improving memory, and hundreds more have been cited millions and millions of times.
The cool thing about meditation is that it can actually be a lot of things – it comes in many forms. In fact, you can make almost any moment of your day act as your meditation (after serious practice of course). For some, taking a moment to go outside and listen to the birds and nature is meditation. For others, it’s creating works of art or playing music.
How to meditate
For most, meditation is sitting in silence, bringing your awareness to the present moment and your stillness. It’s perfectly normal for your thoughts to wander. When this happens, simply bring your awareness back to your breath. Don’t resist the thoughts of your mind, let them come and go. With practice, you’ll find it much easier to quiet the mind and just be.
For your morning meditation, I recommend starting with five to ten minutes of sitting in silence. You can set a timer on your phone or stop when you intuitively feel like it is time. It may be difficult at first, but anything worthwhile always is – it will come easier with practice. Just focus on the process (and you breath) and enjoy the calming effects.
If taken seriously, you may find meditation to be one of the most calming, peaceful, and self-aware experiences you have ever had.
Habit number 4: Visualize
Visualization is a technique that numerous athletes, celebrities, and highly successful individuals claim as one of the leading factors for their continued success. And it makes total sense. The more you see and feel your goals and visions unfolding, the more you prime your brain to take action towards those goals and manifest them into your life.
the importance of visualization
If you didn’t watch the video, here’s how to visualize…
what to visualize and How
Step One: Articulate your point B in writing. What are your biggest goals in life? What do you want to feel like everyday? How would your best version behave throughout the day? What is it that you want from life? Who do you want to be?
Step Two: Get comfortable. Sit in an upright position, play some music if you’d like (with no lyrics to distract you), take a few deep breaths, and close your eyes.
Step Three: Start visualizing. Visualize exactly what you articulated in writing as your point B. Involve all of your senses and really feel what it will be like when you have arrived there. The clearer and more real that it feels, the more you will prime your brain to behave in accordance with those feelings throughout the day. After a few minutes of visualizing yourself at that end goal, start looking to the more near future. How can you be like the person you are at point B tonight at the dinner table? How would the person you are at point B behave with his/her significant other or children? How would the person at point B spend their time today, and how can you model that behavior?
See yourself fully engaged of the process of doing what you need to do to achieve your dreams and more importantly, see yourself being happy. One part of my visualization consists of me waking up super early, literally leaping out of bed, and smiling as I work on bettering myself and creating my dream life.
habit number 5: Reading
In this age of digital dominance where you can get an instant answer to any question in just a few seconds, reading has seemingly been booted off of the priority list. The problem is, reading books and revisiting their key ideas is 100x more effective in helping you retain and actually ultilize the knowledge provided.
I know that reading may seem like a long lost habit, but you can get it back… just like I did! All it takes is a few pages every single morning and you’re well on your way to becoming an avid reader once again.
The best books to read in the morning are business/personal development/inspirational. They’ll kick-start your brain and get the creative juices flowing and provide you with nuggets of knowledge that you can implement that very day.
I think it’s super important to make sure you get your reading done in the morning, otherwise life often gets in the way and we end up choosing another activity over reading. So go pick up your favorite personal development book or something new that you’ve been meaning to read, and get started!
If you don’t have any clue what to read, I highly recommend starting with The Miracle Morning and go look at my book recommendations!
Habit number 6: Exercise
Just imagine, it’s not even 7:00 a.m. and you’ve already cleared your mind with meditation, you’ve gotten clear on today’s goals with journaling, you’ve learned a new technique to implement in your professional life through reading, you feel impressively confident from affirmations, and now you’re going to get in your daily exercise.
How amazing does that sound!?
How you exercise is up to you – as long as you do something. It could be as simple as a walk through the neighborhood, or maybe you like to run, do yoga, crossfit, lifting, or calisthenics. If you are looking for new workouts, google is you best source. I personally like crossfit, yoga, and calisthenics and really enjoy Chris Heria’s calisthenics YouTube channel.
If you’re considering making an excuse to push your workout later in the day, don’t do it! Chances are it won’t get done. I promise you that if you include exercise as part of your Miracle Morning routine you will see real results with your health and fitness goals.
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The one big thing
No matter what your morning routine ends up looking like, one of the best decisions you can ever make for yourself is to not look at your phone for at least the first 30 minutes of the day. So many of us are at the point where we wake up and habitually grab our phones to check email, messages, or social media.
That habit is not serving us. It’s distracting us from living our own life and immediately putting ourselves into a state of reaction for the day. What if that email you get contains terrible news? What if you get a crushing text or voicemail? Don’t start your day off with any negative.
Start your morning with a strategic set of habits that will prime you for offense, not defense (reaction). The habits that I’ve outlined above are the perfect starting point to take back control of your life and create the results that you want to see.
Don't Stop here
Once you’ve nailed down these six habits, take it to the next level and think of other ways to kick start your morning. Bulletproof coffee? Sole water? Tackling the hardest tasks first? Forest bathing? The possibilities are endless.
Are you ready to change your life?
Let me know in the comments what you’re morning routine consists of!
Which of these habits (ideally, all) are you going to start incorporating into your life?
I’d love to hear from you and am beyond excited to witness with you the transformation that you are about to experience!
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