The Take-Away Series: The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

If you had met me a year ago and told me that I am on my way to becoming one of those ‘wake up with the sun, chirpy as a bird’ people, I would have given you the stink eye. If you had told me that I would actually be writing about a book called The Miracle Morning in an attempt to convert people to waking super earlyism, I would have just walked off. And not even looked at you again. Ever.

But I guess things change as you get older and closer to thirty. My early twenties, like most people, were spent mostly chilling out with friends, partying, reading books till 4 am, watching movies and TV series like there is no tomorrow and basically just doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. And then life caught up. I got a full-time job, then a few years later I got married. And there were more and more commitments and less and less time to give to myself. Does that sound familiar?

With our lives getting busier and more stressful, we find that we have less and less time to do things just for ourselves. Even though technologically we are living in the best times that humans have experienced so far, we are struggling to find time for ourselves and our peace of mind. No matter how convenient life has become today, a lot of us are still struggling to find that perfect balance. In an attempt to figure out how some people can manage to do it all and have it all, I started reading how waking up early is almost always on the good habits list that a lot of successful people bank on.

And I started waking up super early (Read 5.30 am). And it has changed my life! I know that sounds really exaggerated but trust me when I say, when you wake up super early, you have so much time to do all of those things that you want to do. And not just that, you automatically tend to prioritize what you want to do in your day.

So today, in the Take- Away Series, I am going to talk to you all about one of the most influential books I have read about early mornings and their ability to transform your day. The book is The Miracle Morning: The 6 Habits That Will Transform Your Life Before 8AM by Hal Elrod.

If you want to check out the other posts from the Take-Away Series, here is a link.

What I absolutely loved about this book is the fact that almost all of the good habits Hal talks about are what we have already discussed at some point in our journey so far in Life Résumé.

For those of you who are new here and are wondering what Life Résumé is, here is a link.

Disclaimer: This page includes affiliate links to products I truly and honestly recommend, meaning at no extra cost to you, I may earn a small percentage which I will use to bring better and more useful content to you all!

Hal has a very realistic approach to forming these habits by bringing about a change in your thinking. He discusses how, in spite of wanting to bring about a change in your own life, it is usually difficult for most people because the biggest challenge that we have today is finding time. And how just a simple act of waking up earlier than usual, can help you tackle this challenge. Through the course of this book, Hal even discusses a five-step snooze proof wake-up strategy (And who doesn’t need this?).

So here goes my take-aways from the book The Miracle Morning:

The 95% Reality Check:

At the beginning of the book, Hal talks about how approximately 95% of the population usually settles for far less than what they want. Though this is not exactly a take-away per se, it can definitely be a huge wake-up call for all of us. Moving to the top 5% of the population that actually achieves what they want is definitely tough. But unless we are aware that we are settling we would never get the motivation to want to do all the things that would take us there.

Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become.

Jim Rohn

The Life S.A.V.E.R.S of The Miracle Morning

This is the most significant take-away from this book. Hal talks about the six habits that can completely transform all the areas of your life. These six habits take care of your physical, emotional and mental health. So, let us see what these six habits are really about:

S is for Silence:

The first good habit in the Life S.A.V.E.R.S is Silence. Hal urges that you begin your day with silence especially because mornings are generally quite hectic and chaotic for most of us. Silence can be achieved in any shape and form but a few of the ways in which you can bring silence into your morning are Meditation, Prayer, Reflection, Deep Breathing and Gratitude.

I have always been a proponent of meditation as a practise that grounds you. I have talked extensively about the benefits of meditation in this post here. But meditation is one of the easiest ways to bring peace and quiet into your morning. Even thinking about all of the things you are grateful for can be an excellent way to bring silence into your day. There is no one correct way of spending time in silence. Try out a few things and see what works for you the best.

A is for Affirmations

The second habit that Hal talks about is Affirmations. Whether you want it or not, you are always having an internal dialogue with yourself. And what you tell yourself largely influences the actions that you end up taking. Negative self-talk is known to affect a person’s self-esteem and self-confidence. By creating your own set of positive affirmations, you can take your first step towards developing a healthy habit of positive self-talk. And this habit will push you to take actions in the right direction.

Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.

Mahatma Gandhi

V is for Visualization

Hal has this to say about the practice of Visualization: ‘Visualization, also known as creative visualization or mental rehearsal, refers to the practice of seeking to generate positive results in your outer world by using your imagination to create mental pictures of specific behaviours and outcomes occurring in your life.’

Visualization shows you a mental picture of where you want to be and what you want to do. This can be used as an excellent guide for urging you to take positive actions every day. This can help immensely on days when you lack the motivation to do something positive like exercising or meditating or studying. Some people even follow the practice of using Vision Boards as a visualization tool.

E is for Exercise

If you don’t make time for exercise, you’ll probably have to make time for illness.

Robin Sharma

We have talked about how exercising is one of the most crucial habits to develop if you want to build a kickass Life Résumé. There are so many benefits that exercising can provide you with including improving mood, better sleep quality, increase in stamina and immunity, and of course combating various health conditions and controlling weight. If you are someone like me and does not like monotony in your workout routine, find what you love doing and do it at least for 20 mins in the morning. Be it blasting music and dancing to it, doing jumping jacks or just plain jogging, find what excites you and do it!

R is for Reading

I know I have talked about reading as a kickass habit to you quite a bit. But when Hal says reading he doesn’t mean just reading anything. He asks you to dedicate 20 mins every morning to read some hardcore, non-fiction, thought-provoking books.

The fastest way to achieve anything you want is to model successful people who have already achieved it.

Hal Elrod

Read about whatever area of life you want to improve. Be it your finances, your health (mental and physical), be it your relationships or starting a completely new business, there are millions of great books available out there which you can grab today. So, go ahead, just give yourself those 20 mins to learn something new today.

S is for Scribing

Scribing is just another word for writing but Hal used the word scribing so that he could make sense of the acronym S.A.V.E.R.S. (Yes, he actually talks about it in the book). Personal journals is one of the most preferred ways of writing used by many people across the globe. We have talked extensively about the practice of Journaling in this post here.

Some of the benefits of scribing that Hal talks about are gaining clarity, capturing ideas, reviewing lessons and acknowledging your progress. He also talks about the practice of Journal Review, where on 31^st December of each year he sits and goes through his journal for the year. I am sure the level of insights that you get through this review and the progress you have made must be really inspiring. I am definitely giving it a shot this year!

So, this was all about the take-aways I had from the Miracle Morning book. I know waking up earlier is hard and most of us would rather just sleep in, but I urge you to give this a shot just for one week and you will be amazed at how much you can accomplish.

At the end of the book, there is The Miracle Morning 30 Day Life Transformation Challenge which you can undertake if this excites you. I can assure you that inculcating all of these habits is the best things that you can do for yourself today. Get in touch with me and let me know what your thoughts are on these habits and the miracle morning. Until then, keep working, keep growing!

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