Now that I had all this extra time generated in the morning from applying the 5-4-3-2-1 method, I had to figure out what to do with it. Not a bad problem to have. Enter my next favorite book, which led to my transformation over the last year: The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.
Have you ever wondered what all the successful greats have in common? How and why are they so accomplished? Hal analyzes this topic in great detail in the book and he believes it is because of their morning routines. He found leaders do several things as part of their routine, but wondered, what would happen if we did ALL of them??
His Miracle Morning formula consists of six key activities to start your day. He gives us an easy-to-remember acronym to help us. SAVERS (as in life….get it?)
Silence – meditation or prayer. The purpose is to get your mind under control
Affirmations – set your head up for positivity
Visualization – your mind targets whatever you think about (see blog on mindset here)
Exercise – get the oxygen and blood flowing so your brain is ready for the day
Reading – feed your mind so it can grow
Scribing – writing or journaling
It is so important we put our day in order before it even begins in order to be the most productive us. My Miracle Morning has changed over the last year and will probably change again over the next, but the bones remain the same.
It consists of meditation first to clear my mind of any negative energy, which could prohibit my learning and accomplishments for the day. I am new to meditation, so I choose to use an app, which guides me through the process. (I tried several, but settled on Headspace.)
I do not currently do formal affirmations, although when I first started, I did. I feel I have ingrained them so deeply I automatically go to my affirmations throughout the day. Same with visualization. I am constantly focused on my goals so I see the next step intuitively. However, I do have a vision board prominently placed which keeps me grounded visually in my goals.
Exercise. Okay, time for some truth. I need some Ironman will (read about that here)! I can tell you all day long, my bookworm friend, I am just too busy, but the truth is I have not made it a priority. If I did, I would find time just like I find time for everything else. We need movement in our life. We were not intended to be sedentary creatures.
Now that I have shared where I fail epically in the SAVERS, let me share where I excel. Reading. I love, love, love to read. As I mentioned in the first #bookworm blog, I typically have four to five books going at any given time. I have to be careful I do not read so much I do not get to other activities (like maybe exercising?) I need to do.
Finally, I always begin my day with Scribing and I do this in two ways. First, I journal. I have a very specific format for journaling in order to prepare my day. I list my mood and why (from Mel Robbins journal). I also write down at least one thing I am grateful for that morning. I believe this is super powerful and encourage you not to skip this step. Then I list out my activities for the day for each time slot. I do a brain dump and list everything I need to do today and then choose my Daily Big 3. I record other information like what time I started journaling (because I am a nerd like that), how well I slept the night before (I use the app Sleep Cycle to track my sleep quality and as an alarm), and weight (one of my goals is to lose a little – probably would help if I exercised!). I have been through several journals since discovering Mel Robbin’s Five Second Journal, but my current favorite is from Michael Hyatt, the Full Focus Planner. I could go on and on about this journal, but I think I will save for another blog.
The second form of Scribing I do is creative writing. After I know what I need to do for the day, now I can have some fun. This is the time I write my blogs or work on my book, depending on the day.
I challenge you today to discover your Miracle Morning. Find the cadence which works best for you. You can also check out Hal’s podcast here. I recommend you start with Episode 249: The Cure to Your Insecurities with Dr. Sean Stephenson. (This may sound familiar to you as I wrote a blog on this podcast here.) You will not regret spending a little time with these guys.
Now go read, Bookworm!
