There comes a time in our lives when we decide to make big changes. Sometimes, it’s about making a huge overhaul and other times it’s about making a small change that will impact our lives for the better (hopefully!).
Mine was the death of my mother, whom I loved dearly and miss immensely. Nothing can describe the feeling of being alone, when you have so many people around you, when you lose someone who was a core part of your life.
That turning point in my life basically forced me to look for ways to fill the gap – as much as she is irreplaceable, the pain of losing her is replaceable, and my aim was to find a way to make waking up every morning easier, and to make sure that the pain was replaced by another feeling so that I could function as a mother, wife, entrepreneur… A person.
During this process, I came across a book called ‘Miracle Morning’ by Hal Elrod. He was involved in a car crash and died for six minutes. The doctors wrote him off, but he found the inner strength to defy their assessment of him and the life he would lead (not a good one!) based on his medical condition. Elrod went on to start a successful coaching business and was minted, until the credit crunch took a bite. He then had to change everything about the way he approached his life, and produced the ‘Miracle Morning’ out of it. That’s the short version.
What is the Miracle Morning?
Elrod suggests that we should wake up about an hour or so earlier than we normally do every morning and go through what he describes as ‘S.A.V.E.R.S.’.
S – for ‘silence’
This is for the first five minutes of the day, when you have some quiet time for meditation or prayer. Elrod gives a detailed description of how to meditate, for those who are new to it.
A – for ‘affirmations’
If you’re new to affirmations, it’s basically about making positive statements about yourself, your day, your life. For example, ‘I am favoured wherever I go, and with whomever I speak to.’ You can have affirmations about your lifestyle, your healthy, your finances, your marriage, your family…basically, anything you want to make a change about.
V – for ‘visualisations’
So many people swear by the benefits of visualisation. If you are yet to try this, please jump on the bandwagon as soon as possible! Visualising involves creating a picture in your mind’s eye about the type of person you want to be, the type of life you want and like affirmations, it can be about anything. You basically create the picture in your mind, and the law of attraction makes it come to fruition.
There are people who swear by the effects of creative visualisation, especially those who are interested in the law of attraction. If you’re new to this as well, read ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne.
E – for ‘exercise’
Knowing that I’d never make it to the gym as often as I’d like, and not wanting to frit away money on a gym membership (again), I bough a treadmill and some weights last summer. At the time of starting this Miracle Morning routine, I had managed less than 10 sessions on the treadmill. But, knowing that the mornings would now be made up of a number of sections, which incorporated exercise, it’s made it a lot easier. My treadmill is finally getting some love, and the weights will soon follow suit.
R – for ‘reading’
I love reading! If there is one hobby that I miss the most because of my hectic schedule it’s definitely reading. I try to make up for it by listening to audiobooks on Audible, which is great while on the go, but there’s nothing more enjoyable to me than being able to touch the book, scribble notes in the book etc. I’m reading The Power of Your Mind by Chris Oyakhilome at the moment, during my Miracle Morning, and it’s been enlightening. Grab your copy on Amazon.
S – for ‘scribing’
Call it free therapy, call it old school, call it whatever, but for me having a journal is a must. There’s a real sense of release to writing how you’re feeling down and closing that book. Technology just isn’t the same – I’ve tried, believe me!
A journal signifies a lot, and sometimes I can go back through past journals and laugh about how I felt. Things that seemed so important, so annoying or worrying somehow become so funny when taking a retrospective look, because I’ve dealt with the issue and survived. Journals aren’t just for writing either. You can draw in them, pain in them – whatever your creative outlet is, you can do this in a journal, and so it’s easy to understand why Elrod adds this to the Morning Miracle.
Like with any system, you can tailor the Miracle Morning to your personal needs. It’s about finding what works for you. The main thing of importance is to do something today that will make your tomorrows even better.
