This week we will be breaking down the introduction and the first 2 chapters of The Miracle Morning.

If you haven’t had a chance to purchase the book yet click here to get it fast from Amazon.

Getting to Know Hal

Part of any book is getting to know the author, and determining if they “walk the talk” or if they are just pumping out the information to sell a book.

In the Introduction of The Miracle Morning we get to know a lot about Hal, and the pretty rough past he has lived. While he has experienced some pretty impressive levels of success at a very young age, he has also experienced quite a bit of hardship. Much of what he has gone through with his wreck, as well as having his business crumble due to the economy, could have been the nail in the coffin of his success.

And nobody would blame him for giving up under those kind of circumstances!

However, Hal really shows what he is made of by persisting though all those challenges and turning his life around multiple times. His past experiences have been the driving force behind much of his success, and the driving force behind this book.

Wake Up to Your Potential

In Chapter 1 of the book Hal teaches us what it means to have a “Level 10” life. Hey says, “If we’re measuring success, satisfaction, and fulfillment in any area of our lives on a scale of one to ten, we all want Level 10, right?”

I don’t know about you, but I definitely want a level 10 life!

The problem is that no matter how much we want it, if we don’t do the things that lead to a level 10 life, we will never achieve it.

So how do we build a level 10 life?

According to Hal, it all depends on how we start our day. He says that by starting our day with a “Miracle Morning” we can set ourselves up to build the kind of life we dream about.

What kind of impacts can doing this have on your life? The book says, “For some, it has allowed them to tap into a deeper sense of purpose and meaning in their lives. For others, it’s meant increased productivity, less stress, greater happiness, and increased income. For most, it’s given them more purposeful, priceless time to pursue their dreams and the projects they’ve been putting off for far too long.”

Some of the benefits the book outlines are:

• “Wake up every day with more energy, feeling excited and empowered with the tools to fulfill your potential.”
• “Immediately lower your stress levels.”
• “Quickly overcome any challenges, adversity or limiting beliefs that have been holding you back.”
• “Improve your overall health, lose weight (if desired), and get in the best physical shape of your life.”
• “Increase your productivity and enhance your ability to maintain laser focus on your top priorities.”
• “Experience more gratitude and less worry.”
• “Significantly increase your ability to earn and attract more monetary wealth (if desired).”
• “Uncover and begin living your life purpose.”
• “Stop settling for less than you truly desire and deserve.”

These are some pretty big promises!

I am not naturally a morning person, so the first time I read this book I thought it sounded great but I also thought it sounded a bit too good to be true. I assumed I would never enjoy waking up, and I didn’t believe that I could make it a habit. So when I read the sentence in the book that says “And, while you can still sleep in any time you want, you might be surprised to find you no longer want to” I found it hard to believe.

But I was wrong. I actually do love waking up in the morning now! Sure some days are still hard, but I always look forward to starting my day off in such an empowering way.

Does It Have To Be In The Morning?

I know what you’re probably thinking… do you really have to do the “Miracle Morning” in the morning?

Well…Yes!

The key to making changes in your life, and building the life you desire, is to do the things that lead to success. And one of the hardest things about implementing new things into your life is to find the time to add them. According to the book we have a few options.

First, we could try to implement them at night. Hal tried this but quickly realized that night is not when he is at his “best” and that he is “usually so tired that focusing is even more of a challenge than it usually is.” Even if you consider yourself a night owl, I bet if you really examined your life you will realize that night is not when you are at your “best”.

So if night doesn’t work, how about the afternoon? Well to start off with, most people don’t have the flexibility in their day to take an hour to work on personal development in the middle of their work day. And even if they have the time in their afternoon, their boss may not go for it. Also, it is very hard to be consistent in the afternoon – a problem with doing it in the evening as well – and many times you will find that the day “gets away from you.”

Which brings us to the morning…

Hal gives us examples of why he determined that the morning was the ideal time. He says, “First, by committing to my personal development in the morning, it would give me a positive motivational kick-start to my day. I could learn something new in the morning. I’d likely be more energized, more focused, and more motivated for the rest of my day.” He also says, “Not to mention, by doing personal development in the morning, I wouldn’t have all of the excuses that accumulate during the day (I’m tired, I don’t have time, etc.) If I did it in the morning, before the rest of my life and my work got in the way, I could guarantee that it happened every single day.”

Are you buying in yet? Are you starting to agree that the morning is the best time?

I hope so!

The good news is that implementing the “Miracle Morning” does not have to mean waking up at 4 am or 5 am. It may mean that, but the time is completely up to you. The book recommends that you wake up an hour earlier than you normally would, so that you can use that first hour of the day for your “Miracle Morning.” So if you usually don’t wake up until 9 am, just set your alarm for 8 am. No matter what time you currently wake up, just shoot for one hour earlier.

Once you have decided to make the most of your new found mornings, the next step is to figure out how to make the most of this time. In the book Hal tells us the six things he started out with when he started his “Miracle Morning”:

1. Silence
2. Reading
3. Affirmations
4. Visualization
5. Journaling
6. Exercise

According to Hal, when he started spending the first hour of his morning focused on these six things his life changed. He says, “My stress levels dropped dramatically. I had more energy, clarity, and focus. I felt genuinely happy, motivated, and inspired. Thoughts of depression were a distant memory” and “With my newfound levels of energy, motivation, clarity, and focus I was able to easily set goals, create strategies and execute a plan to save my business and increase my income.”

My Favorite Quotes

• If I could go from being found dead, told I would never walk again, going broke and feeling so depressed that I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning, to creating the life of my dreams, there are no legitimate excuses for you not to overcome any limitations that have held you back from achieving everything you want for your life. None. Zip. Nada.
• I believe it is crucial for us to embrace the perspective that anything another person has overcome or accomplished is simply evidence that anything— and I mean anything— you need to overcome or want to accomplish is possible for you, no matter what your past or current circumstances.
• The degree to which you accept responsibility for everything in your life is precisely the degree of personal power you have to change or create anything in your life.
• While blame determines who is at fault for something, responsibility determines who is committed to improving things.
• Know that wherever you are in your life right now is both temporary, and exactly where you are supposed to be.
• The good news is that you have the ability to change— or create— anything in your life, starting right now.
• You’ve got to wake up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction. —George Lorimer
• Most people resign themselves to a life of mediocrity, passively accepting whatever life gives them.
• How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) dramatically affects your levels of success in every single area of your life.
• Regardless of your past experiences— even if you’ve had trouble waking up and getting going in the morning for your entire life— things are about to change.
• The Miracle Morning is not only empowering, it’s simple and fun, something you’ll soon be able to do without effort— for the rest of your life.
• And, while you can still sleep in any time you want, you might be surprised to find you no longer want to.
• The Miracle Morning will give you purposeful blocks of intentional, focused and uninterrupted time each day to invest in achieving your most important goals and dreams (especially those you’ve been putting off.)
• To make profound changes in your life, you need either inspiration or desperation.
• 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
• Our outer world will always be a reflection of our inner world. Our level of success is always going to parallel our level of personal development. Until we dedicate time each day to developing ourselves into the person we need to be to create the life we want, success is always going to be a struggle to attain.

It’s Action Time

The hardest part of implementing the Miracle Morning is waking up early the first day. So this week, that is your challenge…

1. Wake up 1 hour early. Set your alarm to wake up 1 hour early at least one day this week. Prepare the night before for what you are going to do during your first “Miracle Morning”. You can follow the six things Hal outlined in Chapter 2, or you can choose any number of them to do. Just have a plan, it doesn’t need to be perfect. You can tweak it as we move through the month.
2. Show off your new wakeup time. Post a picture in the Facebook group. Make sure the picture shows the time you got up. You can use only a picture of the clock, or a picture of you in front of a clock, or anything else similar. In the description share what you did on your first “Miracle Morning.”

Coming Up Next…

Next week we will be coving Chapters 3-5 of the book. In the mean time, take the action steps above and jump into the group to help encourage others!