How To: Start Your Day, The Miracle Way!

Have you been looking for a better way to start your day – rather than relentlessly pressing the snooze button and eventually dragging yourself, in a zombie fashion, towards your nearest caffeine kick?

Well, that was me, (and sometimes still is) – but I know a route out of that mess.

You see, this year, one of my goals is to get up earlier more often and start the day, the RIGHT way!

Is there a “right way”?  I hear you ask.

Well, while that may be different for everyone, there are certain elements you can include that will certainly help start your day RIGHT.

Last Year, I read a life-changing book called the Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.

It’s all about creating an early morning routine that puts you in the absolute best position to begin your day.

Some of the activities you could include in your Miracle Morning: Meditation, exercise, journal writing, goal setting, affirmations, visualisations and planning.

Last year, I was training for a marathon when I read this book…. and before you go ahead thinking I’m some sort of early rising fitness freak – you’d be wrong.

A couple of years ago, I did absolutely zero exercise ever.  

But, I decided to make change my life and made a HABIT out of exercise, despite hating it at first.

What happened was, I realised the benefits were so alarmingly huge, (not just physically, but how I felt about myself and how it improved my confidence) that I knew I had to continue on – forever.

It made me realise that we CAN change our behaviour, but we need that new behaviour to become a habit.

This is an identical idea to the one that Hal also talks about in his book.

Don’t you need to be a “morning person?!”

I have NEVER been a “morning person.”  But I wasn’t a “fit person,” before either.

We can become whatever we want, but we have to change our habits and change our own perceptions about what we are and what we can become.

Often these beliefs are really deep rooted in our psychology, so it can take a bit of time to shift our way of thinking.

The answer is consistency… keep doing something long enough, it starts to become our normality.

One reason I continued with the running, was how it made me feel to get up early and run.

Sometimes I’d be out before it got light and see the sunset on the way home – I’d return home feeling like superwoman.

Completing the hardest part of your day, before most people are even out of bed, gives you a huge boost – everything in comparison will feel like a breeze.

Making the Miracle Morning Stick:

So, once I started my own miracle morning, I felt much happier, more confident, more in control …  and if only I could bottle that feeling I had after running before dawn.

BUT the problem with many humans, (like myself) is that even when we know that something will ultimately make us more happy, more healthy, more successful…

If we perceive the path to get there is too hard or unpleasant, we are very likely to give up.

That is, unless it becomes a habit.

Making it a habit is absolutely key and that is why Hal talks about starting a 30 day challenge.

According to research, 30 days is around the time it takes for something to become a habit.

So, initially, it can feel very hard and it will be challenging to stick to.

I should know, I didn’t complete the 30 days myself!

I have actually started the challenge on several occasions.

This is generally how it would go:  I go out for dinner, have a couple of glasses of wine, stay up too late and then next morning…

Zap – my motivation is out the window.

Then it got colder.  Then it got darker.  

I’m in the UK and it isn’t far into Autumn before the early mornings feel very uninviting.

The temptation to stay in a cosy warm bed can be too much to resist.

But enough of the excuses… I AM GOING TO COMPLETE THE 30 DAY CHALLENGE… I am going to create habit.

The other thing to remember is – you don’t actually don’t have to do this every day.

You could do it three times a week… 5 times a week… 2 times a week.

When I’ve done it before, I went for 5 days a week and that could be another reason it didn’t work for me.

The point is, something is better than nothing and the more you can fit in, the better the results for you.

When I did get up for the Miracle Morning, I felt on top of the world.

If you want more motivation and productivity in your life, there is no doubt that creating your own Miracle Morning can do wonders.

What to include in your Miracle Morning:

Hal talks about including a group of activities into your morning routine called S.A.V.E.R.S – this stands for

• Silence, (meditation or quiet time).
• Affirmations.
• Visualization.
• Exercise.
• Reading.
• Scribing, (writing in your journal for example).

The idea is setting yourself up every day to become the person who will attract all the things you want in your life – and the motivation and drive to go out there and get it.

Hal doesn’t set anything rigid, you can create your own Miracle Morning to suit you and one to fit in with your own life.

For example; my Miracle Morning routine, went  something like this…

• Wake up and have a glass of water.
• Exercise:  for me – either a run or strength training).
• Affirmations and Visualisations: (I will say affirmations out loud and then spend some time visualizing some things that I want to achieve, whether it be that day, week, year or several years.
• Reading and scribing: 10mins reading self development, 10 mins planning my day in my diary.
• Silence: 10 mins of guided meditation that I’d listen to.

If you don’t have time to fit in all these different elements, you can be more selective and adapt it to suit you.

The hardest part for me was the “silence” part.  Because, normally by then, my two children were up.

Trying to meditate while a small child is trying to climb  on you, doesn’t really work.

In any case, I personally cannot wait to get back to this and start over with a new challenge… even if it is very cold outside right now, (snow in fact!)

Anyone can be a “morning person,” but it just takes some time to make it a habit first.

Not everyone who gets up early does so because they find it easy to do so – but they do it anyway because the long term rewards vastly outweigh the cons of not doing it.

Are you going to start your own Miracle Morning?  Let me know in the comments.

You can check out the awesome book by Hal here – his story is inspiring and it’s a fantastic read.

Good luck & all the best…