I never thought I'd say this about a "morning book," but The Miracle Morning CHANGED MY LIFE. Now, years later, The Miracle Morning is still an integral part of my daily life.
Regardless of your past experiences—even if you've had trouble waking up and sleeping in the morning all your life—things are about to change. Improve your overall health, lose weight (if you want) and get in the best shape of your life.
Acknowledge the 95% reality check
Physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, financially – you name it – most people wake up every day and struggle to create the level of success, happiness, love fulfillment, health and financial prosperity they truly desire. Once we can acknowledge that, it is critical that we examine what causes most people to struggle and settle for mediocrity in their lives.
Identify the causes of mediocrity
Relationships: It is common knowledge that America has a divorce epidemic, with one in two marriages failing. If you want to live an extraordinary life as defined and designed by you, you must identify the root causes of mediocrity so you can prevent them from robbing you of the life you want.
Rear-view mirror syndrome
If you want to move beyond your past and overcome your limitations, you need to stop living out of the rearview mirror and start imagining a life of limitless possibilities. Get clear on what you really want, condition yourself with the belief that it is possible by focusing and affirming each day, and then continually move in the direction of your vision until it becomes your reality.
Lack of purpose
Until then, I didn't have a compelling purpose in life that would get me up in the morning, even when I couldn't get up. The important thing is to choose a purpose—any purpose—and start living it now.
Isolating incidents
Keep in mind that you're not supposed to "figure out" what your goal is; you have to invent it, create it, decide what you want it to be. Always remember that who you become is far more important than what you do, and yet it is what you do that determines who you become.
Lack of accountability
You can even post an invitation on your Facebook wall or to the very supportive members of The Miracle Morning community at www.MiracleMorning.com/resources. You could post something like, “I'm looking for someone who wants to improve their life to be my accountability partner for The Miracle Morning 30 Day Life Changing Challenge.
Mediocre circle of influence
You need to be strong and make sure you spend less time with people who don't encourage and challenge you to be the best you can be. This is another reason why it is so valuable to commit to inviting a friend, coworker, or family member to be your accountability partner and do the Miracle Morning with you.
Lack of personal development
You add value to that person's life by helping him or her increase his or her level of personal development, which will make him or her a better influence on you. Then, after you have achieved a higher level of clarity and self-awareness, you can clarify your Level 10 vision for each area of your life and then set your 'next level' goals for each area so that you can immediately make significant progress in the direction of your level 10 vision.
Lack of urgency
Draw your line in the sand
You have to get up every morning with determination if you are going to go to bed happy. If you tell yourself that you will feel tired in the morning, then you will feel absolutely tired.
How do your mornings usually begin?
Instead, I'll list just a few of what I think are the most important benefits, and give you a simple step-by-step meditation that you can start right away. Here's a simple, step-by-step individual meditation that you can use during your Miracle Morning, even if you've never meditated before.
Final thoughts on silence
Affirmations are one of the most effective tools for quickly becoming the person you need to be to achieve everything you want in your life. Affirmations allow you to design and then develop the mindset (thoughts, beliefs, focus) you need to take any area of your life to the next level.
How affirmations changed my life
If affirmations could change what for me was the most justified limiting belief I had, then they could probably change anything. So I made my first affirmation, which was: I let go of the limiting belief that I have a terrible memory.
How’s your programming?
- What you really want
- Why you want it
- Who you are committed to being to create it
- What you’re committed to doing to attain it
- Add inspirational quotes and philosophies
So, from this moment on, I maintain the unshakable belief that I have an excellent memory, and it continues to get better every day. This is one of the skills that Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Goodman used to become the best in their fields.
Final thoughts on affirmations
Another famous example is actor Jim Carrey, who wrote himself a check in 1987 for $10 million. He dated it 'Thanksgiving 1995' and added in the liner notes, 'For services to acting.'
What do you visualize?
Many highly successful individuals, including celebrities, have advocated the use of visualization and claimed that it played a significant role in their success. Hmm...is there a connection between Oprah being one of the most successful women in the world and the fact that she practices most if not all six Life S.A.V.E.R.S.?).
Three simple steps for Miracle Morning visualization
Get ready
For example, in the months I spent writing this book (okay, who am I kidding—it took years), I first visualized writing with ease, enjoying the creative process, without stress, fear, and writer's block. Visualizing a process that was enjoyable, stress-free and fear-free motivated me to take action and overcome procrastination.
Visualize what you really want
The more vivid you make your vision, the more compelled you will be to take the necessary steps to make it happen. You can look into the near future—the end of the day—or further into the future, as I did while writing this book, when I visualized people reading it, liking it, and recommending it to their friends.
Visualize who you need to be and what you need to do
If you could have anything you wanted, do anything you wanted, and be anything you wanted – what would you have? Imagine the determination on your face as you confidently and persistently make those calls, work on that report, or finally take action and make progress on that project you've been putting off for far too long.
Final thoughts on visualization
Optional] Create your vision board
Keep in mind that while creating a vision board is fun, nothing changes in your life without action. If you don't make time for exercise, you'll probably have to make time for illness.
Meet the one and only … Dashama
From waking you up and improving your mental clarity, to helping you maintain higher energy levels throughout the day, exercising soon after getting up can improve your life in many ways. Whether you sit in silent meditation, breathe to increase your lung capacity or bend back to open your heart – there are exercises that can help every aspect of your life.
Final thoughts on exercise
The key is to learn from the experts – those who have already done what you want to do. The fastest way to achieve anything you want is to model successful people who have already achieved it.
How much should you read?
For those looking to minimize our carbon footprint or save money, I also recommend using your local library or checking out one of my favorite websites, www.paperbackswap.com. For a complete list of my favorite personal development books—including those that have had the greatest impact on my success and happiness—see the recommended reading list at www.MiracleMorning.com/resources.
Final thoughts on reading
Rereading requires discipline because it is typically more 'fun' to read a book you have never read before. Commit to reading it again once you're done, to deepen your learning and give yourself more time to master The Miracle Morning.
Journaling
Capture Ideas: Keeping a journal not only helps you expand your ideas but also prevents you from losing important ideas that you might want to implement in the future. Confirm Your Progress: It's great to go back and re-read your journals from a year ago and see how much progress you've made.
Gap Focus: Is it hurting or helping you?
Usually, when the day, week, month or year comes to an end and we're in "gap focus" mode, it's almost impossible to keep an accurate assessment of ourselves and our progress. Through a structured, strategic process (more on that in a minute), journaling daily allows you to focus on what you've accomplished, what you're grateful for, and what you're committed to doing better tomorrow.
Effective journaling
In fact, it's what inspired me to design and create The Miracle Morning Journal (which is now available on Amazon.com). It makes it easy by giving you prompts like "I'm grateful for..." and "What would make today great?" It only takes five minutes or less, and includes an 'Evening' option, which allows you to review your day and even upload photos to create visual memories.
Do you want to write a book?
In Chapter 8, you'll learn how to personalize and customize almost every aspect of your Miracle Morning to fit your lifestyle. In the next chapter, you'll learn how to do the full Miracle Morning—and receive the full benefits of all six of the Life S.A.V.E.R.S.
When to eat
Why to eat
I am in no way suggesting that you should eat food that doesn't taste good in exchange for health and energy benefits. I'm saying that if we want to live each day with plenty of energy to perform at our best and live a long, healthy life, we need to choose to eat more foods that are good for our health and give us sustained energy. , as well as great taste.
What to eat
You can start like I did by doing The Miracle Morning during the week and try to take the weekends off. As you can see, you can always design and customize The Miracle Morning to fit your lifestyle.
How long does it really take to form a new habit?
One of the main reasons why most people fail to create and maintain new habits is because they don't know what to expect and they don't have a winning strategy. One of the biggest obstacles that prevents most people from implementing and maintaining positive habits is not having the right strategy.
Days 1–10] Phase One: Unbearable
They do not know what to expect and are not prepared to overcome the mental and emotional challenges that are part of the process of implementing any new habit. If your new habit is to wake up early (which may be helpful to start now), your experience during the first ten days might be something like this: [Alarm clock sounds] Oh God, it's already morning.
Days 11–20] Phase Two: Uncomfortable
The problem for most people is that they don't realize that these seemingly unbearable first ten days are only 'temporary'. Instead, they think it's the way the new habit feels and will always feel, telling themselves: If the new habit is so painful, forget it—it's not worth it.
Days 21–30] Phase Three: Unstoppable
The last ten days are where you positively reinforce and associate joy with your new habit. Phase three is also where the actual transformation takes place, as your new habit becomes part of your identity.
Instead of dreading your alarm clock in the morning, now when it goes off, you're excited to wake up and get going because you've done it for over 20 days in a row. Taking a few days off before you have invested the necessary time to positively reinforce the habit makes it difficult to come back.
30 Days: From unbearable to unstoppable”
Steps to begin The Miracle Morning (30-Day) Life Transformation Challenge
Like anything worthwhile in life, completing The Miracle Morning 30-Day Life Transformation Challenge takes some preparation. Get 'The Miracle Morning 30-Day Life Transformation Fast Start Kit' today at www.MiracleMorning.com/resources.
The email that will change your life
Know that wherever you are in your life right now is both temporary and exactly where you are supposed to be. And yet, it is what you do that determines who you become.