How you start your day determines in large part how your day will go.
How each day goes determines how your life will go.
If you want your life to get better on the outside, you must first get better on the inside.
Bettering yourself requires regular practice—working on yourself to both heal and to become the best that you can be.
Yet what do we practice? Tens of Thousands of people have discovered that “The Miracle Morning,” developed by Hal Elrod, has helped them to live happier, more fulfilling, and more successful lives. Here is a brief overview of this practice with some modifications:
Get Up Right
Start by following these steps to prepare yourself for your morning practice.
- When you go to bed, visualize yourself getting up the next morning with enthusiasm and energy for the gift of another day.
- Set your alarm to give yourself about 60 minutes for the 6 practices described below. You can still do the practice in as little as 6 minutes if you don’t have the time.
- Set your alarm far from your bed so you have to get up to turn it off.
- Get up and wash your face to help you wake up.
- Then, brush your teeth.
- Then, drink a large glass of water, as most people wake up a little dehydrated.
Then, practice the following “Life SAVERS,” adapted and modified from Hal Elrod:
- S-Silence and Stillness
- A-Affirmations and Intentions
- V-Visualization
- E-Exercise
- R-Reading
- S-Scribe (journaling)
Let’s review each of these. You may want to budget about 5-20 minutes for each one of them.
Silence and Stillness
This is the practice of silence and stillness, quieting the thinking mind, and getting grounded in the Present. Different forms of meditation, prayer, contemplation, or even mind-body practices, such as yoga, can still the mind. In stillness, we see things more clearly, more directly, before thought. Silence and stillness promote peace, clarity, and wisdom.
Affirmations and Intentions
Reprogram your unconscious mind with affirmations. Think of how you most want to be. You may wish to be happy, successful, courageous, sober, or at peace. You may wish to have a great job, a loving life partner, and lots of friends. Look within. What is it that you most want to become? Now, write one, two, three, or more affirmations that you will say to yourself each morning. Make them realistic things that you can realize today. Say them out loud if possible, and when you say them, put all your emotion into them so that you can feel them as you say them. Feeling them emotionally is important; they won’t work if you don’t actually feel them.
What are your intentions for how you want to be today? What you want to do and say? What you want to accomplish? What do you want to practice today? Set an intention to develop one virtue each week that will contribute to your realization of the life of your dreams. Make your intentions specific and realistic.
Visualization
Visualize yourself working to create the life of your dreams. What actions will you be taking today to make tomorrow your dream life? See in your mind’s eye how you feel, what you are doing, who you are with—your whole life situation. It turns out that people who set daily intentions and then visualize themselves living their intentions are more likely to achieve their dreams. When you are done with your morning practice, go about living your intentions and visualization as much as possible throughout the day.
Exercise
Exercise makes us feel good. You will feel better throughout your day if you get a little exercise to begin. If you are confined to your room, you may just want to do some sit-ups, pushups, and some squats. If you can go to the gym or out for a run, great. Working out several parts of your body and getting your heart pumping are best.
Reading
Spend at least 10 minutes every morning reading something that will inspire and educate you. A good start would be “Think and Grow Rich,” a classic by Napoleon Hill. Look for books to read that will nurture and inspire your growth.
Scribe (Journaling)
After your clarity practice of silence and stillness, your reading, and your other morning practices, take a few moments to jot down in your journal your insights and intentions for the day. Writing it down makes it more real. Writing also deepens and solidifies your vision and your intentions.
Everyone wants to feel good and not feel bad. Everyone wants to heal and be happy. What most people don’t realize is that they won’t heal and grow without practice. This Miracle Morning practice is a great way to both start your day and change your life.