I waited for a month before sharing this with you because I wanted to see its full effect before making any recommendations.
More than a month ago I came across a morning routine based on Hal Elrod’s book ‘The Miracle Morning’ which truly is a miracle.
Prior to following this routine, I would get up in the morning and straight away turn-on my laptop and start working. I will have to pull myself away to have breakfast and shower and take a short break for lunch. Needless to say, I was working harder than working at a job and yet my output was less than what it used to be when I was working full time and blogging part-time. On top of that, I was always tired, anxious and was behind in finishing daily tasks I had set up for myself.
Since I started this routine, my days start at a slower pace but I still get much more done. Besides I am attracting all the right things in my life.
The routine consists of six elements:
- Meditation 10 minutes
- Visualization 5 minutes
- Affirmations 5 minutes
- Journal writing 10 minutes
- Reading 10 minutes
- Exercise 20 minutes
The Miracle Morning routine is meant to take about an hour which means you will have to wake up an hour early each day. The first few days are harder but then you get so much benefit that you start looking forward to the morning and do wake up early each day.
The time next to each element is just an indication, you can add or remove time from an element if you think it would be more beneficial to you. Even if you change the times, I still recommend keeping all the elements as they each serve a unique purpose.
Meditation: Meditation helps to clear and center your mind and you start your day without feeling overwhelmed or emotional. You can meditate in pure silence or you can use a recording for a guided meditation. There are several ten-minutes meditations available online. On the days I have a bit more time I like to use the following one.
Visualization: There are so many studies on the power of visualization. With little practice it is easy to master this technique. You can visualize completing your daily goals or achieving your bigger goals. Try to engage your five senses while visualizing them happening.
Affirmations: Affirmations are the positive things that we tell ourselves. They help develop a positive mindset and grow self-confidence and eventually turn up into self-fulfilling prophecies. Each morning I write my affirmation in a small diary. Then I go back and read the previous days’ affirmations. By the time five minutes are over, I am smiling both outside and inside.
Journaling: Writing down your thoughts is incredibly powerful. I write a page a day in my journal. Sometimes it is about what I am feeling, other times about what is happening around me or what I am planning to do. There other choices too. You can write down things you’re grateful for or lessons you learned during the previous day and any new goals or ideas that came to you since.
Reading: Reading something good each morning allows our minds to move in new directions. I keep a good book handy by my bedside to read a few pages each morning.
Exercise: Other than giving you health benefits exercise improves your mood, clears your head, and makes you feel happier. It is great if you can fit exercise in your morning. I do my exercise in the evening.
There you have it, the morning routine I have been following for a month now. Hal Elrod encourages to try it for at least 30 days to see the benefits. I can assure you, that you will start seeing the benefits after the first week.
Getting started might be hard, but once started I am sure you will not break the routine. It is that good.
