Transform Your Life!

A book review on The Miracle Morning: The Not-So Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life Before 8 AM, written by Hal Elrod

I love experiments! I just started a 30-Day one 5 days ago. I will let you in on it now, then report back after 30 days. We will judge then how much it has changed my life, and I will decide whether or not to continue.

So, this guy, Hal Elrod, aka “Yo Pal Hal” because he has spikey hair and all, claims that you can transform your life by getting up early enough each morning to do 6 crucial things in the first hour after you wake up. These include Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing, which the latter is actually writing but Hal wanted to use the word scribing because it would make the neat acronym S.A.V.E.R.S. And he calls it all his “LifeSAVERS”. Cute. And I am not being snarky by saying that.

I actually like self-help books and have read many. My earliest exposure to them was in my teen years; my dad made me read The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason and The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. I did my teenager thing, rolled my eyes, but then read them just to appease my dad. However, I am actually thankful of the introduction to this genre of books, and think some of the information burrowed deep in my brain. Thanks, Dad.

Ahem, you say? Okay. Back to The Miracle Morning (TMM). I was at the library (that huge treasure trove), where I typically go, before leaving, to the new book section and browse. I often find little gems there like I did last week, finding the book The Miracle Morning. It was an interesting, quick read, with easy-to-implement ideas. My kind of book. By the way, Robert Kiyosaki wrote the foreword in the book. Who is he? I know I said the same thing until I read further that he is the author of the well-known book, Rich Dad Poor Dad. Kiyosaki calls Elrod a genius in the foreword and says stuff like, “The Miracle Morning is perfect for very busy, successful people”, “Going through SAVERS every morning is like pumping rocket fuel into my body, mind, and spirit”, and the SAVERS is a “ritual that is now part of my day”. Pretty compelling words.

I have long felt my morning ritual was lacking. Ha! That is an understatement. Almost a year ago I interviewed six people asking what their routine was, trying to find workable ideas that I could implement, and I also did Google searches on the topic. I came across some good ideas, but not much changed in my morning routine. The one constancy I have had is a 15-minute time (at least) of reading a bit of the Bible, meditating on it, then praying. Oh, and also journaling for a few minutes, which has been a more recent habit. I have come to find these times are very special to me and I look forward to them. With coffee, of course. The rest of my morning routine was pretty much Facebook and email, both of those consuming too much time and being too unproductive. There. Those sins are confessed.

So, since Hal Elrod lets me count prayer and my Scripture meditation as Silence, and I was already Scribing (journaling), and Reading (the Bible), it hasn’t been as huge a leap for me as it has been for some other people to do all of the SAVERS items. And so far I am really enjoying the challenge. Incidentally, toward the end of TMM book, Elrod provides the reader with his website www.MiracleMorning.com where you can get immediate access to two free chapters of TMM book, a free video training, and additional information that you can download, such as the 30-Day Transformation Tracker, “Wheel of Life” Assessment sheet, and Hal Elrod’s Inspirational Quotes. Plus more.

As for the 30-Day Transformation Tracker, I highly recommend this, as it gives you a place to check off the 6 SAVERS items as well as 4 more habits of your choice that you think will have the biggest impact on your life. Well, I actually added 5. I just can’t play by all of the rules.

Hal Elrod has a lot of credibility too. He hosted his own radio show at the age of 15, he has had a myriad of business successes, is in great demand as a speaker, and is a best-selling author. But what really impresses me about him is that he is an overcomer. As a young adult he was in a horrible car accident, broke many bones, was told he had permanent brain damage, and that he would never walk again. He proved them wrong about the walking part. Overcomers are one of the types I like to listen to. Usually they have important things to say.

Do you want a doable prescription for life change? Do you want to stop hitting the snooze button? Do you want to wake up excited about life? Do you want to stop mediocrity? Do you want to transform bad habits? Do you want to make bold moves toward your dreams? Do you want to invest the next 30 days to see if The Miracle Morning will help you make significant changes in your life?

Then this is the book for you.

Well, you might be asking me what does all this have to do with health.  Lots! I would say one of my biggest faults and things holding me back is inconsistency. So, some of the habits I am working on have to do with diet, exercise, and playing my guitar more (good for brain health as well as stress reduction). But beyond that, it is helping me not feel frustrated with life and poor habits, and that is very healthy.

My challenge to you is to join me in this challenge and give me your feedback. I am so curious. Plus I love the idea of expanding the experiment to more than n=1.

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