The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod | Book Summary

Are you looking for a way to jumpstart your mornings, increase productivity, and reach new heights of success? Then The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod is the perfect book for you.

In The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8 AM), Hal Elrod shows the key aspect of creating extraordinary results and living a successful life, one morning at a time.

One of the best self-help books, Hal shows you how to be a morning person and wake up every day with more energy, motivation, and focus on taking action and fulfilling your potential in life.

In The Miracle Morning summary, we’ll review the simple yet powerful 6-step sequence that has aided thousands of individuals in making tangible improvements in their professional and personal lives. We’ll dive into how each step contributes to improving focus, enthusiasm, mental acuity, creativity, resilience, and more essential skills necessary on the journey towards greater achievement – no matter where you are currently starting from.

Join us as we explore Elrod’s groundbreaking principles so that you, too, can establish a pre-morning routine to rise and grind daily with clarity and confidence!

Download the PDF Book Summary for The Miracle Morning

Introduction

In 1999, Elrod almost died at 20 years old. He was driving down the highway when he was hit twice. Hal’s heart stopped for 6 minutes, and he sustained brain damage and was declared dead. After six days, he woke from a coma to find out that he would probably never walk again.

However, by 30 years old, Hal did not only walk again but trained to run a 52-mile ultra-marathon. He also achieved great heights as a renowned entrepreneur, speaker, and author.

Chapter 1 – It’s Time To Wake Up To Your Full Potential

The average American is 20 pounds overweight, $10,000 in debt, slightly depressed, dislikes their job, and has less than one close friend. Most people have rearview mirror syndrome, rarely exceed their full potential, and live an extraordinary life.

“What about you? Are you maximizing your potential and creating the levels of success that you truly want in every area of your life? … Are you ready to stop sitting, so you can start living your best life?”

When measuring success, satisfaction, and fulfillment in any aspect of your life, you should strive for your best life (Level 10 Life). Ideally, you want to rate all areas at a 10 on a scale from 0 to 10. And it all starts with how you wake up each morning.

Three Imperative Arguments

The Miracle Morning is built upon the following three principles:

1. “You are worthy, deserving, and capable of creating and sustaining extraordinary health, wealth, happiness, love, and success in your life, as any other person.” This mindset is critical for the quality of your life and the lives of your family, friends, and community.
2. “For you to stop settling…and to create the levels of…success you desire, you must first dedicate time each day to becoming the person…who is qualified and capable of” achieving the success you want.
3. “How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) dramatically affects your levels of success in every single area of your life.” Changing your morning will transform any area of your life and help you take action.

How Will The Miracle Morning Transform Your Life?

There are several common benefits that you will get from implementing your Miracle Morning routine:

• Wake up with more energy, excitement, and empowerment.
• Reduce the amount of stress in your life.
• Overcome any problems, obstacles, or limiting beliefs in your way.
• Improve your health to lose weight and get into the best shape.
• Increase your productivity and focus on your most important priorities.
• Experience gratitude, fulfillment, and less anxiety.
• Increase your income and achieve high levels of wealth.
• Discover your vision and purpose and live with them in mind.
• Stop settling for less than you desire and deserve.

Chapter 2 – The Miracle Morning Origin: Born Out Of Desperation

Hal Elrod discusses how he used the Miracle Morning to transform his whole life. He hit rock bottom from almost dying in a car accident and then being in deep debt and severe depression. Then, it all changed in a single morning when he went on a run and had an epiphany to accept total responsibility for his life.

Thus, Elrod committed to his personal growth and self-improvement first thing in the morning to provide focus, energy, and motivation for the rest of the day. He chooses the most impactful activities, such as meditation, affirmations, journaling, visualization, reading, and exercise.

A few years later, author Hal Elrod wrote his lessons learned in this book as it became a worldwide movement for people to wake up an hour earlier to start their day with personal development.

Chapter 3 – The 95% Reality Check

“We face the same universal challenge: to overcome mediocrity and live to our full potential.” However, about 95% will settle for less and struggle, while the other 5% will have financial success and live a life of freedom.

“What can we do now to ensure that we “don’t end up struggling, as the 95% majority will?”

1. Acknowledge the 95% Reality Check: Understand that 95% of our society will live a mediocre life, as many are in poor physical health, suffer from depression, and rough relationships, and are in enormous debt.
2. Identify the Causes of Mediocrity: Recognize why the average person lives a mediocre life, which may be due to lacking purpose, accountability, quality people, personal growth, urgency, etc.
3. Draw Your Line in the Sand: Decide not to accept mediocrity and commit to living an intentional life starting now. You can live a fulfilling life with energy, love, health, happiness, success, wealth, and more.

Chapter 4 – Why Did You Wake Up This Morning?

Most people wake up to an annoying alarm clock, have to drag themselves out of bed, and would rather continue sleeping. When “you snooze, you lose” as you are resisting life. Instead, when you wake up with purpose and passion, you will gain the clarity, energy, and motivation to need to make progress in life.

Experts say that the amount of sleep required for each person depends on age, genetics, overall health, activity levels, etc. In The Miracle Morning, Elrod explains that “we need as much sleep as we believe we need.” The feeling of getting enough sleep when you wake depends on what you told yourself when going to sleep.

Chapter 5 – The 5-Step Snooze-Proof Wake-Up Strategy

“Nobody actually likes waking up early, but everyone loves the feeling of having woken up early.” As many suffer from low Wake Up Motivation Levels, there are five simple steps to make it easier to wake up every day:

1. Set Your Intentions the Night Before: “Your first thought in the morning is usually the last thought you had before bed.” Before going to sleep, take responsibility and decide to create genuine enthusiasm for tomorrow morning or the next morning.
2. Keep Your Alarm Clock Across the Room: Relocating your alarm clock will naturally move you out of bed and across the room to turn it off.
3. Make Your Bed: After turning your alarm off, immediately make your bed, as this will give you the feeling of accomplishing something.
4. Brush Your Teeth: Move straight to the bathroom to brush your teeth (use an antiseptic mouthwash) and splash yourself with cold water.
5. Drink a Full Glass of Water: Sleeping will cause mild dehydration, so drink at least a glass of water. Before bed, fill up your water and place it to be easy to reach.
6. Get Dressed or Shower: Change into your exercise clothes to start your morning ritual or shower to feel fresh and help you wake up.

Miracle Morning Bonus Wake-Up Tips

You don’t have to strictly use the previous five steps, so here are additional tips from others:

• T.M.M. Bedtime Affirmations: Download and use the intentional, energizing Miracle Morning Bedtime Affirmations from the T.M.M. website.
• Timer for Bedroom Lights: Light naturally tells your body to wake up, so set your lights to turn gradually right before your alarm rings.
• Timer for Bedroom Heater: Similarly, heat indicates to your body to wake up, so set your thermostat to increase the room temperature before your alarm rings.
• Motivational Alarm Clock Messages: Set up pre-recorded motivational messages using Google Home, Amazon Echo, or Apple Siri to help you wake up positively each day.

Regardless of the detailed steps, have a planned, procedural strategy to improve your motivation to wake up every morning.

Download the PDF Book Summary for The Miracle Morning

Chapter 6 – The Life SAVERS: The Six Powerful Practices

Most of us live on the wrong side of the Potential Gap, which is the gap between who we are and who we could become. When you change your life, then your life situation will subsequently improve:

• Life – the internal world of who you are, which consists of the attitudes and mindsets that give you the power to change and improve your life situation
• Life Situation – the external world consisting of circumstances, events, people, and places that surround us

Hal Elrod provides six personal development tools. The Life SAVERS will help you overcome the Potential Gap, develop into the best version of yourself, and improve your life situation. As it is your morning routine, experiment with different sequences of the Life SAVERS tools.

Silence (S)

Many have either stressful or sluggish mornings, which are not optimal ways to start the day. Instead, engage in purposeful silence to reduce stress, improve self-awareness, become fully present, and gain clarity:

Silence – the purposeful “kind of calm, clarity, and peace of mind that will allow you to stay focused on what’s most important in your life”

Spend at least five minutes of silence doing some or all of the following practices:

• Meditation – simply silence or focus on the subconscious mind for the present moment
• Prayer – request help or express thanks to God or a higher power
• Reflection – consider your positive and negative thoughts, ideas, or purpose
• Deep Breathing – inhale and exhale with long, sustained breaths
• Gratitude – be thankful or show appreciation for people, opportunities, etc.

Remember, there is no one correct way to spend your Miracle Morning meditation or silence time.

Affirmations (A)

Many have internal dialogue for what we tell ourselves. These daily affirmations can either work against us, causing struggle or for us leading to success:

Affirmation – the internal dialogue that can “allow you to design and then develop the mindset (thoughts, beliefs, focus) that you need to take any area of your life to the next level”

Your positive affirmations will transform your inner world and feelings to help you overcome your limiting beliefs and bad habits. Change your programming and create positive self-talk using these five steps:

1. What You Really Want: Clarify, in writing, your ideal life vision, specifically the areas you want to improve, such as Health, Wealth, Relationships, Mindset, etc.
2. Why You Want It: Elaborate why all the aspects in your vision are meaningful to you to give you a compelling purpose.
3. Whom You Are Committed To Being To Create It: Clarify your identity or who you need to be and commit to that identity.
4. What You’re Committed To Doing To Attain It: Clarify your actions or what you need to do in terms of frequency, quantify, and timeframe.
5. Add Inspirational Quotes and Philosophies: When you come across an empowering quote or strategy, incorporate it in your affirmations.

Miracle Morning affirmations will become more effective when you tap into emotions, combine them with physical activity, adapt them to changing circumstances, and consistently read them.

Visualization (V)

Many people will reimagine the failures and setbacks in their past. Instead, visualization will help you live in alignment with your positive affirmations:

Visualization – “the practice of seeking to generate positive results in your outer world by using your imagination to create mental pictures of specific behaviors and outcomes occurring in your life”

Create visualizations to mentally rehearse in your mind and help you take action toward a great future. Start with five minutes of visualization using these three steps:

1. Get Ready: Comfortable sit up tall, close your eyes, and clear your head.
2. Visualize What You Really Want: Envision your major goals, outcomes, and dreams in full detail. Then, imagine yourself achieving your objectives and results.
3. Visualize Your Identify and Actions: See yourself within your affirmed identity (who you need to be) and take the required steps (what you need to do).

Visualization will align your thoughts and feelings with your vision so that you can take action on it.

Take it a step further by creating a Vision Board, which is “a poster board on which you post images of what you want to have, who you want to become, what you want to do, where you want to live, etc.”

Exercise (E)

Morning exercise “significantly boosts your energy, enhances your health, improves self-confidence and emotional well-being, and enables you to think better and concentrate longer.” Regular morning exercise will allow you to stay in good physical shape and improve your energy levels throughout the day.

Motion creates energy, so Elrod suggests going to bed in your workout clothes and waking up to work out for at least 10-20 minutes daily. He explicitly recommends doing yoga, which combines stretching, resistance, cardio, breathwork, and meditation.

Reading (R)

Morning reading allows you to gain knowledge, learn key ideas, and model strategies from the most intelligent, successful people on earth. Consistent reading will improve your knowledge, confidence, and skills.

Hal Elrod suggests reading at least ten pages or about 10-30 minutes of a self-improvement book daily. Over a year, you will read about a 300-page book per month. When choosing your books, ask yourself what you will gain from them. Then, commit to finishing and taking action on what you learn. Later, reread the best books to deepen your learning and achieve mastery.

Scribing (S)

Scribing is simply another term for writing. Specifically, Hal Elrod recommends journaling for your Miracle Morning as it accelerates your results and has the following benefits:

• Clear Your Mind: Get thoughts out of your mind to clear it to focus on the priorities, goals, and actions for the day.
• Gain Clarity: Distill your thoughts to get greater understanding and clarity to help you work through issues and vital decisions.
• Capture Ideas: Expand upon and collect your ideas and thoughts, so you don’t lose them and can act on them later.
• Review Lessons: Revisit the lessons that you have learned in the past day to make better decisions in the future.
• Acknowledge Your Progress: Revisit the accomplishments and progress from your last day to inspire and build confidence to keep you going.
• Express Gratitude: Be thankful for the opportunities and things you have and the people that are part of your life.

After journaling for an extended period, revisit your journal entries later to review your progress, relieve moments, and celebrate accomplishments. This structured journaling process can be done in 5-10 minutes daily using these three steps:

1. Choose a Format: Decide between a physical journal if you prefer to write by hand or a digital application if you prefer to type your words.
2. Get a Journal: Buy a physical notebook (check out the Bullet Journal Method) or download your preferred digital application (like Day One, Evernote, etc.).
3. Decide What to Write: Write by expressing gratitude, acknowledging your achievements, clarifying your vision, and planning your next actions.

Download the PDF Book Summary for The Miracle Morning

Chapter 7 – The 6-Minute Miracle Morning

If you struggle with finding the recommended time for the Life SAVERS tools, you can do this morning routine and gain its benefits in only six minutes daily:

1. Minute One (Silence): Sit in a calm, peaceful, and purposeful silence with meditation, prayer, deep breathing, etc.
2. Minute Two (Affirmation): Read the affirmations that remind you of your purpose, potential, and most important priorities.
3. Minute Three (Visualization): Either close your eyes or review your vision board to see yourself reaching your desired daily goals.
4. Minute Four (Gratitude): Journal about the things you are grateful for, proud of, and the outcomes for the day.
5. Minute Five (Reading): Read 1-2 pages of a self-help book to learn and incorporate a new idea into your day.
6. Minute Six (Exercise): Move your body to get your heart rate up using jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, etc.

Try not to limit your Miracle Morning to only six minutes every day, just only on those days that are hectic. At the minimum, the six minutes will reinforce the habits of performing the six Life SAVERS and maintain momentum.

Chapter 8 – Customizing Your Miracle Morning

Regardless of your experiences, you can design and customize every part of the Miracle Morning to fit your lifestyle and achieve your goals or big rocks:

• Wake-Up Time: Wake up earlier than usual by about 30-60 minutes to dedicate time to your morning routine.
• When To Eat: Eat afterward, so your mind is alert and focused during your morning routine. If you have to eat before, keep it small, light, and digestible.
• Why To Eat: Value the health and energy benefits of the foods you eat as much as or more than the taste.
• What To Eat: If you drink tea or coffee, feel free to start earlier for brewing. Also, eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables to sustain energy levels daily.
• Align With Your Goals: Focus on your goals and dreams during your morning routine to accelerate the progress your make toward them.
• Eat That Frog: Work on your most important or least enjoyable task first thing to create momentum for the rest of the day.
• Do It on Weekends: Experiment by doing your routine during the weekends in addition to doing it during the week.
• Mix It Up: Evolve your morning routine to be fresh, fun, and exciting based on changing schedules, situations, and projects.

Regardless of how you conduct your Miracle Morning, you can establish, customize, and evolve it to fit your lifestyle.

Chapter 9 – From Unbearable To Unstoppable

In Atomic Habits (book summary), James Clear states that “the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits.” Habits are “behaviors that are repeated regularly and tend to occur subconsciously.”

Many people struggle to build new good habits and break old bad ones, as habits are ingrained in us through repetition. However, when you are capable of learning, mastering, and controlling your habits, you can transform your life.

You can change any habit in a month, given the right strategy. These 30 days or three 10-day phases will provide you with the strategy to establish new personal development practices or break old negatives habits:

1. Phase One (Days 1-10) – Unbearable: Right after implementation, the new habit can be easy and exciting. Soon after, it wears off quickly, and the habit becomes unbearable. However, when you understand that the pain is temporary, you can sustain the habit.
2. Phase Two (Days 11-20) – Uncomfortable: In this phase, your mind builds confidence and positive associations with the new habit. However, the habit still feels uncomfortable, so you need to get extraordinary discipline and committed to it.
3. Phase Three (Days 21-30) – Unstoppable: In this phase, you become unstoppable as your habit forms part of your identity. Avoid becoming arrogant and taking time off, as you have to consciously reinforce and associate positivity with your new habit.

Chapter 10 – The Miracle Morning 30-Day Life Transformation Challenge

This 30-day Transformation Challenge will help you overcome limiting beliefs, establish the mindset, and instill powerful habits for you to be successful. The Miracle Morning routine will help you start each day with the following:

• Discipline – the ability to follow through on your commitments
• Clarity – the focus on your most important priorities
• Personal Development – the personal growth of your capabilities and potential

You will identify the habits that will have the most impact on your life and work to form them over a month during the transformation challenge:

1. Get the Kit: Download your Miracle Morning 30-Day Life Transformation Fast Start Kit to get exercises, affirmations, checklists, trackers, and more.
2. Start Tomorrow: Plan your first Miracle Morning as soon as possible (preferably tomorrow) and decide where to do it.
3. Do the Kit Exercises: Read the first page of the Miracle Morning 30-Day Life Transformation Fast Start Kit and complete the exercises.
4. Get an Accountability Partner: Find someone to join you for the 30 days, as they will support you and hold you accountable.

Download the PDF Book Summary for The Miracle Morning

Conclusion and Next Steps

“Where you are is a result of who you were, but where you end up depends entirely on who you choose to be from this moment forward.” Start today and improve your life to experience the happiness, health, wealth, relationships, and success you want.

In his book, The Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod shows how to take ownership and change your life, one morning at a time. Hal shows you how to start your day with more excitement, motivation, and clarity to take and fulfill your goals. Get your own copy of the Miracle Morning and visit the community website to connect with and get help from the community of like-minded creators and action-takers.