The Miracle Morning | Book Review and my 30 Day Challenge

Who wrote it?

Hal Elrod, a top key-note and motivational speaker in the United States.

With a high flying career, in his early 20s, Hal was hit head-on by a drunk driver, died for 6 minutes, broke 11 bones, suffered permanent brain damage and was told he would never walk again. Following this accident he re-built himself and his career to become a high achieving business man. He now dedicates his work to showing others how they can overcome challenges.

Who’s it for?

Anyone who wants to be a high achiever, reach their goals and live a happy life. And those who have the guts to do so!

What’s actually in there?

This book takes a look into your current life, what you want to achieve and how to go about doing just that!

The book is super easy to read and there isn’t a lot of faff or airy-fairy talk which I initially expected from a ‘self-help’ book. There are a huge number of inspirational quotes which I love  (I’m a sucker for quotes on Pinterest).

I felt Hal totally understood me and helped me to break my rule - I’m a bit obsessive about keeping my books neat and mark free, however Hal encourages you to underline anything you find helpful for quick reference. My book is now covered in pen and I will be carrying this over to further books I read!

Quote from book:

‘there is arguably no single skill that is more important for you to learn and master than controlling your habits’

Would I recommend it?

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to change their morning routine for the better in order to make the most out of their day. The book made me excited about getting started with my ‘Miracle Mornings’ and days ahead!

Hal also provides a variety of support for you to make the most of this book via fb and email, meaning you’re not left on your own to conquer the 30 day challenge!

Reflections:

I found the Miracle Morning when a friend popped up with it on Instagram. At that time I was struggling with adjusting to the cold and dark winter mornings and thought that this book could solve my sleepy mornings. My partner found the book for me in our local Waterstones for £9.99 but I think you can get it cheaper on Amazon if you can wait a few days!

It may sound awful, but for about 4 months I had been getting up, making my delicious peanut butter and banana porridge and sitting down to watch the previous day’s episode of Hollyoaks (my only guilty pleasure), while catching up with emails and social media. I was aware this wasn’t a healthy start to the day – particularly because it left no time for me to mentally prepare for the day ahead - but I’d got myself into a bad habit. Having read the book I’m now actively not jumping on my phone as soon as I get up or watching Hollyoaks! I feel far better for it too!

My 30 day challenge:

I am now on day 7 of the 30-Day Life Transformation Challenge and it’s not as hard as I thought it would be.  

I started it a few days after finishing the book as life was hectic and I wanted to complete the preparation exercises properly. I have done these in my bullet journal, where I am also writing my daily journal pieces. I’m loving my bullet journal where I am able to keep track of all sorts of things including: sleep pattern, books I want to read, my daily mood, my business goals etc.

I’m excited to be doing this challenge and am determined to keep it up!

Here’s a peak into how day 1 of the miracle morning went…

Day 1 – I struggled getting up when I didn’t need to rush around to do anything that morning. ‘Should I sleep in for 30 minutes?’ I thought, ‘NO!’. I got up as I don’t want to create bad habits, I’m trying to build good morning habits!

My first time doing my meditation alone was difficult. My dad had started teaching me over the Christmas holiday where I really enjoyed it and managed to focus. However during meditation on day 1 I struggled with my thoughts wandering to things I needed to do during the day. Again, my first time visualising from a board wasn’t easy. I’m usually pretty good when visualising but this time I just couldn’t concentrate with my thoughts flying all over the place.

Happily, the affirmation section wasn’t as bad as I thought and I think I can get used to bigging myself up every day haha! I read the affirmations quietly in my head to begin with and then follow this by saying them out loud. Perhaps over these 30 days I will try writing my own.

Reading was my favourite part of The Miracle Morning in day 1. Instead of spending 10 minutes doing this I must have spent about 30…. Ooops…

Overall I felt pretty sleepy during TMM and wanted to take a nap (maybe getting up earlier than needed wasn’t such a good idea) but I resisted and made it through the day with the help of a cup of coffee.  

Day 1 was so productive - I was shocked with how much I got done and still had time for myself.

The following 6 days have been equally as good, however the last few days I have had to adjust to 6 minute miracle mornings due to work timings and I don’t feel these days have been as productive. So I will go back to spending an hour each morning! Still, its good to experiment and good to adapt during busy periods!

I can see this habit sticking! Let’s see how the next 23 days go!...

-E