Miracle Morning – The Art Of Early Rising

How We Can Make Every Morning A Miracle

Ok I stole the title Miracle Morning from a well-known author of the book The Miracle Morning: The 6 Habits That Will Transform Your Life Before 8AM. Hal Elrod discusses the benefits of an early rise and just how you can begin to make the most of your day whilst many colleagues, friends and family are all still glued to their pillow.

Early Rising

In my youth I was always the night owl of the family. They would all be snoring away whilst I was up on my computer talking to Americans about how to code PHPBB Forums (truly showing my geeky side).

This alone crafted me into the non-morning person for many years.

As time progressed however this truly changed. I began to rise earlier and earlier.

With work starting at 7 for most, I was always the first in to unlock so my time in the morning was limited.

Gym Time

My mornings started at 4:30 where I would rise, rush to get ready and head to the gym for 5:30. This worked well and became a habit.

I was feeling more awake, healthier and pumped for a full day of action.

Habits Get Broken

Within six months of this routine and losing weight I was on a roll. Then work changes occurred followed by a 3-week trip to Southern Africa.

Ruining the habit, I returned back to the lazy mornings. My alarm would go off and I would hit snooze.

Hitting Snooze

Like any task in life it becomes part of a routine or habit. That dreaded snooze button on my alarm clock was a typical example.

The way you must view this though is that is your first set up for failure. If you cannot even allow your alarm to wake you, you have failed from the moment you wake up.

Remove the button, put the alarm clock miles away from your bed so you have to get up to go and switch it off.

Routine Planning

Hal Elrod in his book describes the basic steps you require which can be carried out once you wake up.

A basic simple guide can be found via this link. Which gives you the 6-minute morning. Whilst this is a fantastic starting point, I would recommend his book and setting a routine that suits your needs.

My Routine

Naturally my routine will be different to yours but here is a sample:

• 5:00am – Wake Up
• 5:01am – Drink a part of water – hydrate the dehydrated brain
• 5:02am – Clean Teeth – the mint will help wake you up
• 5:03am – Wash face with cold water
• 5:05am – Start run
• 5:25am – Finish run and carry out additional exercises for 10 minutes
• 5:35am – Meditate for 10 minutes (soon to be extended)
• 5:45am – Shower
• 5:55am – Breakfast
• 6:00am – Read for 50 minutes
• 6:50am – Review reading with notes
• 7:00am – Day starts

This doesn’t mean you have to get up at this time or even carry out the tasks I do, but it works for me. My reading schedule was less at only 30 minutes, but with no requirement for getting to work as early as I did, I have now extended this time frame to focus on more reading time.

Benefits Of The Miracle Morning

Lets face it; we all have those days where we just want to sleep. You must ask yourself is it really good use of my time? Some will say yes, unfortunately I am not one of them.

We have all been there, after a long week of work, we get to the weekend and just sleep. 10 hours later, your weekend is almost over and you feel just as tired as you were before hand.

Naturally it is determined by your routine, however early risers receive:

• More Productivity
• Increased Alertness
• Healthier Lifestyle
• Better nights sleep
• Happier Life
• Healthier Diet
• More time for exercise
• More quiet time

Naturally these are my views, and everyone is different.

Fight The Power

Waking up early wont just happen over night. You need to set the routine and stick to it.

That doesn’t mean hit the snooze button in the morning and suggest you will start tomorrow.

Get a routine set and stick to it.

Habits Are Born

Charles Duhigg, the famous author of the book titled The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change, writes that the underlying psychology behind habits is to perform a routine and from it receive a reward.

This is exactly what we are required to do.

Form that routine and stick to it and the outcome of rewards is ten fold.

All Leaders Rise Early

If these words alone are not enough to get you started today, then look at some of the top leaders and how they achieve greatness:

• Robin Sharma, an author and leadership speaker created the 5am club for those who rise early and get the most out of their day.
• Howard Schultz the CEO of Starbucks is in the office by 6am.
• Robert Iger of the Walt Disney Company is know to rise by 4:30am to read papers.

If they can do it, so can you…

Increased Productivity

The main reason I continue to call it the Miracle Morning is because I continue to receive increased productivity. Not just for those early morning hours but for the rest of the day.

There is a sense of achievement from what you have accomplished already in the day and that mentality blossoms throughout the day.

Whilst you rise early everyone else is still sleeping so there are less distractions and you can get in that quiet time you don’t manage any other point of the day.

Cut Out Phone Use

One habit I really had to cut out was phone use. Addicted to social media and notifications I would check my phone every evening and then as soon as I woke up.

The same would apply to emails, but mentally it puts you in the wrong frame of mind for your morning.

Imagine waking up and reading a grumpy email from a boss or employee. It puts you in a mood from the word go.

Get out of that routine, your emails and phone notifications can come later. A post will be going up shortly regarding phone use.

How Much Sleep

This question is constantly being asked by many and the answer is there is no set deadline.

Some people stay up till the early morning then sleep for a few hours, whilst others go to bed early to rise early.

For myself I try and receive 7 hours sleep, but that isn’t always possible. Naturally a routine is ideal as you start to rise as a set time and the same happens in the evening when going to sleep.

There are often restraints to this or challenges. For example dinner with a friend, or a last minute deadline that needs to be met.

Try and plan a routine and stick to it.

Plan The Night Before

Often we wake up with loads we want to achieve but no idea of what order to carry them out in.

That is why we must plan.

Planning doesn’t mean spending hours writing up minute by minute. However it does require five minutes of your time the night before.

It allows us to plan our day ahead.

It is proven that we love checklists and simple wins (e.g. ticking things off) help boost our productivity.

So get planning today, an article on this will be up shortly.

Get That Routine Started

So if you want to be part of the 5am club, rising earlier than most and making the most of your day then I recommend starting today.

Get a routine set, with what you want to achieve first thing in the morning and lets watch your productivity flow.

I am now finished writing this at 8:00am, and already today I have been for a half hour run, read for an hour, and had breakfast. The day has just begun.