This book surprised me. When I began reading this book I thought it would just be another in a line of books that are helpful for awhile, or make me think nice thoughts, but would end up forgotten. Instead, it has joined the list of just a few that really really stayed with me.
Others on that list are The Power of Right Believing by Joseph Prince, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey and The Richest Man In Babylon by George S. Clason.
Anyway, I'll have to write reviews of those books later.
The Miracle Morning was valuable to me because it gave me a specific list of six small steps I could do each day to help me be sure my focus was in the right place. And by doing these actions first thing in the morning my whole day was pointed in the right direction right from the start.
Hal Elrod, the author, wrote this book after researching the habits of top performers and achievers. As he researched he realized that there were six actions, or habits, that showed up over and over again. He began to wonder what it would be like to practice these six habits every morning. How much impact would daily practice of the top six habits of the most successful people he had studied make in his life? And what better time to practice these than first thing in the morning? Then the rest of the day could be tackled, knowing that the most important things were already done for the day. He found the results were spectacular and he decided to share them with the world in his book The Miracle Morning.
As he wrote he tried to find a way to make the habits easy to remember. He discussed this with his wife and she came up with the acronym SAVERS. SAVERS stands for Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, Scribing (A fancy term for journaling). In his book, Hal Elrod explains each of these habits, their significance, and gives tips on how to implement them. He also tells his story, one of struggle and triumph, as he learned the lessons he shares in this book.
I loved this book and these ideas and have begun implementing them in my own morning routine. This is how it looks for me.
Silence - I use the Daily Christian Meditations by Rhonda Jones on Youtube for this. She has several 5 minute videos that simply take one through a guided Christian meditation. I am currently especially enjoying her meditation focused on joy.
Affirmations - We are what we think. So it is important to fill our minds with positive thoughts. For this I use a pinterest board where I have collected some quotes and thoughts that inspire me. Each morning I review these.
Visualization - Here again, I use Pinterest. I have pinned images of things I want to accomplish, places I want to see, or things that are meaningful to me and I review this each morning. It only takes a couple minutes but helps to keep these things in forefront of my thoughts. I have noticed that I am more in tune to making these things happen since I review them daily.
Exercise - I keep this short and simple. I am pretty active during the day as I care for kids, dogs and chickens, and I try to get in 5 -15 minutes a day on the trampoline. But I do want to work on toning/shaping my arms so I do a few simple arm exercises each morning.
Reading - Reading is so important to any growth journey. While I have 15 minutes each afternoon for reading books (currently reading 5 Day Weekend by Nik Halik and Garrett B. Gunderson ), and an 45 minutes each evening for listening to audiobooks (currently listening to The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne), I use the morning reading time for Scripture. This is the most important thing I can read each day to start my day off in the right direction. I read a chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month, the verse of the day on Bible Gateway, and sometimes other reading depending on whether I am in an organized Bible Study at the time, Later in the day I listen to an audio version of the Bible. During this time I simply listen to the Bible from beginning to end and when it is completed I will start over. I am currently in Isaiah.
Scribing - Scribing is really a fancy word for journaling that was used to fit the acronym. For this portion I simply list three things daily that I am grateful for. From this I usually go directly to writing on my blog so it is basically a primer to get my writing in gear. Some people keep a journal, but since I write out my thoughts and keep a bit of diary here on this blog that is pretty much covered for me.
So that is the routine that works for me. I don't actually do them in this order though. My acronym would look more like - ERAVSS
E - Exercise
R - Read
A - Affirmations
V - Visualization
S - Silence
S - Scribing
This routine has been super helpful for me getting each day started with a clear mind and heart, knowing that I have done some of the most important things that keep me focused and productive, and able to bring my best to those around me each day.
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