A few weeks back, my older brother told me he began reading The Miracle Morning. I told him I’ve been curious to read and try it
About a couple weeks ago, I checked in on him and asked how things were going with The Miracle Morning. He told me that between working late and traveling, he hadn’t really been as consistent as he’d wanted to be. But on the days he did practice it, he found it to be helpful.
Then last Monday, my brother called to ask me if I’d like to join him on trying out this Miracle Morning Challenge for the next 30 days. He told me he wanted to make this a regular part of his morning routine and needed some help to give him that push to make him more consistent with it. So he thought (and also recommended in the book) since he wants to do this and I’ve been curious to try it – why not do it together and be accountability partners? This way, we can – well, you know – hold each other accountable!
I wasn’t sure.
On one hand, I’ve been wanting to get up earlier before my family woke for some quiet “me time” and “do what I want uninterruptedly time.” On the other, did I really want to leave the snug comfort of my warm bed while it was still dark every morning?
Also, I’ve been really trying to be more mindful of the tasks, projects and commitments I decide to start and say yes to – rather than just piling them on.
At that point, I hadn’t read the book myself (aside from the description on Amazon a long time ago). So he gave me a cliff notes version over the phone and sent me a couple blog posts about it (like this one). My brother told me to check them out, sleep on it and give him my decision.
Sleep on it – I did.
My Semi-Committed Attempt at Practicing The Miracle Morning
The principle of The Miracle Morning is that if you start your day off right, you’re geared to have a more successful day. How do you start your day right? Well, the book recommends you practice these six morning rituals called “Life S.A.V.E.R.S”:
- Silence
- Affirmations
- Visualization
- Exercise
- Reading
- Scribing
I thought to myself, “Hmmm… that sounds good.” I want to have more successful days and from my own experience, I’ve benefited from meditation, exercising, reading and journaling when I actually did them. I’ve never really tried affirmations and visualization. But hey, I’m open to trying.
I told my brother I was in and made a plan to wake up around 5:15 – 5:30 a.m. the next day and do the following:
- Meditate for about 5-10 minutes using Headspace
- Do my affirmations for about 3-5 minutes – I found these “Empowering Affirmations” from LemonadeBrain.com on Pinterest, which I really like and found to be super timely for me
- Visualize the ideal life I want for about 5 minutes
- NOT exercise and instead use the time to work on my blog for an hour
- Finally start reading “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius for about 15-20 minutes
- Write in my bullet journal and make it a more consistent practice for myself for about 15 minutes
While I did say I would do it, in the back of my mind I had doubts whether I really could do it.
I’ve always struggled with waking up early. I can sleep 9 hours every night if given the chance. And, I’m not the best at going to bed early either.
Still, I gave it a go – somewhat.
Here’s a rundown of my semi-committed Miracle Morning Challenge attempt:
- I didn’t wake up at 5:15 a.m. like I had planned. Instead I was waking up more like 6:30 a.m.
- Short of my goal, but still better than my typical wake up time – progress I thought.
- And because I was getting up later than I planned, I felt I had to rush through some of the S.A.V.E.R.S. and would at times get sidetracked for a bit, as the kids would get up halfway through my practice.
- Because of my late start, I was unsuccessful with working on my blog.
- It was hard getting up. But I really did enjoy the feeling of being up all by myself in the quiet with the sky just about to start brightening up.
- I also felt good while I was practicing the rituals outlined in the Miracle Morning and noticed an improvement in my state of being in the morning – I felt less hurried and more appreciative of my morning time with the family.
- However, I didn’t feel like it really carried through my days.
- Like after my morning ritual, my feelings of calm and intent slowly faded, as I got pulled in to the weeds of the day again.
- I didn’t like I had “successful days” afterward.
- I felt like I wasn’t reaping the maximum benefits of the practice – like something wasn’t fully clicking.
A Short-Sighted Perspective: It’s Not Just About Having a Successful Day
Last night, as my brother and I were checking in on each other’s progress, I told him that I appreciated my morning quiet “me time” and felt satisfaction waking up early to do the S.A.V.E.R.S. (even though interrupted at times), but I didn’t feel like it was carrying over through my day.
Here’s my text to him:
And my brother responded:
What my brother texted me struck a chord… I mean he even mentioned being on auto-pilot! That’s one of the main reasons I started writing this blog! His text helped me better understand the WHY. Why do I need to do this routine? And it helped adjust my expectation. (Perhaps I should have read the book first ;))
I realized I was short-sighted in my expectations and goals with trying The Miracle Morning. It really isn’t just about starting the morning out right to have a successful day. It’s more about making the time for and investing in yourself so you can be a better version of yourself in the long-run. It’s making a change in your lifestyle to improve your life one morning at a time.
He then shared the Audible audiobook of The Miracle Morning with me so I could listen to it fully.
Side Note: Did you know that you can receive a free audiobook from a friend (or brother) through Audible if they recommend it to you? Yep, you can receive 1 free audiobook. 🙂 I didn’t know this!
THE TIME IS NOW – DOING IT FOR REAL
Today, I started listening to the audiobook. It inspired me and encouraged me. And I thought to myself I really should do this. I mean REALLY DO THIS.
I’m pumped!
And the timing is perfect – tomorrow is the first of April. New month. Clean slate. Fresh start.
Although I haven’t made it all the way through the book yet, I thought I’d still start the challenge. I have a much better understanding this time (I think 😉 ) and know enough to keep me going.
Also, I’ve already been waking up earlier than I have and don’t want to fall back into old habits. It’s better to start than wait. There’s no time like today. 🙂 No more
During my morning coffee, I wrote out my Miracle Morning routine – for real this time 😉 – in my bullet journal. Here it is:
Fleshing out my routine with ideal times/schedule got me even more excited.
I recommitted myself to this program. But this time, I’m going to do it for real – with both feet in!
After I got my morning routine mapped out, I texted my brother and told him I was restarting the 30-Day Miracle Morning Challenge – with a stronger commitment and a clearer game plan. He was on board.
CAN I REALLY WAKE UP AT 4AM?
While I was excited, I was also a little nervous – was I really going to be able to wake up this early? I realized if I wanted to do Miracle Morning AND work on my blog, I needed to wake up at 4am!
Thankfully, I got far enough into the book to hear his suggested tips to wake up early successfully.
Here are the 5 Steps to Making Waking Up Early Morning Easy:
- Set your intentions before going to bed that you will have enough sleep and that you can and will get up early the next day. (More on this below.)
- Move your alarm clock across the room. This will force you to get out of bed to turn it off.
- Brush your teeth and splash some water on your face.
- Drink a full glass of water.
- Get dressed or hop in the shower.
The author, Hal Elrod, also shared his theory that we need as much sleep as we believe. That how we feel in the morning when we wake up isn’t based on the total number of hours we sleep.
It’s all in our mindset. So, he recommends saying some bedtime affirmations before we sleep that we will be getting the right amount of sleep.
I don’t know about this. Like I shared earlier, I can sleep for 9 hours straight. And I feel like when I don’t get at least 7 hours of sleep, I’m tired during the day.
But I will test his theory out starting tonight. I will tell myself, “I will have the right amount of sleep I need.”
Prep, Prep, Prep: Starting My Morning Routine the Night Before
I want to create the least amount of friction tomorrow morning (and every morning moving forward). I am waking up at 4 a.m. after all! By doing so, it will be easier for me to successfully practice and make this a part of my daily routine and lifestyle.
Here are the things I’ve started preparing tonight to help increase my success rate tomorrow:
- Picked out my morning guided meditation
- Wrote out my affirmations, including my bedtime one
- Wrote out my “ideal life and state” for my visualization ritual
- Picked out my get your blood flowing morning stretch by Blogilates
- Get my coffee all set so I just need to click “Brew” in the morning
- Put the kids to bed by 8:45 p.m.
- Go to bed by 9:30 p.m.
Wish me luck! And, if you’re interested – feel free to join the party!
I’ll be chronicling and sharing my experience with the Miracle Morning Challenge. Come back and see you again!
Read about how the first day of my Miracle Morning Challenge went >>
