Morning miracle that changed my life for good

Two things I’ve always been skeptical about are ghosts and miracles :-) However, a few months ago, something miraculous happened in my life that transformed my outlook and the way I live for good.

By all standards, I would qualify as an average guy with an average IQ living an average life, but I take pride in my fitness and passion for reading. Following a typical journey of an Indian middle-class person — living up to everyone’s expectations by getting good grades in school, being the talk of my parents’ circle, taking up science, graduating in engineering, working for a few years, then pursuing an MBA, and trying to climb the corporate ladder — I did pretty well in my career and loved my job in SaaS product management for a long time. But I never realized when I became a workaholic, solely focusing on getting things done — solving problems, building solutions, documenting this and that, advocating for a project, creating presentations, and so on. I started basing my identity on how successful I was at work. The time and effort I put into my professional pursuits were never something I accounted for. It was clear to me that this was what I was meant to do. But we all age, and we all cross certain age benchmarks in life. At some point, if our core needs and our current life priorities collide, it can lead to chaos. That is exactly what happened to me a few months back. I realized that I was not devoting the bare minimum time to my health and fitness, had stopped caring about the time I could take out to read, and, more importantly, planned my personal life around work. In short, I experienced a mid-life crisis. For those who have not yet experienced it, let me tell you, it’s horrible. A sense of hopelessness engulfed my mind. All these conflicts, combined with personal issues in my extended family, made the situation even more miserable. I concluded that things would never return to normal in my life and that I was bound to live with the agony for the rest of my life. But wait, something happened that was truly a once-in-a-lifetime miracle.

I realized that if I could devote some time to just myself, maybe I could sort my life out at some level. The tricky part here is time, which is limited and the same for all of us. There are always distractions and other priorities at any given point in time of the day — Slack messages, emails, client calls, important projects, this and that. And if that is not enough, we all struggle with our short attention spans, which take us to all these short-form social media platforms whenever we have even a minute to spare. So I went on a journey to discover the answer to the question — how can I make distraction-free time for myself? And I finally got an answer.

It all happened when I was traveling to my hometown and had some time to kill in a small bookstore at the airport. On the shelves, I noticed a few books about revolutionizing life by waking up early. Yes, I wanted to revolutionize my life, and yes, I wanted to be successful like many other great CEOs. Who wouldn’t? So I spent a lot of time in the bookstore trying to get a sense of the many books on the very topic of waking up early to do great things in life. But I was still skeptical. I mean, my day would typically start at 7:30/8:00 AM. If I was lucky, I would do a quick 10–15 minute workout and then start my work at 9:15 AM. Through the rest of the workday, I would find time to shower and eat whenever I could squeeze in some time. I would end my day before sleep. But before sleeping, I would catch a quick episode of “The Office” (this is the sixth time I am watching my beloved series). Basically, I did not have any room for more time, so would waking up early even make sense to me or not was the key question in my mind. It was abundantly clear that I had no room for any other transformative change in my life.

Well, I didn’t buy any book, but during the early morning flight, I couldn’t sleep and ended up listening to a podcast and catching up on reading. When I reached home, I felt good for no specific reason. Maybe I was just happy to reach home. Took a small nap, and when I woke up, it struck me that it was on the flight that I had uninterrupted time for two main reasons — 1) It was early morning, so no one that mattered to my work life was up, and 2) I was out of network, so no one had any means to interrupt me even if they tried. It was with this realization that I started to recollect my memory of the various books I saw at the airport about waking up early, and one book title kept coming back to me over and over again: “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod. I fired up my phone and ordered it on Amazon. Well, the book is reasonably priced, so I didn’t have to think much before buying it. The Prime membership helped, and I got the book the next day in the first half. I was so excited that I started reading and finished half of it the same day. I decided to give it a shot from the next day onwards. And let me tell you, that was the best decision of my life.

Imagine starting your day when there are no interruptions, no expectations from anyone, and still a lot of time before your workday starts. A miracle, right? You could do whatever pleases your mind — exercise, read a book, meditate, do gardening, listen to music, or simply bask in the cool morning breeze. You can do whatever makes you feel calm and composed without worrying about emails, Slack messages, or meetings, because more than half of the world is still peacefully sleeping.

I, for one, woke up at 6:00 AM the next day, went up to the roof balcony, soaked in nature, and just tried to read the remaining half of the book. Since I had a lot of time on hand, I thought, why not try applying a few tricks today itself? If you are wondering if it was hard for me to wake up so early, honestly, it wasn’t — at least not the first day, as what the author had mentioned in the book was truly motivating to just try it out. And that is exactly what I did. So before I talk about my journey, let me share a very simplified version of a few key takeaways from the book. Remember, what I mention here is not even the tip of the iceberg, and I don’t do any justice to the conviction and purpose with which the author has written the book. So I highly recommend that if you are reading this, you read the book cover to cover. You will find it hard to close until you finish it.

First of all, the book is amazingly inspiring. Along with providing solid guidance on how you can transform your life, it also chronicles the challenges of the author’s life and how he overcame them through various means, especially through his morning miracle, and became a successful person. Ultimately, the book is about waking up to your full potential, with a strong emphasis on the word “WAKING UP”.

Since the book was born out of Hal’s desperation to turn his life around, the techniques are tried and tested. From the outset, as you read it, the book evokes a sense of confidence in its impact.

“The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod presents a transformative approach to daily living, emphasising the power of intentional morning routines. The book underscores the importance of taking personal responsibility for one’s life, regardless of past experiences or current challenges. Elrod asserts that our current circumstances are temporary and are precisely where we need to be to learn and grow. He stresses that our external world reflects our inner development, and to achieve success, one must dedicate time daily to personal growth. The concept of the “95% reality check” reveals that most people live below their potential, often hindered by past experiences, lack of purpose, or accountability.

To overcome mediocrity, Elrod suggests drawing a line in the sand and committing to change immediately. He introduces a five-step wake-up strategy to jumpstart the day with energy and purpose. The “Life S.A.V.E.R.S.” method — Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing — serves as a comprehensive morning routine designed to enhance personal development and fulfil one’s potential. Each element focuses on cultivating mindfulness, positive self-talk, clarity, physical activity, knowledge acquisition, and reflective journaling. By integrating these practices, individuals can break free from mediocrity and actively create the life they desire, filled with purpose and achievement.

“The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod presents a transformative approach to daily living, emphasising the power of intentional morning routines. The book underscores the importance of taking personal responsibility for one’s life, regardless of past experiences or current challenges. Elrod asserts that our current circumstances are temporary and are precisely where we need to be to learn and grow. He stresses that our external world reflects our inner development, and to achieve success, one must dedicate time daily to personal growth. The concept of the “95% reality check” reveals that most people live below their potential, often hindered by past experiences, lack of purpose, or accountability.

To overcome mediocrity, Elrod suggests drawing a line in the sand and committing to change immediately. He introduces a five-step wake-up strategy to jumpstart the day with energy and purpose. The “Life S.A.V.E.R.S.” method — Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing — serves as a comprehensive morning routine designed to enhance personal development and fulfil one’s potential. Each element focuses on cultivating mindfulness, positive self-talk, clarity, physical activity, knowledge acquisition, and reflective journaling. By integrating these practices, individuals can break free from mediocrity and actively create the life they desire, filled with purpose and achievement.

The “Life S.A.V.E.R.S.” method is central to Elrod’s philosophy, offering a structured yet flexible routine to maximize each morning’s potential. Silence involves starting the day with purposeful stillness, whether through meditation, prayer, or deep breathing, to reduce stress and gain clarity. Affirmations are positive statements that reinforce one’s goals and desired mindset, helping to counteract negative self-talk and build a foundation for success. Visualization encourages imagining achieving one’s goals and the steps required to get there, enhancing motivation and aligning actions with desired outcomes. Exercise boosts physical and mental energy, setting a proactive tone for the day. Reading focuses on personal development, with the aim of gaining knowledge and insights to improve one’s life. Finally, Scribing involves journaling to capture thoughts, gratitude, and lessons learned, promoting self-awareness and growth. By incorporating these practices, individuals can start their day with a balanced approach that nurtures both mind and body, paving the way for sustained personal and professional growth.

Now, this is a very broad summary of what I learned from the book. However, the book also provides a simplified mechanism for when you are short on time. The approach is to execute the Life S.A.V.E.R.S. method without worrying about the amount of time dedicated to each step. You can simply give each step a couple of minutes and complete the ritual. The goal is to perform these morning rituals for 30 days, transforming them into habits.

Since not all of this will make sense to everyone, let me share what worked best for me and my learnings from applying these morning miracle rituals. I try to follow them in the order below as much as possible every day, but sometimes I end up changing the order. The goal is to stick to all the steps as much as possible, regardless of the sequence:

-Silence

-Affirmations

-Visualization

-Exercise

-Reading

-Scribing

S- Silence

I prefer to wake up around 5:30 AM and have some water, keeping my phone and social media at a distance. To avoid laziness, I start moving immediately with quick stretches from head to toe, followed by brushing my teeth while walking around the house.

After this, the most important part of silence kicks in:

Meditation (5–15 minutes): There are many free meditation apps available. My favourite is “Heartfulness,” which offers meditation options based on my mental state.

Coherence Breathing (5 minutes): This helps improve heart rate variability, a crucial metric for a healthy heart. Multiple free mobile apps are available for this as well.

When feeling stressed by the strict morning schedule, I give myself a break to check my phone, ensuring I control my device usage. Finding a hobby that requires a mobile device, like learning a foreign language, helps me feel accomplished at the start of the day. Spending a few minutes on micro-lessons not only teaches me something new but also gives me control over my device usage.

To stay focused on important matters, I’ve offloaded all social media apps instead of uninstalling them. This means the apps are unavailable unless I enable them, prompting a conscious decision to use them. I ask myself, “Do I really need this app now? What if I don’t use it? Am I missing out on anything important?” If the answers are mostly no, I avoid re-enabling the app and focus on other important tasks.

After practicing this for a while, I’ve found little need to re-enable most social media apps. I continue using a few content-related apps for learning purposes rather than traditional social media platforms.

V- Visualization

Similar to affirmations, I had doubts about visualization. I wondered, “Is it really possible to manifest a perfect life just by visualizing it?” This skepticism made me hesitant. However, I approached it by thinking about what I genuinely wanted in life.

Instead of vague goals like more money, a better job, or a bigger house, I focused on specifics. I asked myself, “If I were to dream of a happy life a few years down the line, what would that look like?” I concentrated on my circumstances, personality, appearance, professional context, personal space, and relationships that would bring me happiness.

I tried to visualize this happy life and wrote it down. This helped me stay on course regarding the actions I needed to take to ultimately reach this state of happiness. It’s important to note that this vision of a happy life is not set in stone. As we achieve goals, our needs and wants for happiness may change, which is perfectly valid. Our desires for happiness evolve as we grow and progress in life.

R- Reading

Reading is crucial as it primes the mind and engages it intellectually at the start of the day. While it sounds straightforward — just pick a book and read — maintaining a reading habit can be challenging. I used to be a voracious reader but lost the habit for almost a year due to prioritizing professional life over other aspects. However, I realized how wrong I was. Reading unlocks the mind, engages with new ideas, and provides different perspectives, which are essential for decision-making and personal growth.

To maintain a reading habit, I set a simple goal: read at least 2 pages of something every day. This can be anything that helps me learn or reinforce ideas — books, blogs, or articles. For books, I try to read a few pages or a chapter, whatever is feasible with the available time. I keep multiple books on hand, both fiction and non-fiction, and choose based on my mood each morning.

Sometimes, you might pick up a book that doesn’t excite you as much as you thought it would. Instead of forcing myself to finish it, I allow myself to let go of books that don’t engage my mind. Forcing yourself to read something uninteresting wastes time and effort better spent elsewhere. Having multiple options helps explore broader topics and provides diverse opinions.

When reading blogs, my goal is to read one complete post. I choose topics that can help me learn something new or uncover ideas, rather than just skimming through easy-to-read content. Remember, it is a ritual, not just a formality to tick items off a checklist.

Reading is broader than just books and blogs. It’s about expanding your mind and engaging with various ideas while learning new things. For instance, I developed an inclination to learn new languages, with my current interest being Japanese. On days when I lack the energy or motivation to pick up a book, I learn Japanese using a mobile application. This helps me feel accomplished at the start of the day, as I control how I use my device.

This step is personal and may vary based on what stimulates your mind beyond the endless social media scroll.

E- Exercise

Exercise is closest to my heart, as I have been a fitness enthusiast since my school days. Integrating it into my morning schedule was essential. However, I understand that for many, planning a workout as part of the morning ritual can be challenging. Even I struggle sometimes when I don’t feel like going to the gym.

I overcome this by not rigidly defining what qualifies as exercise. I set a minimum criterion: at least 20 minutes of activity. Depending on my energy levels, time, and needs for that particular morning, this can include going to the gym, brisk walking, running, shadow boxing at home, or doing a home workout. For shadow boxing and home workouts, I use YouTube for a short 20–30 minute session. When my energy levels are low or when I want to ponder over ideas, I go for brisk walks.

The goal is to start my day with some level of activity, providing an initial burst of energy and boosting my mental state. After completing a session, I get a sense of accomplishment. On most days, I do power-packed gym sessions, but I try to keep them to no more than 40–45 minutes, which is sufficient. The key is to define your metrics — your minimum qualifying criteria for the success of this step — and then execute on it.

S- Scribing

You might be more familiar with the term “journaling.” Journaling is a powerful tool for reflecting on your thoughts, learning about yourself, and making necessary course corrections. Most importantly, it is great for mental well-being. There are various forms of journaling, with one of the most popular being gratitude journaling, where you write daily about what you are grateful for, ranging from small things like the air you breathe to larger blessings like a private jet.

Instead of detailing the different journaling techniques available, I’d like to share what has worked best for me and has been a more sustainable approach. Traditional journaling involves documenting thoughts daily, which I tried. However, I adopted a slightly different, more sustainable method. Instead of journaling once a day every day, I express my emotions and question them on paper when I feel low or overwhelmed by negative thoughts. This means I journal only when these thoughts occur, which could be multiple times a day or every couple of days. The goal is to address negative emotions as they arise, rather than ignoring them. This approach reduced the stress of feeling obligated to write daily and made the task more personal.

Additionally, I take time after each journal entry to revisit what I wrote previously. This helps with introspection and makes me realize that many negative thoughts are just in my head and not the reality of life. I also use journaling to capture day-to-day learnings. For instance, I scribe key takeaways from the books I am reading. This way, my journaling includes my thoughts and valuable learnings that I can revisit and gain more value from over time.

Conclusion

My approach has evolved over time through multiple iterations and changes. Personally, the mechanisms outlined above have worked best for me. An important lesson I have learned in my long journey with fitness and nutrition is that it only works in the long run if it is sustainable. Things are sustainable when they revolve around your priorities and what you want to accomplish in life, rather than being defined by a checklist of tasks. Sustainability comes from aligning your actions with the kind of person you want to be.

Our past shouldn’t define who we are in the present unless we let it. While the past can teach us valuable lessons, our future solely depends on what we do now. The key is to focus on the present, as it is the only thing within our control. Instead of constantly thinking about what to do now, today, tomorrow, or later, I encourage you to try the smaller, easily applicable aspects of the morning miracle and tweak them to suit your needs. I strongly believe that an early start to the day provides us with personal time and space to accomplish things that are important and close to our hearts, rather than just focusing on urgent matters day in and day out.

If this resonates with you, I encourage you to read “The Miracle Morning.” What I have covered here is just the tip of the iceberg; the book offers far more wisdom that can truly transform your life, as it has mine. Here are the direct links to purchase the book from Amazon for your convenience. It’s not a thin book, but it’s packed with wisdom that both avid and casual readers can easily consume:

Paperback edition English

Paperback edition English