Not a long time ago, I set off tentatively on my trip to personal development. It was the aftereffect of a long lasting internal desire to escape from my mediocre routine and head to something bigger than me.
A burning enthusiasm and constant eagerness to discover the limits of my potential and reach destinations I had never envisioned.
During this journey I have read a few interesting books which explain the importance of strengthening personality assets like self-confidence, determination, patience, consistency etc. and provide methodologies that can be used to organise abstract thoughts and ideas into everyday actions that produce tangible outcomes and benefits to people’s lives.
I have read about ways to discover what is really important for me, if it is aligned with my personal principles but also how to set goals in each domain of my life and work in order to make them come true.
One of the books that I recently came across is called “The Miracle Morning. The 6 Habits That Will Transform Your Life Before 8AM“.
This is not yet another “how to set and achieve a goal” book but a starter, an enabler, a catalyst of your day.
It contains practices that allow for physical, intellectual , emotional and spiritual stability.
The main idea of the book is to wake up a little earlier each day and focus on six practices that will allow you to start your day feeling alive.
The initials of the practices form the word S.A.V.E.R.S which makes it easier to remember.
- S for Silence or a synonym for meditation.
- A for affirmations
- V for visualization
- E for exercise
- R for reading
- S for scribing (synonym for journaling)
The proposal is to dedicate one hour each morning (10 minutes for each one of the 6 practices) or -if time does not allow- six minutes (one minute for each one of the 6 practices).
I will not go into detail on each and every one of the 6 practices since you can find an abundance of information on the Internet.
There is no right or wrong way of doing that. You can practice them in whichever order you like and you can choose any time during the day that suits you best.
The recommendation is that you do it in the morning where there are less distractions and you still don’t carry the stress and the tiredness of the day as it is normally the case in the evenings.
I found the “Miracle Morning” book easy to read and applicable to my own lifestyle.
I personally start my day with Meditation, Affirmations and Visualization, I Exercise through the day (either commuting to and from work with my bike or having a lunch break jogging session) and I leave the Journaling part for the night before I lie in bed to finish up with my Reading.
The book recommends a 30 days challenge, where you can practice the method and see if it will work for you or not. 30 days are enough to transform an action into habit that will make it easier for you to follow.
I took the challenge and I found out that in those 30 days I had a tremendous improvement in productivity and fulfillment. In other words it worked for me and I still continue applying those practices.
Some of the practices are difficult for me to follow, like the Affirmations and Visualization part but there are days that I feel really good practicing them.
I have created a Pinterest board with inspiring pictures and mottos, that I use during my Visualization part and have also created a video that I use for my Affirmations part. Feel free to use that video if you like.
There is no a “one size fits all” principle here, so each one of us can choose his own approach.
I found out that since I started waking up earlier practicing meditation I have experienced feelings of serenity, mindfulness and gratitude.
I have started realizing that I was not paying any attention to what was happening at the present moment but instead I was always living in my mind thinking on what I have to do in the coming hours and days.
Mindfulness gives you the opportunity to consciously focus on what is happening to you and your senses at the very moment you are practicing it, so that you can watch and appreciate the sunrise, the sound of the wind and the morning song of the birds.
Waking up in the morning, also allows you to listen to your thoughts without distractions and put on paper ideas that the busyness of the day would not allow you to invent.
I can only recommend that you give it a try tailoring it to your own needs. If you cannot get up one hour earlier, as you usually get up then setup your alarm to set off only 10 minutes earlier than usual, to begin with.
As you become accustomed to it, try next time to schedule your alarm to set off 20 minutes earlier.
United we stand
I left the best part for the end. The Miracle Morning idea has inspired hundreds of thousands of people which are members of an online Facebook group community.
I am amazed at the level of support you can get from people sharing the same ideas, fears, agonies and expectations with you.
I recommend that you apply to become a member. If you are struggling with procrastination if you are looking for inspiration and motivation or if you are looking for an accountability partner to help each other reaching your goals, then this is really for you.
Below is an extract of an excel file that I have created to keep track of my progress on my Miracle Morning implementation. It might give you an idea what it is about.
Conclusion
If you feel inside that there is a voice shouting at you that “you deserve more, you can do more and you are not meant to live a life waking up in a Groundhog day” then act now.
Start by waking up 10 minutes earlier and applying your own Miracle Morning version.
Give your life a meaning and live every single moment because you deserve that!
Good luck.
Great idea! Right now I’m implementing a 30-day program. In this program, I reflect about 28 perspectives where I will head towards, such as personal and financial vision, business and lifestyle vision. A good starter – keep going!