Not a morning person? Hal Elrod's 'Miracle Morning' routine could turn you into one
In my five-and-a-half years with RE/MAX, I've had the great privilege of seeing several phenomenal speakers at various events. Many of these motivational speakers have left me inspired and charged up; however, I rarely sustain that energy for more than a few weeks.
But when Hal Elrod spoke at the RE/MAX R4 convention in February 2019, it was different. The next day, I implemented one of the things he spoke about, and I've continued doing so nearly every day for the last year.
Hal is the author of one of the highest-rated, best-selling books in the world: The Miracle Morning. At the age of 20, he was hit head-on by a drunk driver traveling 70 miles per hour. His heart stopped for six minutes, he broke 11 bones, and eventually woke from a coma to be told by doctors he would never walk again. Not only did Hal walk, he went on to run a 52-mile ultra-marathon. Then, in November 2016, Hal nearly died again. His kidneys, lungs and heart were on the verge of failing, which led to his being diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of cancer. Despite all of the challenges Hal has experienced, he is one of the most positive and inspirational individuals in the world, sharing a message that has helped many others overcome their own personal challenges.
Hal recently gave me 45 minutes of his time to be a guest on Episode 40 of The RE/MAX Hustle Podcast. During our conversation, he told me about recent health challenges he has been experiencing, and how this has helped him discover the importance of living in alignment with his values.
He also dove into what he is perhaps best known for: The Miracle Morning.
"The Miracle Morning changed my life in 2008 when the US economy crashed. I lost over half of my clients and half of my income. I couldn't pay my mortgage. I had my house taken away by the bank," says Hal.
Hal was beginning to feel depressed and burdened by his debt that was piling up. It was around that time he heard a Jim Rohn quote that would go on to change his life.
"Your level of success will seldom exceed your level of personal development." - Jim Rohn
"My level of personal development was at like a 2, but I wanted level 10 success," says Hal.
Hal went on to research what the world's most successful people do for personal development. He discovered countless articles, each of which essentially fell into six different categories. Hal created the acronym "SAVERS" to describe those activities.
S - Silence (meditation)
A - Affirmations
V - Visualization
E - Exercise
R - Reading
S - Scribing (writing)
As Hal was trying to figure out which of these six activities to focus on, he had an idea.
"I said, 'Wait a minute... what if I do all of these?'
"I woke up the next morning and did all six practices. I sucked at all of them, but that morning I felt so optimistic and confident.
"In less than two months I more than doubled my income, I went from not exercising at all to committing to run a 52-mile ultra-marathon that I eventually completed that year, and my depression was gone."
Hal taught this concept to his coaching clients, who all claimed they weren't a morning person. After implementing The Miracle Morning routine, all but one of them said they had become a morning person and planned to continue waking up early to focus on the SAVERS tasks.
More than 2 million people have bought Hal's self-published book, The Miracle Morning, and a huge online community has grown around the SAVERS concept. The Miracle Morning documentary is also set to come out this year.
In February 2019, I recall Hal explaining that people wake up every morning for one of two reasons: they have to, or they choose to. By choosing to wake up early and focus on personal development, you can hit the ground running and be at your peak productivity while others are waiting for their morning cup of coffee to kick in.