Simple Morning Ritual by Hal Elrod, author of The Magic of the Morning

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

One of the most popular motivational books of recent times is The Magic of Morning by Hal Elrod, which talks about simple morning rituals that change lives for the better. Anna Baybakova, editor-in-chief of the book ideas service, shares her conclusions and feedback about the book with the readers of Lifehacker.

What is this book about?

The main idea of the book "Magic of the Morning" is very simple: you need to devote time to self-improvement every day in the morning and this will change your life for the better.

Hal Elrod's book is very American: its style is similar to a pastor's sermon or a motivational speaker's speech. Through the text, the author tries to convey the fuse, confidence, good spirits, and a positive attitude that are inherent in American culture, but not always clear to readers with a different mentality. The book is in many ways similar to the works of Napoleon Hill, Anthony Robbins, Jim Rohn: it has many repetitions, very simple language, and the content itself is a mix of all ideas about success and self-improvement.

It seems that in the genre of literature on self-help it is hardly possible to create something original, however, Hal Elrod's book has several features that distinguish it from others.

First, the author's story deserves attention: when he was very young, he had a terrible accident. A car with a drunk driver at the wheel crashed into his car at a breakneck speed. The author experienced clinical death, suffered multiple fractures, had severe memory problems due to brain trauma, and doctors doubted he would be able to walk. Contrary to forecasts, Hal was not only able to walk, but also became an ultramarathon runner, although he did not particularly like to run before the accident.

However, Hal calls the crisis of 2008 even more serious test for himself, when serious financial problems almost drove him to suicide. But this time, Hal did not give up and found the strength to re-create the life of his dreams.

Secondly, in addition to motivational appeals and stories from the life of Hal Elrod and his acquaintances, the book contains a description of the main thing - what the author presents as an effective and simple tool for changing life for the better - the wonderful morning method.

What is the Miracle Morning Method?

Its essence is to wake up early every morning to perform the ritual of self-improvement - the development of the mental, psychological, physical aspects of your personality.

The method is aimed at making every awakening as happy and exciting as the morning before the most pleasant events: a holiday, a wedding or a long-awaited trip. Everyone agrees that the anticipation of joyful events is energizing, regardless of the amount of time that you managed to spend on sleep the night before. The Miracle Morning method aims to recreate the feeling of anticipation of a miracle every time you wake up.

Why is the method just for the morning?

Because usually the morning mood determines the whole day. Particularly busy people, waking up early, can find time only for themselves, because during the day or in the evening it becomes problematic: worries interfere or there is simply no strength left for anything other than TV. However, people who work in shifts may not use the method in the morning, but simply right after waking up.

But what if I'm a night owl?

Interestingly, the author himself considered himself an owl before he began to practice the "wonderful morning". However, this did not in the least prevent him from getting up early, which convinced him of the conventionality of dividing people into larks and owls. The author draws attention to the fact that our perception depends on our personal attitudes. If we are confident that getting up early will badly affect us, so it will be in reality. At the same time, by practicing the "wonderful morning", we can change our own attitudes.

In addition, for a proper awakening, the author advises using life hacks that have been tried on yourself: before going to bed, formulate goals for the morning, put the alarm clock away, drink water in the morning, brush your teeth and put on sportswear.

What exactly should you do in the morning?

Hal Elrod gives the freedom to determine this independently (the main thing is that the actions are aimed at self-development), but gives a tip in the form of his program.

The author's “Wonderful Morning” lasts an hour and consists of silence (including meditation), affirmations (repetition of positive statements), visualization, journaling, reading educational literature and exercise.

The morning ritual does not have to last an hour; all activities can be shortened to a minute.

Why do we need meditation, affirmations and visualization?

Many are skeptical about these practices, but the fact that they are used by world-renowned athletes and first-magnitude stars matters. Doubters might want to put aside skepticism and try these methods for a while, as they are simple enough.

Meditation is a practice of mental exercise that came from the East and gained popularity in the West. It has been scientifically proven that meditation has a beneficial effect on the physical and mental state of a person. There are many types of meditation, but the author offers the simplest option - concentration on the breath and the present moment.

Affirmations are positive statements that need to be repeated regularly. This practice is aimed at reprogramming your destructive attitudes into positive ones. In fact, it is a tool to convince yourself of your strength, significance, confidence. Hal Elrod gives some valuable tips on how to frame your affirmation to make it work:

• First, you need to be clear about what you want and why.
• Then understand what kind of person you need to be and what you need to do in order to achieve what you want.
• Finally, add inspirational and philosophical thoughts from outstanding people to your affirmation.

All that remains is to learn, regularly repeat and refine the affirmation as needed.

Visualization is creating a visual image of the desired life. Many famous athletes actively use visualization, presenting their movements in advance. Ordinary people are also engaged in visualization, but mostly it is negative. Hal Elrod is convinced that negative thinking has a destructive effect on the state of mind and body, which affects the quality of life. To improve the quality of life, you need to accustom yourself to present positive images - how you do something right, how you cope with problems, how you achieve what you want.

Does this all need to be done daily?

Yes. It is important that self-improvement becomes a habit, which, according to the author, is formed in 30 days.

The key to forming a new habit is the right strategy, which is to understand that it will be difficult at first and you will feel uncomfortable.

But after 30 days, all your efforts will be rewarded and you will happily get up in the morning to perform your ritual.

Why has the wonderful morning technique become so popular?

Hal Elrod talks about his experiences and the experiences of people he also helped change their lives for the better. He is confident that the practice of "wonderful morning" will change the life of any person for the better.

The success of the method and the book was determined by a combination of factors: a life-affirming story of a person who overcame circumstances; simple and memorable program; the author's belief that a person is able to make his life what he wants; ideas about self-improvement that are clear to everyone.

What ideas of self-improvement does the author talk about?

The ideas are pretty simple:

• One of the central ideas of the book is that success usually corresponds to the level of personality development. If a person wants to achieve success, then first of all he needs to become the person who attracts this success. Self-development takes time, and "wonderful morning" helps you find it.
• There is no point in looking for those to blame for your problems, complaining about injustice or inventing excuses for your inaction. The only right decision is to pull yourself together and start improving your life.
• The more responsibility (not to be confused with guilt) for your life you take upon yourself, the stronger your personality.
• The overwhelming majority of people live an ordinary life, but dream of an extraordinary one. The reasons for mediocrity are lack of self-confidence, lack of purpose and discipline, indulgences, lack of a sense of urgency and accountability, in a mediocre environment. Accordingly, the antidotes will be self-belief, a correctly formulated goal, discipline, a sense of the need for immediate changes, and the environment that promotes growth.
• The truth is that all people are capable of living the life they dream of, if they make an effort in this direction. Even such a seemingly insignificant change as “wonderful morning” has a positive effect on all aspects of life. The beginning is to give yourself an ultimatum and decide to live differently.
• The way a person does one thing speaks of how he does everything in general. Any habit, any indulgence that you give yourself, affects the quality of life.
• The best time to start a better life is right now.

But what if I don't believe in all of this?

Doubt is a perfectly healthy reaction to something new. One can be skeptical about the effectiveness of visualization or chanting life-affirming mantras, but what if it all works? What if this method improves your life?

Whatever the case, “Wonderful Morning” is worth a try, as it’s not an expensive experiment at all. But what if? You may have an important choice to make between being a miserable cynic and being a happy idealist (at least for an hour in the morning).

Should you read the book?

The book is not for everyone. People familiar with self-development literature will not find new ideas in it. Plus, not everyone will like Hal Elrod's writing style. On the other hand, the success of the book and most of the reviews about it show that the readers loved the wonderful morning method.

This book will be a good introduction to the world of self-help literature and will be able to bring back the motivation to act.

For literature of this genre, the main thing is not the style and artistic merit of the text, but how well the ideas work. If a “wonderful morning” helps people change their lives for the better, then the time spent reading the book pays for itself.