Mindful Monday: Miracle Morning

I'm not a morning person.  But I'm also not a night owl.  Apparently I'm a "love my bed, just let me sleep" kind of gal. However, I also have a business to run, a family and myself to take care of, and a house to manage.  I need to get my butt out of that comfy bed and get moving.

Every night I told myself that I'd get up an hour earlier the next day.  Then morning came, and it was cold and dark. So much easier to snuggle back in.

I've tried a lot of techniques, and written about some of them.  Everything works, until it doesn't.

This year, in my quest to be a #bettermeby50, I committed to quit making excuses and start working on my mornings. And oddly, as soon as I made that decision, this book began throwing itself at me.  In my Facebook feed, on my Twitter page, and through a recommendation from a friend.  When I passed the bookstore and it was on display, I finally decided to buy The Miracle Morning.

I'm so glad I did.  

The basic premise is this: the tone of our morning has a huge impact on the rest of the day. If you hear the alarm go off and think "oh no, it's already time to get up.  I didn't get enough sleep last night, and I'm not ready to face the day", things are starting off negatively.  By setting an intention before you go to sleep to wake up with enthusiasm and purpose, you reset the tone to one of positive energy.

Once you're out of bed, Elrod shares six practices, called "Life S.A.V.E.R.S" that begin the day on a positive note. In total, they can take from five minutes to an hour, depending on the time you have each morning.

S is for silence, which can include prayer, devotions, or meditation.  A is for affirmations, the important self-talk that influences every area of our life.  V is for visualization, or creating mental images of the positive things that we want to happen.  E is for exercise.  R is for reading a book that offers help in some needed area.  S is for scribing, or writing in a journal.

The author goes through each practice in depth, with insights on how to customize them to make them most effective for you and your needs.  He also shares tricks and tips to train yourself to wake up earlier.

I've been doing The Miracle Morning for four weeks, and it really has changed my outlook. The first week I set my alarm clock for 15 minutes earlier, the second week 30 minutes, and the third week 45 minutes.  By last week I was waking up an hour earlier without needing an alarm at all.

By taking 30 minutes to practice the Life S.A.V.E.R.S., I've found that the rest of my day is positive and productive. I'm focusing on my goals and getting more things accomplished. I'll admit that I don't exercise until later in the day, since that works better with my work schedule, but I'm following the other five.

Will I ever be a true "morning person"?  Probably not.  But I'm training myself to be more positive about those early hours, and it's having a great effect on the rest of the day.