Building a Miracle Morning Reading Habit

The last post I did was about The Miracle Morning book. Then I went on a cruise for a week. It was wonderful to see people reading while on the ship. Hal Enrod in his book has a section on reading. He says at the beginning of that chapter, “reading – is one of the most efficient and effective methods for acquiring the knowledge, perspectives and strategies you need to change, improve or optimize any area of your life.” His SAVERS system calls for reading 10 minutes in the Miracle Morning hour. He then shares how later near bedtime he reads for another 20 minutes. He encourages aiming for a minimum of 10 pages a day. This seems like a small amount but he shows how that equates to about 3,600 pages a year. He admits his emphasis is on non-fiction for personal growth. In saying this he promotes setting your purpose goal of what topic who wish to read. His examples are happiness, money or relationships. Of course there are more topics than those so choose a topic area or topics you wish to improve in and thus read. In the chapter he also looks at tips on making the most of your reading time. With your reading time ask yourself who are you reading what you are reading? This will help in your focus on your purpose. He mentions many readers make use of their favorite religious texts as part of their daily reading. He encourages marking up your books by underlining or circling key points. I often write notes in the margin of the book. Doing this helps encode the key important parts of the book into your mind. He then also encourages re-reading favorite books. You can often gain deeper insight into a book when you re-read it. Reading is helpful in building and renewing our lives in so many ways. Don’t say there is no time to read as anyone can find 10-20 minutes a day to help change their lives for the better through reading. Reflection: What is a book you enjoyed re-reading? How has that book impacted you?

Do You Want a Miracle in Your Life?

Stories of miracles can be motivational to improve our lives. I recently came across a book, The Miracle Morning by Hal Enrod. The message of his book is inspirational as you see him be transparent about miracles in his life and then enjoy his suggestions on how to move from victim in life to victor in life. He presents a helpful system in the book to kick up your daily living a notch. One often commonality in miracle stories is that they start with things we don’t like to experience – pain and difficulty. I remember years ago the pain of having two 99% closed arteries. The doctor said it was a miracle I did not die in my sleep. That experience opened my mind to be more engaged in living. Near death experiences are miracles in our lives but I don’t recommend having them. It is better to learn gratitude before something like that happens but happen they do. In Hal’s book he shares a near death experience of a tragic car accident. I won’t do a spoiler by describing it. Read the book. It was that accident that was clearly one turning point in his life to put him on a trajectory from victim to victor. He encourages readers for personal success to look at what they do in the morning and start the day off right with principles. His system of principles are- Silence, Affirmations, Visualization, Exercising, Reading and Scribing. The last one Scribing is journaling the principles make an acronym SAVERS so you can understand why he used scribing harking back to ancient scribes who would right things down. If he used journaling you would have SAVERJ which would not make a good acronym. He fully describes each activity and shows how you can do all 6 in a morning hour to start the day. He frees people up to try out timing that works for them. Another thing I like is through the describing of the principles he mentions other books and podcasts for the reader to seek out more depth on each topic. I bought his most recent edition that also includes the miracle evening in how to prepare for a deep sleep and end your day well. As a Counselor I see that so many people with mental health concerns also have poor sleep so sleep is extremely important and Hal gives very good tips for a good night’s rest. Of his six principles my favorite is reading so I will probably dig deeper into that in my next post. That will be in two weeks as I am taking a week break from technology. Reflection: Of the 6 principles for daily success which is your favorite? Choose one and then do an internet search for articles on the principle and dig a little deeper into it. Check out Hal Enrod’s book and think about the miraculous in your life.