The Miracle Morning Summary

The 
MIRACLE
MORNING
THE NOT-SO-OBIVOUS SECRET GUARANTEED TO TRANSFORM YOUR LIFE
BEFORE 8AM

HAL ELROD

© 2012 Hal Elrod International, Inc.

A Note to You, the Reader

No matter where you are in your life right now—whether you’re

currently succeeding at the highest level you’ve ever imagined, or

you’re struggling to find your way, there is at least one thing I know

we have in common (probably a lot more than one, but one that I

know for sure). We want to improve our lives, and ourselves. This is

not to suggest that there is anything wrong with us or our lives, but as

human beings we were born with the innate desire and drive to

continuously grow and improve. I believe it’s within all of us. Yet,

most of us wake up every day, and life pretty much stays the same.

As an author, keynote speaker, and success coach, my life’s work

is to teach people how to fulfill the unlimited potential that is within

each of us. As a dedicated student of human potential and personal

development, I can say with absolute certainty, that The Miracle

Morning is the most practical, results-oriented, and life transforming

method I have ever encountered for improving every aspect of your

life.

For high achievers, The Miracle Morning is a total game

changer, allowing you to attain that elusive next level and take your

personal and professional success far beyond what you’ve achieved in

the past. While this can include increasing your income, growing your

business, sales, or revenue, it’s often more about discovering new

ways to experience deeper levels of fulfillment and balance in areas

of your life that you may have neglected. This can mean making

significant improvements with your health, happiness, relationships,

finances, spirituality, or any other areas that are at the top of your

list.

For those who are in the midst of adversity, enduring times of

struggle—be it mental, emotional, physical, financial, or relational

—The Miracle Morning has proven time and time again to be the one

thing that can empower anyone to overcome seemingly

insurmountable challenges, make major breakthroughs and turn their

circumstances around, often in a very short period of time.

Whether you want to make significant improvements in just a

few key areas, or you are ready for a major overhaul which will

radically transform your entire life—so your current circumstances

will soon become only a memory—you’ve picked up the right book.

You are about to begin a miraculous journey using a revolutionary

process that is guaranteed to transform any—or every—area of your

life… all before 8:00 a.m.

The Miracle Morning has already transformed the lives of

thousands of people around the world (including my own), and it can

absolutely be the catalyst to transform yours. I consider it a great

honor to share this with you now, and I have done everything in my

power to ensure that this book will truly be a life-changing

investment of your time, energy, and attention. Thank you for

allowing me to be a part of your life, a miraculous journey together is

about to begin.

With love and gratitude (always).

“Yo Pal” Hal

CONTENTS

A Special Invitation: The Miracle Morning Community

Introduction: My Story, and Why Yours Is The One That Matters

1. It’s Time To Wake Up To Your FULL Potential

2. The Miracle Morning Origin: Born Out of Desperation

3. The 95% Reality Check

4. Why Did YOU Wake Up This Morning?

5. The 5-Step Snooze-Proof Wake Up Strategy (For the Snoozeaholics)

6. The Life S.A.V.E.R.S. - Six Practices Guaranteed To Save You

From a Life of Unfulfilled Potential

6.1 Life S.A.V.E.R.S. - S is for Silence

6.2 Life S.A.V.E.R.S. - A is for Affirmations

6.3 Life S.A.V.E.R.S. - V is for Visualization

6.4 Life S.A.V.E.R.S. - E is for Exercise

6.5 Life S.A.V.E.R.S. - R is for Reading

6.6 Life S.A.V.E.R.S. - S is for Scribing

7. The 6-Minute Miracle (For The Busy People)

8. Customizing Your Miracle Morning To Fit Your Lifestyle and

Achieve Your Highest Goals & Dreams

9. From Unbearable To Unstoppable: The Real Secret To Forming

Habits That Will Transform Your Life (In 30 Days)

10. The Miracle Morning 30-Day Life Transformation Challenge (and

Fast Start Kit)

Conclusion

An Essential Bonus: The Email That Will Change Your Life

Acknowledgements

About the Author

 A SPECIAL INVITATION

Fans and readers of The Miracle Morning make up an

extraordinary community of like-minded individuals who wake up

each day on purpose, dedicated to fulfilling the unlimited potential

that is within each of us. As creator of The Miracle Morning, it was

my responsibility to create an online space where readers and fans

could go to connect, get encouragement, share ideas, support one

another, discuss the book, post videos, find an Accountability Partner,

and even swap smoothie recipes and exercise routines.

Just go to www.MyTMMCommunity.com to join The Miracle

Morning Community of inspired, like-minded miracle makers and

achievers. Here you can connect with others who are also practicing

The Miracle Morning—many of whom have been doing it for years—

to get additional support on your journey.

I’ll be moderating the Community and checking in regularly. I

look forward to seeing you there!

If you’d like to connect with me on Twitter, follow @HalElrod,

and on Facebook at Facebook.com/YoPalHal. Please feel free to

send me a direct message, leave a comment, or ask me a question. I

do my best to answer every single one, so let’s connect soon!

There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other

is as though everything is a miracle.

—ALBERT EINSTEIN

Miracles do not happen in contradiction with nature, but in contradiction with what we

know about nature.

—SAINT AUGUSTINE

Life begins each morning.

—JOEL OLSTEEN

The Miracle Morning Summary

INTRODUCTION: My Story, and Why Yours Is The

One That Matters

December 3rd

, 1999—life was good. No, it was great. At 20

years old, my first year of college was behind me. I had spent the last

18 months becoming one of the top-producing distributors for a $200-

million marketing company, earning more money than I had ever

imagined I would be at that age. I had a loving girlfriend, a supportive

family, and the best friends a guy could ask for. I was truly blessed.

You might say I was on top of the world. There was no way I

could have known that this was the night my world would end.

11:32 p.m. / Driving 70 mph Southbound On Hwy 99

We’d left the restaurant, and our friends, behind. It was just the

two of us now. My girlfriend, tired from the evening’s events, was

dozing in the passenger seat. Not me. I was wide-awake—eyes glued

to the road in front, waving my finger in the air like a baton as I

quietly conducted the melodies of Tchaikovsky.

Still in a state of euphoria from the night’s events, sleep was the

furthest thing from my mind. Rocketing down the freeway at 70 miles

per hour in my brand new white Ford Mustang, I was only two hours

removed from giving the best speech of my life. I had received my

first standing ovation, and I was elated. In fact, I desperately wanted

to shout out my feelings of gratitude to anyone that would listen, but

my girlfriend was asleep, so she was no use. I considered calling

Mom and Dad, but it was late; they might already be in bed.

Should’ve called. But I simply had no way of knowing that moment

would be my last opportunity to speak to my parents—or anyone—for

quite some time.

An Unimaginable Reality

No, I don’t recall seeing the headlights of a massive Chevrolet

truck coming directly at me. In an instant of perverse fate, the fullsize Chevy pickup, traveling at an estimated 80 miles per hour,

smashed head on into my undersized, and under-matched Ford

Mustang. The following seconds played out in slow motion,

Tchaikovsky’s commanding melodies orchestrating our wicked

dance.

The metal frames of our two vehicles collided—screaming and

screeching as they twisted and broke. The Mustang’s airbags

exploded with enough force to render us unconscious. My brain, still

traveling at seventy miles-per-hour, smashed into the front of my

skull, destroying much of the vital brain tissue that made up my

frontal lobe.

Upon impact, the tail end of my Mustang was shoved into the

lane on my right, making my driver’s-side door an unavoidable target

for the car behind me. A Saturn sedan, driven by a 16-year-old,

crashed into my door at 70 miles per hour. The door collapsed into the

left side of my body. The frame of the metal roof caved in on my

head, slicing open my skull and nearly severing my left ear. The

bones of my left eye socket were crushed, leaving my left eyeball

dangerously unsupported. My left arm broke, severing the radial

nerve in my forearm and shattering my elbow, while my fractured

humorous bone pierced the skin behind my bicep.

My pelvis was given the impossible task of separating the

Saturn’s front end from my car’s center console, and failed. It

fractured in three separate places. Finally, my femur—the largest

bone in the human body—snapped in half, and one end speared

through the skin of my thigh and tore a hole in my black dress slacks.

Blood was everywhere. My body was destroyed. My brain was

permanently damaged.

Unable to withstand the immense physical pain, my body shut

down, my blood pressure dropped, and everything went black as I

plunged into a coma.

You Only Live… Twice?

What happened next was nothing short of incredible—what

many have called a miracle.

The emergency rescue teams arrived, and, using the jaws of life,

firefighters cut my bloody body from the wreckage. When they did, I

bled out. My heart stopped beating. I stopped breathing.

Clinically, I was dead.

The paramedics immediately put me on the rescue helicopter and

worked determinedly to save my life. Six minutes later, they

succeeded. My heart started to beat again. I breathed clean oxygen.

Thankfully, I was alive.

I spent six days in a coma, and woke to the news that I might

never walk again. After seven challenging weeks of recovery and

rehabilitation in the hospital, learning to walk all over again, I was

released to my parents’ care—back into the real world. With 11

fractured bones, permanent brain damage, and a now ex-girlfriend

who broke up with me in the hospital, life as I knew it, would never

be the same. Believe it or not, this would turn out to be a good thing.

While coming to grips with my new reality wasn’t easy, and at

times I couldn’t help but wonder—why did this happen to me?—I had

to take responsibility for getting my life back. Instead of complaining

about how things should be, I embraced how things were. I stopped

putting energy into wishing my life were any different—into wishing

bad things didn’t happen to me—and instead focused 100% on

making the best of what I had. Since I couldn’t change the past, I

focused on moving forward. I dedicated my life to fulfilling my

potential and achieving my dreams so I could discover how to

empower others to do the same.

And, as a result of choosing to be genuinely grateful for all that I

had, unconditionally accepting of all that I didn’t, and accepting total

responsibility for creating all that I wanted, this potentially

devastating car accident ultimately became one of the best things that

ever happened to me. Hinging on my belief that everything happens

for a reason—but that it is our responsibility to choose the most

empowering reasons for the challenges, events and circumstances of

our lives—I used my accident to fuel a triumphant comeback.

2000 A year that begins with me lying in a hospital bed—broken,

but not defeated—ends quite differently. Despite not having a car,

even less of a short-term memory, equipped with every excuse in the

world to sit at home and feel sorry for myself, I returned to my sales

position at Cutco. I had the best year in my career, and finished #6 in

the company (amongst over 60,000 active sales reps). All this, while

still recovering—physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially—

from my wreck.

2001 Having learned some invaluable life lessons from my

experience, it was time to turn my adversity into inspiration and

empowerment for others. I started speaking and sharing my story at

high schools and colleges. The responses from students and faculty

were overwhelmingly positive, and I embarked on a mission to

impact youth.

2002 My good friend, Jon Berghoff, encouraged me to write a

book about my accident, to further inspire others. So, I started

writing. As quickly as I started, I stopped. I’m no writer. Essays in

high school were challenging enough, let alone a book. After repeated

attempts that always ended with me staring at my computer screen,

frustrated, it didn’t look like a book was in the cards. I did, however,

finish in Cutco’s Top 10 for the 2

nd year in a row.

2004 To try my hand at management, I accepted the position as

Sales Manager for the Sacramento Cutco office. Our team went on to

finish #1 in the company and break the all-time annual record. That

fall, I also reached my highest personal sales milestone and was

inducted into the company’s hall of fame. Feeling that I’d

accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish with Cutco, it was

time to pursue my dream of becoming a professional

keynote/motivational speaker. I might even write that book that had

been swimming around in my head the last couple of years. I also met

Ursula. We were inseparable and I had this feeling that she could be

the one.

February 2005 Sitting in the audience at what I intended to be

my last Cutco conference, I came to a painful realization: I’ve never

fulfilled my potential. Sure, I’d won some awards and broken a few

records, but watching from my seat as the two top performers collect

the highest annual award that Cutco offers—the coveted Rolex—I

realized that I’d never fully committed, at least, not for an entire year.

I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I left the company before

fulfilling my potential. I had to give it one more year, but this time I

had to give it my all.

2005 Despite the late start to the year, I set a goal to nearly

double my best sales year ever. I was terrified, but committed. I also

concluded that I had an obligation to write that book and share my

story with the world. I worked 365 days straight, selling and writing,

with a level of discipline which eluded me the first 25 years of my

life. I was fueled by passion to do what I had never done before: to

venture from my painfully comfortable realm of mediocrity—from

which I operated my entire life—into the space of being

extraordinary. By the year’s end, I reached both of my goals, more

than doubling my previous best sales year and completing my first

book. It’s official: anything is possible when you are committed.

Spring 2006 My first book, Taking Life Head On: How to Love

the Life You Have While You Create the Life of Your Dreams hit #7 on

the Amazon bestseller list. Then, the unthinkable happened. My

publisher fled the country with 100% of my best-selling royalties and

was never heard from again. My parents were devastated; I was not. If

there’s one thing that I’ve learned from my car accident, it’s that

there is no point in dwelling on or feeling bad about the aspects of our

lives that we can’t change. So, I didn’t. I’ve also learned that, by

focusing on what we can learn from our challenges and how we use

them to add value to the lives of others, we can turn any adversity into

an advantage. So, I did.

2006 Without almost zero knowledge of what the profession

entails, I accidentally became a life and business Success Coach when

a forty-something financial advisor asked me if I would coach him. I

agreed. I ended up loving it. My first client saw measurable results in

his life and business, and I was passionate about helping others, as

their coach. At just 26, the odds of me succeeding as a professional

coach were probably slim to none, but it’s so in line with my purpose

in life, I went for it anyway. My coaching business took off, and I

went on to coach hundreds of entrepreneurs, salespeople, and business

owners.

Shortly after, I gave my first paid speech when I was hired by the

Boys and Girls Clubs of America to be the featured keynote speaker at

their national conference. Although I’d been speaking to large

business audiences made up of primarily salespeople and managers,

since 1998, with my spiky hair, (somewhat) youthful appearance, and

nickname “Yo Pal” Hal, impacting young people was the way to go. I

started speaking and sharing my story at local high schools and

colleges.

2007 The year my life fell apart. The United States economy

crashed. Overnight, my income was cut in half. My clients couldn’t

afford coaching. I couldn’t pay my bills, including my house

payment. I was $425,000 in debt, and devastated. Mentally,

physically, emotionally, and financially—I hit rock bottom. Never in

my life have I felt so hopeless, overwhelmed, and depressed. At a loss

for how to fix my life yet again, I desperately sought answers to

insurmountable problems. I read self-help books, attend seminars,

even hired a coach—but nothing worked.

2008 The year my life began to turn around. I finally confessed

to a close friend how bad things had gotten (which I had successfully

kept a secret up until this point). His question: Are you exercising?

My answer: I can barely get out of bed in the morning—so, no. “Start

running,

” he said. “It’ll help you feel better and think clearer.” Ugh, I

hate running. I was desperate, though, so I took his advice and went

for a run. The realizations I had on this run became a turning point in

my life (details in Chapter 2: The Miracle Morning Origin – Born

Out of Desperation), and I had the inspiration to create a daily

personal development routine that I hoped would enable me to

develop into the person I needed to be to solve my problems and turn

my life around. Incredibly, it worked. Virtually every area of my life

transformed so fast I called it my “Miracle Morning.”

Fall 2008 I continued developing my Miracle Morning,

experimenting with various personal development practices and sleep

schedules, and researching how much sleep we really need. My

findings completely shattered the paradigms and perceptions held true

by most people, including me. Loving the results, I shared it with my

coaching clients, who loved it just as much. They told their friends,

family, and co-workers about it. Unexpectedly, I began seeing people

I’d never met posting on Facebook and Twitter about their Miracle

Mornings (more on that later).

2009 My best year yet. I married the woman of my dreams. We

got pregnant and gave birth to our daughter (can I say “we” or is that

more of a she thing?) My coaching business was thriving; I had a

waiting list for clients. My speaking career took off. I was giving

talks and keynote messages at high schools, colleges, and corporate

and non-profit conferences. The Miracle Morning spread like

wildfire. I got emails every day from people telling me it was

changing their life. I knew it was my responsibility to share it with

the world, and that writing a book was the best way to do that. Slowly,

I began to write again. Make no mistake, I’m still no writer—but I am

committed. As my good friend Romacio Fulcher always says,

“There

is always a way… when you’re committed.”

Taking YOUR Life Head On

I share my story with you to offer evidence of what can be

overcome and achieved, no matter how difficult your challenges are.

If I could go from being found dead, told I would never walk again,

going broke and feeling so depressed that I didn’t want to get out of

bed in the morning, to creating the life of my dreams, there are no

legitimate excuses for you not to overcome any limitations that have

held you back from achieving everything you want for your life.

None. Zip. Nada.

I believe it is crucial for us to embrace the perspective that

anything another person has overcome or accomplished is simply

evidence that anything—and I mean anything—you need to overcome

or want to accomplish is possible for you, no matter what your past or

current circumstances. It begins with accepting total responsibility for

every aspect of your life and refusing to blame anyone else. The

degree to which you accept responsibility for everything in your life

is precisely the degree of personal power you have to change or create

anything in your life.

It is important to understand that responsibility is not the same

as blame. While blame determines who is at fault for something,

responsibility determines who is committed to improving things.

Thinking back to my accident, while I wasn’t at fault for the crash, I

was responsible for improving my life—for making my circumstances

what I wanted them to be. It really doesn’t matter who is at fault—all

that matters is that you and I are committed to leaving the past in the

past and making our lives exactly the way we want them to be,

starting today.

It’s Your Time, This is Your Story

Know that wherever you are in your life right now is both

temporary, and exactly where you are supposed to be. You have

arrived at this moment to learn what you must learn, so you can

become the person you need to be to create the life you truly want.

Even when life is difficult or challenging—especially when life is

difficult and challenging—the present is always an opportunity for us

to learn, grow, and become better than we’ve ever been before.

You are in the process of writing your life story, and no good

story is without a hero or heroine overcoming their fair share of

challenges. In fact, the bigger the challenges, the better the story.

Since there are no restrictions and no limits to where your story goes

from here, what do you want the next page to say?

The good news is that you have the ability to change—or create

—anything in your life, starting right now. I’m not saying you won’t

have to work for it, but you can quickly and easily attract and create

anything you want for your life by developing into the person who is

capable of doing so. That’s what this book is about—helping you

become the person you need to be to create everything you have every

wanted for your life. There are no limits.

Grab a Pen

Before you read any further, please grab a pen or pencil so you

can write in this book. As you read, mark anything that stands out

which you may want to come back to later. Underline, circle,

highlight, fold the corners of pages and take notes in the margins so

you can come back and quickly recall the most important lessons,

ideas, and strategies.

Personally, I used to struggle with this, because I am a bit of an

obsessive-compulsive perfectionist, and anal about keeping my things

looking clean and neat. Then I realized that I needed to get over it,

because the purpose of a book like this is not for it to remain

untouched, but rather to maximize the value we extract from it. Now,

I mark up all of my books so I can revisit them anytime and quickly

recapture all of the key benefits, without having to read the entire

book again.

Okay, with your pen in hand, let’s get started! The next chapter

of your life is about to begin…

The Miracle Morning review

3.9/5 · Goodreads