S1E13 Hal Elrod Miracle Morning

Generated: 2025-07-04

Full Transcript

[00:02] Hi there beautiful people and welcome back to Read, Reflect, Rise. I’m your host, Will [00:07] Struthers-Cooper, and this is your weekly dose of wisdom, reflection and rising. Each [00:13] week we pause together in the swirl of life and the business of life to receive the wisdom [00:19] and medicine of words from authors, teachers and writers who remind us of who we truly [00:25] are and what’s possible when we meet each moment in life with intention. If you’re new here, [00:32] you are so very welcome and if you’re returning, thank you for being here again. This space exists [00:39] for the overwhelmed, the curious, the healing and those craving growth and connection. You [00:46] are all my people. This week’s episode is inspired by a book that’s had an impact on how I show up [00:52] in my days and my life. It’s one of those books that you read and you can hear the cogs and the [00:58] whirring and the blocks in your brain reordering themselves and clicking into spaces that they [01:03] should always have been in because it just makes sense. Today we dive into the Miracle [01:11] Morning by Hal Elrod. So if your mornings or days feel rushed, reactive or like something [01:18] you’re just surviving, take a deep breath. You are exactly where you need to be. [01:29] Hal Elrod is a bestselling author, keynote speaker and survivor, not just of bankruptcy [01:35] and depression but of a nearly fatal car crash that left him dead for six minutes, in a coma [01:40] for six days and with doctors saying he may never walk again. But Hal did walk again and then he ran [01:48] a marathon and then he wrote a book that’s transformed millions of people’s lives. The [01:55] Miracle Morning is, yes it is about a morning routine but bear with me, but it’s really actually [02:01] a call to conscious living. So do bear with me if I’m losing you with the morning bit. It’s a call [02:09] to conscious living and it uses six key practices that Hal calls the Life Savers, S-A-V-E-R-S, [02:18] silence, affirmations, visualisation, exercise, reading and scribing. It’s a simple system [02:30] but incredibly potent because how you fill your day is how you shape your life. You already know [02:38] that I am a huge fan of the affirmations and the visualisations and the reading and the scribing, [02:44] if you’re signed up with my newsletters and if you listen regularly. But let’s hear from Hal [02:50] himself. So I’m going to read you a short passage and this one did stop me in my tracks the very [02:55] first time I read it. Lots of things in this book are simple. They’re really simple concepts but the [03:03] way they’re just laid out and you go oh of course, of course. So let’s hear what he’s got to say. [03:17] Isolating incidents. [03:21] One of the most prevalent yet not so obvious causes of mediocrity is isolating incidents. [03:30] We do this when we mistakenly assume that each choice we make and each individual action we take [03:37] is only affecting that particular moment or circumstance. For example, you may think it’s [03:45] no big deal to miss a workout, procrastinate on a project or eat fast food because you’ll get a [03:51] do-over tomorrow. You make the mistake of thinking that skipping that workout only affects that [03:58] incident and you’ll make a better choice next time. Nothing could be further from the truth. [04:06] We must realize that the real impact and consequence of each of our choices and actions [04:13] and even our thoughts is monumental because every single thought, choice and action is determining [04:22] who we are becoming which will ultimately determine the quality of our lives. As T Harv Eker [04:30] in his best-selling book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind said, [04:34] how you do anything is how you do everything. Every time you choose to do the easy thing [04:44] instead of the right thing, you are shaping your identity, becoming the type of person who does [04:50] what’s easy rather than what’s right. On the other hand, when you do choose to do the right thing [04:58] and follow through with your commitments, especially when you don’t feel like it, [05:04] you are developing the extraordinary discipline which most people never develop, necessary for [05:10] creating extraordinary results in your life. As my good friend Peter Vogt often teaches his clients, [05:18] discipline creates lifestyle. For example, when the alarm clock goes off and we hit the snooze [05:26] the easy thing, most people mistakenly assume that this action is only affecting that moment. [05:34] The reality is that this type of action is programming our subconscious mind with the [05:40] instructions that it’s okay for us to not follow through with the things we intended to do. There’s [05:46] more on that in the next chapter. We must stop isolating incidents and start seeing the bigger [05:53] picture. Realise that everything that we do affects who we’re becoming, which is determining [05:58] the life that we will ultimately create and live. When you see the big picture, you start to take [06:05] the alarm clock more seriously. When the buzzer goes off in the morning and you’re tempted to [06:11] snooze, you start thinking, wait, this is not who I want to become. Someone who doesn’t even have [06:19] enough discipline to get out of bed in the morning. I’m getting up now because I’m committed to [06:26] waking up early, hitting my goals, creating a life of my dreams, etc. [06:31] Always remember that who you’re becoming is far more important than what you’re doing, [06:37] and yet it is what you’re doing that is determining who you’re becoming. I’m going to [07:01] start with the first one. I feel that one. I have read that multiple times. I have this in my kindle. [07:09] I have so many different sentences written by Hal that I’ve had highlighted and I’ve had them [07:13] highlighted for years and they still conflore me. And as you’re hearing this, as you’re processing [07:19] this, I don’t want anyone to get hung up on the alarm clock, on the morning, on the 5am that’s [07:26] mentioned. That is a detail. That’s the detail that Hal’s chosen. That’s a detail that many other [07:31] people have chosen. And that discipline is the most important bit. That discipline can happen at any [07:40] point in the day. My night owls, my overtired parents, don’t leave me now. It does not need to [07:48] be at 5am. Now then, we’re going to go inward together now. And remember you don’t need to be [07:54] good at meditation. This is just about being present. To be willing. To begin. [08:05] Allow yourself to take a big breath out if it feels like a fit. [08:13] I’d like you to scan your body. Starting at the top of your head. You might even want to put your [08:17] hands on your head. Feel your body or notice your body. Work your way down. Is there tightness [08:25] anywhere? When you’re breathing, are you breathing into the tops of your shoulders, the top of your [08:32] chest and sternum? Or are you breathing into your whole rib cage all the way around your body, [08:38] expanding your back as you breathe out, allowing your body to soften as you breathe out. [08:47] Perhaps feeling the chair beneath you or the ground beneath your feet. [08:53] Perhaps now it’s time to close your eyes if you can do so safely. [08:57] And if you’re in the middle of doing something, adapt this to suit your circumstances. [09:03] And if you’re able to do nothing except listen to my voice, [09:09] allow yourself permission to do just that. Anything in your hands that is not comfort or support, [09:17] let go. Spread out your fingers. Spread out your toes. [09:26] Are we willing? Are we ready to begin? [09:34] Who we’re becoming is far more important than the things that we do. [09:47] The things that we do over and over again determine who we are becoming. [10:00] You may have different activities from your day pop into your mind. They could be things that [10:05] you’re fed up of doing or things that you love doing, things that you do regularly or things [10:10] that you wish you did regularly. Perhaps it’s a to-do list you’re staring down in your mind’s eye. [10:19] Allow these things to breathe out of your body. [10:22] Maybe even shake your hands to free yourself off them. [10:28] And as we settle into our seat, as we allow our breath to flow and the moment to be, [10:38] I invite you to think about the person you’re becoming. [10:45] You sit here and practice and meditation. What type of person does that? [10:53] You take time in your day to listen to a podcast about rising. [11:03] You reflect on your life. [11:07] You give yourself access to books and writers and authors that help people develop and grow. [11:17] What type of person does that? [11:28] There may be words in your head, maybe a feeling in your body. [11:32] You could have an image, you could have nothing. All of these are fine. [11:45] Allowing your breath to lengthen and deepen slightly. [11:54] Placing your hand on your heart and acknowledging yourself for being the type of person [12:05] that takes in wisdom, that pauses with presence, that goes inward and explores [12:20] and that is open for growth and change and strength. [12:30] You are tapping into your inner power. You are tapping into your inner power and the wisdom that exists in the world. [12:42] You are connected to your body, your heart, your mind, your spirit. [12:51] And you’re connected to those beyond you. [12:55] Those that have come before you, those that will come after you. [13:07] The teachings of people that have been passed down through the spoken word, through the written word, [13:12] through oral tradition have come to you. [13:20] They are medicine. They are medicine that you have willingly accepted. [13:34] And as you take in this wisdom, as you let it settle into your body, into your bones, you grow. [13:45] You change. You strengthen with presence and purpose. [13:55] This is who you are becoming. [14:03] Allow yourself to see the person you are becoming through the choices that you make. [14:09] Allow yourself to take up more space. [14:14] Perhaps sit a little taller, walk a little bolder, speak a little louder. [14:31] What you are doing determines who you are becoming. [14:43] And now picture your day, the day to come, the week to come. [14:50] How will you show up in it? [14:55] How will you be present and purposeful? [15:03] What matters to you? [15:09] What will you let go of that doesn’t matter to you? [15:18] With those thoughts at the forefront of your brain, [15:25] you may want to pause and pick up a pen or you may want to settle into your body as we continue. [15:35] Feeling the soles of your feet, [15:39] press into the ground, palms of your hand, press onto your legs. [15:48] Perhaps placing the palms of your hands onto your cheeks or around your arms in an embrace, [15:57] an acknowledgement and a celebration of the presence and the purpose that already exists in you [16:06] and the choices and the actions that inform who you are becoming. [16:15] Taking another breath and perhaps with it a stretch, opening your eyes [16:21] and allowing your gaze to settle on something. [16:33] And returning, returning to this present moment. [16:48] Thank you for coming on that journey with me. [16:53] One of the things that really does land for me in Hal’s words [16:59] is this idea that we’re not victims to our schedules. [17:04] We’re creators sharing the energy of the day. [17:10] We can be decisive, we can be responsive to life as it turns up in whatever circumstance [17:18] and we can always choose again. [17:23] That’s our power. No matter how the day goes we always have choice [17:30] and if we don’t like the choice that we’ve made we can make a new choice. [17:38] And that power, the power of choice, that can start first thing before the emails, [17:47] before the news, before the world gets really loud or it can be in your car, [17:54] moments before walking to work, it can be at your break time or your nap time [18:01] or when you’ve reset the house and have your time. [18:08] That can be your miracle moment. [18:12] You don’t have to be awake at 5am tomorrow morning [18:15] but you can wake up at any point in your day with intention. [18:21] You can open your eyes, metaphorically and physically, [18:26] you can open your eyes and remember who you are becoming. [18:32] So here is your mantra for this week. Breathe it in, [18:36] let it echo down through your bones, let it guide your mornings and your days. [18:44] I rise with purpose, I act with presence and I am consciously growing into the person I am here to be. [18:57] I rise with purpose, I act with presence and I am consciously growing into the person I’m here to be. [19:25] Say it with me, write it down, whisper it into your heart when you first open your eyes, [19:32] that’s your power, that’s the seed that you can grow a miracle from. [19:38] [19:43] Thank you for joining me for this week’s episode of Read, Reflect, Rise. [19:47] If today’s words stirred something in you, please do share this episode with a friend, [19:52] tag me on social media at Will Struthers Cooper or leave a review. [19:57] Your energy helps this energy grow and I am deeply grateful. [20:02] You can head over to readreflectrise.com to get the free reflection journal prompts inspired by each [20:08] upcoming episode, explore other offerings and get topped up every week by joining the mailing list. [20:14] And remember, there is magic, medicine and power in the words that we weave and wield. [20:23] Until then, keep rising. I’ll see you next week.