SHAWN STEVENSON: Welcome to the Model Health Show. This is fitness and nutrition expert, Shawn Stevenson. And I'm so grateful for you tuning in with me today. Today, time is at a premium. It seems like time could be moving a lot faster. How can we take more control and have more agency over our time? Each and every day truly does matter. As Jim Rohn says, “days are expensive, you spend a day, you have one less day to spend, so make sure you spend each one wisely”. On this episode of The Model Health Show, we have an icon in personal development. We have somebody who's crafted one of the most effective ways to truly get the most out of each day of our lives. And I'm telling you, if there's one word to describe this episode, it's powerful. You're in for a real treat and something that is likely going to change your life forever. Now, before we get to our special guest, right now, we're in the midst of cold and flu season, alright. Cold and flus for some reason, because of marketing, they get a whole season dedicated to colds and flus. But the bottom line is, we do wanna make sure that we are taking care of our immune system, fortifying things, and making sure that our bodies are resilient in the face of anything that we might be exposed to.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Now, as the statement says, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So we wanna make sure that we're being proactive and focus on prevention. One of the things that I do proactively, especially during this time of year, is utilize one of the most renowned products for fortifying the immune system from bees called propolis. A study published in the peer reviewed journal, Antiviral Chemistry and Chemotherapy, revealed that propolis has significant antiviral effects, specifically in reducing viral lung infections. Now, quality is everything when it comes to propolis, and the propolis that I utilize is the Propolis Throat Spray from Beekeeper's Naturals, go to beekeepersnaturals.com/ model. That's B-E-E-K-E-E-P-E-R-S naturals.com/model, you get 20% off their incredible propolis immune spray. Now again, this is something that I use on a regular basis. I also make sure that my family is getting their sprays in, and it's backed by really solid science, and the proof is in the pudding, I'm not one of those guys that's just out here getting sicky sick all the time. And I definitely attribute proactive use of this propolis immune spray, it's just really taken things to another level. And if you look at some of the background on this, this is really the immune system for the hive itself. And there's been a resonance for thousands of years, humans have been utilizing this, but the key is also supporting regenerative beekeeping.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Because our bees are being hit hard by all of these different environmental pollutants that have recently, just especially in the last few decades, have been integrating themselves into our environment. And we're talking billions of tons of newly invented toxicants are added to our environment each year. And this is coming from data from the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, about three billion tons of these toxins from "normal business practices". We're not talking about those big events you might see on the news, we're just talking about day-to-day run-of-the mill, literally events that are impacting our environment and deeply impacting populations of bees. And so investing in companies like Beekeeper's Naturals is something really special because not only are we getting something special for our own health, but we're supporting regenerative beekeeping in a huge, huge way.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And by the way, when it comes down to it, especially when we're looking at, okay, we've got a sick kid or maybe we're coming down with something. Typically in our culture, we're turning to these ridiculous, highly refined, all these different chemicals, newly invented compounds, not to mention the drug agents that are a lot of times, not even necessary. And so one of the most popular conventional cough syrups out there on store shelves, you know the one, alright, there's several of them. There's Benadryl, there's NyQuil. I don't even wanna say their names. But they contain things like FD&C Blue number 1, FD&C Red number 40, high fructose corn syrup, propylene glycol, and saccharin sodium. Like multiple forms of refined sugars and sweeteners and all of these again synthetic chemicals that are anti-health. And there are certain things that have been proven. These are backed by science to be equally as beneficial, but far less toxic. The combination of first and foremost, honey... Let's talk about that.

SHAWN STEVENSON:  A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study revealed that raw honey, that's the key, was able to outperform placebo and significantly reduce cough frequency and severity at night and improve sleep quality. The cough syrup from Beekeeper's Naturals should be a staple in your cabinet because it also contains several other science-backed nutritional sources, including elderberry. A double blind placebo-controlled study, published in the peer reviewed journal, Advances in Traditional Medicine found that after 48 hours of treatment with elderberry coughing was relieved in 31% of patients versus the placebo. It works! It works, if you work it. So highly recommend getting yourself some of these resources. You don't wanna wait around until you need it, make sure that you have it on hand. And also they have some incredible lozenges for you as well without all those highly refined sugars and chemicals. They're doing so many good things. Go to beekeepersnaturals.com/model, that's B-E-E-K-E-E-P-E-R-'-S naturals.com./model for 20% off store-wide. And now let's get to the Apple Podcast review of the week.

ITUNES REVIEW:  Another five star review titled “Shawn is a beautiful person”, by Munner and Walker. His focus is on helping people to achieve health, he knows we are set up to fail. He says it's our responsibility to change our environment, he shows us how. Thank you, Shawn.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Thank you. And that's what today is all about. Showing us how, how to construct our days in a way that we feel empowered, that we're able to take care of our health to accomplish our goals, and so much more. So without further ado, let's get to our special guest and topic of the day. Our guest today is one of the most in-demand speakers and personal development experts in the world. He's the author of 12 books, including the mega-hit book, The Miracle Morning, which has sold over 2,000,000 copies and translated into 37 different languages. Today, Hal is gonna talk about the science behind the Miracle Morning and practical strategies that you could start utilizing right now to transform your life. Let's dive into this conversation with the amazing Hal Elrod. Alright, we've got a true icon in personal development sitting here in the studio. You are the man behind the Miracle Morning, millions of copies sold, many, many millions more lives impacted because you created something that has become a positive mind virus or a meme, the Miracle Morning. So some people even have that in their lexicon and they don't even know where it came from. And so to have you here to talk about this is really special, man. So, good to see you.

HAL ELROD: Sean I love you, man, I love you so much. And when you started saying that we're in the presence of an icon, I was like, I'm like, You're introducing yourself to start the podcast? That's weird. But I'm so grateful to be here.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Thank you man, thank you. Well, since we have you here, let's start off by talking about a big picture look at this, which is why is the way that we start our days so important as far as the outcomes in our life? 

HAL ELROD: Yeah, man I used to not be a morning person, like I'd say probably the majority of our society that was a... And I think it's a limiting belief, whenever they identified it, I'm not a morning person, just means when I was 18, I left the house and I didn't have to wake up early anymore, and since I was forced to do that for 18 years now, I'm gonna not do it. And I'm gonna sleep in as long as I possibly can, I think that literally, that then becomes our new reality into adulthood, is we only wake up when we have to. And as I started to study, the world's most successful people, not only do many of them have morning rituals as part of their day, but to answer your question as to why it is important, how you start your day sets the tone, the context and the direction for how you enter your day. And therefore the mindset you're in in terms of what you're gonna create that day.

HAL ELROD: In other words, if you start your day in a peak physical, mental, emotional and spiritual state, that is the best thing that you can do to show up at your best in your work, in your relationships with your family, for the people you love, people that you lead. And so how you start your day is arguably, if you want to improve your life in any area, if you wanna improve your health, your finances, any area, it's about starting your day in a peak state and then focusing the first part of your day on engaging in that area. So engaging in personal development to grow in your financial capabilities and mindset, your relational capabilities and mindset, develop skills and habits in the areas that matter most. So that's the big picture of why the Miracle Morning is so powerful.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah, this has a real powerful... It's grounded in science as well. Momentum is a real thing. In science, we talk about potential energy and kinetic energy. And objects in motion tend to stay in motion. So it's like getting that momentum rolling, and so you've crafted some very intelligent and really streamlined the process for people. And we're gonna unpack what that Miracle Morning actually looks like. But let's first talk about what got you to the place of like, I have to start doing something different for myself.

HAL ELROD: Yes, it was 2008, and the US economy crashed, and I crashed with it. Like millions of Americans, I lost over... Well, let me say what I was doing, I was a coach at that time, that's how I made my money. I had just left a six-year career in sales, and then when I left that, I'm like, what am I qualified to do? Well, all I've done is sell a lot of products, so I'm qualified to coach other people on how to do what I did, so that's what I started to do. And I had a dream of being a speaker and being an author, and so I was... But those weren't gonna pay me right away, so I needed to make money, so I decided to coach. And in a year and a half after leaving my sales career, I had built a nice income, $80,000 a year in entrepreneurial income, and in a matter of... When the economy crashed, it was like a six-month downward spiral where I lost over half of my clients, lost over half of my income, could not pay my mortgage, could not pay the bills. I started living on credit cards, so I was a Dave Ramsey student. I pay them off every month, and then within six months, I accumulated $52000 in credit card debt, I stopped paying my mortgage, I couldn't afford it, and so my house, my first house that I ever bought, my pride that I had put in so much time into the backyard, that was taken away from me.

HAL ELROD: I cancelled my gym membership because I couldn't afford it. I started buying cheap food 'cause I was broke, and I went in this downward like physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and really financial rock bottom. And a buddy of mine, I finally reached out for help. Called my friend John Burgof. I said, John, “I haven't told anybody this man, 'cause I'm kinda like, I don't know what to think about it, but I'm struggling, I'm really struggling”. And I told him everything, and he said, "Hey, I want you to listen to this Jim Rohn audio. And I want you to take notes and I want you to implement what you hear." I was like, man, I need to make money, I don't need to listen to a Jim Rohn audio. How can I grow the business? He said, "Trust me, this audio changed my life." I was like, alright, so I listened to the Jim Rohn audio. One quote from that audio was the catalyst to change everything, faster than I ever thought possible, so I really want people to really tune into this, Jim Rohn said, your level of success...

HAL ELROD: And this is true, by the way, your success in every area of life, not just your professional success, but your success in your health in your mental health in your... All of it, will rarely exceed your level of personal development. And when I heard that, it just clicked for me in this quantifiable way where I went, okay, well, if my level of success in every area of my life is not going to exceed my level of personal development. Two questions from that were born. Number one, what level of success do I want on a scale of 1 to 10. And it was a quick, easy answer, well, 10. Everybody wants to be as happy and healthy and wealthy as they can be, okay, so I want level 10 success. Alright, well, my level of success is not gonna exceed my level of personal development. What's my level of personal development right now? At that time in my life, I wasn't reading, I wasn't... I was just surviving. I was just trying to make it through the day. So I assessed my level of personal development is like at a 2 or a 3, maybe a 4 on a good day but... And that I believe is the disconnect for the majority of our society. Is everybody wants level 10 success, but when you ask yourself what's your level of personal development, like your growth every day, who are you becoming every day? 

HAL ELROD: There's usually a major disconnect. For me, I wanted level 10, but I was at level 2 or 3. And I believe this is the disconnect for most of society. And so the epiphany was, okay, theoretically, I need to go study what the world's most successful people do for personal development. I need to adopt whatever the most effective practice for that is, start doing it every day. And then theoretically that should enable me to become a better version of myself day by day, by day, by day by day, until I become the person that I need to be, that is capable and qualified of creating and sustaining the success I want in my life.

HAL ELROD: That was the theory, it seemed to make sense. So I went home and I googled, what do the world's most successful people do for personal development. I was looking for one practice, I ended up with a list of six, I felt overwhelmed and then I went, well, wait, what if I did all of them? What if I woke up tomorrow, like 30 minutes, 60 minutes earlier, and I did the six most timeless proven personal development practices that the world's most successful people swear by? So I did it. I fumbled my way through all of them, but that very first morning, Shawn, I'm gonna wrap a bow on this, I had been depressed for six months, I had felt hopeless for six months. My very first miracle morning even though I wouldn't call it that until later, we can get into how that came to be. My very first miracle morning, I went, this is it. If I start every day like this with this much clarity and energy and motivation and knowledge and discipline, it is only a matter of time before I become the person that I need to be to turn my life around. And it happened in less than two months.

HAL ELROD: So fast, that I told my wife, it felt like a miracle. And she goes, "It's your Miracle Morning" I go, Thank you, sweetheart. I love that”, and that was kind of how it started for me, and it wasn't even a book, I didn't know it was gonna be a book, but that's how it started for me.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Oh my gosh. The success piece is something that people resonate with because it's exciting, I wanna be successful. You mentioned having that level 10 success, but being a level 2 person, but the same thing holds true for life's challenges and problems, right. Growing ourselves, because that's a big part of the success equation people don't talk about. And this is why I'm so grateful to talk to you about it because you know about this more than anybody that I know. And for example, if we haven't been working on growing ourselves and we are a level 2 person, again, we're talking not about the value of the human spirit...

HAL ELROD: No. Related to your potential, that's how I...

SHAWN STEVENSON: Your potential... Right, so let's be clear on that. And you're a level 3 person, but then a level 4 problem shows up in your life is going to destroy you, it's gonna destroy your life, it's gonna make everything so difficult, it's gonna take over. Now, if you grow yourself and you're a level 5 person and that level 4 problem happens, yeah, it's gonna shake up your world a bit, but you're gonna be able to get through it. If you're a level 8, 9 person and that level 4 problem comes up, you might be able to handle that on your lunch break, you know what I mean? 

HAL ELROD: Yeah. That's it.

SHAWN STEVENSON: It's growing yourself to the place where you're more resilient to life's inevitable challenges. And we didn't start off by talking about this part, but there was a prequel to all of this as well, because there are not many people that I can talk to that actually died and are still sitting here today. Like you died, and today we have this... And I'm not talking about metaphorically, by the way, and I want to share this, but there's a big movement towards tuning into people that have that motivation and resilience and this kind of thing. But a lot of these guys, they've been through tough circumstances, but not many of them died. So if you could share that part, because there were so many aspects of your life where you were told you wouldn't be able to do a certain thing, and you overcame that and then hit with the next thing, you just mentioned the recession and all these things and losing your house. And life has been passing you out these really interesting combinations of cards and you found a way to play a solid hand and keep moving forward.

HAL ELROD: Yeah, I know you're referring to the car accident. I'm gonna share a quick prequel to the car accident, which I just only recently started sharing 'cause I really connected the dots. When I was eight years old, I woke up to my mother screaming across the hall. And I ran across the hall, and my 18-month-old baby sister Amery was dead in her arms. And I didn't know she was dead, she was giving her mouth-to mouth, but her heart had stopped while she was breastfeeding her that morning. And my sister died that morning, and of course, it devastated our family. Now, at 8, I didn't fully know how to process it, I'm going... My sister died. What does that... I didn't understand it. But within about six months, my mother was leading a support group for other parents who had lost their children. And my dad had founded a fundraiser to raise money for the hospital that tried to save my sister's life.

HAL ELROD: And so again, not really realizing it at 8 years old, but they planted the seed to turn your pain into purpose. And then I look at the rest of my life and I go, "Oh, that's why I responded to my adversity the way that I did," because my mom and dad showed me when you were young, "Hey, life's gonna hit you and there's gonna be tragedy, but if you can use your pain to serve others, to help other people, then it becomes purposeful, and then you can find peace in it and you can find strength in it." So you fast forward from that, that losing of my sister or the death of my sister 12 years later, I was driving home from a Cutco Conference, I was working with the company Cutco, and I gave a speech at the conference that night, driving home after my first standing ovation, it was like, I was like a high. I was on like cloud nine. A drunk driver got on the freeway going the wrong way, my car was hit head on by a drunk driver at 70 miles per hour. My car spun off the drunk driver and the car behind me T-boned me in my driver's side door at 70 miles per hour. And I broke 11 bones instantaneously. I started losing a lot of blood, and an hour later is how long it took the paramedics and the fire department to rip the roof off of with the jaws of life and pull me out. And when they did, I bled to death. And I lost so much blood that my heart stopped beating, I stopped breathing, and I was clinically dead for approximately six minutes.

HAL ELROD: They rushed me onto a medevac helicopter, hooked me up to an IV, pumping blood back into my body. Used the defibrillators to shock me back to life, and gave me oxygen. And thank God they didn't give up after five minutes, but six minutes later, they got my heart beating again, I was rushed, air lifted to the hospital in the helicopter. I spent six days in a coma and I flat-lined twice more.

HAL ELROD: So it was very touch and go. Funny, not funny, but I had dinner with my dad last night and he was actually re-telling me what the whole thing was like from his perspective, which was wild and he was crying and as a parent, of course, this was the worst thing that could have happened. And also to have lost a child already, they lost their youngest, and now they're watching me flat-line while they're sitting by my bedside. And I came out of the coma six days later, and the doctor told me I had permanent brain damage and I would never walk again, and that's obviously, at any age, but 20, that's like that... Wait, what, I'm never going to walk, I'll be in a wheelchair the rest of my life. And we can unpack the story in so many ways, but I'll just give you... To me, the most important piece of it, the lesson for everybody. I was told I wouldn't walk again, and so I had to process what, Okay, what, if that is the case, like A, am I going to accept that as my fate, is that just no other option, or might the doctors not fully know what I'm capable of, and might I not know and might I not know what God's capable, I don't know.

HAL ELROD: So what I decided is, I'm going to accept the worst case scenario, and if I'm in a wheelchair the rest of my life, I will be the happiest, most grateful person you've ever seen in a wheelchair, because I will not let my unchangeable circumstances determine my quality of life, my mental and emotional quality of life. My mental and emotional well-being. But I'm not accepting. So, the worst case scenario is I'm the happiest most grateful human being that had ever been in a wheelchair, so that's not bad, like... Yeah, it sucks, I'm in a wheelchair, but I'm actually grateful. I'm happy, so I'm actually loving my life, so that was my vision for the worst case scenario, but I'm not accepting that as my fate, I'm going to visualize walking again every day, I'm going to pray that I can walk again every day with unwavering faith. I'm going to meditate on my body healing completely so that I can walk again, so it's like this, it's like the two sides of the same coin, like I've accepted the worst case scenario, so it has no power over me, I'm not scared of it, and I'm maintaining faith that I can walk again.

HAL ELROD: And my dad came in two weeks after the crash. No, sorry, one week after the crash, after the comma, I was out for a week, and he said, “Hey, Hal the doctors are concerned with your mental and emotional state. They believe you're in denial or you're delusional because they said you're always happy and smiling and telling jokes and making them laugh”, and they said, " That's not normal. And they said, you should be depressed and scared and angry and sad, and right, you should be all of these things, and they said that you need to face what's happened to you. And so that you can move through it, you can't just live in the state of denia”l. And I said, “Dad, I live my life by the five-minute rule”. He said, remind me what that was. I said, Okay, I learned this in my Cutco sales training, it's okay to be negative when something goes wrong, but not for more than five minutes, and the number is arbitrary, you might need five days. I think I took five days after the car accident, right, but the five-minute rule was when you hit traffic, when in that case, a customer doesn't buy from you, they cancel an order, they miss an appointment, just little adversities that frustrate you, anger you, upset you, he would...

HAL ELROD: My mentor taught me, you set your timer for five minutes and give yourself five minutes to feel your emotions fully. Bitch, moan, complain, cry, vent. Punch a wall. Get angry. Whatever. Feel it all. Don't suppress it. Don't deny it. Feel it all. But when the five minute timer goes off, you say three very liberating words, can't change it, it's an acknowledgement I can't change what happened five minutes ago, so now I got a choice, I can continue to be upset over it, which... That's futile. It doesn't change anything, or I can accept what happened, be completely at peace with it. So that I can create space to move forward and feel the way I need to feel, wanna feel, to take the next step in my life. I said, Dad, I've been living by the five-minute rule for a year and a half, I can't change that I was in a car accident, but I get to choose to be at peace with it completely, I'm not gonna wish it didn't happen, 'cause that's a waste of my energy. And I told him the whole, if I'm in a wheelchair the rest of my life, I'll be the happiest person in a wheelchair. But you go back to the doctors that I'm not in denial, I'm totally at peace with this because that's the only logical choice that I have.

SHAWN STEVENSON: The fact that these medical professionals are telling you you're supposed to feel a certain way. Right. And the thing was, and I'm so glad you shared this, we've had many conversations over the years, but to share that prequel to the prequel and to unpack, where did I get that from? Losing my sister and seeing my parents turn this tragedy into something so much bigger and special. And a mission for giving. That's so powerful, man, because when we dig around a bit, there are certain things. People have been studying successful people for a long time, and sometimes when we're doing a thing, we don't realize it because it's just what we do, but there's always a superhero origin story, there's always a catalyst moment. And there is a nature versus nurture thing, but there's usually something there that leads to how you show up in those moments. And what I love about this is that you've shared in many different ways that you aren't particularly special, but I would wanna argue with you a little bit, because what you've been able to overcome is super human, truly, but also you point to we have this super human capacity within us, and having a strategy to discover that is so important, and this leads us back to the SAVERS, which even the name, that acronym right now is hitting different for me because of what you've been through and these SAVERS are The Miracle Morning.

SHAWN STEVENSON: So let's talk about these again, science backed practical steps to start to create and orchestrate the life that we truly want. And by the way, that whole, you'll never walk again scenario. You danced in here today, alright, you didn't even walk in here, you danced in here today. And you've done all of these incredible feats, like you've run a couple of marathons, right? 

HAL ELROD: One ultra marathon.

SHAWN STEVENSON: One ultra. Ultra. You put ultra on it, it's just ridiculous to me. You know what I mean? But it's so special, but even the seeds for that... Miracle Morning. Alright, let's talk about that. Yeah.

HAL ELROD: So I mentioned 2008, right when I had this realization, I need to create the most effective personal development ritual to change who I am, to become the person that can create the success I want. And I mentioned, I had a list of six practices and I was a little overwhelmed and then I went, Well, what if I did all of them? So the practices initially were meditation, which became silence, that's the S in SAVERS, and I love that it became silence because prayer for me is a part of, I meditate, I pray, I'll do breath work sometimes. So there's a multi-faceted silence. The A is for affirmations, and we'll circle back to that because affirmations to me, are the most misunderstood and the most effective form of personal development. The V in SAVERS is for visualization, and you look just like the world's greatest athletes visualize showing up at their best before they hit the court or the field, and we should do the same before we hit... See our family or step into work. We should be mentally rehearsing how we're going to show up before we actually show up so that we're already... We've gone there in our mind, body and spirit, we're ready in real time. The E in SAVERS is for exercise, and this doesn't mean you have to go to the gym in the morning, it means that even as little as 60 seconds of jumping jacks...

HAL ELROD: First thing in the morning, will remove that brain fog, will get the blood and auction flowing to your brain, that increases your cognitive abilities, your mental focus, and just wakes your nervous system up so you got more energy, you're ready to go. The R in SAVERS is for reading. And we're all one book away from learning one strategy to improve our health, marriage, wealth, mornings, whatever it is. And the final S is for scribing, which originally was journaling, but the J would have made the acronym awkward, SAVERJ. We got scribing, and scribing is a fancy word for journaling or writing. And so it's about putting pen to paper, and there's magic that happens when you either take the stressful thoughts out of your head and you write them down, and now there's this separation where you're like, okay, I can breathe. They're not in my head anymore. I don't have the burden of having to consistently entertain them all day or all night. Right, they're on paper. I can revisit them later or tomorrow, they're there, they're out of my, right, so it's magic. And same thing with gratitude, like when you actually write down what you're grateful for, and then you actually... My hand goes on my heart always, and I go from, I call it intellectual gratitude, which is the, in your head checking off the list.

HAL ELROD: Oh yeah, grateful for my family check, might write. But when you put your hand in your heart and you look at that list and you go, close your eyes and you go, Oh, my wife, man, how blessed am I to have her in my life, I'm so blessed. Thank you God, and you really sit in that gratitude, it has a penetrating soul-piercing impact that dramatically enhances the quality of your life. And we can unpack any or all of these SAVERS, but I wanna quickly paraphrase Robert Kiyosaki. So Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, for anybody that doesn't know the name, Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad author, one of my favorite financial books of all time. He said that when he interviewed me on Rich Dad Radio... Actually, quick backstory, I spoke in an event. He was the headline speaker, I got to have dinner with him and the other founders of the event, I had a book under my table signed to Robert and I'm in my head going, dude he's not gonna read my book, he's worth $80 million. I think he's doing okay. I don't think he needs a morning routine book, but then Wayne Gretzky's voice came in my head, you miss all the shots you don't take Hal, give him the book. I give him the book and three weeks later, and I thought he would never read it, three weeks later, he reaches out and his assistant reached out, not him, and she said, Hey, Robert's read the Miracle Morning three times in the last three weeks.

HAL ELROD: My jaw hit the floor right there, I was like, Wait, he's read my book three times in three weeks, what... She said "He's doing it almost every single day with his wife, Kim, it is changing his life, and he wants to have you on Rich Dad radio." And I was just like mind blown. My favorite author. You're kidding me. And so at the end of our episode, he said something that I had never thought of, He said, "Hal, before you wrote The Miracle Morning. Every successful person on the planet attributes their success to at least one of the SAVERS."

HAL ELROD: There's an article, Fortune 500 CEOs who swear by meditation, people, the books they read, it could be right. Any one of The SAVERS will change your life. He said, but I've never met or heard of anyone that practiced all six of these ancient routines, these ancient best practices every day. He said never. Maybe they do two or three, maybe they read they exercise, they meditate, but never all six. And he said, any one of these will change your life, but he goes, "I think you named your book correctly, because my experience over the last three weeks, I'm experiencing miracles." He said, I believe when you do all six of the practices every day, you will experience miracles. And so that's how I like to wrap up the SAVERS because yeah, any one of them will change your life, but when you do all six, millions of people attest like it's mind blowing how transformative it is.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Wow, man, and just to put you in proximity to your favorite author, these are the things like... It's a frequency thing, you're in resonance with this and the same thing going back to your healing and you accepting, Hey, if need be, I'm gonna be the happiest person in this wheelchair, it's a resonance, it's a frequency of happiness, it's a frequency of life and success, and then having your vision on what you want to create, and man, you have so many stories like this though, so many stories. And of course, I wanna unpack the SAVERS, but first and foremost, six can seem like a lot. What about time? What about the time to actually do it? Let's talk about that a little bit.

HAL ELROD: In the new book, The Miracle Morning Updated and Expanded Edition, there is a chapter called the six minute SAVERS. I'm sorry, the six-minute Miracle Morning, and it sounds kind of gimmicky like, Come on, six minutes, but it's almost... Everything in the Miracle Morning, it developed organically, 'cause again, it wasn't a book idea, and what happened was, there were many days. 'cause I ended up doing, I got to where I was doing a 60-minute Miracle Morning. In fact, I went to a two-hour Miracle Morning at one point for a long time, 'cause I wanted... I got so much value from it I wanted it to be as long as it possibly could, right... But anyway, there were many days where I'm like, Alright, I got an appointment, I gotta leave here in a half an hour, so I can't do my full hour, I gotta leave here in 20 minutes, I can't do my full hour, and we live with this all or nothing mentality where we have this... Everybody's a little OCD, which is like, like blank amount of time to do this thing. And since I don't have the full amount of time. I just won't do it.

HAL ELROD: Whether it's like, I like to go to the gym for half an hour, but I only got 15 minutes so I'm just not gonna go, I'll go tomorrow. Right, and I had that happen over and over and over, my Miracle Morning kept getting pushed off. And then one day I just was like, I gotta leave in 15 minutes. I was like, What if I did a six-minute version, what if I did one focus minute of silence where I got really quiet, I said a quick prayer, a little meditation, I just kind of centered myself for the day. What if I pulled out my affirmations and I just read as many as I could read, I set a timer for 60 seconds, and I read a few of them that really focused me on, Here's what I'm committed to today in my life, my goals. What if I visualize myself doing the most important thing I need to do today in a peak state, I just saw it, I felt it. What if I stood up and did 60 seconds of jumping jacks, just got my heart rate up, what if I pulled out the book I'm reading and I read one page and I got one idea that I could apply today to transform my life? 

HAL ELROD: Improve my life in some way. What if a journal what I was grateful for for just a minute? And so I did that and six minutes later, I felt like I got 70% of the benefit of the Miracle Morning doing an hour and I went, wow. I set myself up for the day, so that's the first piece, is that you literally can do a six-minute Miracle Morning, and I always say like in the chapter, I say, Don't make this your daily practice, you can't go deep in a minute of anything but you can transform your state, you can optimize your state in a minute, right. So there's the six-minute Miracle Morning, and the Miracle Morning in and of itself, I do a 60-minute version. I think roughly 70% of miracle morning practitioners do 60 minutes, roughly 23% do 30 minutes, and the other 7% do longer or shorter. But the Miracle Morning is completely customizable. There's a chapter in the book called customizing the Miracle Morning to fit your lifestyle. So you can do the SAVERS in any order. You don't have to do them S-A-V-E-R-S, if you're tired in the morning and you're falling asleep while you're meditating, do your exercise, do your 60 seconds of jumping jacks.

HAL ELROD: Right. Wake yourself up. Any order, you can do them and people like if you're a shift worker, you're like, well Hal I go to bed at 6:00 AM, I wake up at whatever time, like great, I wake up at 2:00 PM, well, then your miracle morning starts at 2:00. It's about starting your day with these practices. And then the other question I get is, do I have to do them in the morning? Like meaning, couldn't I do a Miracle afternoon, do I have to wake up earlier, really? The answer to that is, the SAVERS will be transformative at any time of day. But the benefits are immediate. When you meditate, you know you can speak to this, it lowers your cortisol levels, it clears your mind, you have more mental clarity. You don't wanna miss out on that all day long and do it in the evening. When you exercise in the morning, Robin Sharma in The Miracle Morning movie, he said the benefits of exercise have been scientifically proven to last as long as 13 hours. So you don't wanna miss out on those benefits during the day and wait till the evening, if you read a book and it gives you, affirmations, you're focusing on your highest priorities, reading your affirmations, you don't wanna miss out, so doing it in the morning is crucial.

HAL ELROD: And then the last thing is this, when I give a speech, when I give my keynote speech as the Miracle Morning, and at the end of the Miracle Morning, I give people a 30-day, I just call it a 30-day challenge, but now I call it a 30-day journey 'cause I feel like we had enough challenges like let's just take a journey together, we got... But I end it by saying, Look, if you wanna do a 60-minute Miracle Morning with all six of the SAVERS, you wanna be an overachiever, do it. Here's my invitation, wake up 10 minutes earlier, not an hour, 10 minutes earlier, 'cause everybody can do 10 minutes earlier and do one of the SAVERS. That's it. And then build on it. And here's the thing, if you've never read The Miracle Morning, your miracle morning, it doesn't get easier. You read the book, you wake up 10 minutes earlier and you read The Miracle Morning, and then when you get to the chapter on silence, you add that to your next Miracle Morning. So you spend 10 minutes a day for maybe a week, easy-peasy, you just wake up, read the book, and then you add silence the next day, then you get to the chapter on affirmations and you fold that into your Miracle Morning and then.

HAL ELROD: And day by day, by day. Now within a couple of weeks, you're doing a full blown miracle morning. When two weeks ago you didn't even think you'd become a morning person. And it started with 10 minutes a day. A little bit of reading that easy.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. Oh man. So good. So good. Alright, now you mentioned to go back specifically to affirmations. All right. So I want to unpack a few of these savers. We're not gonna go through all of them, which you go into detail obviously in the book, but silence, you mentioned I could speak to this a little bit, which is there are so many different forms of this. You mentioned breath work, you mentioned meditation, you mentioned prayer. Many of these different practices allow, which is, this is very logical, but allows for us to have the ability to hear. Because so often we are consuming, there's so much data, there's, we're living in the information age, there's so much coming in, and we don't get a chance to metabolize things. And to choose silence. To choose to be still. And, if we're speaking about something like breath work, for example, this gives us an opportunity to kind of even train our nervous system.

SHAWN STEVENSON: We can do the breath of fire, or the chaotic breathing is another name for it. And then you calm yourself. Maybe you do that for 30 seconds of like...

[vocalization]

SHAWN STEVENSON: And then you're gonna increase the production of which this is the other part of it. You mentioned the parasympathetic coming online and reducing cortisol, but this is gonna spike that adrenaline cortisol. But then you're calm under that. You sit there and be still, and you're teaching your body. Like, even when I'm stressed, I can relax and reduce all that stuff. My body knows what to do. So whether it's meditation, prayer, breath work, or a combination of those things, super special. I do that everyday myself for, I don't know, 17 years now. And maybe I've missed a day or two here or there, but it's such a valuable part of my life. But the affirmation part, that's the part that you said it was, let me go back to what you said. You said the most effective personal development tool. That's a powerful statement. Why is that? 

HAL ELROD: So first I'll talk about why there, I said it's the most misunderstood and the most effective. The reason it's the most misunderstood. Well, you could chalk it up to either, well-meaning self-help gurus that have taught a certain flavor of affirmations. You could chalk it up to Stuart Smalley on Saturday Night Live. For those that don't, back in the '90s, this guy Stuart Smalley, used to do this, his daily affirmation show. And it was making fun. It was like, I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me. Right? That's what he did every day.

SHAWN STEVENSON: By the way. Yeah. Michael Jordan did that with him one time. Do you remember that one? 

HAL ELROD: Yeah. I remember, yeah. That's funny. So here are the two problems. To me, the two biggest problems with affirmations, is the way that they've been mistaught, number one is lying to yourself doesn't work. It's not the optimal strategy. And we've been taught like, Hey, if you're struggling financially, just affirm, I am wealthy. I am wealthy. And just say it over and over and over until you believe it. Now, there may be merit to that, definitely better than saying I'm broke. I'd imagine. But maybe not. Maybe I'm broke. It's at least a realistic statement. Here's the point. If you say, I am, and it's followed by something that does not resonate as true for you, you are creating an internal conflict that is counterproductive. If you are literally broke, you're struggling financially, and you say, I am wealthy. Your subconscious goes, dude, no, you're not. Your banking balance is negative.

HAL ELROD: And you're like, shut, shut up self. I'm trying to do my affirmations. I am wealthy. So lying to yourself is never the optimal strategy. Because the truth will always prevail. You have to have affirmations rooted in truth. The second problem is that we've been taught by, again, well-meaning self-help gurus to use this flowery passive language that produces an almost, or promises an almost magical result, independent of any effort. So, follow along. You probably heard this type of affirmation. I am a money magnet. Money flows to me effortlessly and in abundance. No, no, it doesn't. It's not how money works. Go talk to anyone that is wealthy. And then, and you're like, Hey, so is it 'cause you were a money magnet and you just sat on your couch and affirmed that it was gonna flow in. No. Now, why do people like that affirmation? 

HAL ELROD: I believe it's because it creates a sense of delusion that feels better than reality. So if you look at your bank account balance on your phone, and you're like, oh my God, I'm negative again. Ha ha ha. I need to do my affirmations. Put the phone down. I am a money magnet. Okay? That feels better. That feels better. Money flows to me effortlessly. Okay, thank God. And in abundance, oh, that feels so much better. So I think that's this, it's like taking a drug every day. It's like this, like, you take a shot of alcohol. I'll be like, all right. Now that numbs the pain a little bit. But again, it's counterproductive. 'cause It gives you a false sense of hope that money is gonna magically flow into your life. I'm gonna share with you. So for me personally, with the Miracle Morning practices, meditation could be a little woo woo, visualization, a little woo woo, affirmations, a little woo woo.

HAL ELROD: My background is in sales and business. I'm a very left brain logical person. So when I learned the SAVERS, the affirmation, or all these practices, I had to figure out how do I make these all practical, actionable, and results oriented? And so the last 15 years of doing the Miracle Morning has been striving toward that end. So I'm gonna give y'all three steps. I unpack these in the book, but I'll unpack them quite a bit here on three steps to create affirmations that are practical, actionable, results oriented. Step one, affirm what you are committed to. Okay? If you wanna be wealthy, that's great, but don't say, I am wealthy if you are not yet that say, I am committed to becoming wealthy, no matter what, there is no other option. An unwavering commitment to the result or outcome you want. Or it could be the behavior activity.

HAL ELROD: So you could say, I'm committed to losing 20 pounds by the end of this year no matter what. There is no other option. Or you could say, I'm committed to running on the treadmill for 20 minutes a day, four days a week, no matter what. There is no other option. Either way, that's gonna get you toward the outcome that you're committed to. In life, we don't get what we want. We get what we're committed to. Step two, affirm why it is a must for you. These are the reasons why it is so meaningful, so important. There is no other, this is what fuels that commitment. So that when you're not motivated and you don't feel like it, and you're kind of tired, you look at those must and you go, oh yeah, I'm doing it for my wife. I'm doing it for my kids.

HAL ELROD: I'm doing it for me. I'm doing it for... Like, oh, oh yeah, it doesn't matter that I'm tired or I don't feel like it. Those are the fuel. I mean, Simon Sinek became famous with What's your why? Right? That's the why. Step two, why is it a must for you? And step three, which specific actions will you take and when? You're affirming which specific actions you will take and when to ensure that you follow through with the commitment. Shan, I'm gonna give you a very real life example that I think saved my life. This is the one thing we haven't even gotten to yet. But seven years ago, I woke up struggling to breathe. I went into the hospital. They drained two liters from my lung of fluid. They didn't know what was wrong, thought it was pneumonia.

HAL ELROD: A day and a half later, lungs full again. Take out another two liters of fluid. Kept happening. Every other day. I'm going into the ER, going to see doctors. Turns out I have a very rare, aggressive form of cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia. So it's a blood cancer that attacks your organs, and most people die within two to three weeks of getting the cancer. It shuts your organs down. And I was on the verge. Not only was my lung collapsing, my heart was on the verge of failing. And so were my kidneys when I finally got diagnosed. And so I was given a 20% to 30% chance of surviving. And that was the best odds. 20% to 30%. And I had a lot more to lose than my car accident. Right? Now, I had a seven year old daughter, Sophia, and an 11 year old son, Halston.

HAL ELROD: And my wife whose age is unknown to this day. But no, but I had, it was the scariest news of my life. And I'm very optimistic. I maintain unwavering faith. But in the first days and week I went, what if I do everything right and I still die? Like I have to face reality. Like there's what if I die? 'cause I found out Wayne Dyer, one of my heroes, very I would imagine as evolved as I would ever aspire to be, got leukemia and died. And that's actually where the fear really. 'cause I learned that like within a day after I started Googling stuff. I'm like, whoa. Like, before that I was like, I'm gonna beat this. And I was like, wait, Wayne Dyer couldn't beat it. I don't think I'm on a level even. Like, oh, oh.

HAL ELROD: And maybe unless he was ready to go, I don't know. But the fear of what if, what if I do everything right and I still die? So that fear started to consume me in the first week. And I was like, this is not serving me. So I created affirmations following the formula. And these saved my life. Here's what I affirmed. Number one, what are you committed to? Right? I am committed to beating cancer and living to be 100 plus years old alongside Ursula and the kids, no matter what. There is no other option. And I affirmed that every day. Not just during Miracle Morning, but it was on my bedside table. It was on my, these affirmations were on my phone. They were everywhere. And I was, I affirmed it every time I felt afraid. What if I die? 

HAL ELROD: No, that's not serving me. I am committed to beating cancer and living to be a 100 plus years old alongside Ursula and the kids, no matter what. There is no other option. And I affirmed it with such conviction that it became my new reality. And there was no space for fear. Number two, why is it a must for you? I had five bullet points. Number one, I'm committed to beating cancer for Ursula because I promised her forever and a day. I'm committed to beating cancer for my kids Sophia and Halston, because they need their daddy's love, guidance and leadership. And I wanna watch them grow up. I'm committed to beating cancer for my mom and dad because they lost a child already. And they don't deserve to lose another one. I'm committed to beating cancer for myself because I deserve to live a long, happy, healthy life.

HAL ELROD: And last but not least, I'm committed to beating cancer for the millions of people who are themselves battling cancer or some other disease, and may not have been blessed with the knowledge and resources that I have. And it's my responsibility to overcome this so I can help them. And those five reasons were so important to me. They were so compelling that on the days that I was sick, I was exhausted, I felt like giving up, I'd read that affirmation. I'd go, I can go one more day. I can go one more day. And then step three, which actions was I gonna take and when is, I said, okay. I didn't wanna do chemo 'cause it was poison and I was scared, but it was really the only option I had. I said, I'll do the best that western medicine has to offer.

HAL ELROD: But, and here's an important caveat, because I was afraid of the chemo poisoning me. 'cause it kills, most people die from the chemo. So I went, okay, I'm going to do the chemo and I'm gonna trust my doctors, but I'm going to trust myself more and I'm going to do every holistic practice known to man. And while I do the chemo, I'm gonna maintain the affirmation and mindset that my body is strong enough for this chemo to kill the cancer. But it's not killing me. I'm gonna survive this chemotherapy and I'm gonna do every holistic practice known to man. And I relentlessly researched everything. I took 70 supplements a day. I juiced every day. I had an organic diet. I did lymphatic massage, I did ozone sauna, I did coffee enemas. I did everything holistic. And because I said, you know what? I'm not leaving my fate in the doctor's hands. They got no skin in the game. They lose patients every day. It's, I'm not leaving it up to them. I'm taking 100% responsibility for beating this cancer and being alive for my family. And those affirmations, I believe, saved my life.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Man, man I'm so... I don't even know the words, man. I'm so proud of you and just grateful for you know. Man. Yeah. When somebody has some affirmation about affirmations, it's you. Like to hear this and your perspective, and also it's the north star for you. And there's so many different pieces of this that might not be in our control. But what we can control is where we focus, where our attention is. And all, everything about us is moving towards that destination all the time. But a lot of times our energy is so scattered and one of the biggest mistakes that we make is outsourcing our potential to someone else and their beliefs about us.

SHAWN STEVENSON: When they truly, they cannot control where we focus our attention. It's up to us unless we don't realize it. And so, man, thank you so much for sharing that. And, I hope that everybody really picked up the practicality that you put into affirmations versus something that is just not based on reality, it's something practical. And it's a very powerful reminder. I feel like the greatest among us that we're telling stories about today are those who are good at remembering. All of us forget from time to time how powerful we are.

HAL ELROD: Well, and let me say that to translate this for everybody, if you're not obviously going through cancer or something, I use that affirmations formula for every area of my life. As a dad, what am I committed to? Right. Or who am I committed to be? Why is it a must for me? Why is it a must? And which actions do I take and when as a husband, as a father, as an entrepreneur, in every aspect of my life? With every goal that the affirmations formula follows, the goal follows the rule.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. And as mentioned before stuff's gonna happen. Life be lifeing. And so it's like building yourself up because you were already, you were already Hal Elrod when this situation showed up. And cancer didn't know what the f*ck to do. Like, oh sh*t. Like I've messed with the wrong person. You know what I mean? Because you grew yourself, that resilience. And so we're all gonna be faced with different challenges. There's, it's just a part of being here. And it's one of those things that we can get sold a bill of goods that isn't really based on reality, where it's just like the ultimate goal is to achieve endless bliss. But I'm telling you, I know these people. I know them, and they go through sh*t. And it's really about remembering and how you show up when life's inevitable problems show up.

SHAWN STEVENSON: We've got a quick break coming up. We'll be right back.

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HAL ELROD: Well, it's a part because again, the world's most successful people swear by visualization. And athletes are the ones that you, I think usually you point to. But athletes use it to show up at their best every day in what is important to them. And we should use it to show up at our best every day in what's important to us. Now, visualization, similar to affirmations, I think has been mistaught, if you will. And not even mistaught, but they've taught half of it. And the second half isn't taught. And that's the most important part. And here's what I mean. We are taught, like probably the most popularized visualization is to make a vision board. Which is like a fun activity. And I think there's value in keeping those things important to you that are top of mind.

HAL ELROD: I also know my experience was like my vision board became invisible on the, I call it my invisible board because I just, I kept walking by and I forgot it was there. But the problem is if all you do is visualize the end result, you literally trick your brain into thinking it's a foregone conclusion without needing effort from you. 'cause You're like, oh yeah, I've seen it. I know it's gonna happen. Well what are you doing to make it happen? I visualize it every day. No, no, but what are you doing? I visualize it. No, no. But you have to actually, what are you doing? Right? Oh yeah, that's a good point. I mean, I just see it so much. I believe it. And so to me it can be counterproductive. Now it's valuable because the reason you want to visualize the end result is to generate the emotions that will motivate you, that will pull you toward it.

HAL ELROD: So I'll give you a real life example though, of how the second step in visualization. Well, let me tell you the steps and then give you the example. The second step is you need to visualize what you need to do today. You need to mentally rehearse yourself doing the thing today that will actually get you to that ultimate vision. That's the most important part. And it's the one that's not taught. When I was training for an ultra marathon. So I hate running. I hated running then. I hate running. Now, the reason this came to be is I got obsessed with this whole level 10 concept.

HAL ELROD: And to be fair, like you never reach level 10, like on the day that you die, you could have done more, you could have learned more, you could have grown more. So both your level of success will never actually reach level 10. Also, when you reach what you think is level 10, all of a sudden now it becomes level 5 and you go, whoa, I can do way more. Right? So it's just an arbitrary number that's saying, Hey, let's try to be the best we can be. Right? And so, but I got obsessed with where I went, okay, I was just setting level 10 goals. What does Level 10 look like in my finances this year? Not for the rest of my life. Like, and I had that in the back of my mind, like eventually, but what does this year look like Level 10 from where I'm at now? 

HAL ELROD: And so with fitness, I went, what would Level 10 Fitness be? And I had two friends that had just run ultra marathons. Otherwise that would never even... I didn't even know what it was except for that. And I was like, well wait, John Bergoff and John Brown, my two buddies, they ran ultra marathons. I hate running. Who would I have to become to go from never having run more than the mile in PE class in high school that they forced you to run that I hated to running 52 consecutive miles. I don't even... I can't even imagine that. So I'm gonna commit to it publicly. I'm just gonna commit publicly to raise money for this charity Front Row foundation that my friend founded. I'm like, that way I've got accountability. Like it's for charity I gotta do it. So I committed publicly. And then I bought a book on Amazon called the Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer.

HAL ELROD: And it's literally for people that don't run. 'Cause a lot of runners that run marathons are like, I ran a 2K and then a 5K, and then, right? Like I'm becoming a runner. This is like, no, if you hate running, here's how you get yourself there right? And so I committed to it. I bought the book, I had the training plan, but I still hated running. And so think about this if you're listening, think about the things in your life, the goals you have, whether they're financial goals, health goals, and you know what you need to do, but it's hard to get yourself to do it, right? Like and we procrastinate. We're like, eh, I'll go to the gym tomorrow and I could have one more soda today. I could... I just have lots of like... I'll have just one beer, you know? 

HAL ELROD: And we keep justifying this level of mediocrity where we're accepting less than we really want for ourselves, right? And so my human nature was like, I kept putting running off. And then I was like, okay wait, how can I adapt my visualization to my running and my affirmation? So I started applying my Miracle Morning, my SAVERS to running this marathon. So every morning I would meditate in an optimal emotional state while I imagined going for a run. Then I would have my affirmations that said step one what am I committed to? I'm committed to completing 52 miles and raising money for the Front Row Foundation on October 29th, 2009. No matter what there's no other option. Why is this a must for me? Because committing to this will and training for it will enable me to become the person that I need to be that is so far beyond who I am now that I can accomplish anything at that point.

HAL ELROD: So step three which actions will I take to when? I will follow the non-runner's marathon trainer training plan to a T whether I feel like it or not. So I affirmed it every morning. Now we get to the visualization. I'd visualize crossing the finish line of the marathon. In fact, I went a little further. It was the Atlantic City Marathon that we were running. I printed out the finish line of that marathon so I could literally... I would look at it for a second in my hands, then I'd set it on my coffee table, close my eyes and imagine 52 miles gone by and I'm crossing that finish line. What's that gonna feel like? Oh my, I'll be exhausted, but I'll feel like I can do anything, right? So I'd imagine that. Then I got to the second part of visualization.

HAL ELROD: This is the most important part. My alarm clock was on my phone set for 7:00 AM to go for that run. And it was on my coffee table sitting in front of me. I'd close my eyes and I would imagine the alarm sounding and I would imagine seeing it and hearing it. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, right? And I would imagine picking it up, turning it off, setting it down, walking into my bedroom, getting dressed in my running... It was like a little movie in my mind, just like three minutes long, getting dressed in my running clothes. I'd do the whole thing. Putting on my running clothes, putting on my shoes, right? Then I would visualize walking through my living room. I would always see my hand reach out to the front door. I mean, like right now Shawn I did this for six months.

HAL ELROD: I see the exact same movie I played for six months. I'd visualize the opening... Turning the door, opening my front door, seeing my sidewalk. Then I'd replay those affirmations. I'm committed to completing 52 miles on October 29th, 2009. No matter what. There is no other option. I'm doing this to become a better, the best version of myself that can then accomplish anything I set out to do. So in order to do that I will follow through with my training plan in the Non-runner's marathon trainer no matter what there's no other option. And I would generate these excited emotions while I pictured that sidewalk. And then I would imagine going out on that run. Now, here's how this happens in real... The magic is that when my alarm, my phone went off at 7:00 AM. Now if I hadn't visualized it, my human nature would be like, ah man, I could run tomorrow.

HAL ELROD: I don't... I could run tomorrow. I already... I did yesterday. I'm going to skip a couple... Whatever, right? We all do that. But that's not what I mentally rehearsed and visualized that morning. So that's not what happened. It's almost as if I was a robot in the most positive sense of the word, where I'm like, 7:00 AM time to run, right? I turned off the phone, went in my bedroom, got dressed in my running clothes, went out the front door, and opened that front door. As soon as I saw the sidewalk I was flooded with that positive emotional state that I generated during my visualization. And I went for that run. And in the same way that Miracle Morning affirmation saved my life during cancer, I do not think I would've trained for. I would've dropped out of the marathon. I would not have completed it if it wasn't for visualization. And that two-step practice, the second part, that mental rehearsal being the most important part.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah Practical proven, as you mentioned, it's well-studied in sports and performance. It's just a great tool. But are we using it? And this tool, this incredible tool that you've created, and as I mentioned, over 2 million copies of the Miracle Morning have been sold. But now you have this brand new beautiful iteration of the book with Upleveled. How, I mean, you were already something different back then, but now after all these years and all the stories and all the feedback and all the speeches and all the application you've rewritten really the book in an incredible way. And you've added some new dimensions as well, including The Miracle Evening by the way. There's a chapter in there on that. But can you tell people what they can expect by getting a copy of The New Miracle Morning? 

HAL ELROD: Yeah So it's called The Miracle Morning Updated and Expanded Edition. I've added 70 pages of new content. I mean, it's a very real updated expanded edition. Not to mention I've rewritten almost every page. If you go back and look at your old work, any of us, right? You're embarrassed by it. You're like... I'm like oh man, this could be so much better. So I got to go through it and like redo the whole thing. I added 70 pages of new content, 25 pages alone just in the SAVERS chapters. So I mean it's... 'cause when I... Think of it this way, when I wrote The Miracle Morning I started writing it like six months after I started practicing it. So I was a novice at meditation, a novice at all of it and published the book, well 15 years of Miracle Mornings.

HAL ELROD: And I literally do The Miracle Morning over six days a week on average 6.2. It's only my wife who keeps me up for the date night or, you know, families in town or a concert. But I'm doing the Miracle Morning everyday that I possibly can. And so I've learned over 15 years, I've evolved all of these practices. So that's it. The book's infinitely better. It takes you from not only if you're brand new, 'cause that's the thing. Is this book had to appeal to people that have never read it, and the 2 million people that have read it that I didn't want them to read it and go, it's like the original, they had to go, oh my God this is so... It feels new. So it appeals to everybody, right? And then the last piece of that is there are two brand new chapters.

HAL ELROD: So 40 plus pages of the new content are at the very end of the book. And one is The Miracle Evening, which the subtitle is, Your Strategy for Blissful Bedtime and Better Sleep. And the second is The Miracle Life, which is your path to inner freedom. And I'll quickly summarize those, the miracle... The bedtime or your Miracle Evening chapter. I went through a period after chemo, it just messed up my brain. And I had about six months of chronic sleep deprivation where I slept two to four hours a night and it wrecked me. And so I went on a path kinda like trying to cure my cancer. How do I cure my insomnia? And so I just combined in this chapter these are the... It's a seven step process. These are what I do every evening, what I landed on after all the research, talking to experts, et cetera.

HAL ELROD: And when I speak now, I always ask audiences, how many of you struggle with sleep? Raise your hand. And it's over half the audience. I mean, it's an epidemic, right? So that chapter is really important to me to help people really, you know, let go of their stressful thoughts in the evening. And even though life can be challenging, like you can actually go to bed peaceful at night, even if you're struggling in certain areas. So that's an important chapter. And then the Miracle Life that's my new... That's my next phase of my work. I've been working on that book for two years, but I don't wanna... I'm like, I don't wanna wait another year to put this content out. So I'm like, I'm gonna write like a 25 page chapter that's like beefy on This is how you choose your optimal mental and emotional state, even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances, right? That superpower that I developed during the car accident, during cancer, and trying to distill it for people to adapt in their life.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Now this is something very special for us as well, which is as of now the first big podcast, major podcast Top 10 number one Health podcast to share this message about the New Miracle Morning. And you have some incredible bonuses for people that go over and pre-order this book right now. Because I want... And I know a lot of people are already feeling this to be more in your world, to get more from you, the book is a game changer in and of itself. But what about the other support? And that's what you put together with some of these bonuses. Let's talk about that.

HAL ELROD: Yeah, no, it is exciting. 'cause almost every interview that I've been doing is launching the week off, and only the bonuses are really for my community. 'cause I've got, you know, hundreds of thousands of people on my email list that I'm like going, Hey guys, I want to reward you for... You've already bought the original book, buy the new one, right? So if you pre-order one copy and the website is thenewmiraclemorning.com. So if you go to thenewmiraclemorning.com, this is only up until the book publishes on December 12th, right? And then the bonuses do go away. But thenewmiraclemorning.com, you get the immediate implementation kit. And the reason for this is because pre-ordering a book is kind of... You're like, I want immediate gratification. So when you pre-order the new book today at thenewmiraclemorning.com, you get a 60 plus minute masterclass where I unpack the new concepts in the book.

HAL ELROD: It's a video masterclass with me that I recorded. It's not recycled, it's literally, I recorded it like two weeks ago. Just for the pre-order bonuses. You also get a digital copy of the first 40 pages of the book. Actually, I take that back. 30 pages of the book and then five pages from the Miracle Evening chapter and five pages from the Miracle Life chapter. And again, it's for immediate gratification. So you don't have to wait 'till December 12th to start reading. You can start reading today and implementing your Miracle Morning. And then you get two guided meditation tracks in the Miracle Morning app. So the Miracle Morning app is free, you can download the app and then when you pre-order the book, you get this special link that puts the two tracks in your inbox in the app and it's the only way to get them.

HAL ELROD: And it's a 10 minute guided meditation called the Miracle Evening. So when you read The Miracle Evening, you're gonna be like, this is great. But now you're gonna have a guided meditation that will... Take you to sleep using the principles that I teach in that chapter. And then the second guided meditation is the Miracle Life that you'll listen to the next morning during your Miracle Morning that teaches you how to choose your optimal mental, emotional and spiritual state, right? No matter what's going on in your life. So when you pre-order the book, you get that's over $200 in bonuses immediately. And then I'll just mention this, you mentioned me more in your world, you'll be the next page that you go to is like, Hey, if you wanna order copies for like friends and family, if you pre-order five copies of the book, you get an email that you can forward your friends that gives them all of the bonuses I just mentioned.

HAL ELROD: And then the big bonus is you get six tickets to the Miracle Year Live virtual event that I'm hosting on December 14th, two days after the book comes out. And that's gonna be where I combine the Miracle Morning, the Miracle Evening, which was my follow up book to the Miracle Morning. And it's more about how do you achieve your goals? Like, okay, miracle Morning's your daily practice for personal development. Miracle Equation is your daily process for goal achievement. And then the third piece, that Miracle Life, how do you combine those three concepts to make 2024 the best year of your life? And so you don't get just one ticket as a bonus when you order the five books, you get six tickets, you get one for you and five tickets to gift to your friends and family. So they'll get the book, they'll get the immediate implementation kit, and they'll get a ticket to the Miracle Year live virtual event on December 14th. So yeah, man, I wanted to go really big with the bonuses, 'cause again, it was really for my audience, I wanted to do something really special for them. And since you are putting this out early, man, everybody else in your audience gets it too.

SHAWN STEVENSON: Yeah. And we talked about this, I proactively was like, listen, I wanna do this for my audience. I want to give them as many goodies as possible, stack conditions. And also of course, I got an advance copy of the book and I read the Miracle Evening section of the book as well. And you're addressing the biggest psychological barrier to people getting restful sleep. And you did it in such a great way. Like that's the part that isn't talked about enough, is the psychological piece. And so it's a really special man, you put together as I would expect from you, something really remarkable. And just being able to over give and be who you are is just... You're a superhero man and I appreciate you so much. And so again, everybody go to thenewmiraclemorning.com right now, pre-order your book, get hooked up with all these incredible bonuses and early access to a significant part of the book right now. So you can start reading, start implementing, this is how we change our lives one Miracle Morning at a time. Hal Elrod I appreciate you so much, brother.

HAL ELROD: Hey man, I appreciate you Shawn, so much. You have no idea how happy I am right now being with you. Thank you dude. Thank you for this.

SHAWN STEVENSON: My guy. Thank you for coming to hang out with us for blessing us here in the studio with your energy. Hal Elrod everybody. Thank you so much for tuning into the show today. I absolutely loved this conversation and I hope that this resonated with you as well. Hal really is the real deal? A very, very special human being and an inspiration truly for all of us? And this was our first time to actually sit down face-to-face and do an interview. We've seen each other before. We had multiple conversations, but the last time that I actually saw him in person was a seemingly random passerby. I wasn't planning on seeing him there, but I was at Onnit headquarters in Austin and somebody invited me to a UFC fight, which I'd never been to one of those. And so next thing you know, I'm there and then I bump into Hal and it's just like he's one of those guys that's just so passionate about excellence in human performance in training and all these different things.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And that was the last time that I got to see him. And that was a few years back and he's been through a lot since then. Obviously he shared his story with going through cancer and the treatment and being able to... Because I got to be here with him today and to see how strong this man is. And not only did he come back better but now he's more motivated than ever to get this message out and to empower people. And sometimes our greatest angels have the biggest struggles, you know, the biggest challenges for them to go through to help us to learn from. And so please, please make sure to support yourself and support this book. Go to thenewmiraclemorning.com and take advantage of all those incredible bonuses. There's a couple of hundred dollars worth of bonuses to pre-order the book, be a part of the Miracle Morning movement.

SHAWN STEVENSON: We've got some incredible masterclasses and world-class guests coming your way very, very soon. So make sure to stay tuned. Take care, have an amazing day and I'll talk with you soon.

SHAWN STEVENSON: And for more after the show, make sure to head over to modelhealthshow.com. That's where you can find all of the show notes. You can find transcriptions, videos for each episode. And if you've got a comment, you can leave me a comment there as well. And please make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a rating to let everybody know that this show is awesome. And I appreciate that so much and take care. I promise to keep giving you more powerful, empowering, great content to help you transform your life. Thanks for tuning in.