Read The Miracle Morning? The 30-Day Plan for People Who Hate Mornings

To apply The Miracle Morning, don't start with a 60-minute routine at 5 am. Start with a 6-minute version, one minute for each of the six SAVERS practices, and only 15 minutes earlier than you wake now. Expect days 1 to 10 to feel hard, 11 to 20 to feel uncomfortable, and 21 to 30 to feel easier. Log one proof each morning.

The Miracle Morning sells a beautiful picture: a quiet hour before the world wakes up. Most readers try to jump straight into that picture. They set an alarm for 5 am, do the full routine twice, then sleep through the third alarm and decide they're just not morning people.

The book itself says the start is the hardest part. Hal Elrod splits a new habit into three ten-day phases, and the first one is meant to feel unbearable. If you know that in advance, day 4 stops feeling like failure.

• How you start the morning shapes the rest of the day.
• The Life SAVERS are six practices: silence, affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading and scribing (journaling).
• You can do all six in as little as six minutes, one minute each, on days when time is short.
• A new habit takes about 30 days to settle, in three phases: days 1 to 10 feel unbearable, days 11 to 20 feel uncomfortable, and days 21 to 30 feel unstoppable.
• Waking up starts the night before. Decide why you're getting up before you go to sleep.

1. 1Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier than now, not at 5 am.
2. 2Put the alarm across the room, so you have to stand up to turn it off.
3. 3Put a glass of water and your book or notebook where you'll see them first.
4. 4Write one line about why tomorrow's morning matters to you.

1. 1Minute 1, silence: sit and breathe.
2. 2Minute 2, affirmations: read one sentence about who you're becoming.
3. 3Minute 3, visualization: picture today going well.
4. 4Minute 4, exercise: 20 jumping jacks or a short stretch.
5. 5Minute 5, reading: one page.
6. 6Minute 6, scribing: write one sentence.
7. 7Log a proof: a photo of your notebook or the time on your clock.

1. 1Keep all six, but choose the one you enjoy most and give it 5 to 10 minutes.
2. 2Move your alarm another 10 to 15 minutes earlier only if you've hit 8 of the last 10 mornings.
3. 3On a bad night, the 6-minute version still counts as a full day.

1. 1Build the routine you actually want, at whatever length works for you.
2. 2Drop any practice that does nothing for you, and keep the ones that do.
3. 3On day 30, decide: keep, adjust or replace. Write down your morning routine as a rule you can follow without thinking.

• Starting at 5 am on day 1. The fix: 15 minutes earlier, then adjust slowly.
• Doing the full hour from the start. The fix: six minutes until day 10.
• Ignoring sleep. The fix: an earlier wake-up needs an earlier bedtime, not less sleep.
• Treating one missed morning as the end. The fix: do the 6-minute version the next day, no matter what.
• Scrolling first. The fix: keep your phone out of reach until the routine is done.

What are the Life SAVERS? Silence, affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading and scribing, which means journaling.

Do I have to wake up at 5 am? No. The book's point is time for yourself before the day starts, not a specific hour. Start 15 minutes earlier than you wake up now.

How long should a Miracle Morning take? Anywhere from 6 minutes to an hour. Six minutes is enough to build the habit.

What if I'm not a morning person? Most of the book's readers aren't. That's why the plan starts small and expects the first ten days to feel hard.

Elrod, H. (2012). The Miracle Morning. All summaries on this page are in our own words.

Harder is independent and not affiliated with Hal Elrod or the publisher of The Miracle Morning.