Hal Elrod is an entrepreneur, podcaster, author and motivational speaker. His bestselling book “The Miracle Morning” has been translated in 37 different languages and has sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide. He talks about the 6 essential habits to add to your morning routine that will change your life, he also discusses how he came up with the idea for “The Miracle Morning”, why he started his podcast called “Achieve Your Goals” and much more!

On if he has always been this positive:

“Yes and no. I’ve always been this energetic since I was a little kid, somewhat of a positive energy. But I didn’t learn the concept of positive thinking and optimism until I was 19. My mentor at 19 taught me about positive thinking. I went home to my parents and I realized wow they were so negative, they were complaining a lot. When I was 19 and I learned about positive thinking I started creating written affirmations and thinking about who I am going to be. Just the other day I saw the document I wrote at 19 called my most important areas of self improvement. The first one was ‘I am committed to being the most positive person that I know.’ I started to live into that document and here we are today.”

On his first love:

“I was pursuing my dream, which at the time was to be a radio DJ. I had been on the radio at 15 years old. In my sophomore year of high school I got to host a radio show every Thursday for 3 hours. After many complaints, it was a country and western show and I got in trouble for playing too much hip-hop. The regular listeners would call and say ‘Who the hell is this kid..’ every week. I didn’t get invited back but the dream was born, I started my own mobile DJ company. I started pursuing that at 19, and in my first year of college I got a job at a major FM radio station. “

On how he met his mentor:

“A buddy of mine had been trying to convince me to sell kitchen knives. He was like ‘Hal you’d be so good at this. The knives sell; themselves…’ I was a DJ, I had no interest in being a salesperson. I was with him one day and I went to his office and met his manager, Jessie Levine. The manager really pushed the opportunity of direct sales. I could set my own schedule and earn as much as I want. So I decided to give it a shot and that’s how Jessie became my mentor. I went through 3 days of eight hour training with Jessie, by the end he was my favourite person on the planet. He is just so positive and I love this guy’s mindset. He talked about integrity and how the most valuable asset is to be individuals. Also he said ‘If you value your integrity at the highest level, you can speak your life into existence.’ It was lessons like that I latched onto and he is still to this day the most valuable mentor in my life.”

On being an ‘overnight success’:

“I love the phrase ‘It takes 10 years to be an overnight success.’ There was an actor on Ellen DeGeneres who nobody knew but then had the number 1 movie at the box office. Ellen goes ‘You came out of nowhere. No one knew. You’re an overnight success.’ They responded ‘Ellen for the last 10 years I have been kicked out of auditions, not getting parts, sleeping in my car broke. You didn’t see the hard work, commitment and overcoming obstacles.’ When most people have a setback, they think that they have tried and failed, then that’s it. Most people keep switching gears and never compound the failures and setbacks to achieve what they want.”

On people not having the time:

“I get that, and I also get people saying ‘I’m not a morning person.’ I was asked once during an interview ‘What percentage of The Miracle Morning people were morning people?’ I did not know the answer, so we surveyed our community. 72% of the community said they were never a morning person before they read the book. To me that says they tried and they failed. But now they are on day 642 of the miracle morning. One thing to do is to move your alarm clock as far as you possibly can. Usually you fumble, turn it off and you wake up late. You have no willpower in the morning. If you actually have to get out of bed and walk across the room, you are more awake and your willpower is stronger. My alarm is in my bathroom. I wake up, brush my teeth, drink water. That along with other steps, you have to set yourself up for success. If you just snooze, you are setting up for failure.”

On his old routine:

“Before The Miracle Morning there was no routine. I would hit the snooze button multiple times. All of a sudden 30 minutes have gone by. You could have meditated, journaled, read, done some things to put yourself in a state to be at your best to take on the day. You can be abetter person than when you went to bed the night before. To me, that’s what the Miracle Morning is. It puts you in a peak physical, mental and emotional state first thing in the morning. It also gives you time to evolve into a better person. So you become a little better each day and you become the person you need to be to experience everything you want in your life. Now I wake up without an alarm, I set up a clear intention on waking up. I shoot for 7 hours of sleep, I go to bed at 9:30 and wake up at 4:30. I have a wife and kids so sometimes it’s an hour later.”

On his new morning routine and The Miracle Morning routine:

“When I wake up I drink a glass of water and then do 2 things for my physiological optimisation. I make a cup of green tea, I do drink coffee on the weekends as a treat. I then eat a full scoop of coconut butter. The Miracle Morning itself is based on 6 practices, which is based on the SAVERS acronym:

• Silence
• Affirmations
• Visualization
• Exercise
• Reading
• Scribing

Most people do a 60 minute miracle morning. You an customise the times however you feel.”

On what he is grateful for:

“My family, life and our ability to choose how we experience every moment in our lives.”

More information on Hal Elrod can be found here.

Featured image: Brand Builders Group.