The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life Before 8 AM
by Hal Elrod – Buy Book via Damian.
Jamie’s Notes
“Whether you want to make significant improvements in just a few key areas, or you are ready for a major overhaul that will radically transform your entire life—so your current circumstances will soon become only a memory of what was—you’ve picked up the right book. You are about to begin a miraculous journey, using a simple, but revolutionary process that is guaranteed to transform any area of your life… all before 8:00 am.”
This book wasn’t the Trigger for Transformation in my life, divorce was. But this is awesome and resonates very strongly with me. The Journey of Self Actualisation, started early (the night before tbh) and repeated, diligently, patiently and persistently. Till they put you in a box.
Extreme Responsibility
“I believe it is crucial for us to embrace the perspective that anything another person has overcome or accomplished is simply evidence that anything—and I mean anything—we need to overcome or want to accomplish is possible for us, no matter what our past or current circumstance. It begins with accepting total responsibility for every aspect of your life and refusing to blame anyone else. The degree to which you accept responsibility for everything in your life is precisely the degree of personal power you have to change or create anything in your life.”
Shit happens, we all know this. But Extreme Ownership & Stoicism dictate that we can choose how we will respond to those challenges. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Loving what is. No, really, even the shitty bits.
The Hero’s Journey
“Know that wherever you are in your life right now is both temporary, and exactly where you are supposed to be. You have arrived at this moment to learn what you must learn, so you can become the person you need to be to create the life you truly want. Even when life is difficult or challenging—especially when life is difficult and challenging—the present (gift) is always an opportunity for us to learn, grow, and become better than we’ve ever been before.
You are in the process of writing your life story, and no good story is without a hero or heroine overcoming their fair share of challenges. In fact, the bigger the challenges, the better the story. Since there are no restrictions and no limits to where your story goes from here, what do you want the next page to say?”
Nobody wants to watch a Comfort Zone Special, where you sit on your bfha, eat crisps & doomscroll/bingeview, whilst scratching your genitalia occasionally.
Heroes need Villains, Challenges, Dragons, Menors/Mentees, etc, to make the Story interesting. So does your story/life. Suck it up, ButterCup.
Mornings, moments = LIFE
“How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) dramatically affects your levels of success in every single area of your life. Focused, productive, successful mornings generate focused, productive, successful days—which inevitably create a successful life—in the same way that unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre mornings generate unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre days, and ultimately a mediocre quality of life. By simply changing the way you wake up in the morning, you can transform any area of your life, faster than you ever thought possible.”
Mediocre or Magnificent, your choice entirely.
The Miracle Morning Life S.A.V.E.R.S.
“In order to save your Level 10 life from being neglected and limited by the demands of your life situation—which ultimately leads to a life of regret, unfulfilled potential, and even mediocrity—you must prioritize and dedicate time each day to your personal development. Enter The Miracle Morning Life S.A.V.E.R.S.—a set of six simple, life-enhancing, life-changing daily practices, each of which develops one or more of the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of your life, so that you can become who you need to be to create the life you want.”
- Silence – Mindfulness meditation is best. Get your Monkey Mind to sit down & shut up, 2 seconds at a time, if needs be. Reps are good.
- Affirmations – Rather than listening passively to that (generally undermining & negative) inner voice, talk it into positivity.
- Visualization – Gotta have a target, a goal, a Guiding Star. Whilst knowing it is a (Hero’s) Journey, not a destination. Then WOOP it, rub it up against Reality, and prepare for the obstacles that wil become your path.
- Exercise / Movement – of your choosing, whatever you don’t hate enuf, so you will do it consistently. As in, every day. Build a streak.
- Reading – Books are great. The website Heroic is distilled Knowledge. For me, quotes further distil the Wisdom. Hence this site.
- Scribing – or Journaling. Sadly, I can’t comment, as I am unable thus far to make this habit stick. I do know Gratitude is Good, tho.
Do some or all of this, and you won’t go far wrong.
…purposeful Silence
“If you want to immediately reduce your stress levels, to begin each day with the kind of calm, clarity, and peace of mind that will allow you to stay focused on what’s most important in your life, and even dance on the edge of enlightenment—do the opposite of what most people do—start every morning with a period of purposeful Silence.
The life-enhancing benefits of Silence have been well documented throughout the ages. From the power of prayer, to the magic of meditation, some of the greatest minds in history have used purposeful Silence to transcend their limitations and create extraordinary results.”
Do one breath.
Do one minute.
Do 5 minutes (where I am at currently, 27/8/26).
Just commit & follow thru.
Show yourself Who is da Boss.
And if you are saying “I ain’t got the time”, install a time tracker on your fone & see how much time you spend in the Distracted Shallows.
I dare ya.
Affirmations
“You can use affirmations to start programming yourself to be confident and successful in everything you do, simply by repeatedly telling yourself who you want to be, what you want to accomplish and how you are going to accomplish it. With enough repetition, your sub-conscious mind will begin to believe what you tell it, act upon it, and eventually manifest it in your reality.
Putting your affirmations in writing makes it possible for you to choose your new programing so it moves you towards that desired condition or state of mind by enabling you to consistently review it. Constant repetition of an affirmation will lead to acceptance by the mind, and result in changes in your thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors. Since you get to choose and create your affirmations, you can design them to help you establish the thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that you want and need to succeed.”
…+ a load of work to back up those affirmations. No point lying to yourself.
Nobody is coming to save you. Nobody is coming to make you feel better about yourself. You have to prove to yourself, over & over again, that you are the sort of person who ?#####?, convince yourself, see & feel the times you’ve proven this, and keep repeating.
Visualization
“Visualization, also known as creative visualization or mental rehearsal, refers to the practice of seeking to generate positive results in your outer world by using your imagination to create mental pictures of specific behaviors and outcomes occurring in your life. Frequently used by athletes to enhance their performance, visualization is the process of imagining exactly what you want to achieve or attain, and then mentally rehearsing what you’ll need to do to achieve or attain it.”
Again, personally, I prefer working like a one legged man in an arse kicking contest to force it to happen. But each to their own, and I can see it working for athletes, you gotta convince yourself you are able to win that race, perform that dive, score that penalty, etc, in order to do so. The opposite is most definitely true. We have all seen some poor soul walk up to take a penalty in a crucial shoot-out, and we all know he’s gonna miss, cos he does too. Self fulfilling prophecy, I suppose.
Exercise
“Morning exercise should be a staple in your daily rituals. When you exercise for even a few minutes every morning it significantly boosts your energy, enhances your health, improves self-confidence and emotional well-being, and enables you to think better and concentrate longer.”
Harvard scientists say exercising is kinda like taking a little bit of Ritalin and a little bit of Prozac, it sharpens our attention and boosts our mood. Who wouldn’t want that, with no side effects?
Conversely, not exercising is like taking a depressant.
As usual, your call entirely.
Currently, swimming is my start to the day. Yoga is towards the end. Work & this website are in between. Rinse, repeat.
Reading
“Reading, the fifth practice in the Life S.A.V.E.R.S., is the fast track to transforming any area of your life. It is one of the most immediate methods for acquiring the knowledge, ideas, and strategies you need to achieve Level 10 success in any area of your life.
The key is to learn from the experts – those who have already done what you want to do. Don’t reinvent the wheel. The fastest way to achieve anything you want is to model successful people who have already achieved it. With an almost infinite amount of books available on every topic, there are no limits to the knowledge you can gain through daily reading.”
I do love reading, but I gotta be honest, it feels like an indulgence to sit & read a whole book, which let’s face it, even the best of ’em have an amount of “padding & fluff” in between the diamonds. That’s where I feel the compromise is Brian’s Heroic Precis’. Some of them grab me so much I buy the paper back, and indulge. I am currently working thru How to be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci, then I shall be on to the Inner Citadel by Pierre Hadot. My medium/long term plan is to come back & redo these Books pages, with my own personal, Deep Dive, researched, highlighted & scrawled, notes, 🤞.
Habits
“Considering that our habits create our life, there is arguably no single skill that is more important for you to learn and master than controlling your habits. You must identify, implement, and maintain the habits necessary for creating the results you want in your life, while learning how to let go of any negative habits which are holding you back from achieving your true potential.”
This is so obvious, it shouldn’t really need pointing out. But the number of books on Habits tell their own story. I will add some on here soon, and hopefully remember to link.
Hal describes the three phases of habit creation, each 10 days (or so) long, as follows.
First, the new habit is a PITA. We don’t like doing it. At all. But we MUST persist.
The second phase is UNCOMFORTABLE. It’s not quite as bad as the first phase but not quite awesome. Yet.
The third phase is when we do the right thing on AUTOPILOT, without resistance or, indeed, thinking about it.
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