The Miracle Morning for Writers: How to Build a Writing Ritual That Increases Your Impact and Your Income (Before 8AM)

Book Preface

I have a secret weapon for my writing routine…

Each morning, I wake up, complete a series of habits, and fire up my laptop ready to share my thoughts with the world. I don’t feel sleepy or groggy like most people do during those early hours. Instead, my mind is clear, and I enjoy a heightened sense of motivation to write. The reason why? It’s because of the Miracle Morning.

As a writer, it’s important to manage your energy level. The craft we’ve chosen is amazing, but it’s also one of the most sedentary ways to spend your time. So what the Miracle Morning gives you is a chance to start the day on the right foot with the opportunity to improve your mind and body.

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey writes about the importance of prioritizing the activities that are important but not urgent. He defines important activities as the things that are critical to accomplishing your long-term goals, but have no inherent deadline; they are easy to put off in lieu of more urgent, and less important, tasks.

We all know it’s important to exercise, read, and eat healthy foods because these habits will have a significant long-term impact on your life, but they are often put on the back burner when something urgent comes up. Like when an important work project gets thrown in your lap.

What the Miracle Morning gives you is a special time of the day when you complete those important but not urgent activities. By combining silence, visualization, journaling, reading, affirmations, and exercise, you have an opportunity to complete those crucial activities before most people even get out of bed. Activities that will have a cumulative, positive long-term impact on your writing success.

As you’ll see below, I’m a fairly recent convert to the Life S.A.V.E.R.S. method created by Hal. Since adopting these habits, my writing (and motivation for this habit) has reached new heights. Now I’d consider it to be one of the important parts of my day.

From Night Owl to Early Bird

My story starts with a lot of frustration. In early 2012, I was obsessed with this crazy idea of becoming a successful self-published author. The problem? I wasn’t a very consistent writer.

I approached my writing with a feast or famine attitude. Some days, I would crank out a few thousand words, but then these were followed by days where I didn’t write a single word. This situation was frustrating because, while I wanted to build this habit, I couldn’t figure out how to make it consistent.

Eventually, I made a decision that forever changed my life. Instead of finding time to write, I made the commitment to get up in the morning and complete my words before doing anything else. My logic was simple—if I wrote first thing in the morning, then this would eliminate any excuses for not completing my daily words.

Unfortunately there was one, small hiccup in this plan …

I hated getting up in the morning.

You see, I have lived the laptop lifestyle since 2004, so I believed that I could get up whenever I wanted. I was a night owl who enjoyed working late into the evening, so it was okay to sleep until 11:00 a.m. and then start my day.

But what I quickly found is that this lifestyle was hindering my writing. By the time I got up, ate lunch, and started my day, the last thing I wanted to do was write.

 Eventually, I came to see the light. While I enjoy sleeping in as much as the next guy (or gal), I made the commitment to set my alarm clock for the unimaginable time of 9:00 a.m. and then immediately start writing.

At first this new routine was a major struggle. There were many mornings when I’d hit the snooze button and immediately go back to sleep. But eventually I consistently forced myself out of bed and started my writing day.

Unfortunately, during this time I soon realized that getting up early wasn’t enough. While I was physically present, my mind was foggy, and I felt very uncreative. I made another decision that would change my life: I started each day with a morning routine.

At first, my morning ritual included habits that I read about when I did a Google search. I wrote down my goals, exercised for a bit, identified the important tasks for the day, and read quality books. While these activities helped my writing, I felt there was something missing.

A year later, I heard about The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. It seemed like everyone was talking about this book and how it had changed their lives. And when I finally got around to reading it, I discovered why people loved it.

What Hal teaches is a proven routine that focuses on the six habits that have had the biggest impact on the lives of successful people. He doesn’t just tell you to complete a morning routine he shows you exactly what to do and when to do it.

Since implementing the Miracle Morning practice, my writing (and personal) success has vastly improved. I now start each session motivated and ready to crank out a few thousand words. Even better, my mind is crystal clear, and I never experience any type of writer’s block.

The Miracle Morning has also had significant impact on my business. I’ve written over a dozen bestselling titles, generated a multiple six-figure yearly income, and even had a book land on The Wall Street Journal Best Selling Books list. All of this success is due to that one decision to get up early in the morning, complete a series of positive habits, and then start writing before doing anything else.