Blog Posts

My Morning Routine (The Miracle Morning)

I want to share a book that truly changed my life. It literally changed my life. Because of implementing the practices in this book, I now choose to wake up at 5:30am on weekdays and spend a full hour doing a few activities.

I “sleep in” until 8 or 9 on weekends, but you better believe that I still do a morning routine. If I’m ever running short on time, I still do SOMETHING. I might do a 20 or 30 minute routine, but something is better than nothing.

Check out the video

So, what’s the book that talks about this amazing routine? It’s called The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.

I hadn’t implemented a morning routine until last year, when I came across the power of morning routines thanks to my obsession with the entrepreneurial and self-development space.

I initially started doing a 5 minute routine consisting of a minute or two of meditation, some push-ups, a shower ending with cold water for 10 seconds, and stuff like that. Nothing too intense.

But in September of last year, I read this book. And it changed everything for me. I literally started the one hour suggested routine the first day after completing the book.

Listen to the podcast


In this book, Hal uses the acronym “SAVERS.” The letters stand for:

S – Silence (5 minutes)

Spend 5 minutes being silent, thinking about things you are grateful for, and appreciating the chance at a new day.

A – Affirmations (5 minutes)

Spend 5 minutes speaking affirmations on how you will win the day and achieve goals. I usually play a youtube video and repeat after the voice saying things like:

  • I am a millionaire
  • I am successful
  • I am generous
  • I am grateful
  • Etc.

Pro-tip: I’m currently reading the book, “The Law of Attraction,” which said that you can modify affirmations a bit and add “I’m in the process of” before them so that you don’t have any self-doubt.

So instead of saying “I am a millionaire” (which since I’m not, I might subconsciously have self-doubt), I am starting to say “I’m in the process of becoming a millionaire.”

V – Visualization (5 minutes)

Visualize yourself having the perfect day. Play some instrumental music in the background if you want (I usually just play music from Audiomachine on Spotify). I close my eyes, smile, imagine everything going right that day.

I imagine meetings I have planned going the way I want them to, real estate deals or appointments I am close on going my way, etc.

I spend time looking at my vision board and then my 5 year goals which I laminated and signed. I have huge goals on there… a few of them include having a net worth of $10M and monthly passive income of $10,000 by November 8, 2023.

E – Exercise (20 minutes)

Hal recommends yoga, which is something I never really did much. Yoga and stretching? Pshhh, that’s not as cool as bench pressing. Or so I thought.

Guess who now does yoga every morning? Me. Sometimes I do 5 minutes of yoga, other times I do 20 minutes. A really good free yoga channel I use is Yoga With Adriene.

R – Reading (20 minutes)

Spend 20 minutes getting some reading done! You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can get through books just by doing this.

I’ve had the excuse of not having time to read before. You have time. Wake up earlier. Do this routine. Slow reader? So what. Set a timer and read for 20 minutes. WHether it’s 20 pages or 2 pages, it’s better than nothing.

S – Scribing (5 minutes)

Spend 5 minutes scribing, or journaling. Get your thoughts down, write down anything on your mind. I personally type mine, but apparently if you write, you’re more intentional since it takes longer.

A cool thing Hal mentioned is being able to write a new journal entry and then read the one from a year before. It’ll be a cool way to see the growth as I realize how far I’ve come in a year. I hope that in 10 years, I can read back to my goal to have a net worth of $10M and chuckle as I’ll be on to bigger goals at that time.

Do yourself a favor and check out this book.

Please, please, please do yourself a favor and get Hal’s book, The Miracle Morning, if you want to seriously change your life. If you already have a morning routine of some sort, you’re ahead of most. If you’re snoozing the alarm over and over and struggling to wake up, get it together!

Check this book out, implement a morning routine. Hal even says that doing a “6 minute version” of the Miracle Morning is perfectly fine if you think an hour is too long or are short on time on any given day.

You can literally spend 1 minute on each thing. Yup, even if that means you only read 1 page. What if you learn something on that page that changes your business or life that day for the better?

You can always start small and work your way up to the hour routine. Or, you can do what I did. Rip the band-aid off. Go all in. Commit. Set the alarm an hour earlier and just jump right into it.

“You are where you are because of who you were, but where you go depends entirely on who you choose to be.” – Hal Elrod

Recommended Links:

CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE
https://chrisbello.com

SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecn7bkCgNHkrjvMo6rThuw?view_as=subscriber 

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM
https://www.instagram.com/chrisbello09/ 

Read More
Blog Posts

My New Morning Routine

Recently, I posted an article called Morning Routines Of Successful People | 5 Things You Should Try. In that post, I mentioned that a lot of the suggestions were for myself as well, as I was one to just hop out of bed without any game plan whatsoever. My “ritual,” if you could call it that, was to basically roll out of bed, eat a healthy breakfast, shower and get dressed, then take on the day and address whatever tasks were on my mind. I’ve since adjusted my routine after reading a few articles and watching some videos about recommended morning routines. I’ve been at my new one for about a month. I have done a great job of sticking to this routine on weekdays, but will admit that I tend to slack on the meditation on the weekend. Hey, baby steps, right?

In any case, here is my new morning routine, and I love it so far. Side note, if you’re looking for an awesome to-do list app like the one in my screenshot, check out Wunderlist. Shout out to my friend Matt Miranda for introducing me to it. I’ve used it ever since and prefer it to my iPhone notes or even the reminder app.

Check out Wunderlist if you need an awesome checklist app

1. Meditate

I’ve begun to start my day off thinking positively and spending some time meditating. I tried the app Headspace and enjoyed the daily reminders along with the humorous little animated videos they have every few days to explain certain things about meditation. Go give it a try and see what you think. I’m not sure if you can adjust the voice of the person guiding the meditation, but I think that would be a nice option as the guy’s voice just didn’t seem to make me relax for whatever reason.

Suggested App to Consider: Headspace

I’ve also tried doing a few short YouTube meditation videos.

Here’s the YouTube meditation videos I’ve come across that I like the most so far:

 

 

I sometimes follow up meditation with some entrepreneur motivation to pump me up… this video does an amazing job:

 

 

2. Write down daily and weekly goals

Get your daily and weekly goals down. I’ve sometimes done this on my Wunderlist app, but sometimes it’s nice to physically write them down and cross them off the list as they get completed. I find that a Post-It note works well as it can stick to the inside of a wallet or phone case, or even on your computer monitor for constant reminders.

Here’s my Post-It note for the day:

 

3. Do 50 push-ups

Get some push-ups in to get the blood flowing and kick start your energy levels for the day. Don’t just get a venti coffee at Starbucks and ingest a deadly amount of caffeine. It doesn’t have to be 50 push-ups, just enough to get going.


image

4. Take a hot shower with 30 seconds of cold water at the end

A hot shower is a good way to transition from the push-ups for me. I added 30 seconds of cold water at the end as it apparently helps you get more alert. I saw a video that talked about Tony Robbins’ morning routine. He apparently submerges himself in a cold water bath at the end of his morning shower. I just turn the water on cold and stand there shivering like a wet dog then dry off quickly… I guess the cold water part does help you speed up in the morning as it’s so uncomfortable for most people.

5. Eat a healthy breakfast

You may have heard this one over and over again. Eat a healthy breakfast. Your first meal is important to fuel your body and “break the fast” from hours of no food or water while you sleep. I recommend meal prepping on Sundays just to have your meals ready to go in general. This will ensure you don’t grab donuts or a cholesterol– I mean breakfast– sandwich on the way in.

My morning breakfast typically looks like this:
  • Plain oatmeal with Stevia to sweeten it up if necessary
  • Egg whites with low-fat shredded cheese and vegetables

What does your morning routine look like? Have you tried anything new to see if it improves the start to your day? Leave a comment below!

Stay Connected

Chris Bello

Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast on Facebook

Read More
Blog Posts

Morning Routines Of Successful People | 5 Things You Should Try

We all have our special morning routine. Some people make a cup of coffee while listening to music. Others meditate for a few minutes before doing anything else. No matter what the routine is, we should try to start our days with a positive, relaxed attitude. What does your morning routine look like?

Personally, mine currently looks like this:

  1. Wake up
  2. Eat a healthy breakfast (such as oatmeal or egg whites)
  3. Shower / brush teeth
  4. Get dressed and take on the day

There are tons of articles out there that will suggest various routines in the morning. I will admit that I’m also writing this post for myself. There are many things I could personally do to improve my morning routine and get in a productive state of mind.

I’ve selected the Top 5 morning habits that I have heard most people recommend and write about for you to consider trying. I will be trying these myself. I’ve heard of several great apps for meditation and productivity for planning your day. I will do a little more research and write a future post on what I find and decide to stick with.

5 Things You Should Do In Your Morning Routine

1. Meditate

I have done some meditation during yoga and remember how relaxed and clear of thoughts my mind was. Getting into this mental state helps you start the day off worry-free, as opposed to immediately checking your email and freaking out about all the things you need to get done.

2. Set goals for your day

Either set goals for the day as part of your morning routine, or consult a list of goals that you have created the night before. I have a white board with more of my weekly / monthly goals, but perhaps a Post-It Note or regular note card might do the trick to really get into the weeds and detail of daily goals.

3. Brainstorm

Have a quick brainstorm session while you start to unwind from the thoughtless state of meditation. Start thinking of all sorts of ideas, and don’t be afraid to think big. This is probably a good time to dream a little of the endless possibilities your life has in store. Remember the Law of Attraction… when you envision your dreams and successes as reality consistently, you will subconsciously start taking the required actions to make them happen.

4. Eat a healthy breakfast

Luckily, I’m 1/5 here in that I already eat a healthy breakfast every morning. Start the day off by fueling your body with healthy food. Don’t swing by Chick-Fil-A or grab the office donuts. The high sugars are sure to give you a crash and the high fats and cholesterol are not really that great for you, as you probably already know.

5. Think positive

This one is an important one. Start each day off fresh with a positive attitude. Each day is a new day of opportunities, another chance to chase our dreams. We literally never know when our time will come. However, we shouldn’t live in fear of our mortality. Instead, we should live each day to the fullest and strive to make a positive impact in the world.

Try these out and let me know what you think. Perhaps this list already looks like your morning routine. At the end of the day, we’ll each have things that work for us and things that don’t. However, I think it’s worth trying various strategies and seeing what works best for you.

 

Stay Connected

Chris Bello

Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast on Facebook

Read More