What if I told you that you could be living your life without regrets, successful and happy and not settle for less than the best? What if I told you that all it takes is changing your morning routine? Would you do it?
I have been in a slump, a pretty big slump. I know I've shared some of my current submissive blues with you on the site and I'm sure there's more in the wings, but I just had to tell you about something that is making a difference and I'm only two weeks in! What I'm talking about is "The Miracle Morning" or TMM for short. It has turned my days around! What used to be no drive, lack of motivation, rain cloud sort of days have been changed to productive, inspired, positive days that are infectious and make me want to keep doing it.
I first heard of Miracle Morning over a year ago when I started bullet journaling and found Kara Benz, a YouTube creator, bullet journal enthusiast, and blogger. She shared a spread she made called "Level 10 Life" and I was fascinated. She seemed to have it all together. Her happiness and personal development were all ranked and charted with goals and action plan all right there. When she said that the ideas of the Level 10 Life were from Hal Elrod's "The Miracle Morning" I knew I wanted to get that book! I wanted the positive, organized, productive life that it seemed to promise. I wanted to be living at a level 10 in every facet of my life.
So What Is The Miracle Morning?
The Miracle Morning is a 6-step routine with uses many of the concepts I've shared on Submissive Guide to help you improve your submission; meditation, reading self-improvement books and articles, using affirmations (mantras, if you will) and journaling. Hal adds in two more and we'll get to those too. The idea is to habit-stack. Habit Stacking simply means you pick a few habits that you want to practice, make a sequence out of them and then make the sequence itself a new habit. The author even created an acronym for his habit stack. He calls it his Life S.A.V.E.R.S. You'll learn more about it in a second.
The key point of the book that really drove home the need for change in me is that Hal revealed that 95% of people settle for less than they could get from their life. Why? Uncomfortable with change, lack of motivation, resigned to just stagnate and so many other reasons. The goal of adopting a new way to make positive habits stick is to become the 5%. The people who are successful and happy and move forward with everything they wanted in life. I wanted to be one of those people.
And you know what, you deserve to be one of those people too.
So what's this habit stack that I've talked about and how in the world can it help you?
Life S.A.V.E.R.S.
The Miracle Morning is broken down into several parts. You can do them in any order and in any way they best fit into your life. Here’s a quick breakdown for you:
The beauty of this system is that you can adjust it to work with your life and your style. You can do it in as little as 6 minutes, or like me, take about an hour (what can I say I love reading and writing). You can do it in any order, but the key is to do it. Everyday. And to get up early to get it done.
That's the painful part for many, but as I searched YouTube for inspirational stories of others using the Miracle Morning I could see their faces from day one to day 15 and onward change and become more positive and happier that they were getting up earlier and getting the big stuff done - the life changing stuff.
How the Miracle Morning Is Working For Me
Before I share how I'm using the Miracle Morning, let me say that my morning routine varies from day to day. While I try to do each of these steps every morning, it's not always in the same order, and definitely not in S.A.V.E.R.S order. Sometimes my morning routine can take 30 minutes, other days it might be an hour (or more!). It really depends on how much time I have, how much work I need to get done, how well the cats are behaving and how I'm feeling.
Let's just say I always attempt to get all of the S.A.V.E.R.S. done, even if it's just the abbreviated version from the book called the 6-minute Miracle Morning.
Wake Up
I wake up around 6:45 am. I've always been a morning person and sleeping in is not something I can do easily. In fact, if I don't set my alarm, I naturally wake up around 8 am. I always have. Before I started my new routine, my alarm was set for 7:15, so I simply moved it back an extra 30 minutes. When the alarm goes off the kitties come out of their nighttime hiding places and I give them each a snuggle. This is a part of my routine that I love and I've been doing it for years. Kitty love!
As soon as I get up I drink a tall glass of water with my medication. I used to be an eat breakfast as soon as I got up sort of girl, all through school that was my style. Then about 10 years ago I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism which requires I take my meds on an empty stomach and not eat or drink anything for at least 30 mins (and 60 mins is better). So, breakfast now waits.
Silence
Silence is the hardest step for me. There are many ways you can interpret this step and I've tried a couple so far. Meditation is the most common interpretation and I'm terrible at it! I know I've talked about meditation before on the site and how it can help you as a submissive and I stand by that. But meditation takes practice, and if you've not tried it before, I highly recommend it!
I sit in silence, or my preferred option is using a guided meditation. You can listen to some free ones at UCLA Health. There are also phone apps if you want to use one of those.
I do have to admit that I've also interpreted the Silence step to be shower time. I've found I can really relax and pay attention to my body when I'm in my personal grooming mindset. I can do my best relaxation while I'm enjoying the hot water spray!
Affirmations
This step has been the largest breakthrough for me. When I embraced the fact that "As you think, so shall you become," (quote, Bruce Lee) I really made progress. It's really the same process as fake it until you make it that I've used before in my past.
I have five affirmations that I read aloud several times every day. I've categorized them based on the areas I want to focus on in my life. They are health, positive thinking, marriage, good habits, and happiness. It's amazing how the sentences pop into my head throughout the day to remind me where I should be focusing and I believe I'm making the changes I need to, just by saying that I'm already there in my affirmations.
Visualization
Visualization is the practice of creating mental pictures of your goals and dreams and where you want to be in live. You can close your eyes and imagine the things you are aiming for, or create a vision board poster to look at. I'm slowly building a vision board on Pinterest that I can browse through and visualize my life and the different things I want to achieve. Feel free to go check out, borrow some of the ideas for your own vision board, or simply gaze at all the lovely boards on Pinterest.
Exercise
I am a sedentary person. I want to change that, but it is going to take time. So, for my Miracle Morning, I am working on adding minutes and steps to my daily activity more than weight loss and strength training goals. This hopefully will change in the future but I want to set up a habit I can maintain, not overwork myself and hate this part of my routine. Most days I'll do a 10-20 minute walking routine, following along with Jessica Smith on YouTube.
Reading
I love reading but have only recently been looking for personal development books to read. If you've read Submissive Guide for any length of time, you know that I'm a huge proponent of self-improvement and making you the best version of yourself and I'm doing more reading to make that a reality in myself.
My reading is a step that varies in length from day to day. Most days, I read for about 15 minutes. I hate stopping in the middle of a chapter, so I'll often tackle one or two chapters in a sitting. Just enough to get a few basic points that I can reflect on.
When I'm done reading I'll make breakfast. Fix some coffee. See if KnyghtMare is getting up "on time".
Scribing (Journaling)
This is Hal's play on the writing or journaling. Many people do a set number of pages per morning, often called " Morning Pages" but as long as you take the time to put your current thoughts and feelings on paper it will clear your mind and help you focus your day. I have several journals that I maintain and this is also the perfect time for me to check my bullet journal and the to-do list for the day. I update my habit trackers and plan out my day. I do a bit of journaling. I brainstorm an article for Submissive Guide. I'm at my best in the morning so these are the things I will often stick to.
This is also the step that can take the most time. I've spent upwards of an hour or more journaling, writing and brainstorming before I really dig into my work for the day.
That's it for my simple morning routine that shakes away any negative thoughts, gets me built up for the day ahead and keeps me positive and focused all day long. I've never been more successful than when I started this routine and my bullet journal. It's been a life changer.
How This Is Bringing Happiness Back to My Submission
For far too long I have attached my happiness to someone else - mainly KnyghtMare, without any regard to my own happiness. I had taken my slave identity to the extreme and completely ignored myself. I made my purpose in life of catering to his happiness, no, my identity became his slave, and I lost all the other parts of me. I forgot the other roles I have in my life and the many things that bring me happiness. All that mattered was that KnyghtMare was happy. And then he went through depression and I was depressed. In that time, he pushed me to find happiness away from him. To rekindle who I am and who I want to be without the slave label.
I am no longer a slave. I am currently uncollared. KnyghtMare and I are still together, but because I lost my joy in submission and was really unhappy, KnyghtMare removed my collar. He wants to put it back on, but not until I'm able to find happiness and the joy of submission I once had. I have to do this for me.
To be honest, it hasn't been an easy road. It's a lot easier to make excuses for why you are poor at making friends, not social at events, have no hobbies and no joy in life. But really, it's my own fault for not making them a priority. I've learned with the help of The Miracle Morning that I'm the one that can make the change I need in my life and that if I set my mind to doing it, it will happen for me. I don't expect to get back to that peaceful place in submission anytime soon. I've got a lot of introspection and self-improvement ahead.
Learning to be positive, to focus on my dreams and goals and to make things a priority again have been a huge change for me and I'm looking forward to a better future. Maybe you can see how the Miracle Morning might help you also.
