This 6-Minute Morning Routine Might Transform Your Life

Life is busy, right?

And as if professional and personal duties, your relationships, the household, and taking care of the kids were not enough, some self-help gurus are telling you to create and follow a morning routine.

Well, there’s a good reason why they do so. And it can actually be summed up through a beautiful quote:

“Lose an hour in the morning, and you will spend all day looking for it.”

— Richard Whately

We all know how starting the day full of stress feels.

It’s awful.

And I don’t know about you, but whenever I mess up my morning, I have a hard time raising my energy and being productive throughout the rest of the day.

Mornings matter a lot.

And if you want to change your life, starting by transforming your mornings might be the most effective first step to take.

Now, you might want to argue why you don’t have time for an extended morning routine because of your job, your kids, or whatever.

But as Romancio Fulcher once stated:

“There is always a way… when you’re committed.”

And let’s be honest…if you really want, you can make up a few minutes to transform your mornings…and your life.

Admittedly, my morning routine often changes.

Sometimes, journaling is an essential part, and I need it to stay sane, and some other days, I just don’t feel like doing it.

On some days, I take all my supplements and drink warm water with lemon, and on some, I skip all of it.

However, I believe there is tremendous power in having some kind of routine you follow every day.

And even though I mix up my morning routine from time to time, the core of it is based on Hal Elrod’s bestselling book Miracle Morning, which teaches one key message:

“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.”

Throughout the whole book, Hal Elrod describes his concept called Life Savers, which sums up six essentials steps to cover during your morning routine:

Silence

Affirmations

Visualization

Exercise

Reading

Scribblin

And while his recommended morning routine takes an hour, it’s actually possible to do all of the six steps in only six minutes.

Of course, taking more than six minutes for yourself is great, but if that’s not possible, these six minutes might help you feel more energized, aligned, and focused, not only in the morning but throughout your entire day.

And I honestly believe six minutes is a timespan we all can invest, no matter how busy we are.

If you want to transform your life but are not willing to invest as little as six minutes, I might have to disappoint you because you won’t ever experience change without putting effort into transformation.

You can join the most excellent online programs and pay thousands of dollars for the best coaches on this planet, but if you aren’t willing to get your ass up, you’ll always feel, do and experience the same.

If you are, however, open to change, here’s how to start your mornings from now on:

1. Silence

Before you do anything else, practice a minute of silence.

You could, for example, sit in your bed, smile at yourself, stretch your body, and breathe deeply.

But you could also say a prayer of gratitude or practice a one-minute meditation.

It doesn’t matter what you precisely do.

The gist is to practice some sort of silence and calm and be fully present for a minute.

This might not sound like a big deal, but it can help you start your day much more peaceful than, for example, checking your phone right after waking up.

You can learn more in an hour of silence than you can in a year from books.

— Matthew Kelly

If practiced regularly, you will soon realize how powerful your minute of silence is and how it can help you to stay calm throughout your entire day, even when difficulties arise.

“Silence is one of the best ways to immediately reduce stress, while increasing your self-awareness and gaining the clarity that will allow you to maintain your focus on your goals, priorities, and what’s most important for your life, each and every day.”

— Hal Elrod

2. Affirmations

After your silent minute, allow yourself to read powerful affirmations for 60 seconds.

In the best case, you’ll prepare a piece of paper that contains your favorite affirmations and put it next to your bed so that you can immediately grab it and start reading after your silent minute.

Affirmations are nothing more than powerful statements in the present tense, and they can cover any area of your life.

Everything we believe about ourselves and the world is true because we repeated it several times until it became our reality. Thus, repeating affirmations is a great way to transform our belief systems.

“Your affirmations are either working for or against you, depending on how you are using them. If you don’t consciously design and choose your affirmations you are susceptible to repeating and reliving the fears, insecurities, and limitations of your past.”

— Hal Elrod

By creating your own list of affirmations and repeating them daily, you will feel an inner motivation and remind yourself of your unlimited potential.

Here are some of my favorite affirmations to repeat in the morning but you can, of course, create or research your own powerful mantras:

I am always safe and divinely protected and guided.

I appreciate everything I have.

I live in complete joy and abundance.

I am successful in all my pursuits.

I am passionate, outrageously enthusiastic, and I inspire others every day.

Money making opportunities come my way all the time.

Money pours into my life from all directions and unlimited sources.

I’m open and receptive to all the wealth that life offers me.

I get highly paid for just being myself and doing what I love.

I am safe in all my relationships and I give and receive tons of love.

I am naturally filled with an abundance of energy.

If some of these affirmations resonate with you, feel free to put them on a piece of paper and repeat them every morning for 60 seconds.

At first, your affirmations might feel like they are not 100% true. You probably won’t even believe them yourself.

But that’s okay, it will take some time for your subconscious mind to absorb the power of affirmations.

Yet, if you repeat them regularly, you will soon not only believe but also feel the power of your own words.

At once point in the book, Hal Elrod quotes Muhammad Ali:

“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. Once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. “

Even though you need to repeat affirmations several times until they become a profound part of your subconscious mind, you can change your list from time to time.

You could, for instance, adapt your daily morning affirmations to your current lifestyle, your goals, or a specific event in your life.

If your goal is to lose weight, your affirmations might all empower you to do so.

If you, however, aim to make more money, you might want to choose affirmations that attract more abundance.

It’s totally up to you, and there are no rules in creating your affirmations, except they empower you to become your best version and create a life you love.

3. Visualization

Your third minute, according to Hal Elrod, should consist of a visualization exercise.

If you want to practice your morning routine without getting up, make sure to prepare anything you need and have it right beside your bed, so you don’t lose any precious time.

You might already be aware of how powerful visualization is and how it can help us to create the life of our dreams.

But here’s how Hal Elrod defines it in Miracle Morning:

“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.”

Just like with affirmations, our subconscious mind can’t distinguish between reality and the desired imagination.

That’s why both techniques are so powerful and can help you in transforming your days and, ultimately, your life. Given you practice them daily, of course.

You could either prepare a vision board and spend your 60 seconds looking at compelling pictures, or you could simply close your eyes and visualize your ideal day or life.

Both practices are fine and powerful.

My personal preference, however, is a vision board, as that’s the easiest way to create powerful emotions and connect with my vision.

4. Scribbling (Writing)

The fourth minute of your Miracle Morning is dedicated to writing, and that’s, in my opinion, one of the most powerful techniques to clear your mind and focus on the positive right from the beginning of your day.

You could, for example, write down what you are grateful for, what you are proud of, or what excites you about the upcoming day.

But you could also spend that minute writing down the goals for your day or your overall biggest goals in life. It’s totally up to you.

“Writing in a journal each day, with a structured, strategic process allows you to direct your focus to what you did accomplish, what you’re grateful for, and what you’re committed to doing better tomorrow. Thus, you more deeply enjoy your journey each day, feel good about any forward progress you made, and use a heightened level of clarity to accelerate your results.”

— Hal Elrod

Again: There are no rules on what’s right or wrong. All steps are powerful if repeated daily, but you need to find out what works best for you.

5. Reading

Does it even make sense to read for a minute?

It does.

If you don’t have more than six minutes for your morning routine, it makes sense to read for a minute or watch an educational 60-second video to get some inspiration and new insights into a topic that sparks your curiosity.

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body and prayer is to the soul. We become the books we read.”

— Matthew Kelly

Even a single new idea can make a significant impact on your life, so make sure to invest in learning something new every day, even if it’s just for a minute.

If you really can’t make more than a minute for your morning-reading-routine, I’d advise you to pick a few books with powerful collections of memoirs, such as The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday which consist of concise chapters that still deliver immense value and inspiration.

6. Move

The sixth and last minute of your miracle morning routine is finally dedicated to getting up and moving your body.

Until this part, you could’ve chosen to stay in bed, but at the latest now it’s time to get up and energize your body.

You could do one minute of jumping jacks, stretch your body, do push-ups, or whatever else you want.

The only important point is to get your heart rate up and generate some energy.

“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.”

— Hal Elrod

Bottom Line

Taking a few minutes for self-care and a great morning routine is doable for anyone, even if you have a stressful job, kids, and the household to manage.

Contrary to common belief, by practicing a morning routine, you won’t have less time for the rest of your life, but you will have more energy for all daily activities.

Your mental strength and calmness can be your most valuable weapons during stressful times, and a morning routine is the best way to ensure these qualities.

If you can afford to take more than six minutes, do it.

Every minute you spend on your personal growth during the morning is well invested. During busy days, however, make sure to at least practice your six-minute routine so that you don’t lose track of your goals and stay aligned with your best version.

“In order for you to stop settling for less than you deserve — in any area of your life — and to create the levels of personal, professional, and financial success you desire, you must first dedicate time each day to becoming the person you need to be, one who is qualified and capable of consistently attracting, creating, and sustaining the levels of success you want. “

— Hal Elrod

You can mix up all the steps mentioned above just as you want.

As said before: There is no right or wrong.

A morning routine is all about making your life even better. So if you find that one of the six steps don’t do you well, just replace it with something else that energizes you or skip it.

You can, of course, also start small and just practice one or two of the routines at first.

Don’t ever let any self-help book (or post) make you feel overwhelmed and not good enough because you’re not practicing all the suggested steps.

All these books and posts are here to serve you and help you live happier, more successful lives, not to let you feel bad.

Your life, your rules.