Podcast Transcription: The Miracle Morning: The Secret Routine to Transform Your Life, Achieve Your Goals and Supercharge Your Productivity with Hal Elrod
Ted Ryce: Hal Elrod, thanks for coming back on the show, my man, we were just talking and it's been a hot minute. There's the pre- and post-COVID time, but also, you've had an experience that, well, you had cancer. And so, I want to catch up with you. I want to hear about what you're up to now and what the changes were through all that because you're such an inspirational person. So really, thankful for you to be back on the show. 

Hal Elrod: Ted, thank you for having me, man. And let's, you know, this will be even better than the first time we had a conversation. I am excited. And like you mentioned, there's pre-COVID post-COVID. There's for me pre-cancer, post-cancer, right? It's like, you know, that's almost seems like a lifetime ago. So, we're, we're getting a fresh start now. 

Ted Ryce: I love it. And the first thing I want to talk about is just, you know, so many people do know your story already and you've been on the show, you were on episode 207.  

So, if you're listening right now and you want to go back and you want to hear more of Howell's initial story of what happened and how he got started with The Miracle Morning, his bestselling book, you want to listen to that 207.  

But how I really want to talk about your cancer diagnosis, how you beat it. And the idea I have for this show is this. So many people, we go through our lives and we, let's say, put a lot of effort into being successful in our career. We put a lot of effort into our family, raising our children. And these things happen, man. I mean, you were at the top of your game when you got cancer. Can you just talk a little bit about what happened, how you got through it? 

With the lesson being like how to how does one maintain their mindset through that? 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so 2016, I just moved from California to Texas with my family. My daughter was seven, my son was four. And we were living in a new house, new city, new state. And one night I woke up struggling to breathe and ended up within about a week or two, I was diagnosed a rare aggressive form of cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia. And it has a 20 to 30% survival rate. So, it's very grim odds that you're going to make it. 

And the and because it has such a grim survival rate which part of the reason I think is because the chemo regimen It's such a fast-acting cancer. It shuts your organs down. So, when I went into the hospital not being able to breathe my lung was full of fluid but then they discovered my heart was on the verge of failing and so were my kidneys. And the doctor gave me one to three weeks to live if I didn't start chemo. Now I'm a very holistic natural person 

And so, I was like, okay, I know that chemo is essentially poison. And I really don't want to go down that road and do the damage to my body. So, I want to cure this naturally. And the doctor said, Hal, you don't have that luxury. Your cancer is not a slow growing, you know, tumor, for example. He said, your organs are already shutting down and you will be dead in one to three weeks. Now, I interpreted that as kind of a scare tactic to get me to do the chemo. So, I said, all right, give me my own give me 24 hours, do a little research.  

And I reached out to two of the best holistic oncologists in the country, you know, hoping that they would help me. And they both said, Hal, your cancer is so fast acting that your doctor wasn't exaggerating. You will be dead in the next week or so. There's nothing we can do for you naturally or holistically. Chemo is actually your best bet. However, so I'm like, okay, well, I guess that's it. Then I'm not going to go rogue. If these holistic oncologists, you know, that have cured some celebrities and this and that, like if they're... Okay, I'm not going to go on my own.  

But so, you think about put yourself like Ted, just imagine for a second, right. So, the doctor saying, if you try to cure this naturally, right, who knows what's going to happen? If you do chemo, there's only a 70 to 80% chance you're going to die. Right? Like, like, so like your best odds, if you trust us with this poison, right?  

You know, are you're most likely going to die. And so, it's very difficult, you know, decision to make and because the cancer so aggressive the chemo regimen is equally as aggressive. Instead of going in for like a one-hour treatment, you know, once a month or once a week, it was a hundred hours of chemotherapy a month for eight months. It was insane.  

And so, here's how I decided to approach it. It was so hard to do the chemo, but I'm like, I have no other choice. I've got to stay alive for my family. I do whatever I can. So, and here's the big paradigm shift for everybody listening. 

I realized I'm not putting my life in the doctor's hands. He has very little skin in the game. I'm a number to him. I'm sure he doesn't want to lose me, but he understands. Yeah, my job, I lose some, I just give the chemo and whatever happens, happens, right? I do the best I can. So, I had to take 100% responsibility for my health and my life and my recovery.  

So, I decided that, okay, I'm going to do the chemo because that seems to be the only option. And I'm going to research and implement every holistic practice and protocol known to man and I'm going to figure out how to detox the chemotoxicity. I'm going to figure out how to build my immune system. I'm going to figure out how to cure the cancer naturally.  

So that was it. It was a two-pronged approach is okay I'll do the chemo because that seems to be a non-negotiable and I will take ownership and I did three coffee enemas a week. I took 70 supplements every day. I drank organic juice. 

I did lymphatic massage, I did ozone sauna, you name it. I did miracle morning every morning with all six of the miracle morning practices focused on beating cancer. And we probably should circle back to that at some point because I do believe that the miracle morning saved my life throughout that journey as well. 

But the doctors were pretty blown away by how well I responded to the chemo. And I go, yeah, because I'm doing all the things that you guys said didn't matter. Like when I asked the doctors, like, think about this and I want to give everybody a paradigm shift and this is I'm not trying to, you know, crap on doctors or anything. I will say I might be crapping on the medical system at large, the pharmaceutical industry a little bit, right? That is a profit driven industry. But I asked my doctor on like day two, hey, what role does diet play in my recovery? And this was more of like, I want to get to know the level of trust that I can have with this guy, cause I know the answer generally, right? It's crucial, right? What you put in your body is crucial. Sugar feeds cancer. There's all sorts of easy stuff to know. And the doctor said, it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you do chemo. 

And I was like, how could you say that? If somebody needs to heal their body, they should be eating the most nutritious foods on the planet. You're literally saying I can eat preservatives and sugar and garbage. Anyway, so, and that just further said like, okay, the chemo is a necessary evil, but I've got to do everything in my power to beat the cancer. And I believe I am alive.  

Yes, I'm grateful for the chemo. I was every time I took it, I was thanking God for it being able to kill the cancer and thanking God for my body being strong enough to survive it. But if I had not maintained the mental, the mindset where I'm healing my body in conjunction and co-creation with God, and I'm going to do everything in my power in addition to chemo to do it, I don't know that I'd be alive today. If I had just trusted the doctors, I'd be a statistic, right?  

Ted Ryce: Yeah, and I love that message because I appreciate modern medicine too. I've had to take antibiotics, unfortunately, a few times for things that wouldn't get better.  

But when it comes down to it, people say, oh, I talked to my doctor, but they're not really your doctor. Their doctors do a lot of people, they're trying to make their business work and they probably have health problems of their own if they're American in particular.  

So yeah, it's such a great message. And also, what you said about what they, when you said that about the chemo versus diet and exercise, what I, I know what they mean. They want to stay focused on like, what's the thing that's going to make the difference. And you consulted with those other oncologists too. And they said, you got to do the chemo, you got to do it. 

At the same time, it's like, they're so quick to push aside the other things. And I don't want to talk about COVID much, you know, but the same thing sort of happened get vaccinated. But what does your health matter?  

We even know like, they're there, you know, to just stay away from things that might be more, you know, considered maybe fringe or conspiracy, even new things, new information came out from the mainstream saying your cardiorespiratory fitness, your VO2 max, in other words, super huge. It's probably the number one thing that determined your prognosis for COVID even. And it's like, well, why wasn't that talked about too much? And so that's what I try to do, but how, man? 

Hal Elrod: Yeah. Well, yeah, and it was right with people with co-morbidities that they had the worst results. It's like, okay, so hey, if you're healthy, that was like never talked about like, hey, be healthy. Make sure you're taking care of yourself, you know, right? So anyway, yeah, that's a whole another a whole another a whole another topic. It's crazy. 

Ted Ryce: Yeah, right. And so, what I hear you saying is you took you just took ultimate responsibility and you listen to your doctors, but you also understood that this is on you too, like you said, they win some, they lose some, and it's just a bit of a numbers game for them, while you, it's just, you're all that matters besides your family.  

And talk to me about the miracle morning. So, you did the chemo, you did all this other stuff, but how would you, when you say it saved your life, like what do you mean by that? 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, so for anyone that doesn't know the miracle morning, here's a very quick synopsis. It's made up of six practices that are organized into an acronym SAVERS. S-A-V-E-R-S. The first S is for silence. That's your meditation or prayer. The A is for affirmations, which I'm going to circle back to because I think the affirmations were the anchor of the miracle morning that saved my life. So, we'll circle back to that. The V is for visualization. The E is for exercise. The R is for reading. And the final S in savers is for scribing, which is a fancy word for writing or journaling.  

So, these are essentially the six of the most timeless, proven personal development practices in history. That the world's most successful people have sworn by for centuries, right?  

So, affirmations, well, let me actually, let me say this at a high level. The way that I view the savers is, these are the six practices that accelerate your personal development so that you can become the person that you need to be that is qualified and capable of creating the results that you want in your life.  

So, in 2008, when I created the miracle morning, I was financially distraught, my house had just been foreclosed on my credit was shot, I was $52,000 in credit card debt. And I created this morning routine called the miracle morning actually wasn't called that first. Within two months, I doubled my income at the height of the 2008 Great Recession. So, I went from being in the worst part of place in my life, financially to doubling my income in two months. 

And it was it felt like a miracle. It happened so fast. I told my wife, Hey, in the last two months, since I did this morning routine, it feels like a miracle how it's changed my life. And she goes, It's your miracle morning. So that's the history of it.  

Um, so the affirmations piece when I got cancer, and I'm a very positive, optimistic guy, but I'm also a realist, right? And it's like, 70 to 80% of people die from this cancer, okay, so that's a reality of the face. And I'd be an irresponsible parent and husband if I wasn't, that was the hard part. It was like, how do you focus on the optimism?  

I'm going to beat this, I'm going to live, but I also have to prepare logistically for dying. I have to literally make sure my will and all my affairs are in order in case I die in the next few weeks or few months. So, it's very challenging. So, because of that, I was experiencing a lot of fear. And what I would think about is like, I'm going to beat this cancer, I'm going to beat it. Then I'd go, okay, but what if you don't? Like, you have to face that possibility.  

What if you do everything right, and they just caught it too late, or it's too strong, and you die? So I was in fear, and I realized this fear isn't serving me. And this is true, by the way, if you're listening to this, we all deal with fear. If you're afraid of the economy right now, and you're afraid of your business failing, if you're afraid of your marriage failing, if you're afraid of your health, whatever your source of fear is, most of us have lots of sources of fear. 

I was afraid I was going to die. And I realized that's not serving me. Very rarely, fear only serves us in the short term to make us aware of something that we need to address or prepare for or change so that the thing we're afraid of doesn't become our reality, right? But you only need about, you know, a few minutes maybe a day of the fear, right, to really think through it. And then you go, okay, but most of us live perpetually in fear over an extended period of time. And it's detrimental to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. And so, for me, I went, okay, the fear doesn't serve me. How can I transcend this state of fear?  

And so, I created affirmations and, you know, there's a new miracle morning updated and expanded edition.  

And I go in detail about this in the book and walk you through how to do it. But here's the short of it three very simple steps to create affirmations that are not these goofy, flowery, like, I'm a millionaire, I'm amazing, I'm a money magnet, right? Like all these, you know, goofy affirmations.  

These are affirmations that are rooted in truth, that are practical, that are actionable, that are results-oriented, that will accelerate your progress toward whatever outcome you're affirming. So here are the three steps. Step, and then I'll actually recite to you my cancer affirmations. Step one, affirm what you're committed to. 

If you want to be wealthy, don't say I am wealthy because that's not yet your reality. Say I am committed to becoming wealthy or I'm committed to generating $100,000 in income this year or I'm committed to increasing my income by 20%. Get really tangible that you're committed. What are you committed to?  

Step two, affirm why it is a must for you. This is where you generate the motivation, the drive, the feelings that you need to do what is necessary to make step one a reality, right?  

It's like, okay, I'm committed to this and I'm doing it for me. I'm doing it for my spouse. I'm doing it for my kids. I'm doing it for these are the reasons why I'm committed no matter what.  

Step three, which specific actions will you take and win? Affirm which actions you will take and win. So that's where the rubber meets the road. Rubber meets the road. It's like, okay, so I'm committed to this. Here's why.  

So, in order to make sure I get there, these things at these times on these days of the week, every week, right? And one quick caveat, and this was true for me, if you're like, okay, but what if what I want, what if I'm what I'm committing to, I don't yet know how to get there. Like, let's say I want to start a business, I'm committed to starting a business. Why? Because I want financial freedom and I want time freedom and I want to provide financial security for my family, right? Okay, great. But I don't know what to do and when because I've never started a business, right? 

Oh, so step one or I'm sorry, step one of step three in terms of what are you going to do and when is you're going to figure it out, you're going to schedule time to figure out what the next steps are. So maybe you're going to schedule time when are you step three, which actions you'll take and when it's when are you going to schedule time to Google how to start a business, or to go to Amazon and get a book on how to start a business, you can apply this to any outcome in your life. 

So, here's my word for word cancer affirmations. And then I'll tie a bow on how it saved my life. So, I felt myself afraid. What if I die? And I realized that's not serving me. I am committed. So, I wrote, I had this in writing, it was in my phone, it was printed on my bedside table, I had multiple copies. So, I was never without these affirmations.  

Step one, affirm what you're committed to. I am committed to beating cancer and living to be 100 plus years old alongside Ursula and the kids, no matter what, there is no other option. I'm committed.  

So, for you, your template is I'm committed to blank, no matter what, there's no other option. And I recited that, Ted, with so much conviction and so much energy and passion, if you will, every time I felt afraid, I overrode the fear with this unwavering faith based on my unwavering commitment to beat cancer. Step two, why is it a must? 

I had five bullet points. I'm committed to beating cancer for Ursula because I promised her forever and a day. I'm committed to beating cancer for my mom and dad because they've already lost one child and they don't deserve to lose another one. I'm committed to beating cancer for my kids, Sophia and Halston, because they need their daddy's love, guidance and leadership, and I want to watch them grow up. Number four, I'm committed to beating cancer for myself because damn it, I deserve to live a long, happy, healthy life. 

And number five, I'm committed to beating cancer for the millions of people who are themselves battling cancer or some other disease and may not have been blessed with the mindset or the knowledge that I have. And I have a responsibility to beat cancer so I can help them on their healing journey.  

Those five reasons, Ted, were so compelling. And anyone listening, think of how this relates to your commitments that you are going to make in your life. 

It's these reasons, whether it's one, two, three, or five, that are so compelling that when I was sick with chemo, when I was exhausted, when I was nauseous, when I felt like giving up and dying because there were a lot of days where I was so in such a low state that if I did not have those affirmations in my family that I was fighting for, I probably would have died. I would have just, I would have given up because I didn't, I couldn't bear it. It was so hard. But that kept me going.  

And the third step, I had a list, I won't go through all of it. I actually listed them off earlier, some of the holistic, but I had, I will do chemotherapy while maintaining the mindset that I am stronger, strong enough, my body is strong enough to sustain the damage from the chemo and live to be 100. And I will combine that with every holistic practice known to man. I'll read books, I'll watch documentaries, I'll figure it out. 

So, I had a clear action plan of combining the best of Western allopathic medicine and Eastern holistic medicine. And that affirmation was the anchor because every day it was clear, here's what I'm committed to, here's why, here's what I'm going to do.  

And then I supported my mindset with my silence, the essence savers, my visualization of seeing myself healed, playing with my kids, walking my daughter down the aisle, generating these emotions that were healing, you know? And then I read books on beating cancer, I exercised on and on and on. 

Ted Ryce: Wow, moving how, I mean, you know, I'm speechless, almost speechless, let's say, but... 

Couple things come up for me. One thing is that our minds are programmable and it's something that we, even high performers like the people who listen to this show, they don't always appreciate, right?  

In other words, you might be a high performer running your company, but when it comes to something like this, facing cancer or some other sort of health scare and just kind of reverting back to maybe that child like a person who used to be bringing back old wounds, giving into the fear in other words, and then having that kind of ripple throughout other areas of our life, our psychology, our physiology, and of course our behavior.  

As you said, I couldn't imagine going through chemo. I had a bit of a cancer scare myself, man. It wasn't anything like yours. I had a history of colon cancer in my family. 

Hal Elrod: What happened?  

Ted Ryce: My dad had colon cancer when he was super young. I've been told, hey, you need to get a colonoscopy. Your dad had it pretty young. I was thinking, you know what? I'm okay. I exercise. I mean, I did party quite hard in my 20s, but... 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, me too. 

Ted Ryce: Yeah, but I think I'm okay. And then when I finally got around to doing that first colonoscopy in 2021, it was a giant polyp. It was pre-cancerous. And it was a wakeup call. Thankfully, it was pre-cancerous. But it's just another example. I often think to myself if I weren't healthy, if I were overweight and not exercising and stressed out and eating too much junk food, would I have already had cancer and maybe have to do some type of surgery.  

My father had a colonoscopy, colostomy bag. So, he for the rest of his life, after that surgery, had to use this bag to go to the bathroom. It was something that, you know, I feel terrible for him.  

Things were different when he had it, right, in the late 90s, early actually early 90s. But yeah, how programming ourselves for success. And I loved your book The Miracle Morning. This new version, it helps you walk through on how to create those affirmations the right way. Correct? 

Hal Elrod: Yeah. And it does it for every area of your life. I want anybody listening. So, I want you to think about this. Like for me, or the book, I should say walks you through how to create them for all of your goals and your roles, right? What do I mean by that? Well, let's say you have a specific goal.  

Mine beating cancer was a goal. It wasn't a role. It was a goal, right? So I followed that formula to beat cancer. But I follow that formula as a husband. As a husband, I have I am committed to blank, no matter what, there's no other option. Right? It's a must for me because dot dot dot. 

And in order to achieve that, I will do these things at these times. As a father, I'm committed to blank, right? So that formula, you can apply to every role and every goal in your life. And yeah, in the new book, I walk you through, you know, how to do that. 

Ted Ryce: I love that. And one thing that's coming up for me while talking about this, I remember talking to one of my clients. He was a serial entrepreneur, successful guy. And in, he was working with a business coach to help them, you know, scale his business. And the business coach said something I disagree with. He said, well, look at your, look at how you're spending money and that's where your true values are.  

And I disagree with that. And I'm curious what you think. And I'll tell you why though, they have a deep desire to change. They really feel shame because they're not able to change and live up to that version of themselves that vision of who they truly want to be but people don't know how to do it and what I love about what you're saying is like well you can figure out you can Google how to start a business.  

That's the example or how to get in shape how to lose 20 pounds but how do you manage the emotions that come up the fear, frustration. I mean, that's what I mostly do.  

A big part of what I do with my clients is just help them manage the emotional side of things. Although that's not what I market. Like, hey, I'll help you lose 15 to 20 pounds in four months. And I do that.  

But a lot of it's like, I stopped them from giving up when the frustration comes or when they go on a trip to meet with some mastermind and they end up drinking too much and feel like they've kind of blown it.  

So, I would love for you to talk a little bit about what do you think for someone listening right now, they're listening to you, they listen to this podcast because they want better health, but they don't have it. 

And they want to be more like what you just said, not only committed to their health, but committed to their business, career, and their family, have all these affirmations and visualizations. But they also feel like, you know, I've tried and I failed, and, you know, in that example of like, well, show me where you're spending your money on your balance sheet, and that's what you really feel. What do you have to say about that? 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, I think there's a few questions within there. And the first piece, you know, I think that where you spend your money, I've heard that before, and I've never heard anyone like this, or disagree with it.  

But then when you do, it does make sense because you might value your family more than anyone, but you're spending money on business things as you're trying to make money for whatever it is, right? So, I don't think it is a perfect, you know, perfect alignment where it's like, yes, where your money is, that's where your values are.  

You're like, no, I also value these things. Or like you said, I value my health, but I don't know where to spend money on it because I don't know how to fix it, right? I don't know where to start. I think that you mentioned the emotional part earlier, that was part of this question was the emotions around like, how do you how do you manage your emotions or optimize your emotional state?  

And I first want to just say, I think that's arguably the single most important skill for us to develop and master is to the ability to optimize our mental and emotional state, right? Our mindset, if you will. And it's the most important thing because it's where our quality of life begins and ends.  

And what I mean is, or it comes full circle in that managing your mental and emotional state is what enables you to do the things that you need to do to create the results that you want in your life. Whether that's lose weight, make money, you have to get yourself to do the things that you need to do. 

And so, it's about getting yourself in that peak state. And that's actually, I don't know if I said that earlier, but that's one of the ways that I often frame the Miracle Morning is it enables you to start every day in a peak physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual state so that you can show up at your best for the people that you love, the people that you lead, and that starts with you, right? How you show up for yourself.  

One of the things that I practice, so the affirmations in and of itself, like think about that. You're thinking, oh, I'm not doing a great job. I'm afraid, I'm this, I'm that. 

The affirmations, the reason I say they're the anchor of the miracle morning is it's your ability or your opportunity to clearly articulate word for word, your optimal mental and emotional state. What do you need to think about? What do you need to focus on? What do you need to believe? What do you need to remember? What do you need to do?  

All of that, you're reminding yourself of it every single day. And the thing is, you know, I have a friend, probably 20 years ago, his voicemail used to the end of it. After he said leave a message, he would say, and remember, there's always a way when you're committed, and he'd repeat it, there's always a way when you're committed. And that's one of the truest statements that there that there ever was, right? There's always a way when you're committed. And all the people you're talking about, when we go like, I've tried, it didn't work. I tried, right? I tried, I failed, I gave up on myself, whatever. 

If you were to make it black and white, and it's not black and white, but it really comes down to your level of commitment. If you are fully committed to something, then just by remaining fully committed, you generate the thoughts and the feelings that you need to stay committed and follow through. And that's why I say this affirmation is part of all the savers. I believe it's the most important because if anything's possible when you're committed, then what should you be doing every day?  

You should be affirming that you are committed to the most important things in your life that you want to achieve. And by doing so, the act of affirming what you're committed to and going deeper by affirming why you're committed and then going even one step further to affirm what you're going to do and when. By doing that every day, the only way you can fail is to completely be out of integrity. 

And it's hard to do when you affirm every day. Because like you said, you're literally reprogramming your subconscious mind for success. You are directing your conscious mind and your behaviors towards success. And maybe on day one, you read the affirmations and they feel phony. I'm committed to, you know, increasing my income this year. You're like, no, I don't believe it.  

The voice of doubt is there. The voice of fear is there. But day by day by day, in the same way, that if you lift weights on day one, when you've never lifted weights, you're like, I'm weak. Well, on day seven, you're stronger than you were on day one. And at the end of a 30-day challenge, you're literally a completely different person physically and mentally around lifting those weights. You go, wow, I've created momentum, I'm stronger, I feel it, right? And you can apply that same analogy of the physical to that mental and emotional. 

When you do your miracle morning every day, you become mentally and emotionally stronger day by day by day, and your commitments become convictions and eventually become your reality. 

Ted Ryce: What I love about that is the story about why we don't do things like this or I'm not that type of person. And what I love to remind people of, it's like, well, you weren't the type of person who used an iPhone or drove a car. And we became those people because there was a strong impetus, a strong motivation to learn a new skill for some reason. And we often forget that when it's not pushed on us, like everybody has to learn how to walk,  

We all have to, most of us at least, the vast majority have to learn how to drive a car, especially in the States, I'm in Mexico right now, where the public transportation, so anyway, you have to learn these skills and you just become that type of person eventually.  

Now I'm the type of person that I text my friends and do video interviews with amazing, inspirational people like yourself, Hal, and the miracle morning, these affirmations, it's a way of, let's say systematizing and taking control of how you're being programmed. 

I think one other thing I think is really worth mentioning and I'm really curious to hear your thoughts on it because I spend a lot of time on social media and social media basically is that it's a way to program yourself except the sort of game right now is whatever gets the most attention will get the algorithm working and the most people will see it and those tend to be things that don't usually add it's not like the cure for cancer you know or it's like something controversial, something that's usually very polarizing. And so, we spent a lot of time doing those things. 

And I would love for you to talk about how do you help people do an inventory? Because the first thing I think of like a miracle morning, I don't have time for my miracle morning is getting some coffee and getting the kids ready. And it's a miracle if I, you know, get to work and make all that happen. So, can you talk a little bit? Like how do you coach people on making this, making them make time to make this happen? 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, yeah, at the end of the book, there's a miracle morning 30-day journey. In the original edition, it was called the 30-day challenge. But one of my team members goes, Hal, what do you think about renaming it? Everybody's got enough challenges, dude, don't give them another one. And then I was like, that's a good point.  

They go, this really is a journey. It's like the start of a lifelong you know, we have miracle morning practitioners, I've done it for 15 years. But we have tons of readers that have done it for five, six, seven, eight, nine, you know, a decade or more. And the and so a couple things I would say number one is if you don't consider yourself a morning person, join the club.  

One of the questions I got a few years ago in an interview, which was such an important question that I had never even considered, is somebody asked me Hal so many people don't consider themselves morning people. I go, yeah, that's definitely true. They said what percentage they said, do you know what percentage of miracle morning practitioners that actually do the practice every day on were already mourning people before they read the book.  

So, it was like easy. I'll just, instead of checking email in the morning, I'll do the miracle morning. Great, I'm already up, no problem. And they said, and then what percentage had never believed they could be a mourning person and now they are. And I was like, God, I got to know that. And so now we've got, you know, about six years of data from hundreds of thousands of people that 72% of miracle morning practitioners had never in their life been a mourning person or believe they could become one until they read the miracle morning. 

And I think it's an important piece. I didn't like market the book this way ever, but it almost is, it's written for people that aren't morning people, because that was my biggest fear when I wrote it, is how am I going to convince somebody to overcome a lifelong, you know, what you might see as a limiting belief of nigh, I'm not a morning person.  

And so, I was like so insecure and afraid of being able to not do that I was hyper vigilant to hold someone's hand, psychology, the psychology and the emotion of going from never been a morning person don't want to be one to this is interesting to huh, that makes a lot of sense to well, maybe I'll try it to I've been to the miracle morning for 30 days to I've been in for five years, right?  

Like, and getting them through that journey. And so, it's been really effective at doing that. So that's the first thing I would share.  

And the second thing I would share is when I give you know, I speak about the miracle morning for companies and schools and you name it, usually a few times a month. And the way I end my speech is I think the best invitation for people. And I used to end it, wake up an hour early and do all six of the savers. And I realized that was overwhelming and that most people that was like a, well, then I'm a no. So now the 30-day journey at the end is wake up 10 to 15 minutes earlier. If you want to do more, you can. 

But make this so easy that you have no excuse. Anybody can wake up 10 minutes earlier. And don't try to do all six of the savers, do one of them. Pick one, the one that is the most appealing to you. For a lot of people, they choose the R in savers, which is reading if they've never read The Miracle Morning. So, picture this, right? You wake up 10 minutes earlier, you brush your teeth, you go into the living room, and you read for five minutes out of The Miracle Morning. Easy, right? 

Within a week, you get to the chapter on silence. And in your next miracle morning, now waking up, you're getting in the habit, like it's easy, 10 minutes earlier, no big deal. I can do this. And then you add silence in your next miracle morning. Now you're doing maybe five minutes of reading, five minutes of silence.  

And then the next day you read the chapter on affirmations. And day by day by day, you go from, I'm not a morning person to, all right, it's worth it to wake up 10 minutes earlier if this can literally transform my life like it has for millions of people. I'll give it 10 minutes. 

And all of a sudden in a week or two, you're doing a full-blown miracle morning. Maybe it's still 10 minutes. Maybe it's 15, 20, 30, whatever, right? But that's the path is not jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down, just leaning into the change, taking baby steps so that it's as easy as possible. And a month from now, you are a different person. You've reprogrammed your mindset. You're waking up early. It's not hard. You love it because of how it makes you feel in the morning and for the rest of your day.  

Ted Ryce: Love that how and so I want to come clean right. I was really inspired by your book when I first read it and I started doing some of the things but I also struggled. So, I actually have two questions. One is I put reading and exercise together and I don't read. I listen to an audio book while I'm on the treadmill getting my cardio in. Is that cool? 

Hal Elrod: Is that okay? Yeah, so I'll say a couple things on that. Yes, I somebody asked me the day about that. Can you combine the savers and usually it's exercise with something else, right? The answer is yes.  

Now, some people, for example, they'll record their affirmations, like they'll read all of their affirmations, though, you know, they'll have a page of affirmations, one for their health, one for their finances, their family, yada, yada. And they'll read them into their voice recorder, then they'll listen to them over and over and over again, while they're on the treadmill. 

So that's an example of stacking the A and the E, right, exercise and affirmations. On with you can do the same thing with audio books, and it just depends on how you learn. So, for me, I don't have a good I have brain damage from my car accident, my chemo, if I listen to an audio book, I forget 98% of it by the time I'm done listening.  

The only way I get value from books typically, and I talked about this in the miracle morning is, is I underline every sentence that I would ever need to remember or reread. 

And then at that way, it becomes an ongoing resource. And at the end of a book, I will go back or sometimes I'll do this chapter to chapter, but I'll go back and I'll reread just the things I underlined. And I usually underline maybe 15, 20% of a book, but that means I can recapture that entire book, whether it's right after I read it or four years later in 15% of the time by just reading the things that I underlined. 

Ted Ryce: Wow, I love that. That's a powerful technique. One that, I'll be honest, I haven't read a book in a very long time. I read a lot of research studies. I'm in a mentorship right now, learning how to interpret studies better and help clients with, let's say, a functional medicine approach.  

But yeah, for those of you who are reading, that's something we're trying and something that you can also do with a Kindle. So, what do you recommend with the audiobooks? Do you have a technique there? 

Hal Elrod: I don't. Other than, I mean, really, I don't, because I'm always driving or something. And I listen to audiobooks too. But I just it's just a different experience for me because I they don't because I can't go back and necessarily resource them later. Yeah, but I will, you know, sometimes I will timestamp something and then I'll go back and write it in my affirmations later, you know, so various things, but I do a lot more reading just because of that technique. 

Ted Ryce: Yeah, so something really important to consider if you're an audio book person like myself, you are going to be missing out on that. Well, how do you come back to something? Like you said, how you can leave those time markers, but. 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, with the apps now, right with auto one stuff you can tie like, you know, make a little mark and then go back and listen to it. Yeah. 

Ted Ryce: Yeah. I haven't even done that yet. So, something to consider for those of you who are like me who you're on the audio book kick right now. And the other question is this, the visualization is the thing that I struggle the most with and actually kind of funny more recently, so I practiced Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it's my goal, I'm committed to getting my black belt this year, it won't go into the full, ... 

Hal Elrod: Nice, congratulations. 

Ted Ryce: oh thanks man, won't go into the full drama, been on and off. I've been a brown belt for 15 years. I did the math the other day. It's like, OK, it's time to tie this in, right? Injuries and coming back. And so, I've been, and I can't just train through the injuries, can't spend like two, and I'm busy, can't work out twice a day to get the whole process going and have it be done faster. So, I've been practicing visualization. And there is this fascinating study. I know you're aware of it. 

People probably brought it up many times to you about the basketball players who visualize versus the ones that just practice. And there is a big difference in just visualizing people perform better. However, when it's outside of something sport related, I really struggle with it. Do you have some tips for visualizing, let's say outside of performing like a motor skill, like throwing a basketball into the hoop. 

Hal Elrod: Yeah, yeah. So, visualization, I think it's often mistaught because we're either taught to only visualize the end result, right? Which you know, but you're I think you really alluded to it. It's about visualizing the performance.  

So, when I was in sales, I would visualize myself making my sales calls with a smile on my face. And here's the point of visualization. It's not about what you see, it's about what you feel while you see it. So, think of it this way, the purpose of visualization, I love the term mental rehearsal.  

That gives us a really clear understanding of what visualization actually should be. It's mental rehearsal. So you see yourself doing the thing that you need to do, and then you get yourself into a peak state while you're visualizing it, so that you feel optimal emotions and mindset while you're visualizing it. Then when it's time to actually do the thing, you've already been there.  

And I'll give you an example. If you've ever fought with your spouse before bed and not made up before bed, like we're all supposed to do, I will use this visualization technique for that. So, the next morning I wake up and maybe I'm still triggered. I usually get over stuff pretty quick. But I know that when she wakes up, she doesn't get over so quick. She's going to come out of the bedroom, you know, fiery and upset. So, and maybe I still feel that way. 

So, I use visualization, I visualize her coming out of the bedroom and in the book, I give you all these techniques on how do you get yourself into the state? Because that's always the question like, but what if I don't feel it? How do you, so there's a bunch of different steps to do that. But I get myself into an optimal loving, empathetic, forgiving, connected state to my wife, while I visualize her walking out of the bedroom. And I'll even imagine me walking up to her, looking in her eyes with love, hugging her, right?  

Guess what happens when she comes out of the bedroom, I spent just three minutes like three minutes to do that. But I've already mentally rehearsed it, including not just seeing it, but feeling it. So, when she walks out of the bedroom instantly, it's an anchor for that emotional state. I'll stand up, I'll smile, I'll feel love and empathy. I'll walk over, I'll hug her. And it solves what would have otherwise potentially been a bad start to the day. 

Ted Ryce: Amazing. Hal, listen, I know we're at time here, and I just want to say thanks so much for coming back on the show. You're super inspirational, and you've even inspired me to pick up the Miracle Morning again, the new version. Go through it, it's going to be my new audio book. I'm going to take notes, I'm going to apply things, and maybe we can get you back on the show, and I can talk about that experience.  

Hal Elrod: I would love it. Yeah. 

Ted Ryce: But thanks so much, and if you enjoyed this interview with Hal, make sure you go to MiracleMorning.com. That's the hub for everything. So, his Miracle Morning app, movie, books, community, and even getting in touch with Hal.  

Of course, Miracle Morning and the Miracle Equation, Hal's new book. It's available anywhere where you buy books. Amazon comes to mind. And yeah, thanks so much Hal. Just incredible to see how you went through those things and came out not just through it and survived it but really thrived as a result. Really appreciate you. 

Ted Ryce: And I appreciate you, Ted. Thank you so much for having me on. 

Ted Ryce: Absolutely.