Chapter 1: It’s Time to Wake Up to Your Full Potential
Why is it that when a baby is born, we often refer to them as “the miracle of life” and consider their potential to be limitless, but then we go on to accept mediocrity in our own lives? Where along the way do we lose sight of the miracle that we are living?

When you were born, everyone assured you that you could do, have, and be anything you wanted when you grew up. So, now that you’re grown up, are you doing, having, and being anything and everything you’ve ever wanted? Or somewhere along the way, did you redefine “anything and everything” to include settling for less than you truly want and are capable of?

I once read an alarming statistic: the average American is more than twenty pounds overweight, more than $10,000 in debt, lonely, disengaged at work, and has less than one close friend. I couldn’t help but wonder why this becomes the reality for so many. And, more importantly, what do we do about it so that we completely defy this statistic?

In 2020, all our lives were turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. For many, the resulting mental health challenges became worse than ever. Others lost their source of income and ability to provide for themselves and their families. In the years that have followed, our collective uncertainty about the future seems to be at an all-time high. The problem is that when we focus on things that are out of our control, we feel out of control, which can cause us to experience stress, fear, anxiety, and even depression. At the end of the day (and the beginning), the only thing we can control is ourselves—what we do, who we become, and how we choose to show up for others. I would argue that becoming the best version of ourselves and creating the life we want is what we should be focused on each day.

What about you? Are you dedicating time to fulfilling your limitless potential and creating the level of success that you truly desire and deserve—in every area of your life? Or are there aspects of your life in which you’re settling for less than you really want because you’re overwhelmed with daily responsibilities, afraid of doing things differently, in need of economic security, or not sure how to make significant and lasting changes? Are you settling for less than you’re capable of and then justifying why that’s okay? Or are you ready to stop settling and instead create a life that is so fulfilling you can’t wait to wake up every day and live it?
Creating Your Level-Ten Life
One of my favorite sentiments ever shared by Oprah was “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.” I couldn’t agree more. Sadly, so few people ever come close to living the life of their dreams that the phrase itself has become cliché. Most people resign themselves to a life of mediocrity, passively accepting whatever life gives them. Even achievers who are highly successful in one area, such as business, tend to settle for mediocrity in another area, such as their health or relationships.

At the same time, human beings have an innate drive and desire for life to be as good as it possibly can be. We aspire to be as happy, healthy, wealthy, and successful as we can be, and to experience as much love, freedom, and fulfillment as possible. If we were to measure success and fulfillment on a scale of one to ten, I think it’s fair to say that all of us would love to live each area of our lives at level ten. The problem is that few people are dedicating time each day to becoming the level-ten person they need to be—the person who is capable of creating and sustaining that life. I believe a commitment to daily personal development may be our greatest opportunity as individuals and collectively as a society.

What you’re about to find out is that achieving this kind of level-ten success is not only possible but simple—the result of establishing a daily ritual that gives you purposeful time each day to evolve into the level-ten version of yourself.

What if I told you that it all starts with how you wake up in the morning and that there are small, simple steps you can start taking today that will enable you to become the person you need to be to achieve and maintain the levels of success you truly want and deserve—in every area of your life? Would you get excited? Would you even believe me? Some won’t. Many people have become jaded, and rightfully so. They’ve tried everything under the sun to improve their lives and their relationships, and they’re still not where they want to be. I understand. I’ve been there myself. Then, over time, I learned a few things that changed everything. I’m offering you my hand and inviting you to the other side, the side where life is not just better, but also extraordinary in ways you may have only imagined it could be.
This Book Builds Upon Three Fundamental Truths

1. You are just as worthy, deserving, and capable of creating and sustaining extraordinary health, wealth, happiness, love, and success in your life as any other person on earth. It is imperative—not only for the quality of your life, but also the impact you make on your family, friends, clients, coworkers, children, community, and anyone whose life you touch—that you start living in alignment with that truth.
2. To stop settling for less than you want—in any area of your life—and experience 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, who is capable of consistently creating those levels of success.
3. How you approach waking up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) is crucial because it sets the tone, context, and direction for the rest of your day. Focused, productive, successful mornings set you up for focused, productive, successful days, which ultimately lead to an extraordinary life. The opposite is also true: unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre mornings pave the way for unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre days, culminating in unfulfilled potential and a life of continuous struggle.

But Hal, I Am NOT a “Morning Person”
What if you’ve already tried waking up earlier, and it hasn’t worked? “I’m just not a morning person,” you say. Or “I’m a night owl” or “There’s not enough time in the day” or “Besides, I need more sleep, not less!”

That was all true for me, too, before I created the Miracle Morning. In fact, it’s true for most people. I’ve consistently surveyed hundreds of thousands of members of the global Miracle Morning Community, and I’ve always asked the following question: Were you a morning person before you read The Miracle Morning? Consistently, between 70 and 75 percent of our community of early risers confirm that they were not morning people before they read the book that you’re now reading. Most of them identified as night owls. So, this is kind of a “welcome to the club” scenario.

Regardless of your past experiences, even if you’ve had trouble waking up early and getting going in the morning for your entire life, things are about to change.

The Miracle Morning is not only simple, but also extremely enjoyable, something you’ll soon be able to do easily and for the rest of your life. And, while you can still sleep in any time you want, you might be surprised to find you no longer want to. I can’t tell you how many people have told me that they now wake up early—even on the weekends—simply because they feel better and get more done when they do. Imagine that.

In later chapters, I’ll introduce you to the Life S.A.V.E.R.S., the engine that drives your Miracle Morning. This simple, memorable acronym comprises six of the most effective, timeless, and proven habits for personal development. After implementing these six habits, you’ll be able to choose which ones to keep using and in which order to create your own customized Miracle Morning.

Because the Miracle Morning is customizable, it works with anyone’s lifestyle. Even if you have an unusual schedule or unpredictable demands on your time, such as a newborn baby who wakes you up in the middle of the night or a job that requires you to work inconsistent hours, you can tailor your Miracle Morning to work with your schedule. I’ll help you make it work in “Chapter 8: Customizing Your Miracle Morning.”

You’ll also be able to choose your wake-up time. There is no specific time that is required for this to work. Rather, the ideal wake-up time is whatever works best for your schedule. The point is to dedicate the first six to sixty minutes of your day to your Miracle Morning ritual so that you can develop the ability to create your level-ten life, however you define it.

Here are some common benefits people experience in some of the most important areas of life, which I encourage you to keep in mind as you go through this book. The more aware and intentional you are about these benefits, the more likely you are to experience them.

• Happiness. Each morning spent in solitude increases your awareness that your happiness is not dependent on outside forces (unless you allow it to be). Happiness is determined by your chosen perspective, as I illustrated in the introduction. Thus, you can choose to be happy each day, no matter how difficult your current circumstances are.
• Health. Whatever areas of life you focus your S.A.V.E.R.S. on is where you’ll inevitably see improvements. So, if you focus on improving your health or fitness, losing weight, or increasing your energy, that’s what you’ll experience. I used my Miracle Morning to help me beat a rare form of cancer, and others have used it to lose weight, run marathons, overcome other health challenges, and otherwise optimize their health.
• Relationships. The Miracle Morning has improved countless relationships and even saved marriages for couples who were on the brink of divorce. When we become more intentional about who we’re being and how we’re committed to showing up for others, we gain the power to transform our relationships.
• Finances. As you’ll learn in the next chapter, the Miracle Morning enabled me to avoid bankruptcy and more than double my income at the height of the worst economic recession in decades. By focusing your S.A.V.E.R.S. on increasing your income, you will be able to do exactly that.
• Productivity. Starting each day in a peak physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual state increases your ability to be more productive and stay focused on your top priorities. This is another way that your Miracle Morning will help you change your life, because it enables you to be more productive so that you can make those changes.
• Leadership. As you elevate your consciousness and become a better version of yourself, making meaningful improvements in your life, you inevitably inspire those around you and show them what’s possible. You not only lead by example, you also become more capable of helping others follow your lead.
• Confidence. When you realize that you are in control of how you show up every day—and that’s really one of the only things you are in control of—and start showing up at your best, you gain confidence.

I realize that these are bold claims to make, and this list of benefits might come across as overpromising—a little too good to be true, right? I assure you, there is no hyperbole here. The Miracle Morning is going to give you uninterrupted time each day to learn, grow, and become the person you need to be to achieve your most important goals and dreams (especially those you’ve been putting off).

Whether you currently consider yourself to be a morning person or not, you’re about to learn how to make waking up every day easier and more enjoyable than it’s ever been before. Then, by taking advantage of the undeniable relationship between early rising and extraordinary success, you’ll find that how you begin your day becomes the key to unlocking your full potential and establishing the levels of success you desire in any area. You’ll quickly see that when you change the way you wake up in the morning, you can change your entire life.