Ever wondered why some business owners become so successful—achieving everything they set out to do and more?
From a distance, it may seem they have insane productivity levels, making them appear superhuman with no hope of those accomplishments being replicated.
But I've discovered upon closer observation that the same couple of good habits pop up among every single one of these entrepreneurs.
Could it be the reason for their insane productivity?
The good news about this is you can totally model these insane productivity practices and add them to your own routine and that's the point of today's post.
Last time out I spoke of the importance of looking after ourselves.
I spoke of the story of the cobbler which highlighted that if you don’t look after yourself, after a while you’ll be no good to anyone else either.
I mentioned Hal Elrod’s book “The Miracle Morning”.
This book outlines how a morning routine built around 6 key practices that the author describes as "Life S.A.V.E.R.S" can help you get more done and live your best life.
Life S.A.V.E.R.S stands for…
S – Silence
A – Affirmations
V – Visualisations
E – Exercise
R – Reading
S – Scribing
Let’s not waste time and get straight into learning these 6 key practices and how they can help you as you strive to reach insane productivity levels in your business and in life.
Silence
Each morning after I wake, I get up and have a large glass of water with a slice of lemon.
For most of us, our bodies are severely dehydrated the moment we wake up. Your cells not only need oxygen but water as well.
After that, I sit down on my living room sofa in silence for 5-10 minutes.
At first, I focused on my breathing but just recently I started using the app called Headspace which has been really helpful in quieting the noise in my head and being able to give me more clarity.
Headspace App
Starting my day off with silence in meditation has become my way of taking control of the day.
Affirmations
Following my silence, I go through my affirmations. Affirmations are aimed at affecting the conscious and subconscious mind.
The words composing your affirmation, automatically and involuntarily, bring up related mental images into the mind, which could inspire, energise and motivate you.
Repeating affirmations affect the subconscious mind, which in turn, influences behaviour, habits, actions and reactions.
I wrote my own affirmations using the template provided from the book as my guide. I tend to read them two times each day, once in the morning and once before I go to bed. I have broken out my affirmations into categories and have one affirmation for each of the following categories:
- What True Success means to me
- My 3-5 Top Goals
- Purpose
- Family
- Finances
- Health
- Rest, Relaxation, and Fun
- Reflection
Reading these over and over helps me battle that inner ego and has helped me in gaining further clarity on why and what I want to achieve and what it will be like when I’ve reached my goals.
Visualisation
Once I’ve finished my affirmations I take 3-5 minutes to visualise what it will be like when I’ve accomplished these things.
I think about what it will feel like when I’ve reached my financial or health goals and more.
I’ve found the most important part of the visualising process is not only visualising what it will be like when you’ve reached the goals, but what it looks like on your way to the goals.
Visualisation has been more about visualising the work needed to get there as it makes it less scary and less of an obstacle.
Exercise
Ok, I’m not here to lecture you on how to do exercise. That would be silly but I want to share my routine with you.
This one was going to be tough for me because I don’t like working out first thing in the morning.
And it's the biggest objection I have received from clients when recommending they introduce this same process into their day.
They'd say...
“how on earth am I going to have enough time to fit in all of the S.A.V.E.R.S. into my mornings???”
Thankfully, when I realised how customisable ‘The Miracle Morning’ was it really helped.
After all, we’re all busy in the mornings. Realistically, we don’t have hours to spend in the morning working on self-development.
We have to factor in time for breakfast, showering/personal hygiene, commutes and even dropping the kids to school.
So, should you just throw in the towel?
Is cramming the S.A.V.E.R.S. into your mornings just not practical in reality? Maybe. But we still want to get them done, right?
So, how?
Simple.
We just turn the ‘Miracle Morning’ into the ‘Miracle Day’. Instead of trying to fit each component of the S.A.V.E.R.S into the morning, do them throughout the day.
After all, Hal does recommend personalising it to suit your routine, so do just that.
So when it comes to the 'E' element of the S.A.V.E.R.S process (i.e. exercise), my goal with my early morning exercise is to get my blood flowing and to do that I concentrate on mobility-based exercises.
I basically spend 15-20 minutes and perform the following exercises:
- Foam rolling
- Some Kum Nye (a Tibetan style of yoga) that loosens me up and stretches me out
- Crawling (yes you read that right!!)
Here’s a link to an article on the benefits of crawling - https://originalstrength.net/blog/how-and-why-to-crawl-for-10-minutes-straight/
And if you prefer to watch a video tutorial then here is a great overview from Dr. Balduzzi at the Fit Father Project...
By the time I’m done with this little routine, I feel looser, more flexible and the blood is flowing around my body.
Plus, exercise makes you feel ALIVE; you feel happy.
In addition to this daily 15-20 morning exercise routine, I also perform a 30-45-minute resistance training workout 4-5 times a week later in the day when I am more awake, usually around 11.30am.
Right after my early morning exercise, I hop in the shower and then grab some breakfast which is usually a home-made smoothie (in the warmer months), porridge oats (in the colder months) or an egg-based meal (usually poached, boiled, scrambled, or omelette with spinach, avocado and cheese).
Reading - (my key to insane productivity!)
Here is an example where you’ll realise you don’t have to do these things in order.
I prefer to sit down at the end of the day after the girls have gone to bed and take out a book and read for about 10-25 minutes.
This really helps get my mind firing back up, giving me ideas, and helps me read more books which were one of my goals.
I find I am able to read at least 10 pages of a good book a day.
Through this simple act, I’ve managed to read hundreds of books. And I have so many more sitting on my shelf to read and go through.
I like reading books that will help me at the current state of my life that I’m in – whether it’s self-help, spirituality, health/fitness, finance, business, biographies, etc… anything that will improve the quality of my life.
By the way, 10 pages a day equates to 300 pages a month – that’s a book a month, 12 books a year!
SIDE NOTE: If you prefer to learn by other means rather than reading, then you can listen to books via Apps such as Audible or watch content on YouTube etc.
Best Selling Business Books on Audible
Think about how much better you’ll be in your life and the results you’ll produce just by making this simple action a daily habit.
Scribing (or journaling)
I have known for a while that journaling was beneficial and it isn't a surprise to learn it is a practice performed by every successful individual I admire.
Day One Journal App
There are a variety of apps you can use such as Day One (for Macs), Journey (for Android) or Penzu (which can be used on iPhone and Android devices).
I prefer to sit down and write in a physical journal and use a Self Journal but again there are plenty of other options on the market these days from the likes of Michael Hyatt's Full Focus Planner, Grant Cardone's 10X Daily Planner, or Jon Lee Dumas's Freedom Journal
Best Self: SELF JOURNAL
As part of my journaling process (which I perform at the end of each day), I review my tasks for the following day and identify the ONE Thing that MUST get done that day or I would have otherwise been disappointed.
So, there you have it! The ‘Miracle Day’ that will change your life for the better!
Remember, I started this mini-series speaking about the importance of taking care of yourself. If you don’t look after yourself, after a while you’ll be no good to anyone else either.
Equipped with the S.A.V.E.R.S. toolbox you now have no excuse to do just that.
Your life will improve immensely if you can incorporate these into your daily routine. That means, you will improve, your relationships will improve and your business will improve. All down to your new insane productivity levels.
Now, that’s something worth going after!
Stay healthy. Stay focused. Stay productive and get ready for an AMAZING 2021.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your new insane productivity levels.
