Book Review: The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

Your levels of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development, because success is something you attract by the person you become.
Jim Rohn

The Miracle Morning promised life-changing mornings, but does it deliver? I tested it myself and break down what worked, what didn’t, and what you can realistically take from it.

The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod is a book about intentionally designing your mornings to help you become the person you want to be.

Now The Miracle Morning routine is not about working harder or increasing your productivity. This routine is about making space in your life to work on yourself, on your mindset, physical and mental health, and on your growth.

I really like the idea of starting the day and giving yourself the most important things you need to feel content, motivated and energized.

And for that reason I like to dedicate mornings to my gratitude journal, or writing morning pages. As I feel this gives me space to share my thoughts and ideas and feel instantly calmer and uplifted.

But Hal’s mornings are a different kettle of fish.

They are packed with 6 activites that he calls SAVERS and he believes doing them consistently will help you elevate your life in every possible way.

This idea immediately resonated with me, especially because I experienced noticeable benefits after creating my own morning routine in 2024. While my routine is far simpler than Hal’s Miracle Morning, the impact was clear.

Introduction

In 2024 and 2025 I pretty much nailed my morning routine. Getting up early not so much.

When I read the 5am Club it motived me to start getting up earlier, but it was summer. And then it is not that hard to get up. But now it’s winter and I am struggling to get out of my warm bed into the freezing rooms since heating starts working from 7am.

For this reason I picked up The Miracle Morning, and I have to say I find it very motivating and maybe even more approachable than The 5am Club.

What Is The Miracle Morning

The Miracle Morning is built around a simple but powerful idea. The way you start your day shapes everything that follows.

Hal gives you tips on how to create a structured morning routine that will help you work on yourself before the day starts. This routine includes 6 practices he calls SAVERS, but they are basically Meditation, Affirmation, Visualization, Exercise, Reading and Journaling.

At its core, the Miracle Morning turns personal development into a daily habit. Instead of treating growth as something you do when you have time, it becomes part of your morning routine.

How the Miracle Morning should look

According to Hal Elrod, the ideal Miracle Morning starts one to two hours before your usual workday begins. However, the key point is not the exact wake-up time. Even dedicating just 20 minutes to the Miracle Morning is enough to see benefits if you are consistent.

The book includes many practical tips on how to wake up earlier, avoid hitting the snooze button, and prepare the night before through what Hal calls the “Miracle Evening.” The idea is simple: a good morning starts the night before.

Once you wake up, Hal recommends moving through the six practices of the S.A.V.E.R.S. method. You do not need to complete all of them every day. On busy mornings, doing just one or two is still valuable.

This is what the Miracle Morning can look like:

You wake up earlier than usual, ideally 1–2 hours before work, or earlier than your household becomes busy.
You begin with Silence, such as meditation, prayer, or quiet breathing.
You move on to Affirmations, reminding yourself of your goals and intentions.
You practice Visualization, imagining the day ahead or the life you are working toward.
You add Exercise, whether it is stretching, yoga, or a short workout.
You spend a few minutes Reading something intentional or inspiring.
You Scribe, or journal, to reflect, plan, or express gratitude.

The structure is flexible, and that is what makes the Miracle Morning realistic.

Key Lessons From The Miracle Morning

Before you focus on changing your morning routine, The Miracle Morning asks you to look at what is actually holding you back. The routine itself is not the problem. The real obstacles are often mental, emotional, and habitual.

According to Hal, these are some of the most common reasons people feel stuck:

We live in the past and repeat the same thoughts, which leads to the same emotions day after day.
We lack a clear sense of purpose, which makes daily action feel meaningless.
Every choice we make shapes who we are becoming, and choosing the easy option repeatedly builds an identity rooted in comfort rather than growth.
We are influenced by the people we spend time with, often absorbing their habits, beliefs, and limits.
We are not actively working on ourselves through learning, reflection, or better routines.
We lack urgency and live as if time is unlimited.

When you see these patterns laid out in one place, the path forward becomes clearer.

You need to work on your mindset and consciously change your thought patterns.
You need clarity around your purpose so your daily actions feel intentional.
You need to respect small decisions, because they quietly shape your identity over time.
You need to surround yourself with people who also want to grow and improve.
You need to commit to personal development through reading, learning, and better habits.
You need a sense of urgency that reminds you that each day matters.

This is where the Miracle Morning fits in.

My Personal Experience With The Miracle Morning

I have only just started implementing the Miracle Morning, so this is not a final verdict. I plan to write a follow-up post in a few months once I have more experience with the routine.

Right now, I wake up at 6 a.m. and dedicate one hour to the Miracle Morning while my kids are still asleep. I aim to include all six practices, although I have to admit that affirmations are the one I skip most often.

I am also planning to explore the Miracle Morning app and some of the additional materials Hal offers, mostly to better understand how to structure the routine in a way that feels sustainable for my life.

What I can already say is that the Miracle Morning is not a cure-all. It has not magically solved my procrastination or productivity struggles. And honestly, I did not expect it to.

What it has done is create protected time for myself before the day takes over. I am curious to see what the long-term effects will be and whether I can stay consistent with this routine throughout the year. That, more than anything, is what will determine whether the Miracle Morning truly makes a difference for me.

Favorite Quotes From The Book

Always remember that where you are is a result of who you were, but where you go depends entirely on who you choose to be, from this moment on.

No extraordinary result ever came from mediocre effort.

The first step, then, is to consciously decide every night to actively and mindfully create a positive expectation for the next morning.

The Miracle Morning vs The 5AM Club

Both books explore the same idea, using your mornings to improve your life, but they take very different approaches.

I wrote about The 5 AM Club in a previous post, and while I do find it motivating and inspiring, I personally prefer the clarity and straightforward style of The Miracle Morning. It feels more practical and less prescriptive.

Both books can help you start building a morning routine, but The Miracle Morning is more flexible, both in terms of when you wake up and how you structure your routine. It adapts better to real life.

We are all in different phases of life. If you have a small baby and you were up all night, waking up at 5 a.m. is simply not realistic, and pretending otherwise only creates unnecessary guilt.

I would recommend reading both books, as they each offer useful insights. That said, if I had to choose one, I lean toward The Miracle Morning for its simplicity, flexibility, and direct approach.

Is The Miracle Morning Worth Reading

In my opinion, yes.

It is highly probable that next to nothing in The Miracle Morning is new information to most folks.

Exercise, meditation, affirmation and journaling are hardly novel concepts. But if you try to be open, you can learn an entirely different way to approach these concepts with this book, and I really enjoyed the tips he shared.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its accessibility. It is easy to read, not overly long, and highly motivating, which makes it approachable even if you are new to morning routines or personal development.

If you want more details about Hal Elrod or his Miracle Morning routine, check out this video:

Final Thoughts

The Miracle Morning is helpful and motivating, but like all self-help books, its real value depends on what you do after you close the book.

Without action, even the best ideas remain just words on a page—interesting, inspiring, and easy to agree with, but ultimately ineffective. Reading alone doesn’t change habits. Implementation does.

I am currently testing the Miracle Morning routine myself and plan to share my personal experience once I’ve lived with it long enough. That said, this pattern is familiar: we often feel energized while reading self-help books, motivated by the promise of change, yet most people never fully apply what they learn.

The Miracle Morning is a tool, not a solution. It offers structure, clarity, and motivation, but the results come only if you consistently show up and do the work.

Whether it truly changes your life isn’t determined by the routine itself, but by your willingness to turn intention into action.

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