I know. It’s sounds like a pretty tall order doesn’t. How can changing your mornings possibly change your whole life? Well I am here to tell you that it absolutely can. And it will. I started my “journey” about two years ago, and it all started by changing my mornings just a little bit at a time. It all started with a little book called The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. Nothing religious or fanatical, so no need to run and hide. The miracle is basically the miraculous transformation that can happen in your life if you practice the principals laid out in the book. To put it simply, The Miracle Morning encourages you to practice six things (daily SAVERS) every morning as soon as you wake up. I get up at 5:30-5:45am so that I can get them done before I wake my kids up at 7am to get ready for school.
The Six Morning Steps
- Silence – Things like Meditation, Prayer, Breathing. Basically quieting your mind and starting your day on a calm note.
- Affirmations – Encouraging words and phrases to boost confidence, happiness, and purpose in your life.
- Visualization – Picturing the outcome, and more importantly the feelings associated with, achieving your goals and dreams.
- Exercise – This doesn’t have to be your full daily workout routine, but even if you spend 5 minutes getting your blood flowing it helps wake up your brain and body for the day.
- Reading – Fill your brain with positive knowledge and ideas with self improvement books, videos, audios etc.
- Scribing – Journalling or writing is great to boost self awareness, and help you process your thoughts and emotions.
Now I didn’t start off perfectly practicing all six savers. I still haven’t managed to regularly do all six. But starting the process initiated a big change in my life.
Meditation
Meditation was the first and foremost change I implemented. I started out with guided meditations using the Calm app on my iPhone. I know a lot of people can find meditation challenging at first, and I know many people who use “adult coloring” as their method of quieting the mind. The Erin Condren Creative Color Coloring Book ($12 CAD) and Creative Color Colored Pencils ($14 US) are a really beautiful and fun option.
Affirmations
Spoken and written affirmations have become an important part of my daily routine. I highly recommend finding some that resonate with you. I think starting with some ones that will really cut to the core source of many of the struggles we experience in life is a powerful way to start. Affirmations like:
- I love you (your name) and accept you just as you are. (Especially powerful when said in the mirror, looking yourself in the eye.)
- I am worthy.
- I am enough. I always have been enough, and I always will be enough.
- I am loved.
- I am safe.
You can of course play with some manifesting affirmations, like I am wealthy, but focusing on the ones above I think is vital regardless of what your goals are in life.
When my kids were younger, and had a habit of getting up at weird times, I found it worked out better if I stayed in my room to do most of my morning routine.
I live in a creaky old farmhouse so I didn’t want to risk waking them getting out of bed. Now that they are older they are loving their sleep a lot more so I can come downstairs and do everything a bit more comfortably.
Visualization
Visualization is something that I have struggled with for a long time but I’ve come to realize that it’s not your ability to accurately see something in your mind’s eye that is important. It is far more important to FEEL what it will feel like to realize your goals and dreams. I love “future as the present” journaling for this. In other words, write in your journal like what you are wanting has already happened and feel how that would feel. Why is this so important? It’s all about your vibration baby! The law of attraction. What you feed grows and what you starve dies. Focus and feel the positive and you will attract more positive things in your life. Focus on the negative… well I’m sure you can imagine the outcome of that. You may already be living it.
Exercise
OK this is the one I’ve never nailed down. I have never exercised as part of my Miracle Morning routine. I like to save my exercise for after I’ve got the kids off to school and I’ve got some stuff done in the morning. I also don’t manage to do this on a regular basis. I think finally making it part of my Miracle Morning routine will concrete this step into my routine and turn me into an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. But even if you just do a quick 5 min yoga routine to stretch and get things flowing, or pump out a few pushups and sit ups then you are ahead of the game.
Reading
Reading is the part of the morning routine that I have always stuck with and, paired with meditation, has had the most impact on my life. Starting my day off by learning and embracing positive and empowering information is so addicting. I have read so many incredible books and the evolution of the kind of books I was reading further benefited and changed my life. We’ll have to save my favorite reads for another post!
Scribing
I have fallen on and off the journalling wagon but I’ve finally got the journalling bug. I’ve filled two of my Erin Condren Coiled Notebooks ($20 US) and I’m diving into my Erin Condren Bound Journal ($20 US). I LOVE the feel of the soft covers on the journals and the more compact size but I think I prefer the ease of the Coiled Notebook style a little better. Plus I get to play with my interchangeable Covers with them too! I’ve never really gotten into the daily diary kind of journaling but I use my notebooks for affirmations, gratitude, and future as the present journaling. Along with a healthy does of random note-taking, idea jotting, and creative work.
There are three different page layout options for the notebooks and journals. Classic Lined, Productivity, and Dot Grid.
If you don’t think you can get into journaling you can start by using your daily planner in a more powerful way. You can write out your affirmations (the Erin Condren LifePlanners are already filled with great inspiring quotes/affirmations) and daily gratitude for each day. Make notes of incredible things you’d like to see happen in your life like they have already happened. Give that dream vacation a date. Feel it like it’s really happening! Soak up all the joy, happiness, and gratefulness you can, and I guarantee you will start seeing more of it in your life. It can be so easy to overlook all the incredible blessings we have in our everyday life and focus only on the lack and the negative. Trust me. Focusing on the negative will get you nowhere fast.
2018 Erin Condren Life Planners are Here!
The new Erin Condren 2018 LifePlanner Styled Organizer ($55 US) is such a fun way to infuse your day with a little more positivity, awareness, and intention if you choose to use it that way. You can use these life planners as so much more than just a place to track your appointments. The Erin Condren LifePlanners have a cult following for a reason. The beautiful and fun presentation sparks creativity and joy in your day. The new Painted Petals design in the latest edition is probably my favorite to date. You can continue, with this edition, to choose from three layout options. The original vertical, as well as the more recent additions of horizontal and hourly.
There is also a new academic dated option! You can also choose between colorful and neutral color schemes. I’m a colorful girl all the way!
The new version now has thicker paper which I know will excite a lot of you planner junkies out there. The FSC-certified paper stock an 80# text weight (118 gsm) the tabs feature heavier cardstock as well. No bleeding ink or wore out tabs.
There are SO MANY beautiful new cover designs. I am trying very hard to resist more. I already have a huge cover selection, I’m a bit of an addict, yet I don’t actually change my cover that often. I just love so many of the designs! I think I need to store my cover collection in a more accessible way so I’m more inspired to change them regularly and enjoy them.
Oh, I almost forgot one of the best parts. You can get your covers, notebooks, and other products, personalized!
I think what I may be addicted to from Erin Condren, even more than the LifePlanners, are all the fun accessories and notebooks.
The sticker books are STUNNING and exquisite quality. I think, especially considering the quality, they are more economical than a lot of the Etsy sticker shops. I have all of the Erin Condren Designer Sticker Books and multiples of some. The new Classic Collection Edition 3 ($15 US) is my favorite with all the gorgeous metallic accents and watercolor designs. Here are just a few of the sticker pages within:
The Snap-in StylizedSticky Notes ($10 US) are such a fun and convenient accessory. You have a variety of little sticky notepads all in one area that snap right into your LifePlanner for easy access. It works great as a page finder and is so much better than losing random little sticky pads all over the place. Plus they are so pretty!
The Colorful Dual-Tip Markers ($15 US) make writing in my planner fun. They come in beautiful shades and have a fine tip marker on one end for more detailed writing and a bolder tip on the other end for doodling or more impactful headings and writing in your planners and notebooks.
All of the planners come with a place holding ruler but there are so many other fun ways you can keep track of your spot in your planner and books. There are many Snap-in Dashboards to choose from that you can write on with a whiteboard marker. There are the larger Wellness and Bill Tracker options ($6 US) and the slender Meal Planner, To Do List, and Productivity versions ($4 US). You can also use the Dividers ($5 US) that can be written on as well, or the Mini Snap-In Bookmarks ($4 US) and Magnetic Page Markers ($3 US). I LOVE these as bookmarks in my regular books.
A new accessory is the Erin Condren Planny Pack ($20 US). The look like stylish leather-like fanny packs but rather than wearing them you can slip the elastic band over your planner cover to keep your accessories handy. I have the cherry blossom and rose gold version which is so pretty!
Do you have a morning routine that starts your day off in a more positive light? I know the idea of getting up even earlier may sound impossible but the impact it will have on your day, and in turn your life, will be immeasurable. Maybe getting up an hour earlier means going to bed an hour earlier and missing some TV or social media scrolling time. How do you think that hour would be best spent? I no longer get woken up by a needy child or an unwanted alarm to start urgently preparing for the day. I wake up on my terms, in peace and joy, excited for my quality time dedicated to me and only me. You are worth that dedicated time as well.
If you think the new Erin Condren launches will be a nice compliment to your new morning routine, or you just want to take a more organized approach to your day, I highly recommend checking out the 2018 Erin Condren LifePlanner and all their fun accessories. You can get $10 OFF your first purchase when you set up an account with my referral link!
Phyrra Nyx says
Your planner is gorgeous!
Christa @PerilouslyPale says
Thanks! I love the rose gold. <3
Kendra Darr says
I’m going to try a planner again this next year. Hopefully this time I can get into it. My EC Life planner arrived last week!
Christa @PerilouslyPale says
It took me a while to get into it too! Yay for your new planner arriving! 😀
Jaelan @ Making Mrs. M says
I had NO idea E.C. made pajamas!!! How amazing is that?
Christa @PerilouslyPale says
Aren’t they cute! They have so many cool products, outside of planners, that have their fun prints and colours.
Carly Anderson says
I love the color you chose!
Christa @PerilouslyPale says
I love the rose gold with blush pink. So pretty!
Kathryn Dunkleberger says
I store my EC cover collection on a EC COIL. I had a daily task EC notebook I’d filled so I cutout the now-done pages and put covers on the coil separated in themes by unused EC coil clip bookmarks. All my coil clip accessories (party planner insert, etc) will be on my current notebooks coil when it’s used up.
Christa @PerilouslyPale says
What a great idea! Thank you!!
Sarah Halstead says
Ahhh! Love these and the pajamas. So pretty!!
Christa @PerilouslyPale says
And super soft and comfy. ?