The Miracle Morning: Hal Elrod On Morning Routines, Affirmations, & Mindset Shifts To Unlock Your Highest Potential

21:12Hal Elrod:Like, so I'm not, I'm going to do everything to beat this cancer that is humanly possible, not just chemo, but I will, I will relentlessly research and implement every holistic protocol known to man. And I said, here's the way I see it. There's a 100 % chance that I will be among the 30 % of those that beat this cancer because I'll do everything they did and a lot more. And you told your mind that, and you committed your mind to that. And so your mind, I mean, I'm, I'm not surprised. Yeah. Well, and then my miracle morning became all six of those practices went from being on, you know, business and parenting and da, da, da, da.

21:49Hal Elrod:No, all six were focused on beating cancer. That's it. It's a really interesting way to look at statistics in that way when you're talking about it, where it's, where you're right. These, a lot of these statistics, especially as it relates to health are based off of a pool that in many cases are either already sick to begin with or unhealthy or not doing the things or unwilling to do many things that you did. I think if you look at it from that perspective, then it takes a poor statistic and it makes it in, it sounds like in your case, empowering in a way, because you're like these people, there, there is, there is the ability to beat.

22:19I mean, if they were saying it's one out of a hundred, that might be a little different, but how did you implement the miracle morning when you were going through this?

22:25Hal Elrod:So right away, miracle morning is something I do every day. Right. So it's like, I didn't really stop doing it. I just kept doing it. And then I was like, all right, I'm looking at my goals and I'm going, none of these, I'm just like, I would read my goals every morning. It's part of my affirmations. I'm going, none of these matter if I'm dead. So I'm like, let's, let's set these aside. And the first thing I did, which is goes back to like 2008, when I doubled my income, the first thing I did was buy a book on how to get more clients. Right. Cause like the reading, the savers acronym for those that like to catch everybody out, the miracle morning is made up of this acronym known as savers or the life savers for long, but it's S A B E R S S for silence.

23:00Hal Elrod:That's your prayer, meditation, deep breathing, contemplation. A for affirmations, which we can unpack because it's very different than the goofy way that most people think of affirmations. V for visualization. E for exercise. R for reading. And the final S in savers is for scribing, which is a fancy word for writing. So the reading portion, immediately I went on Amazon and I looked at what are natural ways to beat cancer. My favorite book, by the way, of all the books I read is called Chris Beat Cancer. Oh. Yeah, and that's his website, by the way, chrisbeatcancer.com. In fact, he didn't have the book initially.

23:31Hal Elrod:It was just the website and then the book came out, but he was like my go-to because what he did is he beat cancer holistically when doctor said he would die. He's very religious and he was like, God, he's like, I felt my body's designed to heal. I'm going to heal. And then he dedicated his life to interviewing people that had beaten cancer naturally, interviewing doctors, all of that. So that was, so I got, I got a book on reading or a book first and foremost was the first thing I ordered. And then my affirmations are like the anchor of my miracle morning. They're the most important part. I'm going to introduce you to a bread.

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30:11Hal Elrod:Affirmations are mistaught, I believe. So like usually when you hear that word, you kind of roll your eyes like affirmations, what are some goofy like feel-good statements? Two problems with the way they're normally taught. Number one is we're taught to lie to self. If you're struggling financially, you're taught to affirm, I am wealthy, right? I am wealthy, but that's not based in reality and you're just diluting yourself into something that you don't actually believe. Second problem with affirmations is we're taught to use this flowery, passive language that promises a result, almost magical, independent of any effort.

30:42Hal Elrod:So you might've heard the affirmation, I am a money magnet. Money flows to me effortlessly. I was just going to say, I say money flows to me effortlessly. That's wrong. I say that all the time. I say money grows on trees for me. I'm going to say this since I was little, you're doing okay. So it might work. But I'm going to, here's the fact to me, this is the fallacy. Let's say it's also different if you're already on like a money trajectory. Right. But here's the fallacy is that imagine someone is struggling financially, right? Like, okay, I've got no money in my account and they're looking at their bank account on their phone in the morning and they're like, oh my God, I'm overdrawn again.

31:15Hal Elrod:No. So if they have an affirmation that says I'm a money magnet, money flows to me effortlessly and in abundance what that does is it gives them a temporary sense of relief like oh thank god money is going to flow to me effortlessly but i bet if i actually interviewed you lauren which i should have in my podcast right i bet you didn't effortlessly create money like y 'all put forth effort there's strategy there's strategy you got to back up the affirmation with the strategy so here's my formula for affirmations okay and these are rooted in truth. They are practical. They are actionable. There's also a little faith mixed in, but number still three steps.

31:52Hal Elrod:And anybody that's listening, like write these down. Step one, affirm what you're committed to. So I am committed to be, this was my affirmation. I'm committed to beating cancer and living to be 100 plus years old alongside Ursula and the kids, no matter what, there's no other option. And to be honest, there were moments of fear, especially when, you know, when you're sick, you don't feel good. Your mindset goes with your physical body. Well, when I was on chemo a hundred hours in, I'm like, I want to die. This is like, this is terrible. And how am I going to live through that? Not to mention, I went from 167 pounds to 127 pounds in three weeks.

32:26Hal Elrod:I lost 40 pounds in three weeks and every hair on my body. So I looked like a, I mean, a sickly cancer patient. Right. And so, you know, you're looking in the mirror, you're like, who I'm I look like I'm dying. And then you're like, right. And then you're going, okay, wait, I have a 30 % survival rate. No wonder the chemo is killing me. So like so many thoughts. And so I would have fear of like, what if I die? What if I do everything right? And I still die? What does that mean for my kids? So fear would like seep in and then it would start to grow. And so my affirmations were the anchor where I would lift them up and I would go, I would, I would go, fear does not serve me.

33:04Hal Elrod:Fear is going to kill me. And I'd replace the fear with the faith of that first statement. I am committed to beating cancer and living to be a hundred years old alongside Ursula and the kids, no matter what, there is no other option. And I would say it over. And I mean, I've said it thousands of times till eventually that became my reality. It was like, I'm like, people go, are you afraid you're going to die? I'm like, no, that's not even an option anymore. Like I'm fully committed to living. That's the only option. And so it, it gradually day by day, by day reprograms your subconscious mind and directs your conscious thoughts to the outcome that you're committed to.

33:38So you say, like, let's use money as an example since we were using that. I love that. So you'd say, I'm committed, I'm just making this up, I'm committed to making this much money for my family. No matter what. No matter what. There's no other option. And there's no other option.

33:53Hal Elrod:Step two, that's exactly, what you said is exactly right. Very different from, I'm a money magnet and money's gonna show up magically so I can just feel okay that everything's gonna be fine by itself. There's like money on trees outside the house. I might be the fucking tree lauren michael dude i just listened to your podcast right and you're talking about how lauren runs the design parts of the business and michael runs the finances and the operation i don't want to discredit her because she plays this but she's much more savvy than she's coming she knows what she's doing i'm fine but she but but but i also know like but there lauren does you know think in abundance and all that but she's also one of the hardest workers like when we when we go to when we we're both we work and what the reason we're good as a couple together and we don't talk about this a lot is like i know when it's go time we need to hustle we need to work like she's been with me yeah through these long long hours and travel and kids and they're like when she needs to work she fucking works and so it didn't just like fall into the lap you know what i mean like it's been a hustle yeah and so if you realize right you are you are committed to the results that you guys create together both of you okay right you're not sitting back waiting And so there's nothing wrong.

35:07Hal Elrod:Like, think of it this way. It's a yes. And it's not an either or, meaning you've been affirming I'm a money magnet, money flows to me. And then you work your ass off. Great. So what's the second part of the affirmation? The second part of the affirmation, the second step in the formula is so step one is affirm what you're committed to. And like the formula is I'm committed to blank, no matter what, there's no other option. And by the way, the commitment, that blank could be an outcome, but it could also be an activity. Like you could say I'm committed to losing 20 pounds, no matter what, there's no other option.

35:35Hal Elrod:And then that drives you to do whatever it takes. Or you could say, well, what does it take to lose 20 pounds? I got to run 20 minutes a day. So you can say, I'm committed to run 20 minutes a day, no matter what, there's no other option. So you can really affirm the outcome. I like the outcome usually because step three kind of brings in the activity, but step two is affirm why it's a must for you. This is where Simon Sinek made his whole career off of the power of why. We like him a lot. Yeah. I love Simon. So when I affirmed that I was committed to beating cancer, if all you do is affirm the outcome, let's say, for example, go back to the money example.

36:06Hal Elrod:I am committed to being a millionaire, right? If you're not clear on why that is a must for you, like why is it so important that you're willing to do whatever it takes? Because it's just, you're like, well, being a millionaire would be cool, right? Like if you're not clear on the like, no, no, no. Why is it a must for you? So I had five reasons and I encourage people that are doing this, have three to five bullet points that are such crucial non-negotiable reasons for you. So number one, I am committed to beating cancer for my wife, Ursula, because I promised her forever and a day. That's part of our wedding vows, right?

36:38Hal Elrod:So that has like a deep meaning for me. Like I promised her forever and a day. Number two, so this is step two. Second reason, I'm committed to beating cancer for Sophia and Halston, my two kids, because they need their daddy's love guidance and leadership. And I'm committed to watching them grow up. Three, I'm committed to beating cancer for my mom and dad because they already lost a child. My baby sister died when I was younger. and man you've been through it and my parents have been through it i think as a parent now it's like oh they've actually been through it worse i've been through it but they've been through it but so i said they've my affirmation said they've already lost one child and do not deserve to lose another uh number four i'm committed to being cancer for myself because damn it i deserve to live a long happy healthy life as much as any other person on this planet and number five last but not least i'm committed to being cancer for the millions of people who are themselves battling cancer or some other disease and may not have the knowledge and resources that I've been blessed with.

37:31Hal Elrod:And it's my responsibility to get through this so I can help them through their journey. So those five reasons and the reason I like, I didn't just say, I didn't just make reasons. I want to give you real life examples. When I felt like giving up, which there were days where I was so sick, I was so fatigued. I just didn't want to do it anymore. Those five reasons and those affirmations are what kept me going day after day after day. If all I would have read is I'm committed to beating cancer for ursula and the kids that might have kept me going but it's like it was the five reasons it's like oh yeah i'm doing it for her i'm doing it for them i'm doing it for my mom and dad i'm doing it for myself i'm doing it for humanity let's go i there's i can't not do it i have to do it and those are the reasons why yeah it's funny like perfect perfect example like obviously we take we we talk about health on the show and we take it seriously and there's but there was a moment where we've we've lacked on it and especially right before we had kids and like one of the like one of the main reasons that i that i wanted to personally get in shape is like i want to be able to pick up my children for as long as possible and so like when i'm in there and i'm working out i'm not thinking like oh do i have a six pack i'm thinking like i want to be able to do all of that without you know struggling you know and like whenever they you know if they're seven years old i hope maybe by then they're going to do their own thing but yeah um but you can do it without like that was like a driving then it's grandkids you want to be in shape to take your grandkids.

38:49What was it like when you were given, like when you were given the news that you were cancer free? Was that incredible or did you predict it?

38:57Hal Elrod:Yeah. Well, and it's actually, you can watch it in the movie. So the Miracle Morning documentary, have you seen that yet? No. I know Michael hasn't seen it. Where can you watch it? So you can watch it. You can watch it free on YouTube. Okay. Or you can go to miraclemorning.com, find it there. Or you can rent it on Amazon Prime if you want to pay the five bucks and have it in your Amazon on prime library. You can like buy or rent it there. So we were making the documentary, a friend of mine, Nick Conadere is a filmmaker. And he was like bugging me for six months. Got to make a documentary. I'm cause he's in the miracle morning community, Facebook group.

39:25Hal Elrod:And he goes, the stories in there are crazy. How people are like overcoming depression. Although legally, I can't say it does that, but overcoming depression, they're losing weight. They're like, like it's, he goes, we have to share these people's stories and we should share your story of how you're like traveling the world, trying to spread this miracle morning message. And I kept saying, no, no, no, no, no. And then finally one day I was like, let's do it. You're right. Let's do it. So we start making the movie and it's like, well, I think about two years in and Mel Robbins is in the movie, Brendan Burchard, Robin Sharma, Lewis Howes.

39:58Hal Elrod:There's all these like world renowned, you know, experts talking about their morning routines. And so we're making this awesome movie and then I'm diagnosed with cancer. And I called Nick. I said, Nick, I'm actually in the hospital. I go, Hey, I'm, I'm in the hospital. I have to start chemo tomorrow. I, I have this crazy cancer. It's not looking good. And movies on hold. And we talk for, you know, a little while, he's a friend. And he said, how I hope you don't take this wrong way. I don't think we should put the movie on hold. This is the movie. Like, this is your story and the miracle morning story.

40:30Hal Elrod:And this is the movie now. I was like, let me talk to Ursula. We weren't planning on filming this. and thank god i said yes because like when you're watching the miracle morning documentary the first hour is the original plan for the movie and then it's a selfie video of me recording for like friends family whoever going hey guys i'm in the hospital they can't figure out what's wrong with me and then the last 30 minutes of the movie you're watching me battle cancer and fight for my life and then you watch and when you're watching it like if you didn't know that i made it you literally none of us knew i mean i had faith but nobody knew like is hell gonna live to the end of like the movie.

41:04Hal Elrod:And then you actually watch in the movie, I'm ringing this bell at MD Anderson. It's the day that they gave me the official, your cancer-free diagnosis. And I'll tell you, that was a, that was a, that was a great moment. It was a great feeling, but the journey wasn't over in terms of, I still had to do chemo for two more years. Minimum was what they, the doctors had me on. And it went from being a hundred hours a month to one hour a month. For those that are ignorant about chemo, what does it do? And what does it, I mean, what does it do? What does it make you feel like as you're like, is it, does it just drain all of your energy?

41:38Does it make you, does it make you sick? Does it make you feel?

41:40Hal Elrod:So it poised, it's, it's poison essentially it's medicine slash poison. And real quick, I'll answer that question first by just quoting one of my nurses. She goes, Hal, let me be frank with you. She's like, I've been a, I forgot what the name of the nurse is, but it's a cancer nurse for 20 years. And she said, chemotherapy is killing the cancer and it's killing you simultaneously. And the goal is that it kills the cancer before it kills you. And then you have a chance to live your life and rebuild your body to the best of your ability. Like that's how she described it being very frank, but yeah, it's killing the cancer cells, but it's also killing your bone marrow.

42:16Hal Elrod:It's completely wiping out your immune system. I mean, the cancer journey, it was the most horrific thing. So once they injected chemo, it was supposed to go in my spine and they accidentally hit my nerve. And I had 11 days of the most horrific migraines that morphine didn't help. Nothing helped except for cannabis, which is a whole nother story. That was the only thing that actually helped it. And I don't find that out till 11 days in. So yeah, it's killing the cancer, but it's killing every, it's killing your brain cells. It's killing everything. So I had 700 hours or 800 hours of everything being destroyed.

42:48Hal Elrod:And for me, like someone who's like really into health, right? You could imagine that. Imagine you're like, it's killing me right now it's it's all that i've worked so hard to like thrive in my health it's all being just taken you know away but do you think because you were so focused on your health before you had obviously maybe a better chance of doing it or do you not think it would have made a difference no no well here's what i think it was so yes the fact so youth health all of that right like if someone gets cancer when they're 70 it's harder their body to rebound than went there, I was 37 being the fact that I was pretty healthy ahead of time.

43:21Hal Elrod:And I say pretty healthy because I thought I was healthy. But when I actually, after the cancer, I'm like, wait, let me examine everything. I'm like, wait, I have one beer after work every night. That's not healthy. Like, yes, I eat an organic diet and I eat grass fed beef. But I also, at that time I was taking Adderall. It was my, you know, I was like back on Adderall. So I was like, I was, I was like, there's a lot of little things I do that thinking I'm healthy is not actually healthy. But the point is change, like all your cleaning supplies and like everything that was in your house. To me now, it's impeccable health.

43:51Hal Elrod:Like before it was healthier than most people was how I justified. I'm healthier than like 95 percent of society. Now it's impeccable health, which is nothing goes in my body that isn't from the earth, first of all. Right. But here's I really want to answer your question, Michael, is that it was all of the holistic practices that I did in conjunction with chemotherapy. I believe that's why I'm alive today. So for example, the doctor, I'm like, how do I detox my, you know, so I Googled like, what, what are the negative side effects of chemotherapy that cause people to die? And it was like liver toxicity, like, so basically toxicity.

44:24Hal Elrod:So I asked my doctor, how do I detoxify? He's like, Oh, we have like a, we have a pharmaceutical drug that will help you detox. I'm like, so I had to go all on my own. And so coffee enemas are, according to chris work chrisbeatcancer.com of all the doctors he has interviewed he is convinced that that is the most effective natural protocol to prevent cancer because it detoxifies it pulls all the toxins that build up in your cells and can make your cells become cancerous i heard you feel like really good after that oh it's amazing i still do it i it's what i've been doing it for last nine years you do it here in austin i do it in my in my house no you do people do it alone in their house.

45:02Yeah.

45:02Hal Elrod:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can go. I've, I've gone to facilities, but no. And it's actually, I love it. The first few are very awkward. You're like, Oh, this is, and for those that don't know, like you're, you're putting 32 ounces of coffee up your butt and then you're holding it for 12 minutes. And the first time it's super awkward, but now it's like the most, it's, it's one of my favorite parts of the week. It's just go to the bathroom after. Yeah. Then you, yeah. Then you go sit on the toilet. It makes sense though. It's getting, it's getting all the toxins like that are getting stuck to your colon and all that stuff.

45:30It's getting literally the shit out.

45:32Hal Elrod:Yeah, all of it. And it's what it's also doing. And don't, you know, I'm so non-scientific. I never remember the details of things, but it's, it's, it's going up. And first of all, you don't get caffeinated. It doesn't have the same effects where you feel like you just drank a bunch of coffee. You don't feel caffeinated at all. And it's, but it's going up and it's, I'm trying to think of what part of your body it's going, but it's basically, it, it causes bile production where like it just, yeah, just it, it detoxes you extremely, very quickly and like to your point it's pulling everything off of the walls of your colon um it makes sense i'm just it's like sticking something up my ass i just feel like oh it's tiny it's a does it hurt no no not at all so it's not like a giant garden hose no it's a tiny little skinny tip for some reason i was we can try it tonight i'll try some different things i was picturing like a big like one of those big like uh construction tubes yeah no it's really tiny You make a beer bong.

46:27Yeah.

46:28Hal Elrod:It's like, it's, it's tiny comes to a point. It's very, it's very small, but Ben Greenfield, I believe it was an article that he wrote. This was, you know, 10 years ago, but I think his article was one of my favorites on like teaching you why to do it, how to do it. But, and you just, you go to Amazon, Google, or get a stainless steel coffee in a kit and then get organic coffee in a coffee. And I think any organic coffee will work. Right. But so I did just to get clear, that was only one of dozens of things I did. I took 70 supplements a day. I did ozone sauna. I actually bought an ozone sauna for my house.

47:02Hal Elrod:It is a, it's a sauna. So it opens up your pores and then it puts ozone. You actually, it hooks up to an oxygen tank. And again, I'm very, I can't remember all the details of, right. I learned something and then I forget all the whys of like all the details, but so it's a, it's a sauna. And then it also puts ozone into your cells while they are open into your pores while they are open from the heat of the sauna. Does it look like a barrel sauna and then there's an ozone machine in it? it looks like the one i use it's called a hawket and it's hard to explain it's like a it's hard to explain what it even looks like but you actually get in it and like the two doors open you sit on a shelf and then you close the doors and it goes all the way up to your neck and you're completely enclosed and then the oxygen machine is hooked up with like tubes that are going into the sauna and it has infrared it has infrared lights inside of it so i did red light therapy this may be good for people to do even just regardless as a recovery protocol you know i love i saw a meme the other day from a doc, I can't remember the doctor's name that I follow, but he said, I eat like I have cancer so that I never get cancer.

48:00Hal Elrod:And like Chris work who wrote the book, Chris beat cancer. He says coffee enemas are, he believes the most, and this is from him interviewing, you know, hundreds of doctors, the most effective way to not to, to get rid of cancer. But he said to prevent cancer. It makes sense. Cause it's clearing you out, especially with all the colon cancer and everything. Like it really does make sense. Yeah. But also to your point, even like going, if you just like kept going down that rabbit hole. I just did everything. The cleaner you eat and the more natural you eat, the less chance you have of having bad stuff in you to begin with.

48:32What were the other things that you did?

48:34Hal Elrod:And I was talking to someone about this today. It was throwing the kitchen sink at it. First of all, people go, well, so what worked and what didn't? I'm like, I have no idea what worked and what didn't because I did everything simultaneously. And it was just like a risk reward. Like, okay, are there any side effects of, you know, vitamin C? No. Okay, great. I'll take that. Right. Are coffee enemas, any, any negative effects? No, they seem to be totally safe. Okay, great. I'll do those. Right. So it was like ozone sauna. Is that safe? Yeah. So it's like all these natural holistic practices, they're just building your immune system, detoxifying your body.

49:03Hal Elrod:And so they're, you know, and biohacking is a very popular term back then. I don't even know if it was a term, it was probably early phases, but I realized I just biohacked the heck out of my cancer. Like everything that I did would be considered a biohack. It was these natural ways of building the body up to enhance its ability to function and in an optimal way. So even when the cancer was gone, you still had to do chemotherapy for an hour a month. Oh yeah. Thank you. So they're finishing that story. So I'm doing not only chemo, they had me on all these pharmaceuticals, prednisone, and it's crazy.

49:36Hal Elrod:I went from being all natural, not wanting to do any pharmaceuticals or any, any chemo to like, it just, you get, you get into the system and then they're like, we'll just take this. You're like, okay, I'm already. And then all of a sudden before, you know, like, it's like, it's this slippery slope of protocol. Yeah. And then now I'm like, I'm taking so much. So in 2020, it was the lowest point in my life. It started in November, 2019. I was hosting a live event and the night before the first night, and I wasn't, we had, this was our sixth year. I wasn't even, I wasn't nervous. Like it was like, this is my, I loved it.

50:11Hal Elrod:But for whatever reason, The night before the event, I went to sleep at 9 p.m. And at 11 p.m. in the hotel in San Diego, I woke up flooded with like adrenaline or cortisol. I wasn't measuring it. I don't know what it was. It was just like I was wired with this weird buzzing stress. And that began six months of sleeping two to four hours per night. And if you ever slept one night, two to four hours, you're a mess the next day months into it i was suicidal yeah i was hallucinating i thought people were trying to kill me my brain did not work i i had never had anxiety my whole life i had the most debilitating anxiety where if a friend called i would start shaking before i'd answer the phone it was crazy and i was contemplating the only if i didn't have kids and why and parents like too many people but like every morning i would literally have these conversations myself where I'd go, I was sleeping in the guest room, first of all, because if my wife would come to bed and wake me up, it would, the whole thing, I was a mess.

51:12Hal Elrod:So I'm sleeping by myself. My, our marriage is falling apart because I'm not the man she married. I'm a mess. And every day I'm literally, my brain is thinking, I'm like, how could I kill myself and not have it negatively affect the kids? Is there a way? Like, that's the problem I was solving for. Wow. And so I'm like, and I remember I'm literally like, well, A, I would have to make it look like an accident. B, I would have to record a bunch of videos ahead of time of all the lessons I want my kids to have and what, like, that's how bad it was. But I could never reconcile, like, this would devastate, I can't do this to them.

51:48Hal Elrod:So six months into it, when we made the Miracle Morning movie, one of the experts in the movie is Dr. Michael Bruce. He's known as the sleep doctor. Like, that's his expertise. and my brain was so out of whack, I forgot about him. I forgot that I have his cell phone number. So I'm talking to my friend, Joe Paula, she runs Genius Network. And I'm telling Joe, I'm crying. I mean, I was literally every day, I was crying every day, crying. People would go, how's it going? And I would just break into tears. I'm like, I can't lie to you. I'm a mess. And I was afraid I was going to lose all my friends because they're like, how it used to be so fun and positive.

52:23Hal Elrod:And now he's like, he's a mess. So long story short, Joe introduced, he goes, call Michael Bruce. He's the sleep doctor. He can help you. I call Michael. Michael's like, so Michael gives me lots of advice, which supplements to take all the things. And I email my doctor. I'm like, how long before I can get off all these drugs and all this chemo? And he says, I want you on it as long as you can tolerate it. And I emailed him back. This is May of 2020. So I've been six months of this. I said, I can't tolerate it. I want to die every day. I him. And I just told him everything going on. I said, I'm done.

52:56Hal Elrod:And so against doctor's orders, I quit 100 % of pharmaceuticals, cold Turkey. I was taking prednisone. I was to all sorts of stuff. I quit cold Turkey, no chemo, no nothing. And so that's the day that I view my healing began. Yeah. Not the day that they said, Hey, you're free of cancer, but you're going to keep taking all these pharmaceuticals and chemo. It was the day that I quit cold Turkey. And I went From now on, I rebuild my body 100 % based on things that come from planet Earth and nothing made in a lab. I have been learning, this is so crazy, about the frequencies in fabrics. So there's frequencies in fabrics.

53:39And one that has really good frequency is silk. So Michael and I recently switched out the sheets in our bedroom to silk. My kids are obsessed. I love silk pillowcases. you guys know this. And the brand that we got is called Cozy Earth. I also picked up their gray cashmere blanket from my bed and it is amazing. And cashmere has good frequency too. So if you're looking to really upgrade your sheets, your blankets, your fabrics that are around your body for eight to nine hours a night, then you should check out their site. So the ones that I would check out is yes, they're silk sheets, but I would also, this is like my next thing is to try their bamboo sheets and it's temperature regulating sheets.

54:20Basically what they do is they naturally wick away the heat and moisture from your body, which helps you sleep several degrees colder, which is really good for you. They have like a bubble cuddle blanket and this has got a lot of comfort and style. Everything on their site is just really, really beautiful. And I really like the fabrics that they use. My dogs love them. My kids love them. They even have a hundred night sleep trial so you can try them out if you don't love them return them 10-year warranty all the things head to cozyearth.com and use my code skinny for up to 40 % off and if you get a post purchase survey make sure you let them know you heard about cozy earth right here because your bed should be more than a place to sleep it should be your happy place cozy earth makes that possible all right let's talk about formula so bobby it's not just another formula it's a movement this is a really really cool company it's the world's first usda organic whole milk infant formula and it's manufactured right here in the united states so i had the opportunity of interviewing the founder of bobby and that industry is just wild you really have to do your research Bobby is Clean Label certified and it's trusted by 500 ,000 parents nationwide.

55:41I personally think that when you are picking a formula, it's important to look into it. This formula has had three years of research. It has had testing, retesting, and it's led by a mom who really, really cares. So if you're looking for a brand that's by a mom who wanted something better for her babies and yours, you got to check this out. Their ingredients meet the strictest organic standards in the world. Everyone is talking about this company too behind the scenes. I hear about it from everyone. I personally like that their manufacturing facility is in Ohio. You know where it's coming from.

56:21And it's really a premium recipe. If you're looking for a formula, you have to check out Bobby, they really support the whole feeding journey. They even have DHA to support brain development, which is crucial in the first year of life. And they gave you a code exclusively for our him and her listeners. Bobby is offering an additional 10 % off on your purchase with code skinny. Visit highbobbie.com for more details. That's h-i-b-o-b-b-i-e.com. This sunscreen, It's caffeinated, it's mineral, and it does not pile under makeup. I applied it today with a damp beauty blender before I got my glam done, and it lays so nicely under like a foundation or a concealer.

57:07But here's the thing that I like the most about it. So when I'm off work and when I don't have to do podcasts or Instagrams or content, or I just can just be comfortable, I can wear this caffeinated sunscreen and I still get a really nice tint and a protection. And it looks like my skin is all one even tone, which is nice without all the makeup. It's not like a foundation. It's like the caffeine tightens your skin. It gives you a nice even tone and it just gives you a little bit of color. So what I like about this sunscreen is the versatility. So you can wear it when you're off and you're running around and you're running errands and wear it with nothing over it or you can wear it like I'm wearing today right now with foundation and concealer over it.

57:56So it works both ways. I will wear this when I'm going to the gym in the morning and just wear it throughout the day with nothing else or I will wear it with a full look. I created this sunscreen because I couldn't find a mineral-based sunscreen with caffeine in it. Caffeine tightens the skin, it shrinks the pores, and I just like how it lays on the skin. and I mixed it with a mineral sunscreen and then we made it SPF 40. So it's a real treat. I think that you guys will absolutely love it. It just comes out in a pump, fits in your handbag and it can go through the airport. You can shop this at shopskinnyconfidential.com and it's the caffeinated SPF.

58:38Also, if you're like me and you go through sunscreen quickly, you can subscribe and the sunscreen will get delivered straight to your door so you don't have to worry about it. That's shopskinyconfidential.com. You have to sometimes question protocol because here's the problem with protocol. They say the protocol is the same for everybody, but everybody's different. So even when I went in to give birth and they have the protocol, I'm different than someone else who just gave birth. And I understand that protocol is needed in situations, but it also has to have some place to be malleable because if there's no place to be malleable, it's like, we're not all the same.

59:19Hal Elrod:No, no. And like, so I've, I've, I've gone on some, I don't know if I'd call them rants, but I've just, I've posted on social media before about this, right. And about how my doctor said your diet doesn't matter. And so I've been, I've been like our medical system needs some serious work and respect all the doctors. I believe all that, like, I don't think doctors have anything but the desire to help people, right? It goes much deeper than that in terms of the, you know, the education, which is funded by big pharma and all the things. But I've had people say, how dare you, Hal? Chemotherapy saved your life.

59:50Hal Elrod:And I said, yeah. And the fact that I did all these things that my doctors knew nothing about, if I would have only done chemotherapy, I'd be giving myself a 30 % chance of being alive. so that's your point protocol gave you a 30 chance of living protocol plus building your body through nature and prayer and meditation and every possible thing that you could do like holistically that to me is why i'm alive today we we know so many doctors we have on the show and we talk and you know we get that same kind of pushback whenever you question any kind of medical authority or anyone with a credential they you know people get up in arms but at the same time, we get to talk to a lot of these people off air.

1:00:36And I'll give you an example. Some of these people are surgeons and something very basic. They'll say, okay, you just had a surgery. I'll use a random thing. You're not allowed to exercise or do weights or do anything for a month. Wink, wink off the air. By the way, the patients that recover the fastest typically are up on their feet. I'm just saying there has been, and I'm not going to, the people are going to say that's vague. What, give us a specific example. I'm not going to, because I don't want to put into a blast. But it's funny because what these guys will say is they cannot go and say that to every patient for insurance reasons, for liability reasons.

1:01:09They can't take on that liability in many cases for their practice. But wink, wink, off to the side between friends, the recoveries we've seen the best are counter to what the protocol is. Same with like a birth. And I'm not saying that for everything. I'm just saying there's instances of that. So you really, what I've learned talking to medical experts, having people that have had medical issues, you know our own experiences is you take that information but then you really got to go and have a lot of other conversations get a lot of other opinions do your own research and do what's best for you and most importantly you have to advocate for yourself yeah because if you don't you'll just be locked into a system you'll be overwhelmed you'll just get in this hamster wheel of like i'm just going going going doing what they're telling me and many people get stuck on that and they just don't even think to think about a counter way or another way to do things so after all of this happened to you and you stopped everything, what happened?

1:01:59Hal Elrod:I started getting better and I started sleeping again. And I, yeah, I mean, I, you know, I was on prednisone, which, I mean, there were many side effects of the drugs I was taking was causes issues with sleep, you know? And so, yeah, I started getting back and it was, it's a long, it's still a process. It's been five years since I stopped all the pharmaceuticals and the resident, the residue, I guess you could say of like that dark time. And I've had, I've, I've, I've talked to, I don't know if it was a therapist or who it was that talked about how once you've been in that dark of a place where the adversity you were going through, like you were contemplating ending your life, they talk about how hard it is to not go like you'll like a stressor will immediately, right?

1:02:40Hal Elrod:There's neural pathways that essentially were burned into my brain, carved into my brain during those six months. And so it's still, yeah, like mental health and all of that is still something that I'm always like working on. And I think for many people it is right. Like it's not like you get to a place where you're like, nothing affects me. It's like, and that's why to me, my miracle morning is so important. It's like, it's almost like a reset button every day. Like every day I get to wake up and be like, all right, I'm going to read my affirmations that remind me what I'm committed to as a, as a husband, as a father, as a CEO, as an author, as a human, what I'm committed to for my, for optimal mental health and physical health and right.

1:03:14Hal Elrod:And then looking at why is this a must for me and which actions will I take today? And so it's like every day, starting my day with that practice, with the miracle morning, allows me to show up each day at my best. So let's talk about this new version of the miracle morning. I'm sure many of this audience have read the book, many seen the documentary, but for those that haven't and you were giving the right, like what can they expect out of this? What are you hoping that they get? Yeah. So two ways that I'll answer that. One is the miracle morning can be just a general morning practice where you get up and you do your savers and you can do them in as little as six minutes, by the way.

1:03:46Hal Elrod:I mean, there's a chapter in the new book called the six minute miracle morning. It doesn't have to take an hour. Most people do 30 to 60 minutes, depending on your schedule. So you wake up and you, you spend five minutes in silence and you calm your nervous system and lower your cortisol. And maybe you pray and like, okay, I'm really centered for the day. Then you pull out your affirmations. And for me, I have affirmations for each area of my life that matters. I've got affirmations for my business and for my family and, you know, my health and, and I'm reading affirmations. And so now those are reminding you, oh yeah, these are the things I'm committed to today.

1:04:14Hal Elrod:And here's why they're important to me. And the third step, which I cover, which is which actions will you take to ensure that you are moving forward toward the outcome that you say you're committed to. So that formula, right? In each area of your life, you're like, all right, I know the most important areas of my life every single day. And I'm reminded every day by reading these miracle morning affirmations, this is what I'm committed to. This is why, and this is what I need to do. So you have total clarity on what you want and why and what you're going to do to get there. Then the visualization piece is I always, I call it mental rehearsal, where you mentally rehearse yourself doing the thing today that will get you where you want to go.

1:04:49Hal Elrod:So when I was training for, I ran an ultra marathon because I hated running and I thought, man, if I could do that, I could do anything. So I would visualize every morning, getting up, getting dressed in my running clothes, heading out the front door and going on a run. And while I was at the front door, I would imagine myself reciting the affirmations one more time that I had just read, I'm committed to running 52 consecutive miles on October 29th, 2009, no matter what, there is no other option. This is a must for me because doing so will enable me to overcome all of my limiting beliefs that think I can't be a runner and I will be able to do anything I ever decide to do.

1:05:25Hal Elrod:And so to do this, I will follow the training plan in the book I'm reading, The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer. As you see, I literally, I'm bringing in the reading, I'm bringing in the affirmations. I'm visualizing the thing I'm doing. And then I would mentally rehearse going for that run in a peak state. And then what would happen in real time, you can apply this to any goal in your life. The alarm would go off my phone when it was time to go for the run, just like I had visualized. I didn't procrastinate on going for the run, which would be human nature, like, and I'll do it tomorrow because that's not what I visualized and mentally rehearsed and put myself in the state of doing.

1:06:00Hal Elrod:So almost like a robot in the most positive sense of the word, I would go, oh, time to run. I would turn off the alarm, get up, just like I visualized, go in my closet, get dressed in my running clothes, head out the front door, open the front door. And when I did that and I saw the sidewalk, immediately my affirmations flooded back into my consciousness. And I would say them out loud as I looked at the pavement in real time. And then I would go on that run. The E in Sabres is for exercise. And this is not going to the gym in the morning. It's literally as little as 60 seconds of jumping jacks.

1:06:30Hal Elrod:It's the idea that when you move your body in the morning, you wake up your nervous system, you get blood and oxygen to your brain. So you think clearer, you have more energy, more motivation. So just a little bit of exercise in the morning. And right now I do about five minutes of morning exercise. It's stretching, plank, downward dog, and jumping jacks. That's what I do. And then I go, I do work out, but I work out after the kids go to school. So that's like separate from the miracle morning. The R in savers is reading, right? So I'll be re I have one self-imposed rule. I'm an entrepreneur like y 'all and grad actually gravitate toward like the business book that you're reading that has the new strategies that you want to implement my self-imposed rules.

1:07:05Hal Elrod:I'm not allowed to read a business book until I've read a book on marriage or parenting a family book. I got to read that first rule. Yeah. And it just, it reminds me that a, that's my priority by physically grabbing that book first. And I learned something every day that I get to apply throughout the day. If I don't wake up tomorrow and you're not reading a book on marriage, I got a rule I read three business books and that enables me to then read a science fiction book no no no what's the what's the marriage book that he's gonna order it on Amazon no no I'm open I like to read all sorts of different things yeah you can't wait to read it but if you got some good ones I'll take them one of my favorites but it's like the seven the seven principles of marriage there you go I already bought it for you it's in our drawer okay well you already have it yeah yep I already have it the funny thing is I read like I read I just spent in one of the episodes I did the solo I do this like weird reading challenge where and I got a print.

1:07:52I don't know where I found it. Camille Stiles. No, I don't know if it was from her. Yeah, you did. It was from her website. Was it from Camille? I love how he says he doesn't know where he found something when I sent it to you. You gave it to me. And literally sent it to you and you've repurposed it. Well, if you would have told me that for the last two months, I was like, I didn't know where I got it. Camille Stiles website. Camille, I should have given her credit. Okay, so it's on there for people that have been asking me. But it makes you read these different kinds of books. Like for example, to be like, read one that's a Pulitzer Prize, read one the year you were born, read one that starts with a number, read one that's like, like whatever.

1:08:23Hal Elrod:It gets you out of your comfort zone. Read one about marriage. I ended up, yeah, but okay, that's like, I'll read it. Okay. We got some rapid fires before, before you jump here. What do you do in your miracle evening? So there's actually, that's one of the aspects of the new book is there is a new chapter called the miracle evening, which I've been asked for like the last 15 years or so is what's your morning, what's your evening routine? And I used to not have one now it's very specific. So there's an acronym slumbers. Okay. And I won't go through all of them, but the S is for stop eating three to four hours before bed.

1:08:52Okay.

1:08:53Hal Elrod:Now you might actually, I think it's two to four hours. I'm a snacker. Yeah. So the thing with that is your body is now tasked with digesting food all night long. And that's when it's supposed to be repairing and also detoxifying. Okay. Yeah. So stop eating before bed. And also going to Amakasi tonight. This is a horrible day to hear this. But if you do that, then you just don't go to bed for three hours. Yeah. There you go. So I eat dinner typically by 6 p.m. Okay. And then I go to bed at 9 p.m. Okay. That's like a light's off. So that's, I get about two and a half, three hours. In order to do the miracle morning, do you have to be up early?

1:09:24Is that one of the principles?

1:09:25Hal Elrod:No, not at all. So the miracle morning is how you start your day. So I have people that work the night shift, right? Nurses, doctors, whatever, they work overnight and they wake up at noon. Got it. So then they do their miracle morning from 12 to 1230. Okay. So go back to slumbers. So, so yeah, stop eating three, three to four hours before bed. L is let go of stressful thoughts. So it's a conscious decision that you actually realize when, when I go to bed, the only objective I have is singular focus of preparing my mind and body for restful sleep. And so allowing myself to think through stressful thoughts doesn't work.

1:10:00Hal Elrod:The U, use sleep supplements as needed. So I use CBN and CBD oil. I use magnesium. I use valerian root and I use a natural melatonin. Coffee in the morning, yes or no? Yeah, after you drink a full glass of water to rehydrate. One of your, okay, what about like one of your favorite books? So actually what come to me, Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters is one of my favorite books. That's a good one. I'll read that. See, I'll read the family books. Yeah. I'll read the family books. One belief about success you've completely changed your mind on. That anything another human being can do is evidence of what's possible for all of us.

1:10:32I love that. We should write a book called Strong Husbands, Strong Wives. strong husbands strong wives after you read strong father strong daughter see how you can adapt it yeah you should write that yeah okay last and final question strong wives if you had to write a new miracle morning for the next generation which i feel like you've kind of refreshed this is it i know that's it did you add a ritual in here at a ritual yeah is there

1:11:01Hal Elrod:anything you added like an added ritual so there's so there's 70 pages of new content in the new edition, including the Miracle Evening and the Miracle Life, which is the next book that I've been working on for the last three or four years. That's the last chapter in the new book. And it's essentially how it's kind of everything we've talked about today. Like, how do you actually love every moment of your life, even when it's really difficult? How can you be happy when you feel unhappy? Like, how do you transform your mindset so you can handle anything that comes your way? And map out your next day.

1:11:29Hal Elrod:Thank you. But the rest is in your book. You guys have have to go pick this up. This book absolutely changed my mornings years ago. I remember being in San Diego. How long ago was that? I was in San Diego when I read your book. Helen and I were talking before you got here. It used to be blue, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It had to be around between 2012 and 14 for sure. Yeah, I remember reading your book. It was a silhouette. It was a guy with his arms open with the sunrise behind him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I almost want to say, hold on, please pause everyone, that I wrote about it on the blog seven years ago.

1:12:04But let me just see. Let me just see. Hold on. I love it. It's going to look real bad if you didn't. We have to cut the whole section out.

1:12:10Hal Elrod:On the blog seven years ago. It's on my book club. Is it really? It's on my book club from the Miracle Morning. There it is. Wait, are you going to do the new update? Now I'm holding your feet to fire. The new updated edition on your blog? Now we did a whole episode, Hal. Isn't that enough for you, man? Hold on. This is from 2016. Wow. that's when I read your book what month what month does it say it says August 2016 I was diagnosed with cancer October 2016 that's why that that wow I posted about your book that's so wild that long ago with this I remember I was like oh my god I would love to interview him for the blog get out of here and now you're here on the show so check it out guys the Miracle Morning updated and expanded edition not so obvious secret guarantee to transform your life before 8am Hal you were great that was fun I appreciate it thank you so much thank you