(original review, 2012)
“Why is it that when a baby is born, we often refer to them as “the miracle of life,” but then go on to accept mediocrity for our own lives? Where along the way did we lose sight of the miracle that we are living?”
“How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) dramatically affects your levels of success in every single area of your life. Focused, productive, successful mornings generate focused, productive, successful days—which inevitably create a successful life—in the same way that unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre mornings generate unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre days, and ultimately a mediocre quality of life. By simply changing the way you wake up in the morning, you can transform any area of your life, faster than you ever thought possible.”
In “The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life: Before 8AM” by Hal Elrod
Why do these books give out only common sense utterances?
If there is a determinable set of factors that lead to particular creative success (not only related to what we do in the morning)...but actually these are fairly acceptable, and if simplified:
1) make the most of productivity
2) maintain self-sufficiency
3) don't over-saturate yourself (*)
4) keep a disciplined work ethic
5) expand your cognitive horizons
6) be flexible
All very practical, and you could easily apply these to generally living a decent life, not just to pursuing creative heights.
(*) A sense of proportion, even of humour, could usefully be added to this rather technical list (and I do hope item 3 is not referring to the activity which Baden-Powell warned could lead to blindness) Ah, Baden-Powell. Apparently used to sleep on the veranda on a bunk bed, to avoid 'marital beastliness'. Funny chap.....It might have meant to stop himself being beastly to his wife instead of to stop beastliness from her. Abstracting yourself to stop yourself hurting others is admirable. I don't know which was operative and hold no candle for Baden-Powell but the possibility needs to be addressed. Though the spartan cold might have had other sought effects and it may be he found sex to be unpleasant.
