Great program, AWFUL book

So, there's this marketing strategy in which you write a book as a lead-generator. Under this strategy, your goal isn't to make money from the book itself, but to get broader exposure, so you can find more potential customers for the other things you sell.

Typically, you'll invite the reader to download some bonus content at the end, in exchange for joining your mailing list. Usually, this is fine. If I got a lot of value out of a book, I'm happy to sign up. But this author missed the "get a lot of value out of the book" part. Now, I'm not knocking the program itself. I think it's very good, and people I know have gotten lot of benefit out of it.

But the *book* is a waste of time. Here's why: 1) The actual, useful content is maybe 15 pages long (and could be summarized in a few sentences). 2) There isn't much detail. I didn't learn anything from the book that my friend didn't tell me when she recommended it. The author gives an overview of what to do, but includes very few examples of how to implement that. He throws in lots of testimonials, but no actual case studies to model our own practice on. 3) There is a ton of filler. It's crammed with breathless descriptions of how "life-changing" it all is, how you'll be "blown away", and how you'll live your "best life ever", but very little detail of how that will happen or what it will look like. 4) The author intentionally leaves out detail to force you to sign up for the bonuses. Instead of sharing several examples of affirmations, he lists just one, then tells you to download the rest. (Which requires you to join his list.) The 30-day transformation chapter doesn't actually include the transformation, it just tells you to download it. (Which requires joining the list.) Then it tells you to recruit your friends to his list.

Again: if the bonuses were truly *supplemental*, that wouldn't be a problem. But they're not. That content belongs in the book itself. Essentially, the book is a quick summary of his method, and an extended sales pitch for joining his list. (And making your friends join his list. And buying the book for them. And becoming "VIP coaching client.")

In a free ebook, that would be fine. But in a book I paid for, it feels slimy and manipulative.

I love the program, but the author has completely lost my trust.



My recommendation:- Read a summary of the method. (There are YouTube videos and Amazon reviews that cover all the detail you need.)- If you must buy the book, get it in text, so you can skim past all the filler. If you must get the audio, skip the first 90 minutes.

1,082 people found this helpful

Great idea... but designed to sell you more!

The core idea of the morning ritual are great. Nothing new but classical old school personal development ideas: meditate, do affirmations,visualize, exercise, read and journal - and do it all as part of your morning ritual.

What really puts me off with the book is how the entire book is delivered in a sickening 1970's personal-development jargon as if speaking to a child.

Every time he wants to say 'my client', he says: "my favorite VIP success coaching clients". And every paragraph includes the phrase: "so you can create the life you desire AND deserve"

It's also totally designed to sell you more. He even has a whole chapter dedicated to try to generate referrals by making you send his book to friends and link them to his website - covering it up with "accountability partner will help you".

Seriously, people are smarter than that, Hal. I'd much rather have a pure pitch than sneaky marketing like this wasting people's time.

On top of that the whole book is filled with: "got i my website to get this extra piece I couldn't put in the book for no particular reason", and on the website he has an email form where you need to opt-in to his marketing machine - to get it.

140 people found this helpful

One Bit of Wisdom, Find the Rest on YouTube

This is easy. You want to know what the Miracle Morning entails?
Get up early.
There. That's it. You get up early, meditate, say affirmations, journal, exercise, drink smoothies that are blended super foods. For the rest you can find a plethora of examples of how people are doing on YouTube.
One thing that irked me about Elrod was how glib he was about the concept that there is actually no such thing as sleep deprivation: As long as you go to bed with the mindset that you will wake up filled with energy and joy, you will indeed wake up refreshed and raring to go.
But here's the thing that blew me away, and I'll share it, for what it might be worth it to you. It's rather given me pause as I've lollygagged in bed:
"Would you rather stay inert and unconscious than be creative and alive?"
Now THAT has gotten me moving.
Not a miracle, exactly, but I appreciate that one line.

659 people found this helpful

Sort of like one long commercial for itself

Not impressed. Got the gist within the first 60-mins. I've read a few self-help style books so the concepts in this one aren't much different than others. Perhaps, if this is your first time delving into the world of self-help, then you may find it useful. Otherwise, it's a pass. Also, I didn't appreciate the whole "tell your friends and family about this book...log into the website, etc." spiel within the first hour. Like, at the end of your book ask for me to spread the good word, but maybe teach me something substantial first. Otherwise I'm just telling people to wake up early in the morning to get shit done.

86 people found this helpful

Underwhelmed! Weak content.

I found the content in this book to be a LOT less useful than I expected. There are a few crumbs of good advice scattered throughout the book but overall I'm very disappointed! A one sentence summary of the book is... Get up earlier and you'll get more done. That's pretty much it.

There's absolutely no medical foundation or obvious research for most of the advice in the book. I would caution anyone that uses the approach recommended in the book to do your own medical research first to make sure you're not setting yourself up for health problems down the road.

It's also full of a lot of what I consider low-value common-sense fluff that had the appearance of just filling time. If it weren't the fast speed (3x) capability in my Audible app, I never would have made it through the book. 2x speed was very close to a normal speech speed so I can't fathom listening in normal speed.

73 people found this helpful

This book deserves a second opinion

The only reason I bought this book despite the negative feedback was because a friend recommended it. I want to respond to two points made by other readers. First, the claim that the author is using the book to pitch other material. I have definitely seen authors do that and I completely disagree with that claim. At no point did I get the sense that the author was pitching anything else. He only made reference to free material on his site so the listener could share this life changing suggestion. Second, the claim that the material is recycled is utterly false. Yes, he references other self improvement authors quotes. However, the work is totally original. I am an avid personal growth reader and have read nearly every author he mentioned. The suggestions he made are practical and powerful. While the idea may not be new, if you aren't already doing it then this book could make a major difference in your personal growth and a catalyst to incredible breakthroughs. Thank you so much for this book. Highly recommended!!

32 people found this helpful

Incredibly motivating

I’m giving this book five stars, not because it’s the best-written book, but because of the effect it had on my life. Without going into too much detail, I will simply say that this book really motivated me. Within one day of starting it, I began to implement all of the six practices Elrod talks about. I started getting up one hour earlier every day, including Saturdays and Sundays. I made lists. I am acting on the lists. I am getting tons of things done every day that have been on an imaginary “to do” list in my mind for years. I am on day seventeen and have set a goal for myself to continue to practice these six activities every day for an entire year.

I am a pretty self-motivated person, and I am also a “morning person.” Even so, I found the concepts in this book have really helped me get organized, stop procrastinating, and get things done. I also feel more purposeful in what I am doing with my life. It’s a great feeling!

I would recommend this book for anyone, of any age, who is feeling stuck, overwhelmed, without direction, or otherwise needs a new technique to motivate them to pursue their dreams.

[I listened to this as an audio book read by Rob Actis, who did a very good job. Good book to listen to while exercising!]

21 people found this helpful

The most mediocre self-help book

Would you try another book from Hal Elrod and/or Rob Actis?

Those who have never read any self-help books and don't know anything about self development and effective life probably will find this book interesting. For others don't even bother. Absolutely mediocre and banal recommendations, lots of water, big words, in general extremely boring...
The author started with a touching story of his life and I hoped he would give some interesting and new insights but no... nothing new or revealing. The author is actually a sales person in the past.
The whole idea of the book can be expressed in a simple rule: wake up early in a positive mood and do something important. You don't need to right a whole book about that.

100 people found this helpful

Could be written in one paragraph, instead of a book

I love the concept, wake up early so you have time to do self improvement in the morning. You only will get the achievement you want if you make time to improve yourself internally. But that's it! Why on earth write an entire book just to repeat this idea and promote yourself?? It's such a waste of my time, can't bare the author's constant brag of how many people's life has he profoundly impacted, and repeat 1000 times.

56 people found this helpful

Positive motivation from a more likely source

I've read this book three times now, and I've even tried it myself twice now. I first read it about 7 months ago, (September 2019) and stopped doing the "Miracle Morning" after just 10 days. I blinked and it was already 3 months after I had started, and by that point I just gave up. I couldn't get myself to keep doing it, but after reading this book a third time I once again found my motivation and wanted to try it once again. That's the beauty of this book and Hal's life-changers, it's not a "tried it and failed, so I'm done" kind of thing. It's a progressive "Keep coming back for more" mentality. He explains the RMS, or "Rear-view Mirror Syndrome" mentality that we all have, and encourages you to push past it. "I've tried this strategy before, and it didn't work! I'm just going to give up and look for something else." Everyone thinks that, Heck, even I thought it when I found the notebook I had made for it several months back! I saw it, read the 10 journal entries in it and thought "Yup. Typical me." With the Corona Virus (Covid-19) slamming the country like a tidal wave, people are too scared to do anything at all. We're all at home sitting on our butts, eating snacks (if you can find and/or afford them) and watching Tik-Tok or Youtube or playing video games. We're not thinking of "waking up early". We're unemployed! We're working from home! There's a Pandemic going on, stay inside and hide under your blankets! But that's just it; we're inside. We're not doing anything. We're BORED. Why are we bored? Because there's nothing to do! Wait, nothing to do? There's plenty to do! Go out on a walk! (keeping social distancing of 6 feet doesn't mean you can't go outside on a walk around your apartment or neighborhood!) Read a book! Pick up a new hobby of cross-stitching or needlework! Ok, I'm not selling most people on those last two things, but you get my point. I wanted to get another fresh start. I wanted to pick this back up again and go back to learning for the sake of my own personal improvement. We've all got time now, we can't say we don't. Some people still have to get up and go to their jobs, but how many people are going out to visit family, or going to the bowling alley, or playing golf or anything that involves, well, going out in public! Not a whole lot. If you're bored, or if you're looking for something to do, I suggest reading this book. "Yo pal Hal" isn't just some guy who "figured out" how to write a book and get it published. He's been at the same low points that most of us have hit, and maybe are still at. But he took his adversities and turned them into stepping stones for his own personal development. Covid-19 has the world in its hands. Why not take this horrible, terrible thing and make it the turning point in your life? The day that you say "No, I'm not going to sit in boredom, or misery, any longer. I'm going to take this horrible thing the world has been presented with and use it as my chance to make my life like I want it to be!" I implore you, heck I'm BEGGING you to at least try this book. Go to the Miracle Morning website and you'll find a place you can get the first 2 chapters of the book for free. It'll give a little insight into what happened to Hal, how he was told he would never walk again, and how he overcame ALL of it. Heck, I just recently watched a youtube video of Hal giving an hour-long speech that had SEVERAL things the book never covered, including what he talked to his father about after he was told he could never walk again! It's an inspirational story that I wish to mirror with my own life; my lack of flexibility, lack of self-discipline, lack of commitment and my "I'm not a morning person" attitude. I have Asthma, or rather I did as a child, but I can't run for more than maybe 5 minutes without bending over and gasping like I've got a hole in my chest. Which I most certainly don't, unlike other people! If a guy who was told he couldn't freaking WALK ever again went on a freaking 52 mile MARATHON, then I can get my lazy ass up out of bed and do a 5 minute jog every morning. I'm on day 3 of my "Refreshed" Miracle Morning, and I've made changes from my older journal entries that make it easier to not only write with, but also read. I've gone on jogs each morning, and even took an additional hour-long walk to listen to most of this audio-book again. Granted, this is only day 3, but I got to 10 days last time, and I had no idea what I was really doing! How far will I get now that I DO know? I'm not a success story, but I'm not a failed attempt either. I'm a work in progress. But then again, aren't we all? Happy Reading, ~ Ken

8 people found this helpful