Hey Reader,
Happy Friday, I hope you had a solid week.
I've had a pretty busy week myself but am heading to Philadelphia for a wedding this weekend followed by London next week to enjoy some time off work.
Btw, Purposeful Productivity closes tonight at midnight EDT. If you're interested in building a sustainable productivity system, taking control of your life, and turning goals into action you can check it out here.
Anyways, I've been trying to read more books lately and was reflecting on the books that have made a huge impact on my life, so I wanted to share a few of those with you today...
If you haven't read any of these I'd definitely recommend picking them up but even if you have, stay tuned because I'll share my personal takeaways and the specific ways they've changed my life.
The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
Believe it or not, this was the very first self-development book that I ever read (no it wasn't Atomic Habits).
Before reading this book I was your typical early 20s college student in the sense that I struggled to do just about anything before 9AM.
In university I intentionally avoided taking any early classes, apart from a single 8AM statistics class that I took during my Sophomore year (it was brutal).
I can probably count on one hand the number of times I woke up before 8AM when it wasn't an absolute necessity.
Things changed dramatically after reading this book.
The core message that Elrod conveys is that everyone is capable of achieving their dreams in all areas of their life and can speed up that process by waking up early and implementing a simple morning routine that contributes to your self development.
In a nutshell: win the morning, win the day.
And by consistently winning each day, overtime incredible things can happen to your life.
He outlines a framework for having a "miracle morning" that follows the acronym S.A.V.E.R.S
- Silence
- Affirmation
- Visualization
- Exercise
- Reading
- Scribing
To be honest, I can't remember the last time I did all of these in a single morning BUT after reading his book I finally started waking up 2-3 hours before my regular commitments for the day.
And wow those first few weeks of waking up before sunrise felt incredible.
It was like I unlocked a "second day" that I had never experienced before.
Instead of waking up with just enough time to get ready, eat breakfast, and go to work, I now had an extra 1-2 hours every morning that I could dedicate to anything.
At the time, this meant I could spend these early morning hours producing music and mixing songs for the artists I was working with.
Eventually that turned into preparing and recording YouTube videos.
The specifics of what I do in those early morning hours has changed over the years depending on the season of life I'm in.
But it's always been dedicated to developing myself or my life in some way.
I've talked with many people who feel stuck with where they're at in life and struggle to do anything beyond keeping up with their current commitments.
The truth is you don't need loads of free time to be able to change your life.
All it takes is a little bit of time each morning that you intentionally dedicate to whatever will take your life to the next level.
If you can consistently show up each morning for 1-2 hours, or however much time you can spare, the results of your efforts will compound over time.
Win the morning.
Win the day.
Win the day.
Win your life.
Okay to be honest I wanted to go more in depth into a couple more books as well but I have to run to work and want to get this email out to you...
Sooo I'll leave you with a quick summary of the impact that the other 2 books have had on my life and maybe I'll expand more in another email or YT video.
Unscripted + The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ Demarco
I'm including two books here by the same author, both of which I read around the same time. These will essentially give your brain a much needed "software update" about the reality of how the world works, earning money, jobs, the education system, consumerism, entrepreneurship etc. If you work a regular 9-5 job these books will both frustrate and inspire you.
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
I'd highly recommend this book if you ever experience self-sabotage, procrastination, or at times feel like there's just always something that is holding back from success, whether it's lack of time, motivation, fear, family, society, etc. This book calls you out on just about every possible excuse that you've made in your head and buckets them under one umbrella: Resistance.
Alright that's all I've got time for this morning, gotta run...
Hope you have a great weekend!
Miles 🤝
P.S. If you're interested in building a sustainable productivity system, taking control of your life, and turning goals into action, Purposeful Productivity closes tonight at midnight EDT. Click here to learn more.