Ultimate Morning Ritual Issue

Can a Morning Ritual Save Your Marriage?

Oct 2018

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A Message From Michael...

A.M. = Another Miracle!

A.M. stands for ante meridiem (Latin for before noon), but for me, a.m. means another miracle. Each day is a miracle in its own right, is it not?You already have a morning ritual. You get up and do things in a similar way each morning. Are you open to adding one small thing that may change your life significantly? We aren’t suggesting you change your whole routine. Just read through the articles and choose one.In our Ultimate Morning Ritual Issue, we build off the work Hal Elrod and I outlined in The Miracle Morning for Real Estate Agents. We organized this issue using that same S.A.A.V.E.R.S. acronym. Dawn Rae, a #30Mornings graduate (a 30-day challenge course) and CATALYST* member who mastered Silence during her #30Mornings journey shares her powerful story. For Affirmations and Appreciations, I disclose how simple words can quickly change your life. In V for Visualization, Lucinda Cross describes how she went from the federal penitentiary to bestselling author, speaker, and CEO all by activating a Vision. For Exercise fitness coach Krystal Nielson, a Bachelor contestant shares the power of morning exercise. For Reading, we asked our readers what they have been perusing. For S for Scribing or Scribbling, you will learn from Benjamin Hardy, author of the bestselling book Willpower Doesn’t Work how journaling daily can change your life.I remember hearing the story of how John Grisham wrote his first book in the morning before he headed to his “day job” and in doing so he created an entire new genre of book, the legal thriller.What if Grisham hadn’t tweaked his morning? What if I didn’t? What if you don’t?In this issue, we have gone to the experts and brought you the best tactics, tips and tricks on how to master your mornings. If it leaves you wanting more, the good news is that a #30Mornings course is starting soon taught by Certified Mornings Coaches Tony and Jenn Scarpero, who are featured in our cover story. Learn more at 30Mornings.com.

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CATALYST* Connection

POWER

THE

OF SILENCE

by O'Beria Seats

Early Morning Silence Is Golden

Imagine knowing how to master your day and win at accomplishing your personal and professional goals. The winning formula is not ironing your clothes the night before work; getting the kids up earlier for school; nor eating a healthy breakfast for champions.

Believe it or not, the key to winning at your day is having a morning ritual.

The 30 Miracle Mornings Challenge, created by Michael J. Maher, is a 30-day webinar course that teaches you six habits successful people include in their morning routine. Implementing these practices will help you win your day by first winning your morning.

The six principles are referred to as SAVERS. The acronym is short for (S) Silence, (A) Affirmation, (V) Visualization, (E) Exercise, (R) Reading and (S) Scribing. These principles are based off the popular book by Hal Elrod, The Miracle Mornings.

Real estate broker Dawn Rae, a certified referral trainer in Bend, Oregon, can testify that these principles work. Rae took Maher’s #30Mornings webinar last October. “They’re all very important collectively and individually. They go hand-in-hand,” Rae says about the SAVERS.

Rae was a CPA for 15 years before going into real estate. She heard about Maher from a senior broker at her brokerage firm. She took the Catalyst program, then took the #30Mornings webinar course.

Practicing Being Silent

Rae practices all the SAVERS on a daily basis. However, she elaborates specifically on the importance of practicing the first principle, Silence, during her morning ritual. “Silence is basically meditation and training your brain to quiet down and stop the chatter we all normally have,” she says. “It is recommended to practice Silence when you first wake up.”

If you think about it, our brain is like the Energizer bunny: it keeps going and going. Experts estimate that the average mind has about 50,000 thoughts per day. That’s about 2,100 per hour!

“Meditation is that time to let your body and your mind just be,” Rae says. “We are human beings, and we stopped being because we’re always on the go. [When you meditate] you’re more centered, you’re more calm, and you can think more rationally as you go through your day.”

Meditation, Prayer and Yoga

According to Rae, another benefit of practicing Silence is “being able to hear and listen to that true inner guidance.”

A lot of people incorporate deep breathing, prayer and yoga to enhance their silent meditation.

Rae explains, “Yoga definitely goes hand-in-hand with meditation because it’s more of a physical meditation, so you are moving your body. But you’re still thinking. Whereas in Silence, you’re trying to get your mind to stop thinking.”

Rae goes on to distinguish the difference between prayer and meditation: “Prayer is when you talk to your higher power or

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CATALYST* Connection

One of the benefits of silence is being able to hear and listen to your true inner guidance.

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the influential zone

Can a Morning Ritual Save Your Marriage?

They say husbands and wives make the best business partners. And it makes sense. Being in a business partnership mirrors many aspects that a healthy marriage upholds, including respect, trust and passion.

Newly married couple Tony and Jennifer Scarpero, who are also business partners, are living proof that building a business platform is as challenging and rewarding as sustaining a strong, loving relationship.

The couple, who reside in Atlanta, host a live webinar for real estate and mortgage professionals looking to regain control of their days by simply waking up earlier to set themselves up for a level of success they didn’t know was possible.

The pair says the class, the #30Mornings Challenge, is all about personal integrity and accountability — owning your morning ritual through gratitude or affirmations so you are able to take your personal and professional achievements to the next level and ultimately gain clarity on life’s bigger picture.

How #3OMornings Began

The #30Mornings Challenge was created by bestselling author Michael Maher. After writing The Seven Levels of Communication (7L) and The Miracle Morning for Real Estate Agents,

Michael found professionals wanting more out of their businesses, and life in general.

Witnessing the struggles that real estate agents, brokers and lenders face firsthand, like adhering to near-impossible client demands and keeping up with hectic schedules, Michael knew business owners and people in sales would benefit from a class like #30Mornings.

Implementing the strategies and best practices of high achievers, Michael taught the class himself. He noticed two standout students, Tony and Jenn, who distinguished themselves from the pack. Michael could tell these two understood the encircling concept and wanted to make a difference in their lives, after training to become certified in teaching the course, the couple began their new journey as #30Mornings role models.

Leading by Example

What inspired this proactive couple to take (and teach) the #30Mornings course? They were dealing with a huge life change — a new baby

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the influential zone

“#30Mornings has kept us in a positive, grounded space,” says newly married duo, Jenn & Tony Scarpero.

— and felt like hamsters on a spinning wheel as their days were dictated by a crying newborn’s needs with no real schedule or set routine to keep things in order. On top of that, Tony was in a job he hated, so the pressure from both a professional and personal standpoint had been building.

“We were living from a place of survival, a ‘This is what I have to do’ standpoint, and it was hard,” Jenn says of the couple’s life as new parents.

With a lack of focus on how to get a grasp on what seemed uncontrollable, the couple asked themselves, “How can we make this better?” When they realized their desperate feelings of frustration and disorder had stemmed from not getting out of bed until they heard their crying baby, Jenn urged Tony to try this #30Mornings Challenge class to see if it could help.

It did. Since consistently taking part in the #30Mornings Challenge for Real Estate Professionals, both Tony and Jenn have seen their lives improve in almost every area including

their marriage, their careers and their now positive outlook on life.

“It’s a new energy level,” Jenn says of taking and teaching the course. “Filling your days with what you want and what you choose forces you to think about exactly what you want your life to look like.”

“Coming from a place of fear [about my job], I have much more vision of family and lifestyle, more clarity,” Tony says. “The visualization and affirmations in particular have made a tremendous difference in my mind-set and how things unravel.”

What the 3OMornings Challenge Does for Its Participants

People taking the morning class, 75% of whom are tied to the real estate industry in one way or another, can interpret the course however they see fit — whether that’s taking the mornings to meditate, journal or set micro goals the class is

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The

Power

of

Visualization

feed your soul

Visualize Your Future! Seeing Is Believing

by O’Beria Seats

If anyone can use the power of visualization to drastically transform their life, this woman sure can. Coined as a Visionary Queen, Lucinda Cross created tangible pictures of her goals through the use of visual aids in hopes of reshaping her future. She then made those goals a reality by activating a plan.

Life was not always a bed of roses for Cross. Her success came with a lot of pain. Making bad choices as a young adult could have cost her everything. However, Cross had her “come to Jesus moment” after she was thrown into prison for 4½ years on drug-trafficking charges.

But life did not stop for her there. Fast-forward years later, and she is now a CEO, a bestselling author, international motivational speaker and sought-after business coach.

Cross has made guest appearances on NBC’s Today, Dr. Oz, CNN, and reality TV series Queen Boss, among others. In addition, she has been featured in Essence magazine and The New York Times. She also received a President Barack Obama Lifetime Achievement Award.

Her corporate empire, Activate Worldwide and Activate Your Vision™, offers business coaching, training, vision kits and other inspirational services.

brand. I help them package their message, products and services so they can market it out to the masses,” Cross says.

Start With a Vision Board

Why bother with taking the time to create a vision board? Who wants to go hunt for magazine clippings and pictures and deal with messy tape and glue? According to Cross, it’s well worth it.

“The purpose of a vision board is to have your goals in living color," she says. "It’s one thing to think about what your possibilities are, but it’s another when you’re able to actually see yourself in it.” A vision board also helps keep you focused and gives you the confidence to go after your goals.

Include five goals, plus a bonus one, on your main vision board, Cross says: Faith, family, friends, finances, fitness and the bonus would be fun. “Incorporating those five elements on your board will give you balance, and the fun piece will help you have some activities to keep the brain motivated,” she says. A vision board can consist of motivational words, stickers, scriptures, affirmations or whatever speaks to you.

Visionary Queen, Lucinda Cross

And she makes it her business to help other entrepreneurs reach their fullest potential possible. “I help women become a marketable

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the influential zone

ThePower of

EXERCISE

Krystal Nielson is a California-based fitness coach who dedicates not one — but two — hours of self-love every single morning through mindfulness, personal development podcasts and walks along the beach.

Perhaps you have seen her on TV, as she made her public debut on ABC’s The Bachelor, Season 22 with Arie Luyendyk, and again on the spinoff show, Bachelor in Paradise, where she fell in love with her fiancé, Chris Randone.

We spoke with the excitable fitness coach and lover of life on mastering your fitness in the morning, so you have all the time in the world to crush your career goals and conquer your life’s purpose.

Although getting her footing in the fitness industry was not easy — and not even part of her career plan — Krystal is an amazing example of finding success through personal struggles.

Krystal moved to L.A. in 2012 to pursue a career in broadcasting. She says the culture, industry and people living there destroyed her fun, carefree spirit.

“I lost myself in the L.A. grind,” she says. “My girlfriend told me I needed some namaste in my life, because I was neglecting self-care and self-love — which was completely affecting my confidence.”

by Ashley Alt

From there, Krystal made a plan to start taking care of herself, beginning to work with mentors and coaches in the fitness industry, whom she credits as inspiring her to become an online health and fitness influencer.

Why Is It Better to Work Out in the Morning?

As mentioned earlier, Krystal has a two-hour morning routine that she sticks to religiously, even while traveling and when her schedule is jam-packed. What does her morning routine look like?

Here is what she had to say about the routine, which she created for herself half a year ago:

“I wake up and I do not look at my cellphone. I drink my apple-cider drink. I put 40 ounces of water into my body in that first hour. I stretch and I move my body. I take a one-hour walk on the ocean [she lives in San Diego] and listen to a personal development podcast — something that feeds my mind and gets my day focused.”

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Coach Krystal

the influential zone

After that, she walks to her favorite coffee shop (usually accompanied by her fiancé) to enjoy a cup of coffee before she gets started with her day, usually consisting of meeting with clients.

“This keeps me grounded and centered,” Krystal says. “I use my essential oils, too, and really focus on myself. I don’t acknowledge texts or emails until those two hours are up, and then I respond — not react — to the day. There’s a difference.”

Having adopted and mastered her morning routine for six months now, Krystal says it has made her feel happy, calm and in charge of herself and her days.

“I got really into it when I was at Paradise,” she says of her two-hour regime. “You gotta give yourself that selfish self. It’s important!”

Krystal’s focus for a workout is to have so much fun that you don’t feel like you’re working out. As someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy early morning sweat sessions, I had to know her secret.

“My style of working out is a combination of things,” she told me. “I studied yoga, Spin, aerobics and HITT training while I was getting certified, so I’ve just taken everything I’ve learned and turned it into short, effective movements, always working toward that breathless state.”

Krystal says she is able to truly “be in the moment” during a morning workout because she works with interval timers, stating they allow her to connect with her body. That way, you aren’t worrying about how many reps you’ve done or haven’t done, because the timer is doing that part for you.

“Working out is a privilege,” Krystal emphasizes on the notion of leading a fitness-forward life. “There are people who wish they could walk or run.”

The everyday little steps add up to the big milestones in life you are reaching for.

A huge advocate for self-appreciation and selflove, Krystal opened up about her personal struggles after The Bachelor, where, she says, she felt misunderstood by by the other women in the house, and by everyone in general.

“For some reason, and this goes for women especially, we have become so competitive,” she says. “I for sure am a believer in the concept that ‘looking good makes you feel good,’ but if you’re upset and angry with people you’re looking at on Instagram, it doesn’t have anything at all to do with that person. It’s a projection of your feelings about yourself onto someone else.”

Working out is a privilege. There are people who wish they could walk or run.

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