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Brian: Hey everyone, thanks so much for joining us. I just got off with Hal Elrod. It was
absolutely awesome interview and hugely powerful message. But, I just wanted to take a moment
to say that we had a little bit of a connection issues and Hal's kind of jumping around. He's
not doing the William Shatner impression as he talks. We just, like many other people
had some connection issues. Audio come in clear and the message comes in clear so I
hope you enjoy.
Brian: Hello, hello, and welcome to CatalystMLM, I'm Brian Swichkow and today on the show we
have Hal Elrod. And I'm very excited to have Hal Elrod, and I'll tell you why. Hal started
his career in Cutco, where at the age of 19 he became an all time record breaking sales
rep for the $200 million marketing giant. He is a key note speaker, author and, author
of Taking Life Head On, which is a phenomenal book. And then, The Miracle Morning. Which,
we we'll talk about a little bit later. Thank you so much for being on.
Hal: It's exciting Brain that you decided to share in this platform.
Brian: Yeah, I, to reiterate, because I said it before. You're, finding your video, it's
a ten minute video and I'll link below, but, literally changed my life. And it did it very
slowly, it wasn't dramatically. But, you know, over the course of a few years. It's a huge
thing and it's a very simple concept that makes a big difference. So, I wanted to talk
a little bit about where they came from. And you were, you know, the age of. Actually how
old were you when the accident happened?
Hal: 20.
Brian: 20, geez, and you, and I saw a picture. You were hit head on by a drunk driver at
70 miles per hour, dead for six minutes, brought back to life and told you were never gonna
walk again. But, you're on camera right now and you walked into the room.
Hal: Yeah, I did.
Brian: So, you know, tell me more about that.
Hal: Yeah, I, so it was one of those things where, I was, I had been in sales for about
a year and a half. And I was one of the top sales reps for that company that you mentioned.
And, so, I really, building like my life. I had just bought a brand new car. I was in
love at that time having a girlfriend. We lived in an apartment together like, you know,
really kind of, sort of building my life at 20 years old, and, was told to be self sufficient.
You know, I didn't have any debt, wasn't living off mom and dad, you know. It really established
myself. Was saving money, for retirement at 20, you know. And life was great. I gave a
speech, driving home in my brand new Ford Mustang, drunk driver hit me head on at 70
miles an hour. And, I was found dead at the scene as you mentioned. And came out of the
coma and was told I would never walk again. And, I was faced with the challenge that we're
all faced with when we have adversity. Which is, how am I gonna respond, how am I gonna
deal with it. So, especially the, the more difficult it is, the more, you know, the grander
the adversity the more difficult the challenge the more difficult it is to choose the proper
response, right.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And so, I think what you're referring to is the ten minute video where you talking
about the can't change it video?
Brian: Yep.
Hal: So, yeah, there were really three words that changed my life as I was processing this
information going like, so I might never walk again. My arms broken, my legs broken, my
pelvis is broken, my eye sockets broken; my ear is barely hanging on. My, you know, I
was just a mess.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And, I just, those words it occurred to me a few minutes after the accident, I
thought, I can't change it.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And it was just like an epiphany. I, and I realized that if we can't change something,
you know, something that's in our past. There's no point in feeling bad about it. So, I decided
that if I wasn't ever gonna walk again that I would be the happiest person that ever sat
in a wheelchair. You know, and just kind of, can't change it, might as well love my life,
you know. And every aspect of it even though, you know, it's not perfect.
Brian: Yeah. And you learned that kind of, from your Cutco training. And actually it
was talked about in an earlier interview. That the five minute rule. Which is, you're
allowed to be upset, but only for five minutes.
Hal: Yeah. You give yourself five minutes and my manager taught me that in my sales
training. That hey, you're gonna have bad days, you're gonna have, you know, rejection,
etcetera.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: Give yourself five minutes to, you know, ***, moan, complain, and vent, whatever.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And then you focus, the trick is, after five minutes is up, and this is literal. You
know, set your timer on your phone for five minutes, or on your watch.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And then you decide, okay, I'm not gonna feel sorry for myself anymore, or be angry,
or, you know, whatever negative emotion you're feeling.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: You let it go, and focus 100% of your energy and attention on what you want for
your future.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: And what you can do right now that's in your control to move towards what you want
for your future.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And that, you know, that philosophy, I realized that after the accident, it's been
more than five minutes there's no point in me feeling sorry for myself anymore.
Brian: Yeah. And, I mean, that, concept in Cutco. And I think, I may be wrong, I think
that originated from Cutco and I know that it's leaked out to other companies and other
people. And that's great. But people, you know, you go and you prospect someone and
they say no. I don't wanna buy from you and you're like, you're frustrated. And then you
say, okay, you know, five minutes and you do exactly that and you focus. But, you know,
you can't change the fact that they said no to you. But now we're talking about, you can't
change the fact that you can't move your legs.
Hal: Sure.
Brian: And so how do you make that correlation? I mean, so many people say, well, it's different.
How is, how do you, because, I know from years of saying it to myself. But, how it is the
same?
Hal: Well I think it really. I'll give you a more extreme example than that. I, you know,
the can't change it philosophy, in fact, I have a wrist band. You know, I created wristbands
that say, you can't change it. And I used to wear it everyday. I made it for myself
and it was a reminder. So everything from, traffic, for example. Most people don't like
traffic. And they get, they experience negative emotions in traffic, frustration, you know,
to whatever stress. And for me, I'd be in traffic and I'd go, oh gosh dang it, you know.
Why didn't I leave the house early, why did I leave the house late. Which, I can't change
when I left the house that day. Why are these cars going so slow.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: I can't change the speed of the cars. And then worrying about my potential consequence
for being late to whatever I'm going to. What if I get in trouble, what if I, you know.
I get fired from my job, whatever.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: And that used to be how I experienced this traffic. And now, I hit traffic, and
I go, gosh dang it, and then I go, oh yeah, I see my wrist and I go, I can't change it.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And as an intelligent human being, when you learn this you realize that all negative
emotions are self created. And, that, creating negative emotions doesn't add much value to
your life. It doesn't help you solve your problems. In fact, it usually makes them worse.
It amplifies them. And it delays the solution.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You know, or it even completely guide, hides the solution. So you don't even, from
your view because you're so emotional.
Brian:: Yeah.
Hal: And so for me, I would go, can't change it. I'm gonna be in the traffic no matter
what. I left the house when I left the house, and whatever the consequence is, is the consequence.
As an intelligent human being it only makes sense for me to except what I can't change
and be grateful for everything else.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And, I share this philosophy when I give my, you know, messages, weather I'm talking,
you know, for a corporation or college or an MLM. I mean, it doesn't matter, you know,
what the venue is. I keep the can't change philosophy and I had this woman. Or this young
girl in college, she emailed me a picture of her wrist about five days after I spoke.
And she had can't change it permanently tattooed onto her wrist. And my first thought was like,
well, this girls pretty intense. You know, that's crazy. But then the email almost put
me in tears. She said, yesterday was the ten year anniversary of my father's death. He
died at age 42 and she said, I've spent the last ten years mourning his death. And feeling
sorry for myself and feeling angry that it happened. Basically, just creating negative
emotions everyday. But I didn't realize I was creating them until I learned this philosophy.
She said, I thought I was angry because he died. Not because I wasn't willing to accept
that he was gone.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And, she said, and you made me realize that I could completely free myself from the
negative emotions that my father's death had caused me for ten years.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: So in honor of that I got this tattooed into my wrist, those three magic words on
his death date.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: to remind myself that I'll never feel pain over my dad, I'll be grateful for him,
I'll be, you know, I'll be happy and grateful for the, what he added to me as a person.
But she goes, I'm not, I'm done creating pain for myself. Because I didn't realize until
now that I was doing it to myself, and I don't enjoy it. So why as an intelligent person,
would we choose to resist something that we can't change. Knowing that resistance is futile
and just causes pain. So.
Brian: Yeah, and that's, I mean. One of the things, that I absolutely love about the can't
change it philosophy is that there's so many kind of, you know, I guess one liners is the
easiest word to use out there. You know there's Jim Rhone, you have Zig Ziglar, and so on
and so forth. And they all, they're all sad and kind of cliché, but usually the ore cliché
the more true.
Hal: Right.
Brian: And, a lot of times when someone outside of the industry is upset. It's really difficult
to explain, your mindset, it's difficult to give them your mindset. Unless they have training
and they've read books and so on and so forth. But the can't change it philosophy is very
simple. And I've done, you know I've had, you know, drinks with friends and they complain
about a relationship or something like that. And I'm like, well can you change that about
him? And their like, well, I mean, no. And, I'm like, okay, so then why are you worried
about it. You know, worry about the things you can't change, or fix the things that you
can't change. And actually you said the quote, where, and I have it, I've wrote it probably
two months ago, it still a sticky note on my desk. Its, worry is the act of projecting
non acceptance into the future.
Hal: I don't know if that's mine actually. That . . .
Brian: Oh, it was. It was in your
Hal: It might have, oh yeah.
Brian: it was in a blog post. And then you said, that's a writer downer. Which I also
did.
Hal: Oh, got it.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: Got it.
Brian: So it's a . . .
Hal: I need to write that down apparently.
Brian: It's a really powerful concept that it is also very easily shared. But, taking
it again, to the extreme. Kind of going back to what, when you were in the hospital, you
know, when you were in the hospital there were, they told you, you wouldn't ever walk
again. And obviously now you were walking and actually you ran an ultra marathon. Which,
I struggle, I push to run ten. Gettin there. But, your doctor was telling your parents,
that, you know, you weren't sad enough. And do, your doctor and your parents were trying
to, for all intents and purposes, sell you a negative mindset. And you were trying to
sell them the fact that, I can't change it, I have a positive mindset. So, how are you
able to win that sale, so to speak?
Hal: Yeah, and see what happened. Yeah, what you were referring to is the doctors called
my parents in. Unbeknownst to me, I had no idea. And they called them in and they said,
hey, we're concerned with Hal. We believe he's in denial because every time we see your
son, he's always so positive. And he's so happy and he's always laughing and joking
and making us laugh. And they said, that's not normal. You know, they just said, that's
not normal. And we think that, you know, what's happened to him is so unimaginable, and the
fact that he may never walk again. That after the victim sometimes just goes to, they can't
accept it, so they just choose to pretend like everything is okay. But eventually it
catches up with them. And he said eventually he will have to face the pain of what's happened
to him. And, you know, in here it's a safe environment and he can face it and go through
it and the emotional healing can begin. But out in the real world, you know, people turn
to drugs and alcohol and other vices that are very dangerous, or even deadly.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: So they sent my dad in to find out how I was really feeling. And, yeah, for me, in
terms of them you know, selling me, I don't know if they were selling me a negative mindset
as much as that's what they really, that was their diagnosis. They really believed that
that's what. I couldn't be this happy immediately after the accident.
Brian: Right.
Hal: And, when my dad came in I reiterated to him, I said, dad, don't you remember the
five minute rule from my Cutco preemie? It's okay to be negative, but not more than five
minutes. I said, it's been like two weeks since the accident.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: I said, the five minute rule, you know, it's been more than five minutes, my feeling
sorry for myself is up. And, I'll tell ya, and this is important. I, because I think
this gives more insight into the whole mindset of acceptance. I said dad, the five minute
rule, it's not even a five minute rule for me anymore. It's the five second rule. I said,
five minutes for me now that I've been practicing this for a while. After about minute one,
you're like, why am I still feeling sorry for myself?
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: Like, I am not, why would I waste four more minutes feeling sorry for myself versus
being happy and working on a solution. Or, you know, whatever I can control, right.
Brian: Right.
Hal: Right, that makes sense. And then ultimately, this is my philosophy now, is, and I think
this is what everybody should strive for.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: Really to be happy and at peace with their challenges and now is, except life,
before it happens.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: And that's the conscious awareness that resistance, and non acceptance of something
we can't change, wishing we could change it, causes pain, has no value, and doesn't do
anything for us. Right, it doesn't change anything.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: So, what we realize as intelligent people that it doesn't make sense to do it. It's
still, when you understand it it's like, it's idiotic. And I don't mean to be rude, but.
You know it's like . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You're just hurting yourself. Why would you do that on purpose, right.
Brian: Yeah, yeah.
Hal: And when your, and I know it's easier said than done by the way. Like you mentioned,
you don't snap your fingers and all of a sudden, you're like, oh, cool, I'll never feel upset
again. Right, you now . . .
Brian: Right.
Hal: and that's why I made the wristband because you need that reminder everyday when you are
upset. To go, gosh dang it, and go, oh yeah, I can't change it. Take a deep breath, etcetera.
You know, and so, remind me the question, I totally got lost on where we were going
to.
Brian: How you were able to win the sale of selling your . . .
Hal: Oh.
Brian: positive mindset . . .
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: and not taking theirs.
Hal: So there was, it wasn't really a sale it was just explaining to them, like I said,
I've, I was working on accepting life before it happens. I said, so, since I may, I may
or may not be able to walk again. I said I'm choosing to maintain faith that I can. And
I'm gonna go for it.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: But at the same time, I'm simultaneously accepting the fact that I may never walk again.
I'm gonna go for it. But, and that's my philosophy in my first book is to expect the best, but
accept the rest. And do it simultaneously. Yeah, you gotta be positive and go for everything
you can go for and believe things are possible. But as soon as something is not possible anymore.
You know, once it's happened and now it's in the past. Then, you except it. And you
go okay, can't change it, what's, can, and you move on.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And it takes practice like anything. Any change takes practice, but I'm telling
you, if you practice like a champion. Don't change it philosophy, you know just get a,
don't get it tattooed on your wrist by the way. I don't, you know.
Brian: Sharpie's work.
Hal: Yeah, and by the way, that girl was the first of five people that have now tattooed
can't change it somewhere on their body.
Brian: That's awesome.
Hal: That's crazy. You know, I'll get emails every once in awhile. But, you know, write
it on a rubber band or something . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: and put it on your wrist. But when you practice it everyday you start to realize
and you know this yourself.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: That, you know, Brian, you're like wow. I didn't realize just how often like, 30-40
times a day, I'm in some form of emotional pain over something I can't change.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: Weather it's traffic, or something major, or your bank account balance. You know, whatever
it is. So, for me it was just explaining the philosophy and then going, really, so your
really genuinely happy. And I go, yeah, why wouldn't I be? There's, the other alternative
doesn't seem very appealing to me.
Brian: Yeah. And, I mean, it's funny that you mention the rubber band because occasionally
I get people who see me with this and they'll ask a question and very rarely they'll know
why. But, I have a rubber band on my wrist right now, and I actually, normally always
do. And you know most people assume like, oh, he forgot to take it off his wrist.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: But, it's there because it's, every time I have a negative thought, I snap it.
And then think something positive. And it . . .
Hal: Right.
Brian: and it trains you. But, at the same time, because that's a little bit different,
at the same time, I'm saying, I can't change it.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: And, it was interesting. Personal story, is that I had always said that and your right.
It gets shorter. It's hard when you start.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: But, when you, it, your five minutes, it's like why, I don't need five minutes.
That's a, ten seconds is good.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: And, I actually got, I was coming back from a trade show. And I got rear ended at
a stoplight. And I, by the end of a four letter word, that I screamed, my girlfriend at the
time was in the car.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: She like, just spoke a syllable, and it just took me out of my head and reminded
me where I was. And then reminded me that I can't un-hit my bumper.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: And I got out of the car, shook the woman's hand and I'm like, oh hey, how are
you, what's your name. And actually she ended up buying my product, which is the hilarious
part out of everything. Because she's like, you're so nice, you know, what do you do?
And it was just, you know, realizing that you. No one has a time machine, and you can't
change it. What you can change is how you react to it. So, you can't freak out. And
it ended up, you know, it worked out perfectly.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: So, it's just. I love it, because it's so powerfully simple.
Hal: It, yeah and it's the most life changing philosophy that I've ever uncovered, discovered,
or taught. Because it's the key to unlocking the door for emotional freedom. Where . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: you are free from every negative emotion that you don't want to feel. And you get to
choose what you then focus on. Because when you're not accepting something and wishing
you could change something.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: It takes the space up for you being able to choose what you want to focus on .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And what you want to feel and what you want to think about. So, yeah, for me, I think
it's, you know, I'm grateful to hear whenever I hear from someone like you, Brian's story,
that you know, it impacted you. It's really cool and I'm grateful for that.
Brian: Well, it's, I mean, yeah, it, was interesting. Because most of the things that I've also,
impacted me and my team that I share it with. Because I share everything that's awesome
with everybody. And it was that thing that I really didn't realize how powerful it was
until I started using it on accident.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: And, so kind of like moving away from the, you know, alright so know you've got
can't change it when something bad happens. But now let's talk about making good things
happen. And then you have, you know, now you're eliminating the bad so let's make some good.
So, Miracle Morning, is your book and, you know, I love the subtitle. Which is The Not
So Obvious Secret Guaranteed To Transform Your Life Before 8AM.
Hal: Sure.
Brian: So, explain that subtitle to me.
Hal: Yeah, that sub, that was, would be, that was like the, I think it was the first subtitle
that I came up with. And, and then I decided to do like split testing and I went on facebook
with three different subtitles. And that one by far and away was the most popular. You
know, I was having doubts, like is this too long. Should it be shorter? And, you know,
less mouthy to say. But it really, to me, encapsulates what it is.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: It's something that's, it's not so obvious because most people don't know it. They don't
do it. It really does transform your life. And I mean it does it faster than your really
ever thought possible.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And, obviously it's, you know, for most people it's before 8AM. Right.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And so, that's where the, you know, the subtitle came from. It just, it occurred to
me that that's what it was. You know and I was just writing the book and that's what,
where I, my mind went. I thought, this is what it is.
Brian: Yeah. And that's, I mean, so, kind of summarizing the book and my personal experience
with it. Is, I kept hearing about it and like your blog, Peter Booth's blog, and I was like,
alright, I have to buy this book and so I bought it on Amazon. And, I've, you know,
two day shipping. It shows up and I was in the middle of another book. And before I could
finish that book, and get to this one, it was stolen. And, I couldn't read it. Because
it was, someone, it was stolen and I couldn't read it and I was like, dang. So I had to
wait. And, what it talks about is, you know, what you do before 8 AM, your process. And,
now, when I started doing it for the very first time. I read the book, made the process,
with my girlfriend at the time. And we said, you know this is gonna be really hard. We're
gonna be accountability partners.
Hal: Right.
Brian: And so our process is kind of interwove, so is, you know, when I, when she was meditating,
I reading because, you know, I couldn't meditate for as long as she could. And it kind of interwove.
But then we both, you know, finished and went to the gym at the same time. And, we were
like, alright, February 1st, we're gonna do this. And we had it all setup and it was actually
waking up at four o'clock in the morning.
Hal: Wow.
Brian: And, the day before, I literally fell over, with the flu.
Hal: Oh, geez.
Brian: And I said, I can't change it.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: You know, like I can control how I react to it. I went to bed at like five and
woke up at four and I video blogged the entire time. And the only reason I . . .
Hal: Wow.
Brian: was able to do that, was because of those two very simple philosophies. So, every
single interview of, I mean people who are very powerful, very successful in direct sales,
Multi-level Marketing, that I've done before in pretty much everyone I ever talked to and
I. Confident will talk to, has said the same thing, which is that, waking up consistently,
and doing things consistently, even small or hugely impactful. So, tell me, how you
learned that concept.
Hal: So, for it happened, I mean, I had read, you know, The Power of Early Rising, and like,
you said, most definitely people you've talked to, they've got a very powerful morning routine.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And it's, often it's different, it's some people, they wake up and they read the
Bible, and then they exercise. And then, you know, bottom line is, they're getting their,
you know, mentally, physically, and emotionally, they're getting themselves in line.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: To create an optimum day.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: Right, and for me, you know they say that, right, it changes for now, inspiration
or desperation. And for it was, actually a little bit of both. It was story was desperation
and you know this story. But, 2008-2009 when the U.S. economy crashed my business crashed
with it. And I went from earning a, you know, a comfortable six figure income to having
my income more than cut in half. And I had expenses that reflected my original income.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You know, I had a mortgage, and I had a car payment. And I wasn't able to afford
my lifestyle. And it seemed like it was almost overnight. And as a result of that I lost
my house, and I really got, deeply depressed. I'd never been depressed in my life, even
under the accident I wasn't depressed.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: I think the difference was, this was different, I didn't, I wasn't surrounded by
love and support. Now, not that, you know, my wife was with me, girlfriend at the time.
Brian: Right.
Hal: But, you know, like in the hospital with the accident, I had my mom and my dad and
my friends and my, you know, and doctors and nurses. Like, they were just showering me
with love and encouragement. Where I was scared, I was, my business was failing.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: My income was spiraling downward and things weren't. In the hospital things were
getting progressively better.
Brian: Right.
Hal: But, in my life they were getting progressively worse at that time.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: So, I went for a run, and on the run I listened to a Jim Rohn quote and the Jim
Rohn quote changed my life forever. In fact it was two quotes that I kind of put together.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And it was, your level of success will seldom exceed your allowable personal development,
because success is something you attract by the person you become.
Brian: I love that.
Hal: And I stopped running and I realized, if I'm not dedicating time every day to becoming
the person that I need to be.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: To, turn my life around, to solve my financial problems.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: and create the extraordinary that I really want. So, I ran home and I decided I've got
to dedicate time every day to becoming that person. I've got to dedicate time to my personal
development. And here's how I quantify that quote from Jim Rhone by the way. So, because
your level of success will seldom exceed your allowable personal development on a scale
of one to ten, in any area of our life, we all want level what for success?
Brian: Right.
Hal: Level ten. But at my, at that time in my life, I was maybe at a two, or maybe a
three, on a good day.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And so, that's where, there's the disconnect, right. And most people in America, or any
country, they want level ten success. But here they are at level two.
Brian: Right.
Hal: And it's not just their career, but relationships, you name it right. You want a level ten marriage
but, how much time are you investing in reading books and watching videos and learning how
to be an amazing partner. For your spouse, or your boyfriend or girlfriend, or fiancé,
right.
Brian: Right.
Hal: And the average is usually very little. You know if you ask the average, divorce,
hey we just got a divorce. Hey how many books did you read the six months leading into the
divorce on having an amazing relationship.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: What do you think the answers probably gonna be
Brian: Yeah. Zero.
Hal: Probably zero, yeah. It's like, well, no wonder your marriage didn't, you know,
you really didn't . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: you didn't really work on it, you know. And also, you ask them why that is and they
got a long laundry list of complaints about the other person, right.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: It's never responsibility, it's well, oh, well they didn't do this and they never
did this and they too much of this. Right.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: So, anyway, I run home and I realize I've got to become a level ten person. So
that I can attract level ten success. And then I have two problems that I face. Number
one is what a I gonna do to, how am I gonna grow? How am I gonna, you know, personal development
is a very big vague topic.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: Right, it's like, what do I do, meditation affirmation, reading, visualization, journaling,
exercise. So, I thought, how about all of them, right. So, I wrote down these six practices
that I had learned over the years but never maintained.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: Never maintained, at least not consistently. And then the second challenge, so this was
the bigger one was, when the heck am I gonna do this, right. Well, when am I gonna find
time? Like, I'm already busy, you know, I was literally waking up at like 6AM, you know,
getting to work, but, you know. In my office at home, by seven.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And then I was working until 9 PM. I literally worked all day long. And I was doing
that with a failing business. And I probably wasn't being very efficient, or effective
with my time, obviously.
Brian: Right.
Hal: Or, things would be different. But, I just felt like I have to put all my time into
trying to fix my situation, right.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And so, I'm looking at my schedule and I'm going, when am I gonna find an extra hour
for personal development. I thought, I'm strapped all day long just trying to survive. The evenings,
I'm exhausted and plus, I'm you know, trying to veg out for a couple hours watching T.V.,
you know, hang out with my fiancé.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And I'm looking at the morning and I'm thinking, I can't get up at 5AM, who gets
up at 5AM. I'm like I'm not a morning person and I'm like, no way. And then I hear the
voice of one of my mentors, Kevin Bracey, in my head. And it was, if you want your life
to be different, you have to be willing to do something different first.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: That's a writer downer Brian, you mentioned earlier, right.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: If you want your life to be different, and I mean, it's basic, but how often are
we really looking at that and going, what do I need to do differently.
Brian: Right.
Hal: Right.
Brian: Well, and said differently to the people who are financially motivated. That's if you
want something you've never had, you'll have to do something you've never done.
Hal: Sure. Yeah, and you know, I always say, if you want level, to achieve a level of success
you've never achieved, you have to be committed at a level you've never been committed before.
So . . .
Brian: Right.
Hal: So I'll just say, it's just a different way of saying the same thing. But, I heard
that voice and I looked at 5AM, and I thought, he's right. I do want my life to be different,
I have to be willing to get out of my comfort zone and do something different first. So
I wrote 5 AM at my, my finger was like quivering over my schedule, like, I can't believe I'm
gonna do this. 5 AM, personal development. And to be honest with you, I didn't really
believe I was going to do it. You done that before, like you . . .
Brian: Yeah
Hal: schedule something and you're like, you know yourself, that rear view mirror syndrome
I talked about, your like . . .
Brian: You mean like 30 interviews over 30 days?
Hal: Exactly, yeah.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You're like, there ya go, you're like, I don't know if I'm really gonna actually
pull this off. And so I write it in there, but then I looked at that list of six practices
and I just start to like, it was just, it was like it was magical experience. I was
like, I'm gonna do this.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: But, I can turn my life around. I'm about to do six of the most powerful personal development
practices, that, you know, that you learn. I've been told by experts that are doing much
better than I was doing.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: That these things will help you change your life, but I wasn't doing them. I thought,
and I'm gonna get up an hour earlier and start my day with discipline that has eluded me
for most of my life.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And so that night, I was like a kid on Christmas Eve. I was excited and the one,
the next morning when the alarm went off at 5AM, now keep in mind, I had been depressed
for six months.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: So, every morning when the alarm went off I was like, oh God, not again. Snooze,
right.
Brian: Right.
Hal: And I heard a comedian the other day say that he, you know, snoozing was the greatest
way to start the day with a little procrastination. You know. But, or, my favorite from Demetrius
Marty, says, you know, hitting the snooze button doesn't even make sense, it's like
saying I hate waking up in the morning, so I do it over and over and over and over again.
Right.
Brian: That is amazingly insightful for him.
Hal: Exactly. So, I, so for me, the alarm goes off and my eyes open and the distinction
here is that the first thought we have in the morning is usually the last thought we
had before bed. And I was excited before bed as I looked at the six practices and I thought
I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna change my life. Tomorrow morning can't come soon enough. And
rather than waking up feeling depressed, I woke up feeling, optimistic.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: I had went through those six practices and as you know, the rest is in some ways
history. I had never in six months or ever, woken up within an hour, I felt so inspired,
so empowered, so at peace with challenges. I'm like, hey, they are what they are, I can't
change it. Which, I was struggling with up until that point.
Brian: Right.
Hal: And, the, by 6AM, I had never, yeah, I was so inspired and motivated, and my day
was amazing. Like, they say the way you start your day determines how your day goes.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And you have an easy, lethargic, unproductive stressed out chaotic, morning.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: That's the type of life you probably live.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: But if your morning is focused, growth oriented, goal oriented, you know, and motivating.
Then that's the type of day you create. And that's what type of life that you live. And
so, within two months, my income had more than doubled, I was training for an ultra
marathon.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: I was in the best shape of my life. And, I was back to being happy, it's all the how,
you know the first time in forever. I was out of my funk, out of my depression, and
it change, my life turned around so fast, that that little morning routine I started
calling it the miracle morning. And sharing with my coaching client.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: And it was like, it just took off, people were like telling their friends, I seen people
posting on youtube about it. My coaching clients were telling me it's changed, just like you,
it's . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: like it's changing my life, you know. And it, and that's where the book came, you
know, it took me around six years to write the book Warriors.
Brian: Wow.
Hal: But, I finally buckled down and got a book written. And now, it's you know, number
one bestseller. And I couldn't be more pleased with the reviews. And then the feedback that
you've given. And that you just keep hearing that over and over and over and you know,
never take it for granted. It's really really really exciting.
Brian: That's stellar. And I mean, there's so many golden nuggets in there and I'm, I'll
put all of the, we call them tweetable takeaways below. But, I always had love hate relationship
with the word success because when you talk to someone that is not like, kind of, I guess
mentally prepared to accept it. They think that it means money.
Hal: Sure.
Brian: And, you're right, it means relationships, it means, you know, physical, it means everything.
And it's just success in whatever you're doing. So, but you're right. It's not level ten,
it's level ten on different scales.
Hal: Yeah, on a scale of one to ten in your happiness.
Brian: Yeah
Hal: In your health, in your energy, in your relationships. In your, you know, yeah a fulfillment
all across the board.
Brian: For the visual people, it's kind of like, The Sims.
Hal: It's like the what
Brian: The real life version of The Sims, where you have the little levels above your
head.
Hal: Got it, yeah.
Brian: I'm a video game nerd. But so, I mean, you have people constantly with your books,
with your videos that are on youtube. You know, all the great content that's on your
site, your that's on your site, you have people who are constantly messaging you, emailing
you, or just otherwise, saying, this changed my life.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: But, what about the people that, you know, and I honestly, in addition to that
when you speak, you know, people that were at the speaking will get interviewed. And,
you know, they'll say what did you think of it? And it's always overwhelmingly positive.
Not everybody can have, I mean it, statistically speaking, not everybody can be like, oh my
God, that's amazing, my life just changed today. So, how, you know, tell me the story
about when that didn't work. When, someone came up and said, like, you know, that's not
true. And how you were able to work with that person.
Hal: Well, you know, I mean, really the first negative I ever heard about The Miracle Morning
was I, it, you know, came after, I don't know, I have probably 50 five star reviews and also,
you know, I get a new review and it's a one star. And I'm like, I'm blown away.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: Because it might, my first book, Taking Life Head On, had no stars below four. So,
and, you know, I'm not, it's not bragging. It's just . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: I was like, I thought, oh, every, like, you know, my stuff doesn't stink, like everything
I. And I thought you know, I'm artistic, I put my heart and soul into it and . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: so I'm like, I feel good that people are receiving it. So, my first book got mostly
five, stars, four, and I had some four star reviews. Nothing below that. So I get a one
star review and I'm like, what the hell, I'm like freaking out. And the guy just, he's
like, he's just mean . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: and evil. And he said stuff that, isn't true. He says, oh the other reviews, you know,
this book's horrible that the other reviews must be fake. They must be made up. And I'm
like, I'm just, I'm like I was depressed, I would go like, you know. Like a one hour
depression.
Brian: Yeah. Can't change it.
Hal: Yeah, can't change it. And I really can't change it because it's on Amazon now.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And I'm taking it to my wife, and she's like comforting me, and, you know. Oh sweety,
he's a jerk. Don't, like, you know, don't believe and don't listen to him. You know,
and lucklily I think probably 12 people or something went and commented on his comment.
They were like did you even read the book, what's wrong with you, and the, you know.
You know, but, so, yeah, so honestly I never talked to him. I actually did post a response
offering a refund for the book.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: But he never responded back so, you know, I wasn't able to communicate with him. But,
and I think that the biggest objection people have is, you know, is either, I'm not a morning
person, I don't like waking up.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You know, or what is, it's that fear. We all have that fear, like, well, what if
it doesn't work for me.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You know, I think its, really hard for human beings to see, it's hard for us to see
ourselves as different. Than what we've ever been in the past. Right?
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: Because we have no, there's no reference. There's nothing to look at. There's no, if
you've never been a certain way, and you wanna be that way, you got nothing in your past
to look at as evidence, that you can have that. You know, and that's where, going out
on state comes into play. You've gotta look at, you know, what other people have achieved
sometimes and then go, hey, if they've accomplished it. That means that it's humanly possible.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And, thank God I'm a human, you know, I'm not a dog or a monkey.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: So, if it's humanly possible it's possible for me. And you've gotta just reinforce that
belief.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: Until it becomes a reality. And so, I think that for, I mean, to be honest with
you, other than a few, you know, negative reviews, I mean, it's probably like a 95%
success rate. I mean, from what I hear.
Brian: Right.
Hal: Almost every person that tries The Miracle Morning. And part of that is as you know,
in the book I teach the five steps news proof wake up strategy.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: So I do try to have other objection, well I'm not, I don't like waking up in the
morning.
Brian: Right.
Hal: And I go well here's a five step strategy that makes it easier for you than it's ever
been before.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And, it's amazing I have my clients, will tell me, hey, you know, I woken up at
5AM or 6AM or whatever it is for you. Everyday for 38 days in a row, and I use those bedtime
affirmations, and the five step wake up strategy. And they said last night, and I've had, I've
heard this dozens of times. They said I went one day without reading the affirmation and
following the strategy, and I slept through my alarm clock. And I mean it's amazing. I've
heard that so many times I . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: go wow, it really is a fool proof, or almost foolproof where you know you do those
steps . . . Brian: Yeah.
Hal: and almost ensuring your success for the morning. You know.
Brian: Absolutely.
Hal: And the other objection of course is, Hal, I don't have time for, I don't have time
to wake up early.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You know, I don't have time to get up. And so that's why there's the six minute miracle
morning. You know, genuine strategy. Which I probably do the six minute miracle morning
in you know, two or three days a week.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You know, when you don't have a lot of time to invest 30 to 60 minutes in a full
blown miracle morning.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You know and there's six minutes, six strategy, you know, powerful routine so you
can. So I think that I try to build as much into the book, to overcome any of the objections
or potential causes for failure. That somebody might experience and it seems to be working
pretty well.
Brian: Yeah, and I think rewinding back a little, we talked about it before, the interview
but, one of the earlier interviews was with a sword swallower and I asked him the question,
of like what made you make that choice? And you know, kind of taking it to the extreme
and he's like well, I figured everybody, you know, other people could do it.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: Why couldn't I do it?
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: And, you know, the, as the saying goes, it's not really a saying, this is true. It's
whatever follows, I am, we'll find you.
Hal: Ooh, I like that.
Brian: And if someone says I am, not a morning person. You're not a morning person. If you
say, I am a morning person, it's about personal commitment and actually there it's a psychological
study done, where mothers would have a small child that you know, an adult friend would
come and say, oh, you know, you daughters so sweet, and then the daughter would hide
behind the mom and then the mom would say oh, it's okay, she's just shy. And then the
next time it would happen she's just shy. And then these kids grow up thinking, I'm
shy.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: And there's no, you know, it's not biologically wired in for them to be shy,
it's all mental programming that they can change.
Hal: Yeah, that's brilliant, that's brilliant.
Brian: And so I think that your book does a phenomenal job of that, but you're right,
I mean, you have to read it. It's not going to do anything on your shelf. It's not gonna
change your life from your shelf.
Hal: Right.
Brian: And a lot of times, people, and I've seen it all the time, you know, I, when I
got started in a previous company, it was a product that, you know, it wasn't a health
product so there was a definitive baseline for people to see it working. And, someone
bought it, and it was pretty early on and I'm on the phone with them a few months later.
Twenty minutes into them saying this doesn't work this doesn't work, I'm freaking out,
like, oh my gosh,I partnered with a company that sells products that don't work.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: Twenty minutes into it I finally ask a question and I'm like and he was like, not
really saying, blah blah blah blah blah, you know, whatever. And turns out he hadn't opened
the box yet.
Hal: Nice.
Brian: And, I'm like, well, you know, it's, there will be people who, I think the quote
is, there will always be people willing to tell you what you doing wrong without actually
asking what it is that you're doing.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: And, it's unbelievably powerful to remember that for all of the, you know, the
doubters. Is that you read the book, you make your miracle morning,and just commit to doing
it and you will see the results.
Hal: Yeah. Yeah it's true, and that, that's what a lot of people responded to the one
star review. Is, they go, did you even read the book? Because if you read the book and
you tried it, there's no way you can be saying what you're saying. You know, so.
Brian: Yeah. And I had the same thing happen with the video, a youtube channel I made for
that dog of mine. Is that someone
Hal: A dog?
Brian: Somone stole the video and everybody loved the video so much that when someone
stole it and reposted it. People were fighting, like, how dare you, you know, I'm marking
this as spam. I'm calling youtube and . . .
Hal: Right.
Brian: I had nothing to do with it. And there's an interesting book, which I'll link below.
Called, The Spider and the Starfish.
Hal: Wow.
Brian: And, you know, for people who haven't read it or want to read Miracle Morning first,
Spider and the Starfish is a spider is you know, a centralized organization where there's
one person in charge, like, you know, the government, is a spider organization. And
a starfish organization is something where it can't be controlled, it's growing on it's
own. And that's kind of what the community around miracle morning is.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: Is that you really don't have too much control over it. You inspired it, and you
started it, but you don't control it. There's all these people going around sharing your
message and changing people's lives and you don't even know about it.
Hal: Yeah. Yeah I know it really, it is insane. I,my, I get, you know, these awesome reviews
and I got emails from people in all different countries. In fact, I just got my, two new
coaching clients . . .
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: One on one coaching clients, one from Australia, and one from the U.K.
Brian: Yep.
Hal: That found my book somehow in a different country. You know and I, a magazine from Dubai,
just reached out to do an interview. It's like People Magazine of Dubai. There for like,
you know, celebrity goath or whatever.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And I'm like, Dubai, you know.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: It's pretty wild.
Brian: Your Dubai's person of the year, Hal Elrod.
Hal: Yeah. But really it's, going global and it's just kind of taken a life of it's own.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: And the really neat thing about it is, and this is where it's real powerful is I've
had, I've sold thousands of copies.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: For people to give as gifts to their friends and family and clients, and that's
a cool thing. I get orders for, you know, or orders for a hundred copies and they'll
reorder. Hey, I gave those out and people loved it. And then they're like, can I get
them another 100 copies. And I'm like, off course.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: It's insane you know. Like the word of mouth buzz is pretty cool.
Brian: Yeah, and that's I mean part of the reason I kind of pointed that out is you know,
the name of our community is CatalystMLM.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: And the reason we chose it was catalyst. And, you know, I had learned something a long
time ago and I never really made the connection and my partner and I were talking and we both
had the epiphany at the same time. Which is, you know, good example of how great we are
together but it was. You're not, it's not, you know, that you change people's lives.
It's that you're the catalyst to help them change their own.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: All of the power that's happening behind this, is not you, it's within them that you
help to unlock.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: And, I think that that's really important to remember because it's not, you know, this
is the new Bible. It's this will help you understand something about yourself that will
unlock something from within yourself to help you reach those level tens.
Hal: Sure, yeah. And that's a great distinction. Your right. It's self empowering. And I also
know that's what you want because, you know, that's what I tell my coaching clients, I
say some coaches create a codependent relationship.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You know, I really try to spend, you know, invest our coaching time and empowerment
that you not need me, right.
Brian: Right.
Hal: Like that's, you know, I've done my job if you don't need me anymore.
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: So.
Brian: It's been said a few times in different interviews and I think most eloquently it
was said is when you're starting a Multi-level Marketing business or any path or personal
growth you have to start within yourself and build your foundation. But once your foundation
is built you have to build upon that by sharing it outwardly.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: And when with this, you know, personal development, the can't change it philosophy,
a lot of people think that they need to go through this dramatic process to change the
world. I mean, let's go with the big. Let's change the world.
Hal: Sure.
Brian: And the realistic part of it is that it, anyone can be a catalyst by sharing something
like this information. And you can change people's lives just by saying, you know, can't
change it, how did you learn that? Oh, I learned it through this. You know, watch this ten
minute video. And, I mean, I've done that to people. I've shared your video and their
like, and they started the same process that I, it took me, you know, probably two years
to go through. Because of a ten minute video.
Hal: Wow, wow man.
Brian: So, I wanted to point that out because you know, it's, your amazing, your stories
amazing, your minds it's amazing, your books are amazing. But, it's not about you, it's
about what you unlock in people and what people have the capacity to unlock in others.
Hal: Yeah.
Brian: It truly is viral.
Hal: Yeah. Thank you for the kind words and you're absolutely right. And by the way, if
somebody wants to watch that video, go to cantchangeit.com, you reference the video's.
So, can't without the apostrophe, can't c-a-n-t, cantchangeit.com. You can watch that video
that Brian's referencing.
Brian: I love it, and yeah, so I normally have people, or have you, you know, give an
actionable item but I'm pretty sure everything that you've said is actionable. And, I guess
the actionable item is to get the book, at least check it out, check out the video. And
if you do buy the book, to make out your list. Now I'm actually, Im gonna include my miracle
morning routine with some edits because a lot of it's my affirmations. But you know,
I'm gonna put that below so people can see it. And thank you so much for coming on and
sharing that.
Hal: Well Brian thanks for having me, it's been an honor. And by the way, one other resource
and include it with your other links below. If anybody wants to test the water before
buying it on Amazon,
Brian: Yeah.
Hal: You can go to miraclemorning.com and get two chapters of the book and a video as
you mentioned. So, miraclemorning.com to get the free chapters and then when your ready
to buy the book, or if you wanna go straight to buy the book, it's on Amazon.com of course.
Brian: That's perfect. Thank you so much again, and we look forward to having more from you
on catalyst.
Hal: Thanks Brian, I look forward to it as well.