Episode 14-A Chat with Lindsay McCarthy from the Miracle Morning for Parents and Families

The Miracle Morning is a worldwide phenomenon and Lindsay is the author of one of the books in the series “the Miracle Morning for parents and families”. She is a wife and mom of two kids.

 

Lindsay talks about her “plan” for her life and how she envisioned motherhood. She talks about how everything went according to plan but once she was done having kids she felt like “is this happily ever after?”. She felt like she wasn’t fully satisfied living her dream. But she didn’t have any dreams past being a stay at home.

 

She talks about meeting Hal Elrod at a self-development conference and being moved by something he said. “The moment I accept responsibility for everything in my life is the moment I gain the power to change anything in my life”

 

She had been using her kids as an excuse not to follow her dreams. First it was sleeping through the night, then it was when they’re in school….It was always something that was holding her back.

 

She was inspired by Hal because his story is so powerful and he has overcome so much adversity so if he can do it she can. She became more purposeful about creating the life she wanted.

 

Sunit says that when she was reading the Miracle Morning she kept thinking she wasn’t sure if she could do this because she is not a morning person. Lindsay says she isn’t either and in the world of miracle morning she wakes up pretty late. Sunit asks her to give listeners a rundown of what Miracle Morning is all about.

 

Lindsay says it is basically the way you start your day. Hal did a bunch of research to find out what some of the most successful people in the world are doing in their lives first thing in the morning and he combined the most commonly mentioned things to create the life SAVERS.

 

Silence

Affirmations

Visualisation

Exercise

Reading

Scribing

 

Lindsay introduced the concept to her own family but decided to change it to accommodate her family preferences. They combined "silence" with "visualization" and called it "meditation", kept "affirmations" and "reading" the same, and changed "exercise" to "health" and "scribing" to "creativity". They also added an “S” for "service" because this is important to them in their family, to develop a heart for serving others.

 

Sunit says this is so important to understand that doing these things from early on will make it normal in your family. It is never too early to start thinking about these things.

 

Lindsay shares the story about how she met Hal at a conference she was speaking at and just shared with him how the Miracle Morning had changed her life and that of her kids and he was shocked that their family was doing this with their kids. After some back and forth and communication with each other, Hal asked Lindsay to write the next book in the series because he felt it was important to get this message out to parents. Through writing the book Lindsay learned that parent are their children’s greatest teachers, it all starts with them. Parents should understand and practice this themselves. Sunit says yes “start as you meant to go”, if you are practicing the habits and values you want to instill in your kids, they will grow up with it and it will come naturally to them.

 

Sunit mentions that the Miracle Morning advocates for people to get up an hour early to do their practice. How does this change with kids? Lindsay says she does not get up and hour before her kids. It’s usually only about 15 minutes before. She meditates and does her journaling. She also points out that her Miracle Morning is customizable-she meditates in bed and doesn’t do the SAVERS in that order. You can make it work for you.

 

Lindsay says meditation is not a new concept to kids, it seems new to us as adults who haven’t practiced it, but we make it into something harder than it actually it is. Sunit says meditation is really just anything that gets you focused in the present moment. They give tips on how to get older kids to meditate. Sunit says she heard that you can tell kids to focus on one object, and encourage them to explore all the physical aspects of it. Like how it might feel, look, taste, etc.

 

Lindsay says there are also simple ways to get them to focus on their breath. Placing stuffed toys on their belly, etc.

 

Sunit talks about the common responses people have to this type of thing. Limiting beliefs and using your kids as an excuse not to do stuff. Lindsay says kids can learn anything that we want them to learn. And that THEY want to learn. When children are ready, they I’ll learn. An example is reading. People think you have to teach your child to read, but in fact, when they are ready, they will learn, as long as you give them the opportunity. Change your mindset.

 

You’ll never truly be ready or feel you have time. If that is your mindset it will never happen. Say yes and figure it out later. Start before you’re ready.

 

Sunit asks Lindsay for tips to set our kids up for success.

 

They talk about “the family board meeting”. Spending one on one time with your children once a quarter. The kids get to pick the activity. Doing something that they choose and have one on one time with you is really special. Building memories and keeping relationships fresh is so important. Sunit recalls a point from the book about scheduling your family first and then schedule around that. Lindsay says you have to find what rhythm works for your family.

 

Sunit reiterates that the Miracle Morning can be whatever you want it to be. Although many people think they can’t get up earlier and end up loving it. She talks about being at the boss mom retreat and Pat Flynn showing up and saying he gets up at 430 in the morning to do his MM, even though he never used to be a morning person.

 

Sunit asks how to fit in the Miracle Morning during the different seasons of your life. Lindsay says to customize it. The point is to make your day better, so if it’s stressing you out that’s not good. Lindsay says it is a mindset shift, just start small. You can literally start with 6 minutes a day.

 

Sunit says her hope is to inspire a new generation of moms and dads who are better prepared and thinking ahead about what kinds of kids they want to raise. She wants them to be more mindful and purposeful in their parenting and starting to think about this stuff very early on is much more effective than waiting until you are bowled over with kids. She asks Lindsay what is her hope for the future. “To elevate the consciousness of humanity, one morning at a time”. Lindsay wants her kids to grow up being more mindful, more creative. Make healthy choices. Affirm their strengths and those of others. Always learning. Have a heart for service. All of the components of the miracle morning are important to her and this is her hope for the next generation and the world.

 

Sunit tests herself and recaps the SAVERS.

 

You can buy the book on Amazon here. Leaving a review on amazon or goodreads helps new readers find the book.

 

You can follow Lindsay at www.gratefulparent.com

 

Join the movement! Miracle Morning for Parents and Families on fb. https://www.facebook.com/groups/TMM4P/

 

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