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The Miracle Equation summary

Name: The Miracle Equation
Rating: 4.3 (247 reviews)
Author: Hal Elrod

Hal Elrod

The Two Decisions that Move Your Biggest Goals from Possible, to Probable, to Inevitable

4.3 (247 ratings)

23 mins

What is The Miracle Equation about?

The Miracle Equation (2019) is a hands-on guide to living your best life and making your dreams come true. Drawing on the wisdom of miracle-makers old and new, best-selling author and motivational speaker Hal Elrod shows how highfliers achieve their success by adhering to two basic principles: unwavering commitment and extraordinary effort. Packed with actionable advice on everything from dealing with emotional pain to prioritizing goals, these blinks will help you put the past behind you and move toward a glittering future.

Table of Contents

The Miracle Equation
summarized in 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? A DIY miracle-making guide.

There’s no two ways about it: dedicating time to self-improvement is deeply rewarding. But is it enough? Self-professed personal development devotee Hal Elrod isn’t so sure. After all, you can meditate, read and work out every day, and then . . . do nothing. Sure, you’ll be the most zen, knowledgeable and ripped you’ve ever been, but there’ll still be something missing: achievements.

And while there’s something to be said for relishing the journey itself, ultimately, it’s hitting targets that keeps us motivated. That washboard stomach and newfound fluency in Japanese just won’t mean that much if your bank account is still in the red, your relationships suck and you’re stuck in a job you hate. Leave those big issues unresolved and all those good habits are likely to end up falling by the wayside.

So what’s the alternative? Well, you need to start harnessing the energy you’re expending on your personal development to a larger purpose. Call it a mission. That’s ultimately what’ll get you out of bed in the morning and give all those smaller self-improvement strategies their meaning. If that sounds like a tall order, don’t worry – in these blinks, we’ll lay out an actionable, step-by-step guide to creating and fulfilling your personal mission.

Along the way, you’ll learn

what The Matrix can teach us about self-belief;
how to make yourself emotionally invincible; and
why our brains limit our potential, and what we can do about it.

There are two different kinds of miracle, but only one that you can do anything about.

One day, American jeweller Donnie Register found himself in the middle of a hold-up, with a gun pointed at his head. Things went south, and the robber pulled the trigger. The probability of that kind of shot ending in anything but instant death was pretty much zero, but luck was on Donnie’s side. He instinctively raised his hands, and the bullet was deflected by his gold wedding band, saving his life.

That’s what we usually think of as a miracle: an extraordinary stroke of fortune that seems to come from on high.

But it’s miracles like these that give the concept a bad name. As doubters are quick to point out, occurrences like Donnie’s narrow escape are incredibly rare. They’re also beyond our control – after all, if people knew how to simply conjure miraculous interventions we’d all have six-figure checks in our mailboxes and odds-defying health recoveries would be the norm.

The author felt the same way for a long time. But here’s what he gradually realized: rational skepticism can easily turn into cynicism. What’s the difference? Well, the first is a healthy sign that you’re using your critical faculties to analyse the world around you. The latter, by contrast, is an irrational belief that your options are more limited than they really are. And that’s when you start dismissing the miracles you can control.

People often assume that their most successful peers are incredibly “lucky,” as though the gods had personally ordained their achievements. But most highfliers don’t just sit around waiting for a random, passive miracle like Donnie’s: they actively create their own good fortune. That makes them miracle mavens, a term that goes back to the Hebrew word mebhin, meaning “one who knows.”

Every era has its own mavens. Think of figures like John F. Kennedy, the first American president to put a man on the moon, or Martin Luther King, the civil rights leader who transformed the nation’s ideas about both itself and its black citizens. While others waited and prayed for a miracle, these go-getters went out there and made it happen.

The author first discovered the miracle equation in his early twenties.

Let’s rewind back to Hal Elrod’s early twenties. He was just out of college and working as a sales rep for Cutco, a high-end kitchenware company. Up to that point, he’d been a pretty average kid, but he was beginning to hit his stride. That was down to his success in so-called “push periods” – Cutco’s 14-day sales contests.

In early 2001, he’d just made $20,000 worth of sales in two consecutive pushes and was on the verge of breaking the company’s all-time sales record. All he needed to do was make the same amount in a third push. The only problem? The next contest was only ten days long. That meant he’d have to sell $2,000 worth of cutlery every day – something he’d never done before.

Establishing unwavering faith is a conscious choice that both mentors and spirituality can support.

Did you know that 27 publishers turned down Theodor Geisel, AKA Dr. Seuss – the children’s book author who later sold 600 million copies of his books worldwide? Or that record studios told Elvis Presley he couldn’t cut it in the music business and advised him to stick to driving trucks? What keeps miracle mavens going when they’re faced with rejection and setbacks is unwavering faith: the unshakeable belief that they possess the ability to make miracles. But where does that faith come from?

Well, it’s what people sometimes call a “leap of faith.” That has two aspects. First, it’s a leap because there’s no other way of getting there – neither reason nor evidence provides a clear route to your destination. Secondly, it doesn’t come naturally. As we’ve seen, there are all kinds of obstacles to self-belief. That means it has to be consciously established in a moment of decision.

Learning to define yourself can help you overcome biological and social limitations.

By this point you might be champing at the bit to start applying the miracle equation to your own life. But hold on a second – before we do that, we’ll need to take care of a couple of common psychological logjams that get in the way of unwavering faith and extraordinary effort.

Let’s start with limitations. Think back to your childhood: What did you want to be when you grew up? Chances are, you set your sights high. Kids dream of becoming famous ballerinas or baseball players. When we’re young, everything seems possible. Over time, however, the world becomes smaller, and we find ourselves hemmed in by self-imposed limitations.

The five-minute rule can help you achieve emotional peace when things go wrong.

When the author was 20, he was involved in a near-fatal car crash after being hit head-on by a drunk driver going 70 miles an hour. What did the most damage, though, was being broadsided by a second vehicle. That collision broke eleven bones, including Elrod’s femur, eye socket and pelvis. His heart stopped for a full six minutes and he almost bled to death, leaving him in a coma.

When he woke, he was told he’d probably never walk again. His doctors expected him to fall into a profound depression. But after a moment of deep reflection, Elrod surprised them with his upbeat response. He laughed, cracked jokes and seemed to be in high spirits. That, the medical staff thought, must be a form of denial. Worried that he was repressing his emotions, they asked his parents to talk to him. That’s when the author explained the five-minute rule.

Defining your mission is the best way of avoiding getting bogged down in competing goals.

Now that we’ve taken a look at overcoming the brain’s inbuilt limitations and toughening your emotional armor, it’s time to talk about goals. Chances are, you’ve got lots – we all do. But here’s the issue: if you don’t prioritize, you won’t achieve any of them.

In fact, attempting to tackle all your goals at once is the most common obstacle to progress. There just isn’t enough time to work on your health, family, finances, career and relationships simultaneously. Try it and you’ll be plenty busy but failing to make anything but the most inconsequential gains. It’ll leave you frustrated and ready to call the whole thing off.

Setting monthly targets and engineering your environment make it easier to fulfill your mission.

In this blink, we’ll be focusing on inching your mission from possible toward probable. The greater your progress on that front, the more likely it is that you’ll stay engaged and committed. Ready? Great – let’s explore some support strategies you can start using today.

If you’ve ever made New Year’s resolutions, you’ll know that a year is a long time. That might sound like a boon, but it can actually be a curse. That’s because it’s simply too much time: if you pursue a goal over such an extended time span, you’re likely to lose your sense of urgency. After all, if you haven’t started that diet by the end of February, you’ve always got another ten months, right? Well, no. The overly optimistic thought that “I’ve got plenty of time left” tricks us into postponing important decisions.

Extraordinary effort is all about consistency and commitment.

That brings us almost to the end of our journey. In this blink, we’ll wrap up with some tips to help you with the second part of the miracle equation – extraordinary effort. But let’s start out by clearing up a possible misconception: despite the name, this isn’t about heroic Herculean labors. In fact, bringing your miracle to fruition is all about constantly repeating small steps.

That has a couple of components. The first thing you’ll need to do is predetermine your process. What that means is figuring out which steps, if taken again and again, will lead to the fulfilment of your mission.

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Best quote from The Miracle Equation

Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature. – Saint Augustine

—Hal Elrod

About the Author

Hal Elrod is a life coach, motivational speaker and author. After almost dying in a car crash and defying the odds to beat a rare form of cancer with a 20 to 30 percent survival rate, he knows a thing or two about miracles. Today, he uses his insights to help millions of people around the world overcome their own challenges and reach their full potential. His previous books include The Miracle Morning (2012).

Who should read The Miracle Equation ?

Self-starters looking for a boost
Work-weary souls ready for a new challenge
Goal-setters overwhelmed by their personal targets

Categories with The Miracle Equation

Personal Development Religion & Spirituality

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