Hi, everyone! 😊
Just in case it’s of any benefit to you, I’m going to list the things I’m trying to do in my life to live a fuller, richer, happier, healthier, more balanced life. 😊
5:30 — Servicise/Exercise. Currently my servicise is digging trenches with a pick ax through the lovely “Arkansas top soil” (rocks, hence the necessity of using a pick instead of a shovel, for those who aren’t familiar with “Arkansas top soil”). Getting up at 5:30 is helping my self discipline, since I’m getting up in the dark when it’s harder for me personally to get up. Getting up at 5:30 is also giving me fabulous time (I even wish I had more of it) in the morning to get focused in, to ponder, meditate, study, etc–all before the day gets going, so to speak, and it’s harder to focus in than when things are quiet and still and no one else is awake. Sooooooo nice to be up when all is still and quiet. Oh! And servicise first thing helps me to wake up! Additionally, while servicising, I practice my memorizations (hymns, scriptures, etc.). Working on memorizing also wakes up my brain, so there’s an added benefit, and that’s 30 minutes of memorization review practice that helps ground me for the day (almost like meditating), as I fill my brain with positive, uplifting messages.
6:00 — 5×5 Outdoor maintenance. I do this right after servicize because I’m already outside and because of the chiggers. I’m currently weeding the garden for my 5×5, outdoor maintenance edition… usually it’s weeding or weed whacking of some kind, so the chiggers, should I get any, get washed off in the shower I take right after). You might be surprised at how much you can actually get done in 5 minutes a day. This 5×5 concept that I’m doing is super eye opening. It shows me just how much I procrastinate, generally, until projects are huge and can become overwhelming with all the huge projects that pile up. Just 5 minutes a day (with the habit of also picking up after myself), and things are… soooooo good! I also continue my memorization review while doing my outdoor maintenance (usually in the form of singing the hymns I’ve memorized).
6:05 — 5X5 Garage Maintenance. Done right after the outside maintenance 5×5 because I’m already outside and on my way in. As of right now, the garage is just a mess still. Once it’s all organized, though, it’s like this 5×5 will get changed to something else and return only periodically, as the garage isn’t a place that needs lots of maintenance once organized. Aaaaaaand again, I continue my memorization review while doing my outdoor maintenance (usually in the form of singing the hymns I’ve memorized). By the way, keeping the 5×5 maintenance work to 5 minutes has also brought the added benefits of helping me with self discipline (stopping at five minutes instead of going on because I want to “finish” whatever I was working on. It’s helping me learn to be happy with progress instead of perfection/completion, etc. It’s helping me feel like I’m accomplishing things. It’s fabulous.
6:10 — Hot-to-Cold Shower or Cold-Only Shower. So… more self discipline training goodies here, just turning that knob to cold and standing there requires self discipline. Also, the hot-to-cold showers improve circulation and help to cleanse the body of toxins, I believe. And the cold-only showers have so many benefits. Soooooo many, including more positive attitude (helps fight depression), better skin (actually can do wonders in decreasing acne because it closes the pores and doesn’t stimulate the production of sebum, which is what causes acne, to some degree (hot water dries out skin and stimulates the production of sebum. Cold showers do neither. Cold showers also boost the metabolism (help you burn more calories), increase fertility, boost the immune system, increase energy, etc. And again, self-discipline goodies here for yours truly who struggles with self discipline.
6:20 — Chatting With Captain Universe. Just in case it isn’t obvious, I have alarms set for each of these activities, so my phone automatically tells me when it’s time to move on to the next thing. You can also set timers. I do both. I’ve found that the principle of setting aside an amount of time for something as my goal is so much more valuable for me than setting some kind of achievement/production-based goal of what should be accomplished. My philosophy is this: As long as I’m giving a worthy effort, what gets done is what gets done, and whatever it is, it’s success. Production/outcome-based goals can be great motivators, but they can also be snares that yank me away from a balanced life in an effort to accomplish x arbitrary outcome-based goal. Anyway, so… long-winded introduction to explaining my 10-minute chat with Mr. Headiest Honcho. I set aside 10 minutes. It’s not about “saying” my prayers. It’s about having a personal chat. 10 minutes in the beginning can feel like a lot, but after a few days/weeks, it’s not near enough. Either way, it’s a good little bit of time, and the time allotment helps to keep it from turning into a wrote, to-do list check-off item, and helps keep it a personal, intimate, meaningful opportunity to commune with The Main Man himself.
6:30 — Meditation. This is a great opportunity to continue to help me get grounded and centered, focused for the day with the broader eternal perspective that I so easily lose in the middle of x event or circumstance. I’m working on creating my own meditations that directly address the most-common concerns that I let weigh me down and stress me out.
6:40 — Personal Study. Currently, my overall study goals include being extremely familiar with the insights and direction that I feel like God has given me personally in both the present and the past, as well as becoming a scholar of the scriptures, of the doctrines of the gospel, of LDS Church History, of the Plan of Salvation, and of the prophets of God, etc.
Right now, pondering upon the insights and direction God has given to me personally, listening to the scriptures while I work, and making a year-by-year timeline of Church History through which I will become quite familiar with all of the significant events (in detail, not just on a timeline)… these are my main efforts right now in the overall goals of becoming a scholar of the things of God.
7:05 — Couples Study. I don’t have a spouse right now, but one day I will, and I want to have built into my daily routine time set aside to study with my wife, so it’s not a new habit I have to develop later. Again, this is helping me, like most of my routine, with my self discipline. I want to be a master over both my mind and body, and all of these things are helping me in that journey. Since I have no spouse at the moment, I’m using this time as additional personal study time.
7:30 — Family Breakfast. Its important to me to have time set aside to be with my family for family breakfast. Though I have neither a wife nor children at the moment, one day I will. And again, I want to have that time set aside and prepared, the habit already formed. Since I have no family at this time, I’m using this time to continue my personal study, same as with couple’s study time.
7:45 — Family Gospel Study. Same thing as the others. I want to have the habit formed and ready to go. Currently, I’m using this as extended personal study time.
8:00 — 5×5 Maintenance, House, Room, Electronic communication. As is obvious by the heading, I finish out my 5×5 maintenance, spending 5 minutes cleaning/organizing my room, five minutes on the house at large, and five minutes cleaning out/cleaning up my electronic communications (texts, emails, etc.). Again, it’s amazing how much I can get done in 5 minutes each day. It’s all the more amazing when I realize I’ve not done my maintenance for a few days, and I still get a ton done in five minutes–pretty much what needed to be done. Of course, the other principle is picking up after myself, in general. The five minutes covers the basic maintenance and the times I fail to pick up after myself, amazingly. The 5×5 actually does so much to lift my spirits, to feel like I’m making progress in my life. Seeing things improving daily, by little bits is so… wonderful. 😊 One other thing… I find myself actually looking forward to doing my 5×5 both because of the improvements I love seeing and because I didn’t get to finish what I was working on the previous day, so often times, I’m excited to get back to it to finish it up. It’s soooooo great!
8:15 — Day Planning. For day planning, I plan the priorities of the day (which are usually quite easy because I’m thinking about what needs to be done on a regular basis, and because I see what needs to be done on the to-do/priority list that I keep on my phone. The goal is to plan my “Top Three” most important things to accomplish that day. Followed by the nice-to-accomplish things. The goal is also to plan 10 specific ways I’m going to reach out to lift someone’s world (purposeful planning, not just opportunities that come up).
8:30 — Work. I’m nearly perfect at not texting/web surfing, etc., while driving. The habit is so ingrained, that I catch myself sometimes. Then it’s a battle of self discipline to stop what I just realized I’m doing. Good battle. I win nearly every time now. 😊 The goal is also to listen to scriptures, talks, meditations, and to practice my memorizations, the memorizations being what I do while I’m driving instead of listening to the radio or texting, etc. It’s really been great to fill my mind with positive messages all day. I’ve noticed I’m happier, more positive, more upbeat, etc, and I’m accomplishing my goals, little by little. 😊
1:00 — Lunch. Yes… I need to plan lunch, or I might not eat. Eating is a bit of a chore to me, so when I’m engrossed, I don’t think about it. I just want to do what I’m working on. So… the goal is to eat every day, so I’ve scheduled in an actual lunch time where, even if I’m working on a job, I’m gonna stop and eat.
5:30 — Schedule Next Day/Order Parts. I’m working hard to get done working on cars earlier. This part of my schedule is one of the hardest because after a long day of work, I don’t want to go right into scheduling: I want to take a break first, but… it’s just better to get it done right at the end of the day instead of waiting until evening. I end up having lots of issues when I wait until evening, including forgetting to order parts, etc. But… this is one I’m going to discipline myself to do, that way I can free up the rest of the night to be relatively work free.
6:30 — Eat dinner.
7:00 — Free time/personal time/unstructured time, etc. I don’t get much of this. So… this is… whatever-I-want-to-do time. I want to be better at doing fun things that aren’t associated with productive goals, if that makes sense. So that’s one of the things I’m going to be working on.
8:45 — Write my blog entry. Writing in a daily journal is sooooo helpful. And having an audience that’s reading and to whom I feel accountable is even more so. This online journal has changed my life–massively. Had I not started, I would likely still be wasting my life away watching TV and movies every night into the wee hours of the morning, working myself even more to death than I am now, and still struggling with anger and discouragement and depression (not the clinical type) so so much more than I am now. Even going through perhaps one of the hardest periods of my life over the last three months, and despite having lots of ups and downs during that time, I’m… doing really well now. I’m really feeling like I’m getting on top of things.
9:15 — Get ready for bed. I’ve gotten much much much better at brushing my teeth every night. And… just in general. It’s healthy to brush your teeth before eating, and I’ve done that sometimes in the mornings as well, when I remember.
9:20 — Chat with Mr. Big Shot. Same thoughts on this one as for the morning version. And, realistically, the goal is to have lots and lots of conversations throughout the day. These are just sort of the opening and closing of the ongoing conversation each day. I’ve been working on being more selfless in the ways I pray and the things/people I pray about.
9:30 — Dream the night away.
Other Things I’m Working On In General:
- I’ve cut sugar/sweets/desserts/junk food out of my life. I think it’s going to make a big difference for me. I think my energy is up. I think my immune system is probably stronger. Sugar feeds so many bad things, depresses the immune system, etc.
- I’m exercising, the goal is five days a week of cardio (30 minutes a day), whether that’s via servicise, circuit training with weights at a pace that keeps up the cardio workout, or just running. I want my body to be as healthy as I can make it, a gift to my future family, to myself, to my God, and to everyone else in the world whom I can better serve with a healthy, strong, resilient, durable body.
- I’m eating much better, lots of rabbit foods (fruits and veggies). I’m going to be cutting out pretty much all meat and dairy again, in addition to cutting out the sugar and other junk food. I’m not going to be militant about all this though. I’ll probably have some meat and dairy here and there. Funny… all this reminds me of the Word of Wisdom… that’s pretty much my intended diet without having really even thought about the Word of Wisdom until now… plants and meat sparingly (the WOW says to eat meat only in times of winter and shortages… something like that, anyway). American culture isn’t meat sparingly, that’s for sure. It’s meat all the time, lots and lots and lots of it.
- I’ve stopped swearing, with fliers coming out on only rare occasions. That’s helped me with my self discipline and has helped me to rein in my emotions, in general, I think.
- I’ve cut TV, movies, news, and professional sports nearly completely out of my life. I’ll watch some YouTube videos here and there, check the headlines here and there (nothing for sports, though), and I’ve watched some documentary-type/history movies here and there. It’s made such a difference. It’s amazing how much of a slave I was to those things, how much of my life they were eating up. Both times I’ve cut all these things out in my life I’ve been amazed that I ever had time for them in the first place. Life is sooooooo much better without them. I feel more accomplished. I’m able to be of more service to others. I’m more positive. There’s honestly a feeling of freedom. Sometimes I don’t notice how chained I am to those things, the junk food, the TV/Movies, etc. But then once free, it’s clear how chained I really was and how much of an effect they have on me. I’m happier without them. I’m more spiritually in tune with out them. I have more time. Life is just… better without them–and even more so because I’ve replaced them with good and positive things as well instead of letting other negative things fill the voids.
Well, I hope this is beneficial to y’all in some way. Trying to live the above has made a big difference for good in my life, I think. Hopefully, it is, and if it is, hopefully others will see the difference, and if they do, hopefully it’ll inspire some to do the same or similar things tailored to their individual lives that will help them live happier, fuller, more balanced and love-filled lives.
Loves and hugs to all!
~ stephen
Lift the World 
Thanks for sharing, Stephen!