(2021-02-15)
So this is version 1.2, I think (the third iteration since first starting to keep track of it on here).
So, yeah, for those who aren’t familiar, I’m gonna start keeping track of how I’m doing again on accomplishing the daily things that keep me going and growing in the ways I want to be going and growing, and I’ll be holding myself accountable to y’all. 🙃 Below is what I call The Daily and is a list of the items found in my daily routine. Instead of keeping track of this as a streak of perfection as my main measuring stick (though streaks might be fun), I’m going to keep track of it as a percentage of success in following it based on having given a worthy effort (meaning that I gave a sincere effort to do it, whether I succeeded or not. I didn’t simply choose not to do it because I was lazy, forgot, or made other poor choices that I knew weren’t best that would affect my ability to do these things [like stay up late just because I want to indulge myself in something unnecessary or of little worth instead of going to bed]).
Of course, the below feels like a pretty rigid schedule, but I’m going to give myself plenty of wiggle room. Spirit of the law, here, as long as the things get done as much as is reasonably possible, and I will be firm with but kind to myself when they don’t.
Hopefully, with the help of this little daily checklist, and having chosen a motivation of love for doing each item on it, I’ll be able to increase in love and become love faster, and in doing so, I’ll be able to bring more peace, love, happiness, and joy to the world.
Lift the World.
4:25 — Bedroom 5×5 (Getting Up Early: First of all, my motive of love for getting up early is that I might utilize the best hours of my day for the most important parts of my life, so that I an grow most effectively in becoming love, so that everyone else can be blessed by someone who loves them and truly wants the best for them.
5×5: I choose to do this bedroom 5×5 out of love for my future family and love for all those I will ever be able to impact. A clean environment, for me, breeds peace and calm. It helps to lighten my heart and reduce stress. It helps to open my spirit to the Spirit. So, I choose to keep my bedroom clean because it will help me become love, and that’s what I want my future family and the world to have in me and from me–love. I also keep my room clean so that I’m in the habit of doing so, so it’s not a big adjustment if and when I have a roommate in the future, and especially for when I get married. I don’t want it to be a new habit to cultivate that could both be a challenge to do and could add stress to the relationship.)
4:30 — Servicise, woods working (I choose to do servicise out of love. Love for my future family, love for my current family, love for myself, love for my God. I do servicise to take care of my body, so that my future family can have as healthy of a husband and father as I am able to give them, both so that they can have a potentially greater amount of time to spend with me and a potentially greater number of activities to do with me. Also, so that there will be potentially less economic strain on family finances because I didn’t take care of my teeth or my body, etc. I take care of my body out of love for them, and honestly for all those whose lives I can better lift by living a potentially healthier, potentially longer life. I do the service part of the servicise for my current local family, to provide a healthier forest on this property that they will be able to enjoy to a greater degree, as well as one they can peacefully walk through, which will hopefully bring them peace and joy.
5:00 — Shower, dress, pray, meditate (Okay… I’ll be honest… struggling a bit with the shower out of love motivation. 😆 I was blessed with fairly non-smelly genes, so, I don’t think about it so much. Heck during the winter time, I only need to shower like once a week to stay smelling decently. 🙃 Although, nobody has to sleep with me, so maybe it’d be different. So… we’ll say, Shower: I shower daily out of love and to get in the habit, so that my future wife doesn’t have to smell a less-than-clean me if I happen to smell a titch when one is snuggled up against me. 🙃 (feel free to educate me on other loving reasons for showering every day).
Dress. I’m not going to explain why I actually put clothes on out of love… that’d be… weird. 🙃 But I would say this: I choose the clothing that I choose and do so out of love for others. The clothing that I wear has no visible name brands or affiliations. It’s either plain or contains uplifting messages. The lack of name brands or affiliations is meant so that there is as little as possible to judge, as little as possible to distract people from the love in my eyes and face, and hopefully, the contagious smile that I hope to have upon it, that I might be a ray of sunshine in their days. Any uplifting messages on my clothing will likely distract from my face for a time, but my hope is that the expressions on my face will add to the light of the messages and that both the messages and my face will bring light and warmth to them at that moment and continuing into the future.
I also choose clothing that is modest. As one who has struggled with pornography addiction for the vast majority of my life, I know personally how challenging it is for me when I see women in tight or revealing clothing. It’s not their fault that I struggle, and it’s not their responsibility to dress how is most helpful for me personally, but as I understand my own struggles and have been told by at least one person that what I was wearing was triggering to him (he’s gay), it does me no harm and allows me to make one more decision in love for the benefit of others, so I choose to dress modestly, that I might be a blessing and not a stumbling block to those who are trying, as am I, to overcome pornography addiction or similar struggles.
I choose clothing that is appropriate for the season out of love because I want those who care for me to know that I’m prepared, that I’m taking care of my body and my health as best I can, so they need not be concerned for me.
Prayer: I choose to chat with Mr. Big Shot out of love for him and love for everyone else. I chat with him to express my gratitude for his great kindness to me, his patience, his love, the way he always takes perfect care of me, the way he gives me strength, changes my heart, helps me to become my best self. I pray because I want to acknowledge to him that I recognize him in my life, in every part of my life. I also pray to become more humble and full of love myself, so that everyone else can have a more humble loving me to interact with, which, hopefully, will lift and bless them as well.
5:30 — Personal Study (I choose to spend time in studying love, life, and the gospel, etc., out of love for everyone, hoping that through my studies, I will be able to see, learn, understand, and apply knowledge and principles of goodness and that I will become love, so that with my heart and my knowledge and understanding, I will be able to bless everyone, lift everyone, brighten days and lighten loads for all.
6:00 — Couple Study (I choose to set aside time for couple’s study out of love, even though I don’t currently have a wife. I do it because I want to be in the habit of doing it when I get married because I want to give that gift to my wife, that time together, in meaningful things. That time to grow closer to God together and to each other, to become one. I also want to give that example to my future children, so they can see how important it is to us to be close to God and to be striving to be love with all our hearts, in hopes that our example might inspire them to want to be love, too.
6:30 — Book Writing (I choose to write my book out of love. Love because I feel like I’ve been given incredible knowledge from God that has helped me tremendously in my life, and I want to share it in the hopes that it will lift and bless others as it has me.
7:30 — Family Study (I choose to set aside time for family study out of love much for the same loving reasons as couple study time, so that I can be in the habit of doing so, in order that I can give that gift to my family when the time comes and not have to schedule it in, build the habit, and this that I might show my family how important it is to me and how much of a blessing it can be for all of us, and this that they might increase in wisdom, understanding, love, and joy.
7:45 — Breakfast (First, I choose to eat healthily out of love for all those who love me and for the people I hope to be able to serve. My choosing to eat well allows me to have a better chance at being healthy and living longer, increasing the likelihood of fewer medical bills that can strain family budgets and decrease our abilities to use our resources to serve others. It also will increase the likelihood that I can spend more time loving and serving my wife and family and all people of the world, which will hopefully bring happiness and joy to many.
I eat breakfast because as best I understand it, breakfast is perhaps the most important meal of the day, and if I want people to receive the very best of what I can give, I want to be
8:00 — 5×5 (See 4:25 5×5)
8:30 — Taxes/Business Administration (My loving motivation for doing all tax and legal work for my business is that I want my future family to inherit a life where there are as few complications as possible, so there is more time to spend together and to serve others).
10:30 — Work (My loving motivation for working is that I want my family to have everything they need to be safe and healthy and to give all of us the opportunities to use our time to lift the world.
1:00 — Lunch (See 7:45 Breakfast)
5:30 — Scheduling/Paperwork/Filing (See 8:30 Taxes/Business Administration)
6:30 — Dinner (See 7:45 Breakfast.)
7:00 — Free Time (I can’t determine ahead of time what all things I’ll be doing in my free time, but the things I choose will be chosen with the motivation of love, wanting to bring others comfort, happiness, joy, peace, etc., and furthering/increasing that possibility.)
8:00 — Blog/Journal (My loving motivation for blogging and writing in my journal is that I hope that my transparent life will encourage others to feel more kindly toward themselves, to realize that we all struggle, that good people can struggle with really hard things. It is my hope that the things I write will lift others to a happier more joyful life.
8:45 — Teeth/Prayer/Sleep (My loving motivation for taking care of my teeth, which is also part of my morning routine, though not specifically labeled, is similar to eating, staying healthy, reducing the likely of bills for my family, so we can have potentially greater resources to lift one another and lift the world, less to be concerned about as a family, etc.
As you can probably tell, I ran out of team toward the end. 🙃 Two days working on it.
*This routine is subject to change. If you’re curious about how things have changed over time, you an see the below.Â
Version 1.1 never made it public. 🙃
Lift the World 