Routine; is the flow with you or against you?

This article may seem obvious to some people, especially women. But this is for myself. :-) I find that writing something and talking about it others makes me strive to be more congruent with myself. If I tell people about this stuff and I don’t actually follow it…. (It’s not going to happen, but you can see the influence it has on my congruency)

Routine can be a great tool, or it can make you a tool.

The bad routine:

The same every day tasks and activities that make life seem like a time portal more than a journey. So many people get caught into the trap of work, then retreating home to escapism: television and over-indulgence to name a few. They get up in the morning just to get by; not to strive for dreams. Before they know it, 30 years has gone by and no dreams or goals are ever achieved.

I’ll always make an effort to change my life, try new things, and never fall into an unproductive cycle. The bad routine makes goal hunting seem like a hope or goal itself.

The good routine:

Finding out what your goals are and integrating them into your daily lifestyle.

For example: I want to constantly learn something new every day, gain the best effects of meditation, build and maintain a fit body, and learn French.

My Morning routine: (Assuming I have enough time. If I don’t, I will finish the routine when I get home or reduce the amount of time in each activity)

• Meditate 30 minutes
• Read 30 minutes (Also done before bed)
• Do light exercises (pushups, etc) for about 5 minutes to get blood flowing
• Drink Matcha (Important… :-P)
• Jump around, dance, listen to music, etc before I leave the house to get into state =D

Later in the day I could practice French and other tasks for as little at 10 minutes and still gain benefit if it is maintained every day.

Other Routines: Not always daily.

• Write one article per week
• Weight training 3+ times per week
• 20 minute power cardio after each event
• Lots more… I’m not posting my whole damn list.

Thanks to a female friend of mine, I decided to use a checklist. I found this iPhone app, “ToDo” that does the job quite nicely. It’s so satisfying to check off the list!

Summary

Without a solid schedule of routines, I find myself slipping into the void of procrastination and being unproductive. Small allocations of time in a given activity still prove beneficial if maintained as a daily routine. This maximizes the attention span of the human mind.

Transfer your long and short term goals into tasks that you can do every day. Never lose sight of your goals. Use your goals and aspirations as fuel to wake up in the morning and live life with passion.

Use routines to your advantage, or be sucked into the circle of dissatisfaction.

Remember: I’m not emotionally attached from my opinions. I want you to argue with me. I learn from arguing. Let me know if I’m ignorant, speak your mind!