Look for patterns. That’s where the boring stuff hides.
Practical To-Do
Improvement doesn’t have to be the result of new endeavors. Everyday activities can be the jet fuel to increase discipline. Discipline, especially the every-day variety, can easily increase ease. When you don’t need to put a lot of effort into an activity or it has been automated, less energy is used. There is no requirement to learn weird poses in yoga, sit for hours with your legs crossed in meditation or complete elaborate lists to adopt your own ninja ways. In fact, the more comfortably you act when building an association between who you currently are and who you want to be, the more enjoyment you will feel. Remember to return to the feeling choice repeatedly to reinforce it. Deciding how you want to feel after anything lets you determine what success is. In an effort to exercise and feel healthier today, you may just want to walk outside for 30 minutes without the distraction of your phone and experience nature. Your phone can stay safely sleeping in your pocket. It may need a rest. If you can name the feeling at the end of the walk that defines the emotion your heart desires, you have reached a new milestone. There is a lot of pride in keeping a promise to yourself.
Committed To-Don’t
During an average day, most of us go through a usual routine that started randomly in the past. By the time life needs to check the practicality of this design, it may have lost its luster. Most work activities can be narrowed down to fewer hours without any loss of productivity. We are literally filling time. This is a golden opportunity to make a new to-do list that deliberately does not follow any prior schedule. Give yourself permission to make breakfast for dinner if that meets the family timeline. Pack box lunches for children to enjoy in place of evening meals if time is scrunched. Stop for homework at the time that suits each person the best. Shop for birthday cards in bulk. You can stack your tasks any way you want. Think of tasks as pure activities and release any previous stereotypes you have acquired concerning how long they should take and when they should be completed. Consciously committing to a high-quality program in place of one centered around social expectation allows that pioneering spirit to improve life. Discipline doesn’t mean regimented. Discipline comes from having the guts not to just take the easy way out.
Nice To-Do
Building your dream life is not just something that would be nice. Designing a life using your heart’s desires in conjunction with your mind is a level up. The difference between those who engage in life dreams and those who remain in the autopilot mode is staggering. With life speeding by as regrets pile up, the time to create decreases. Life and how it is lived is precious. There are consequences for skipping opportunities. Being late for a family celebration due to a blown schedule might seem random when it happens. Or it could be devastating. Think about how you want to feel if success is met. That will always work as motivation. It’s alright to create your own consequences to keep yourself in line. Counter-intuitively, increasing discipline requires discipline.
Intentionally Disciplined
It’s difficult to follow the rules all the time. Humans like to have an excuse for breaking them for just-in-case scenarios. But there is unrealized freedom in having to follow rules. Guidelines leave brain space for taking care of other topics. This is the basis for making your bed every morning, brushing and flossing your teeth and driving the speed limit. There isn’t a huge payout every day but the actual discipline of completing these tasks increases spine-strength and creates a mindset that doesn’t argue with you. There are certainly consequences for a lack of tooth care, but it takes place over time, so the lack of immediacy fools us. There is no down-side to challenging yourself to act in a manner that increases discipline. Defined structure that is made by choice actually provides a chance to seek out new methods to build the life that is more meaningful to you. Think about the options – cold showers, rising before dawn to read, reciting poetry at breakfast, sharing secret handshakes, etc. Life is made of memories. Make your own this month!
To do: What is on your list of to-dos that you didn’t choose and what can you change? Don’t accept a run-of-the-mill routine! What is the first intentional change you want to make to your daily list of life tasks?
