Last week I talked about my goal for the week, so I thought I’d wrap that up and talk about my plan for this week.

I had pretty good success not frittering away my time, as I’d become used to. It made my week much better, and I felt better at the end of each day. I will continue this in the upcoming week, because I hope these good habits will stack.

It might be useful to point out that I made allowances for the week’s actual events. When I had a particularly stressful day, I did whatever I felt like during the in-between times. When stressed on a short-term basis, I think it is important to accept slack in our personal discipline. If the stress persists, it’s wiser to combat it directly and return to daily discipline.

Improving my daily discipline is this week’s goal, and I want to strengthen my morning routine. No part of my routine will be revolutionary, but executing it together in combination will allow me to establish a good foundation. Generalizing, my routine will look something like this:

First, I will begin each morning with a blank page in front of me, writing out worries, goals, garbage thoughts, and whatever else, so I can begin each day with a clear mind. This will be a baby step towards meditation, perhaps.¹

Second, I will do a 15 to 20 minute workout, followed by a 30 minute walk. The idea here is to have a good start that really isn’t about a workout program. That would be separate.

Third, I will do a little cold therapy, because it sounds interesting, and I don’t like the cold. I want to do something each morning that I really don’t want to. A discipline check, if you will.

Lastly, I will listen to a learning book on my drive to work. I make car-time learning-time, because it changes my commute from wasted time to time well spent. This mental shift in perspective is very useful.

So, that’s it. Nothing fancy. I’ll let you know how it goes.