Weekly Routine
The next step after cycles is to break and refine this process even further by creating a weekly routine. I am not saying you should do all the things on this routine. It is meant to give you an overview of some of the kinds of things you can put on your weekly routine. The idea of this journal section is to take your present cycle and focus on how you want to create each week.
It is of the utmost importance, in my opinion, that every person have a routine or regime. You will never develop spiritually or on any other level if you don’t. The danger of a routine is in becoming too yang or regimenting your life to the point where there is no spontaneity. On the other side of the coin, you don’t want to be too yin.
To be too yin is to be too flowing, too flexible, too laissez faire. There are no hard and fast rules in creating a routine. Some people need more structure than others. A routine can be likened to braces that one wears to straighten teeth, guiding us in the direction that we need to move. A routine is to be followed whether we feel like it or not. This is not to say that we have to be neurotic or become absolute slaves to the routine.
Again, it is more of a tentative guide to use except when an emergency or special occasion arises. Its purpose is to help you achieve the goals and priorities that you have clearly set up for yourself. Haphazard exercise is not going to achieve physical fitness any more than haphazard meditation will give you the fruits of the spirit.
Most people do not function well at all without a routine. If you took away their jobs or school, they would be lost and without motivation. Most people look to other people to set up structure and routine for them. Ideally you want to have the personal power and self discipline to set up and follow a weekly routine with your own goals and priorities.
Don’t make the routine too difficult or you won’t follow it. on the other hand, don’t make it too easy. You will find your routine constantly changing as your life changes, and that is fine. But always keep a routine, to help you develop positive habits in your subconscious mind.
After a while you will have positive habits of exercising, eating right, meditating, and so on. Having a routine will also make you much more efficient with your time and more productive. By following a routine you know you are accomplishing your goals, so your free time is much more enjoyable.
Daily Routine
Now, if you really want to get fancy you can take this one step further and have a daily routine. This is something I do and really enjoy. Every night before bed I map out my next day including telephone calls, clients, errands, spiritual disciplines, diet, vitamin and mineral supplements, food planning, physical exercise, thought form and attitudes I am trying to hold, and so on.
I have memorized my weekly routine so I just write out my mental, emotional, physical and spiritual life plan on paper the night before. By doing this I feel organized and efficient, so I sleep better. In the morning I can go right into action because my inner and outer day is laid out before me.
As I think of new things, I write them in; and as I finish things, I cross them off. By writing things down I find I don’t have to hold onto things in my mind, which allows me to be more creative and less worrisome. Doing this before bed also serves as a type of programming device. I find to a certain extent that I have the energy that I program myself to have. If I know the night before that I have a big day tomorrow, I do better than if I don’t realize it until the morning.
Battle Plan
This particular journal section I find to be one of the most helpful tools of all. I cannot recommend it more highly. The battle plan section is to take whatever area of your life you are currently working on and make a list of every possible thing you can do to achieve that goal.
If you are having health problems, you make a list of every possible action you can take to get better. If you want more clients, business contacts or money, make a battle plan listing every possible inner or outer helpful tool you can think of. I cannot recommend it more highly.
For example, let’s say you are sick with some kind of systemic infection and your immune system is run down.
