My daily routine seems to be something that many people wonder about. To some it’s a miraculous thing, to others a confirmation of what they are trying to accomplish. For me it’s that “thing” that comes back in almost every blog; Finding balance.
I don’t believe in doing one thing over and over again. You will have to if you really want to become good at something, but in a healthy manner. If you do the same work/training everyday your mind would get bored. Your body will get used to it, and instead of gaining control you would just slip into some mental coma. Yet, I do have a daily routine as many expected. Balance can come in many variations. I shift and juggle with what I want and have to do to find a balance to get the utmost out of my day. Everyday, the whole day. It’s my game and I always win. (Well, almost always because if I lose I learned why I didn’t win, so I still win! #PirateRules.) My drive, however, to get as much done on a daily basis is based on one simple principle:
Nemo vir est qui mundum non reddat meliorem.
It is a quote from my favorite movie, Kingdom of Heaven. Wikipedia says it’s from a Latin inscription and means: What man is a man who does not make the world better? (It’s my second favorite quote ever.) And this drives me in every way, every day. As I have explained in prior blogs, for me to be able to do what I need to do and be as physically strong as possible, my mind has to be clear of all clutter and of course, my body well rested. In my recovery process I developed a method that helps me. So let’s go through my schedule that I developed in 3,5 years of trial and error. (You can fill -ish behind everything because I believe you need to stay flexible to create accomplishments.)
6.00 Alarm (Snooze, curse, sighs, big gulp of water)
7.00 Yoga (After copious amount of water in my face and with brushed teeth)
8.00 Breakfast (And coffee!)
9.00 Workshop (Create crap/craft)
12.00 Gym (Balance/Strength/Endurance training)
13.00 Lunch (Balanced warm meal)
14.00 Rest (Nap time)
16.00 Office (Checking mail while I make love to coffee)
17.00 Workshop (Create crap/craft)
This is my general day. It’s not planned to the minute and some days I sit more behind a computer doing my accounting, setting up or managing social media accounts for clients (FDDK, Share2Uplift, Twin Divers) or manage my own social media accounts, planning and of course lots and lots of research and learning. I’m an average student but an eager learner. During rehab, one of my therapists said: “You have a good brain. You’ll be fine as long as you keep developing it.” So that’s what I did and then some…
My yoga in the morning is to wake up my muscles and my nerves, to let them know “the world is awake and we need you.” In the meanwhile, I smell the scent of coffee and just that makes me smile. If I have to wash clothes I’ll throw them in as soon as I put my love potion (coffee) brewing and before yoga so by the time I get my breakfast in my tummy I’m ready for the fresh smell of just washed clothes. I chose a soap that’s good to the environment and makes me happy. (The smell and my good environmental choice, just to be clear.) Everything is synchronized in improving my next step. My productivity. My sense of accomplishment. I hide tons of rewards during (all) my daily sessions so I’ll always look forward to the next moment.
There is struggle though! Not everything is happiness and Disney-ish. I’m secretly lazy and many times I don’t want to do physical exercises. So I set small targets to keep me motivated, like watering my plants. Yes, watering flowers! (How Pirate-ish, isn’t it?) By walking with the full buckets of water through my yard I’m warming my body, train my balance and my mind and I immediately feel a sense of accomplishment and that small reward makes me want to do more. (Also the birds, bees and my dogs make it really Disney -ish like, so I smile even more.) Next, I hang on the bars of our solid steel drying frame to stretch my spine, muscles and nerves and see the beautiful table mountain. This is where I mostly start doing chin ups, pull ups, push ups, or any other ups fantasizing how amazing it would be to climb that mountain. (I still haven’t, so it’s on my bucket list.)
In between I spray paint my candle holders, pet my dogs, make necessary calls, send out positive messages and do stretching and breathing exercises. Again rewarding myself with small accomplishments and motivating myself with the next one.
When you plan too much of your day, you create a mountain that you can’t look over and you’re setting yourself up for a disadvantage and that can easily become a failure. By creating a small hill I can already see what I’m going to climb next. If I accomplish getting over the first hill. “Stretching out your comfort zone” I call it. I dislike phone calls so much I would almost say “hate” but I “hate” using the word “hate.” Negativity attracts negativity and positivity boasts creativity and productivity extends every comfort zone you have, so we’ll leave that word behind. Since my body doesn’t allow me a comfort zone, I create one mentally. Over and over during the day. This is what I mean when I write about #growstronger on my Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Create a comfort zone outside of your comfort zone, create a bridge that allows you to walk that difference. Create opportunity. Create a mental and physical image of what you want to do and do the smallest step to see if you can achieve that in one day. Before you know, you have a balanced schedule like I own. I know it may seem easy for me to say, but find a way to make it easy for you. I did, through physical pain and the loss of a dear life.
In case you didn’t know… Hi, I’m Andy. I am a creative instigator. I create solutions.
My hands are tied, my body bruised
She’s got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose
