I’m five days into a new morning routine, parts of which I’m trying to turn into a ritual.
I get up at 5 or 5:30 and put some coffee on while I shave and dress, doing the 555 mental exercises/meditation the whole time. I take my first sips of coffee sitting in a comfy rocking chair in our living room where I can look out the east-facing window as the sky starts to lighten. I take a few minutes to appreciate the morning, the coffee, the chair, the sky, whatever comes to mind. I think of it as a prayer but since I don’t imagine these things as gifts from a Supreme Being, some might object to my using the term that way.
I then do a type of meditation for 5 minutes, focusing on one object with my eyes open. When I notice my mind wandering, I bring it back with “that doesn’t matter now. What matters is to just sit here with a quiet mind.” It’s an antidote to my mind’s tendency to gravitate to WANTING MORE, which I first learned about in How to Want What You Have. I then do my lower back exercises, a set of balancing exercises, and then a series of exercises with a small dumbell to strengthen my rotator cuffs — keeping up the 555 bit the whole time. I then either go to my office or the local coffeehouse to plan my day and write for an hour.
I’m feeling confident I can keep this up because in just five days, I’m already reaping the rewards. My back feels better, my shoulder aches are nearly gone, I’m getting more writing done, and my brain is less noisy and scattered. The virtuous cycle of reinforcement has kicked in — the more I do my routine, the better I feel. The better I feel, the more I’ll be inclined to keep up the routine. Plus, this small personal victory gives me some confidence that I’ll now be able to tackle a few more habits that I’ve not yet been able to pull off: 1) the fucking email in my inbox; 2) the overflowing basket of household financial papers to be filed; 3) lifting weights; 4) more rigorous writing and reading; 5) mental toughness/sports psyching exercises.
The latter I think I can add to my morning routine without much problem. I don’t know when I’ll do the weight lifting. In less than a month, I hope to be riding a new motorcycle, a Montesa Cota 315R, practicing up for a season of observed trials competition. And if I don’t improve my overall muscle fitness, I’ll be more injury prone. And I’ll be less motivated to learn and practice riding harder obstacles. I guess I’ll have to cut back on the racquetball to just 3 times a week. As for the other items, I don’t know yet.