Taking it Forward

To consolidate all this, you need a daily routine and part of this should be what we used to call keeping a diary (I have about 10 years of my father’s diaries which are very illuminating describing sides of him I never knew) but we now call ‘journaling’ – more American language creeping in. In some cases, it may be called a day-book, the military and mariners call it a ‘log, but essentially it’s the same thing.

In life mastery and personal freedom, we don’t have a preferred name for it, you can call it what you like. Mine is my ‘white book’ because that’s the folder Bob Proctor gave me to keep it in. It can be whatever you like but it should contain, for each day, these statements or records:

• 10 simple gratitude statements – as simple as “I am so happy and grateful for pencils”
• A personal forgiveness statement – “I forgive my self for . . . (I structure mine around the basic Ho’oponopono cleaning phrases)
• Three things you intend to be true by the end of today – short statements of key objectives which will usually refer to your vision goals but don’t have to
• A free form statement or discussion with yourself – your ‘thoughts for today, which can be anything you like. Open your mind and something will come to you
• Three longer gratitude statements – I usually express gratitude for what I would love to be true in my life – I may not ‘have them yet but I write the statements as if I do
• Your one primary intention for tomorrow – which should be added at the end of the day
• A short review of the day – again added at the end or late in the day – approx. 17 words on what you’ve achieved, what you learned, and what you could do better next time

You can download a template for this journal from the Resources area and of course all this should be done ‘on paper’.

There are a few other things you can do as part of your ‘routine’. Some in the morning before you before you ‘start the day’ and some in the evening before you ‘close the day’. Not necessarily immediately before your head hits the pillow as some suggest unless you find that works best for you. You can also take a short dip into this mid-day maybe at ‘lunchtime’ whenever that may be. Watching a ‘mind movie’ is good for this.

Mind Movies were thought up by Natalie Ledwell, and she has online software you can use to create them from your affirmations and your chosen pictures and music. You could use something like PowerPoint or Keynote to do it, but Natalie’s software is better. You’ll find a link to it in the Resources area.

There are three other things I do which I strongly recommend. The first is, as part of your routine, to read every day, not necessarily 15 or 30 minutes but maybe just a page or two from a book you resonate with, maybe one you’ve read before. Your mid-day ‘time out’ is a good time of day for this but of course, whatever suits you best.

In the Resources area you’ll find a couple of other things to do. Both involve you making some cards and there are examples provided. One set of cards is related to the four domains, an equal number for each domain, each card with one word. This is all explained in the toolkit. Each day you select one card at random for each domain and use it as a theme or ‘keyword’ for the day. I do this in the evening and apply it to the next day. You’ll also see how to set the four words as a screensaver along with other affirmations if you wish.

Finally, my coach and mentor Phil Olley of Nexus introduced me to the idea of having a set of 20 or so cards each with medium length affirmation, intention or gratitude statements on them in an inspirational way. I make an equal number for each domain and read them to myself as part of my morning routine and if you attend Phil’s ‘Blueprint Weekend’ he’ll introduce you to the ‘Star Card’ and the ‘Lift Meditation’ as well.

Now you have our daily routine/daily ritual ‘kit’ make sure you use it daily and review it at least every 90 days. If you feel so inclined you might want to enhance the energy of these occasions by adding candles, crystals and incense (and anything else you use) as well. Your daily ‘ritual’ is what firmly establishes belief and faith in your self just as religions use prayers to cement belief and faith in their external higher power.