I’ve been thinking a lot lately on the concept of a mission, something to lend meaning to my life. I’ve been unsuccessfully trying to develop a side business for five years, and finally reached a breaking point. Tired of failing I had largely given up.
Then I encountered the right words, from the right teacher, and it finally hit me.
Now comes the hard work. I have the “mission,” but not the details. So it’s time to step back.
One thing the years of futility have taught me is that to fulfil my goal of redefining my life, I’m going to need to change my habits.
Fortunately, I have spent time studying habits, and I’m in the process of defining and creating the habits I think I will need for success.
The baseline? Every day I must:
- rise at 6 am
- write
- make a video
- exercise a minimum of 30 minutes, which must include either back maintenance exercises or resistance training.
There are more things to add to this list, but since I am presently working on the first and last, for the next six weeks, it is enough.
Because pain.
Physical pain, and psychological pain.
I started my daily back exercises last Saturday, so today marks day seven. The first few days were tough; each day I got up with refreshed pain from the exercise. It was less each day, but it was there, acting as a disincentive.
But I pushed on, because the pain was diminishing, meaning the exercises were working, at the same time the habit was developing.
As the physical pain came under control, the sense of purpose, and of accomplishment helped with the depression, the mental pain I’ve been slogging through since early May.
It’s multi-front battle, but now that I have my mission, I have hope.
