Welcome back! If you started on June 6 when we kicked this off, you are now on D-Day plus 15. You should have at least a draft of your personal mission statement, your key verse, and your mission for this year and a listing of your personal values. You can take a look at the total package by clicking on this link. Print it and keep it someplace that you can routinely see it. You will need it as you begin living the warrior life.
The everyday warrior life is preparing for the future. At times it will seem tedious and even a little pointless. There will be days that you just want to stay in bed, or binge watch some mindless television while eating junk food. When that temptation comes up; look back at your purpose statement. Remember who you want to be.
The value statements are what will keep you morally straight. Sinful temptation is always out there.
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. -1 Corinthians 10:13
Know this; pure will power will fail you. You must ask Jesus to consistently show you the way out. He will do this! For approximately 33 years or so He lived on this Earth so that He could plainly understand your temptations. I strongly recommend asking Him to be your guide.
I also challenge you to find some brothers or sisters (Must be the same gender that you are.) to be your wing man. This is much more than what has been called an accountability partner. This is a person of iron. They exist to sharpen you, and for you to sharpen them. We are better together. I am willing to be that person just email me: rich.schaus@grmmuskogee.org
Be the Leader
The first person that you lead is you. That means that in order to be successful in the long run, you must develop discipline. Your discipline must take on your entire being, physical, mental, Spiritual and social.)
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. -Luke 2:52
Notice that Jesus had to grow in those four areas. Don’t be arrogant here. If Jesus needed to grow and He is our guide, then we too must grow in these areas.
This week we will focus on developing some daily disciplines.
NOTE: I am going to give you a snapshot of my daily disciplines. You do not need to do all of this. In fact, it has taken me years to get my warrior mind on track with this. I have gradually added, taken away and adjusted the order of things in a way that works for me consistently. Start small and deliberately add things to give you a complete day, every day.
Before going to bed at night:
- Set up my espresso pot so that all I will need to do is turn on the machine. That includes having it plugged in, coffee in the filter, water in the tank, hot chocolate mix in the cup, butter set out to add to the coffee and MCT oil.
- Set up my exercise clothing to include shorts, shirt, socks and running shoes.
- Set up pot to cook oatmeal, bowl and spoon, glass and spoon to make chocolate milk to go with my breakfast. (I might also set out the cast iron skillet if I am going to add eggs to my next morning meal.)
- Set out my drink shaker with wheat grass mix already in the shaker.
- Set out my journal, Bible, professional magazine and my lap top in the living room where I begin my day.
Going to bed (Usually 10pm)
- I drink a shot of apple cider vinegar.
- I then brush my teeth.
- I wear a sleep mask that plays assorted sounds and Bible verses with a timer that will shut it down after about an hour of being asleep.
Wake up: 4 AM
- Drink 16 ounces of water mixed with wheat grass.
- Turn on coffee maker while I take care of morning business.
- Open journal and record the first event of the day.
JOURNAL: Nothing that I have added over the past few years has made me as productive as keeping a journal that I record my entire day in.
- While drinking coffee I am reading from the Bible
- 5 Psalms
- 1 Proverb
- Average of 40 pages a week. (My personal goal this year is just to read through the Bible over the course of the year. Some years I have targeted reading it 2-4 times. I am enjoying reading it and chewing on the Word of God more this year than the quick meals I was getting.)
- I record my progress
- I then journal the question of the day. (You can get these from the internet. I currently am using a list of 52 prompts that encourage me to think in detail about different aspects of my character.)
- I then take time to do a self examination. (You will get more on this later. But for now the basic idea is that I am thinking through my life and character in light of specific measurements. I use things like Military leadership traits, Boy Scout laws, Scripture and more.) I write down the standard I am aiming for and honestly evaluate how I am doing. I might also write down some ideas for improvement or a specific short coming example from my week.
- I then simply journal my thoughts from all of this thinking. This almost always ends up being a written prayer, seeking the Holy Spirit to guide me toward being a man that lives a life that is pleasing to Him.
- I conclude this section of my morning by praying for a specific country of region using Operation World’s App.
It is typically about 4:50 am or so. That entirely depends on the length of the five psalms.
- I then pull out my laptop and read the local paper and check my email, and social media messages.
- I don’t spend a lot of time on social media or on email. For now I am just looking for anything that might need my attention later in the morning.
- Finally, I will read a few pages in a professional magazine to glean some of the latest thinking.
By now it is typically 5:25 or so. I then put on my workout clothes.
- Three times a week I go for a run.
- Three times a week I do a base workout while listening to podcasts
- Currently that looks like this
- 20 Burpees
- 15 lunges each leg
- Walk the ½ mile trail from my house wearing an 18 pound weight vest and carrying 25 pound dumbbell.
- 100 pushups
- 20 curls
- 20 minutes on the elliptical with an elevation mask
- Currently that looks like this
It is now typically around 6:15.
- While still listening to podcasts and/or motivational videos I prepare breakfast.
- I also prepare a green drink for the day but do not yet blend it. (Too loud and still don’t want to wake up family.) More on green drinks later.
- I do the dishes as I go along.
- This also includes at least another 16 ounces of water (with a sprinkle of sea salt added) along with a garlic pill, multi vitamin and fish oil)
It is normally around 6:35 am at this point
- With the dishes complete I read through Bruce Lee’s Affirmations
- Then I work on Scripture memory
- I have 6 verses that SoulCon calls Front Site Post verses. These are the ones I review daily and meditate on them throughout the day. They keep me focused on serving God.
- I then have several memory verses that I either review or work to memorize
It is now 6:55 am
- I blend my green drink.
- I pack up my Bible and the magazine and take it to my room
- I greet my wife and we talk.
- If she is out of bed I race to make the bed before she can. NEVER leave home with an unmade bed unless your spouse is still in it when you leave.
- I then begin my final round of AM rituals
AM Rituals
- Brush teeth and floss
- Shave
- Clean up sink
- Shower (Always start with cold water)
- Get dressed
- Read from 2 devotional books
- Pack up computer, gym bag and back pack and leave for work (More on back pack later)
Before I leave for work my wife and I pray together.
That is my daily routine. The rest of my day, little is routine.
Notice that in my daily routine I have included physical, mental, Spiritual and even a little social activity in the beginning of my day. That is what you want to create.
There are things that I do weekly, monthly and quarterly as well and that will be discussed later as well.
Now it’s your turn. Design your perfect morning. Set yourself up for success. Share with me what you are doing. How does it tie in with your ethos document? I would love to see that too. Let’s work together as warriors, let us change the world. Let us be the storm.
rich.schaus@grmmuskogee.org
