Are there any good books or web sites

[innerspace_cadet]

That seems to be my stumbling block in developing a spiritual practice. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[Sahaj Nath]

That seems to be my stumbling block in developing a spiritual practice. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

 

if you have the discipline to read a book on self-discipline, then you already have self-discipline. you may lack focus and organization, but you have the discipline to carry it out.

 

 

set some priorities. write out a plan for the day. for the week. whatever. then just do it. commit to a set of practices and/or observances for a specified amount of time (like 3 months without changing to other stuff), and then do it. every day. DON'T CONTINUE WADING THROUGH TONS OF NEW STUFF! that will kill your consistency. commitment needs to be your guiding principle. if you commit and practice consistently, it almost doesn't even matter much what practices you choose. they will work. and if you DON'T commit, again, it doesn't matter what you choose. it won't work.

 

keep a journal. give yourself kudos for everyday you make it happen. it will help you to build some momentum and keep it going.

 

the secret is that there really is no secret to self-discipline. it's only difficult until it's not anymore.

 

 

that's my take.

 

[thelerner]

That seems to be my stumbling block in developing a spiritual practice. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

I created a todo list system that is a single sheet, folded into thirds then in half, so you have a little wallet with markings for 'Today's Hard thing', 3 Most important things, Work, Food Diary, Spiritual, Family & Friends, Exercise Diary, Fun/Hobby, Notes, Good Things and ofcourse a To do list. Its a little anal(fine its very anal), but its small and helps organize the day.

 

You print out page 1, flip it then print out page 2, its a Microsoft Word document, so its easy to modify. There's a down loadable version tucked away Personal Discussion site In TheLerner's Stuff & Fluff, Page 9, post #168, from Oct 18th 2007, its there and can be downloaded w/ a click.

 

 

 

Michael

[ddilulo_06]

Self discipline is the practice of putting off what you want now for what you REALLY want later on. It's a simple choice in every moment.

 

In my experience, keeping daily focus on the target is essential.

Edited October 19, 2008 by ddilulo_06

[wudangquan]

"If I was old and on my death bed, would this be something that I was seriously thinking about?"

 

New car? No.

Nicer Clothes? No.

Putting in more hours at the office? No.

 

 

I wrote about this in a book that I wrote at one point, and called it my "retro-active endgame analysis".

 

Most people think in a linear way, and make their decisions based on that thinking.

 

I think in a retro-linear way, and work my way backwards until now.

 

Not a Taoist this or that, but it works well for me in the self discipline department.

 

That and the one I always say: "First things first. Second things never."

 

I don't multi-task. At all, if I can help it.

 

You have to use your judgement to decide what's really valuable to you. It may be that the things you THINK are valuable to you really aren't.

 

Like - I tell myself this story about how immortality and enlightenment are my main goal - but c'mon now . . . Hot girls are REALLY my main goal.

 

If you can figure out what's really important to you, and for what reasons, and then place value on that inside of this type of retro-active endgame analysis, you can prioritize better and understand the conflict that arises inside yourself a bit more easily.

 

That's what generally works for me. Recognizing what I want. Recognizing Why I want it. Re-examining it to see if it's what I ultimately want or what I want right now, and then erasing the latter, completely.

[mwight]

Listen to: "The Art of War", its up on mininova and demonoid. Decide to get serious and passionate about your life and your goals. It's more of a mindset than anything.

[innerspace_cadet]

Thanks guys for the advice. I just need now to decide what my goals will be.

[markern]

Some NLP is good for discipline and goal setting. Visualising your goals and feeling how it feels to have acomplished them and using suggestion is very effective. Especialy for people who have better concentration than normal because of meditation.

[Trunk]

That seems to be my stumbling block in developing a spiritual practice.

Boredom is often an initial block with spiritual practices. Often, in the beginning, simply nothing happens, it's not satisfying, and kind of grueling. ime, that part of it you just have to weather through - things do get better after you get things rolling, takes a little while.

 

The trick is just to pick some very modest amount of time (people often start with 10 minutes for meditation) and just do it every day. Just gruel through it. It's that bad.

Edited October 20, 2008 by Trunk

[JessOBrien]

I have a one minute minimum per day. Usually after the first minute, you are starting to enjoy it, and it stretches out to many minutes. If not, keep on with life, just keep doing "something" once per day.

 

-Jess O