Your personal training program

In order to do any good in the world, you have to start by improving yourself. This means that you must invest time into renewing and strengthening yourself in ways that will improve your overall focus, discipline, strength, balance, and physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social health. Most of us recognize that we need to take care of our health and often make efforts to better ourselves, but a structured program can help us to reach our full potential.

"Structure?? Program!!" you may object, "but I don't like structured programs! So cold, impersonal, robotic and boring! I much prefer focusing on human, living principles and values!" Or, if you're a highly logical, systematic person, you may say "Of course! Structure! Programs!" but forget entirely the principles behind the program in the first place. Well, I'm here to tell you we've got to balance between the two, for two reasons. Fist is because each person lives in different circumstances and is more than likely to have several different life goals than another. Second is that in order to be efficient, we need to have our conscious mind focused on the big picture and our ultimate goals, while our subconscious mind works on the habitual, automatic processes that can be automatic, and really don't have to be consciously worked through over and over (this is a waste of time and energy).

So, with these thoughts in mind, I propose the following generic daily schedule as a training program. It may, of course, be altered based on the individual's particular needs, schedule, circumstances, strengths, and weaknesses. And if you're a religiophobe, you can take out all the praying and scripture study and meditation.

The Schedule

06:00 — Arise, pray, and meditate as you exercise, bathe, and dress.
07:30 — Review and revise goals and plans for the day. Visualize how you will accomplish these goals as you eat breakfast and finish grooming.
08:00 — Intently study the principles of success and train yourself in the skills you need to reach your goals. Study scriptures and other spiritual texts.
09:00 — Review and practice what you learned (and what you planned) with another person.
10:00 — Pray, then perform administrative, preparatory, and organizational tasks for the day (such as cleaning, shopping, participating in meetings, trainings, setting appointments, and weekly planning sessions).
12:00 — Lunch and rest; do humorobics.
13:00 — Pray, then work to achieve your goals and plans, interacting and working with other people as much as possible.
17:00 — Dinner and rest; do additional administrative and tasks such as setting and confirming appointments. Meditate and visualize your plans again for fifteen minutes.
18:00 — Pray, then return again to working to achieve your goals and plans. Devote some time to fun and socializing.
21:00 — Pray, review how you did and determine how you can improve, then set basic goals and plans for the next day.
21:30 — If you can, report to another person (preferably a leader figure to whom you are accountable) how you did and what your plans are. Prepare for bed as you meditate and visualize the accomplishment of tomorrow's goals.
22:00 — Pray, asking for specific help in reaching the goals, then retire.

If you have ever been a missionary for the LDS church, you may find this schedule strangely familiar. Indeed, it is almost identical. I have modified it a little, but since I believe the schedule given to missionaries to follow was definitely inspired by God, I've pretty much stuck with it. In fact, this is the schedule I was pretty much living towards the end of my mission.

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