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Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Week of Aug 24, 2020.

24 Monday Aug 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Motivation Monday

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Coding, Exercising, journaling, K.M. Allan, Learning, motivation, Reading, Spiritual, Writing

I hope everyone’s weekend was outstanding! I got my work done and took some time to watch a few Marvel movies. I re-watched Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Iron Man 3. These are all great stories, and the special effects are over the top. I also got in some entertainment reading. I’m reading K.M. Allan’s second book in her Blackbirch series, which is really entertaining. I don’t read a lot of fiction, because non-fiction is more up my alley, but the Blackbirch series is awesome. I highly recommend you buy it, if you enjoy a good story. Here’s the link: https://amzn.to/2QlKrmR

Anyway, I hope all of you have a great week! Here’s my daily schedule:

Journaling daily (Personal, Dream, and Spiritual)

Coding daily (Data Science Path Codecademy)

Writing daily (Book, Blog, Classwork)

Exercise daily (See Workout Routine)

Reading daily (multiple books, articles)

Learning daily (Codecademy, Masterclass, Study.com)

Spiritual daily (Contemplation, Spiritual Reading)

That’s it folks! Have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge

26 Sunday Jan 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spread Your Wings

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Bucket List, Five Minute Journal, Goals, Intelligent Change, journaling, Weekly Challenge

This week’s challenge should be an easy one: Write your bucket list.

This is courtesy of the Five-Minute Journal

Don’t worry about it being too big or small, just get one started. I review mine every month and add or take away something I’ve done. Sometimes you are prompted to add something after reading an article, talking with a loved one, or seeing a great movie. Nothing is off limits on this. Go for it.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge

19 Sunday Jan 2020

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spread Your Wings

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Exceed, habit, journaling, Push Yourself, Spread Your Wings, Stretch, The Mighty.com, Weekly Challenge, Win

Challenge: Write something every day that you like about yourself. 

Challenge from: The Mighty.com

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge

20 Sunday Oct 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spread Your Wings

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Appreciation, Feel better, Gratitude Journal, journaling, Weekly Challenge, Writing

This week’s challenge is brought to you by: Embracing Simple

Challenge: Start a Gratitude Journal this week. Start simple. Each morning and night, write down one thing you are grateful for. Post your comments if you accomplished this for the entire week!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Take a Different Route

06 Sunday Oct 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spread Your Wings

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Disrupt the Mundane, journaling, Spread Your Wings, Tracking, Try Something Different, Weekly Challenge, Writing

This week’s challenge is:

Take a different route to school, work, or some place you frequently visit this week.

Courtesy The 5-minute Journal

This is a terrific way to explore your surroundings and see different things. Give this a whirl. It is terrific! It turns a mundane drive to one of “Hey, look at that!”.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Reading and Writing can Extend Your Life

02 Wednesday Oct 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Wisdom Wednesday

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Tags

Alzheimer's, Dementia, Entertainment, habits, journaling, Joy, Reading, Writing

Today’s Wisdom is provided by Kreuz (2019). His article (see reference below) provides the benefits of keeping a journal and reading fiction.

“Keeping a journal, for example, has been shown to substantially reduce the risk of developing various forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.” (Kreuz, 2019)

Journaling is personal. It can be a diary of sorts where you write about your day or it can be more specific like what you eat, your exercise routine, or even a catalogue of your thoughts, poems you like, or books you have read.

I do my gratitude journaling in the morning and keep a personal journal that I write in. My version of a journal is like a diary. It is a collection of ideas, things I think about, and a way to get things out of my head and onto paper.

The easiest way to start a journal is simply to buy one and set a time in the morning, afternoon, or evening when you write in it. Keep it handy. Over time, my journaling has evolved into a set session in the morning, followed by internal nudges that say “Hey, this is important or this is bothering you–write it down.”

Reading is also important. Kreuz (2019) states:

 

“Reading fiction, meanwhile, has been associated with a longer lifespan. A large-scale study conducted by the Yale University School of Public Health found that people who read books for at least 30 minutes a day lived, on average, nearly two years longer than non-readers. This effect persisted even after controlling for factors like gender, education and health. The researchers suggest that the imaginative work of constructing a fictional universe in our heads helps grease our cognitive wheels.”

The easiest way to start a reading habit is to set aside a time to read each day. I like to read in the afternoon and evening before I go to bed. It helps me sleep, and it does exactly what Kreuz (2019) explains–it works the brain because you have to create the worlds the author is depicting.

I read one chapter a day. If I have time, I read more than that, but the daily goal is one chapter. Everything after that is bonus reading. You can do the same. The key to reading consistently is to find books that really engage you. What genre do you enjoy? I’m a science fiction fan. I like stories about spaceships, aliens, clones, cyborgs, and the like. You may like mysteries, thrillers, or even romance. Find the genre you enjoy and stick with that for a bit. Once you begin reading and getting into a story, you’ll be hooked like I am.

Reading and writing are terrific ways to entertain yourself and keep that brain working. Try it out. A journaling and writing practice should take about an hour a day. Both will keep your mind working and keep your mind clear.

I hope all of you have a great Wednesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Reference

Kreuz, R. (2019). How reading and writing can help us live longer, healthier lives. Retrieved from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/reading-thirty-minutes-day-increase-life-expectancy

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Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Creativity

01 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Spiritual Saturday

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Tags

Bountifulness, Challenges, creativity, Gratitude, journaling, Solutions, spirituality, trouble

“Creativity, bountifulness, and gratitude go hand in hand.” – Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

As a writer, creativity is an important aspect. We need creativity to create the worlds, conversations, characters, and dialogue that intrigue and entertain our readers. We also need creativity to live our lives. I have found that I am most creative during times of duress. You know those points in your lives where you feel like everything is crashing down around you and you sit there wondering, “What else can go wrong?”

During these times of trouble, our creativity elevates to a new level. Harold Klemp offers three keys to dealing with the troubles that will affect us from time-to-time. When times are tough, it is hard to be grateful. We concentrate on what is being taken away instead of focusing on what we have. This in turn creates a sense of lack or shortage, which in turn, stifles our creativity because of our narrow focus on the things we do not want in our lives.

When I started my gratitude journaling a while back, I did it by going through the motions. The journal I was using at the time was the 5-minute Journal and it requires you to write down three things you are grateful for in the morning when you awake and three things you are grateful for in the evening before you go to bed. I did this each day like without a second thought.

Then, something happened. I began to really feel grateful for the things I was writing down. I began to see how great I really had it. I began focusing on being grateful for the things I had. This focus awoke me to something I have read about over and over again but never really caught onto. It is a quote from some author I cannot remember. The quote goes like this, “Most of us have what we need, but are upset because we do not have what we want.” This is the key to being grateful and cultivating a gratitude that will smooth things out in your life.

Now I write in my gratitude journal until I can cultivate that feeling of gratefulness daily. I write and write until I “feel” grateful. When I have achieved this feeling, I realize how great my life is, how much I have, and how little I need to be truly happy. This is the bountifulness, Harold Klemp discusses. When you have all you need, when you believe you are wealthy beyond words, and you believe that you are satisfied with your life, creativity is boundless, because you have no limits. You attain a child-like quality, where you rekindle what it was like to dream, to make-believe, to live in a world where anything is possible. The days you believed you could be a fireman, an astronaut, a princess, or actress.

Creativity and the ability to visualize some goal or achievement is a great asset, while negotiating this life. When trouble comes, a creative mind will find a solution. There is always a solution to our problems. “God only gives us problems we have the ability to solve” – Unknown.

When you are hit with a problem or challenge, don’t panic. Sit down with a piece of paper and write down every potential solution you can come up with. Brainstorm. I like to use mind mapping software when I begin on a new writing project, others may just want to write out a huge list of potential solutions and work from this. Whichever way you choose to go, evaluate each idea you come up with and choose the solution you feel will work the best. Keep the list, in case the idea you choose doesn’t work. Then you can return to the list for your next-best idea. Visualize the problem being solved. Over time, you will begin to see the answers to your problems come from everywhere. Your friends may offer solutions, your wife, husband, or significant other may offer a solution. You may read something online or in the newspaper that addresses your problem. You may even overhear someone talking in your local coffee shop about the same or like problem you are dealing with and offer some ideas via their conversation. The solution to your problem can come from anywhere if you are open to it.

I hope each of you has a terrific weekend! My brother is visiting and we have a bunch of stuff planned to take advantage of his week’s stay with us. It’ll be a great time.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – New Schedule and Exercise Routine

01 Monday Apr 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Motivation Monday

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Tags

Bradley Whitford, Brainy Quote, Exercise, Goals, journaling, Learning, Reading, Writing

“Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.” Bradley Whitford Read more at: From Brainy Quote

Happy Monday, folks!

This week will be full of activity. I’m taking a course on Neuro Linguistic Programming and a course on Politics. I am working on my recruiting book. I am also doing a lot of reading. My exercise routine will involve a new 6-day split. Today, I got back into the gym.

My 6-day workout plan is: Monday (Chest, Triceps, and Abs and 20 minutes cardio), Tuesday (Back, Biceps, and Calves and 20 minutes cardio), Wednesday (Shoulders, forearms, 20 minutes cardio), Thursday (Quads, Abs, and 20 minutes cardio), Friday (Hamstrings, calves, 20 minutes cardio), Saturday (Chest, Back, Shoulders, and 20 minutes cardio). I typically do 3 sets of exercises per body part.

It felt good to get back in the gym after a 4-month respite. I also adjusted my schedule. I now start my day at 6 am. Then I tackle my day in 2-hour increments starting with journaling, then reading, then learning, and then writing. In the evening I get my relax time with Netflix, Hulu, and some game time on my XBOX.

What are your plans this week? What are you trying to accomplish? Where are you with your New Year’s resolutions? Today, is the day to get all of that back on track. We’re in the 2nd Quarter and you have a lot of time left before the end of the year.

If you are interested, leave a comment about one of your goals you’re struggling with. I’d like to offer suggestions. Well, that’s it for today, folks! Have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Journals and Rituals

07 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by Dave Gardner in Thankful Thursdays

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Tags

Grateful, Gratitude, habits, journaling, Journals, Learning, Reading, rituals, Thanks, Writing

A big thank you to all the new followers this week. I finally hit my 500-follower goal and now I am off to hit 1000. I appreciate all my readers and hope you find my daily inputs to your day fruitful and interesting. Today, I’ll be revisiting an important aspect of my day—gratitude journaling.

I work with three journals currently. One is my daily journal where I do a daily mind dump of all my thoughts first thing in the morning. Second is my dream journal, which I write in as soon as I awake. Finally, I add to my gratitude and affirmations journal.

My gratitude journal starts with my daily affirmations. As you all know, I am working monthly to build my character in the same way Benjamin Franklin did during his day. Each month I add one more character trait and these in turn are part of my daily affirmations. Following this I write about all the things I am grateful for.

My gratitude extends to my family and friends, my learning, my pets, and the many aspects of my life. I like taking the time to consider all the great things I have in my life, along with the wondrous experiences I am grateful for. This morning journaling sets a terrific tone for the rest of my day.

Over time you would think that this exercise would get boring, trivial, or lose its meaning. Surprisingly, it does not. It took me a while to build the habit but performing the act daily has made this a well-earned ritual I perform religiously.

Speaking of rituals, I tend to keep like habits with like habits. I do most of my writing in the morning in and around my journaling. Next, I move to reading. After my daily reading is completed, I move to my learning habits, running through the online courses I am enrolled in, my coding exercises, and the YouTube lectures I am working through. Then I do my religious studies, getting in a meditation session and reading my religious discourses for the month. Exercise comes later in the day after my first meal, which is around 4 PM. I eat late because I do intermittent fasting daily. My schedule is from 12 midnight to 4 PM daily. The only thing I consume is water, coffee, tea, or a pre-workout drink. Some say drinking the pre-workout during the fasting period breaks the fast, but I don’t care. It is healthy and is a great start to my day.

These daily rituals formed all by themselves. Over time it just made sense to move through my daily habits in an organized fashion so I could stay within certain contexts that would provide more efficiency to my day. Rituals are the best description for this behavior because they literally guide each action, within the confines of the context they fall under.

Well, folks that’s it for today. I hope all of you have a terrific Thursday.

Until next time…

Dave

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Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Journaling Series Finale

25 Wednesday Jul 2018

Posted by Dave Gardner in Journaling Series, Wisdom Wednesday

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Tags

Benefits, C.S. Lewis, Daily reflection, Dreams, Exercise Journal, Gratitude, journaling, Nutrition Journal

“But what am I to do? I must have some drug, and reading isn’t a strong enough drug now.” —C.S. Lewis, writing about journaling after his wife died in A Grief Observed

Dear reader,

I was looking through my blog this morning and discovered that I forgot to wrap up my Journaling series. If there was one piece of advice I could pass on to others, it would be this: Start journaling. Journaling allows us to communicate with ourselves. It allows us to air out our problems and be totally open without having to pretend or act a different way. You get to talk to yourself as yourself.

As I mentioned in my Journaling series, there are plenty of journals, even ones that I did not address. I only wanted to address the journaling that I do, not cover types of journals that I do not have experience with.

As promised, I also wanted to provide you with the ritual I associate with my personal journaling. My ritual for journaling involves two time periods. The morning is for my dream journal and gratitude journal. I enjoy recording my dreams. I have found that the more time I put into my dream journal the more memorable my dreams are. They are not like this all the time, but the detail and my recall have improved over time. My gratitude journal is used just for that—to record all the things I am grateful for.

I use the evening to reflect on my day. I call this my daily reflection. My daily reflection is more like a diary. I record the events of the day. I also have conversations with myself about things that are troubling me, things that I’m thinking about, and even the problems I’m trying to work through.

I also log my food into an app called My Fitness Pal and my exercises into another app called Body Space. The app I use for my gratitude, dream, and daily reflection journals is called Diaro (www.diaro.com).

Look around the web and for “benefits of journaling” and you’ll find an endless list of good things that come to those of us that journal. The benefits that I derive from journaling is the ability to get things out of my head. Sometimes when I’m writing in my journals I get impressions or ideas. These ideas help me solve a problem or provide an answer to a question. Sometimes these impressions point me in a direction to learn something or give me a nudge to act in some way.

One question I’ve wondered about. Should a journal be handwritten or typed? I’ve been torn between the two but settled on typed. I cannot read my own handwriting. This is the reason. I like to go back through my journaling and dreams and read them. It is amazing how much transpires in our lives that we forget about a few months later. It is also a great way to remember great things that happened during the day. I always discuss things that have happened as a sort of record of my life. I think it would be nice to pass down to my relatives once I’m gone.

A journal is your own biography. It tells a story about your feelings, your dreams, the people you’ve loved, your fears, and your happy times. It is your history.

Journaling has been one of the best decisions I have ever made and committed to. Honestly, there are some days I just don’t want to have anything to do with journaling and those days the entries are pretty short, but there are other days when I have a lot to talk about and fill a few pages.

In some respects, even this blog is a journal. The content I contribute to this community is from me. It is mine, but it is tempered. There are things I would never put on my blog. Those things are reserved for my journal.

I used C.S Lewis’ quote because he used his journal to get through the death of his wife. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. A journal can be that “ear” when you need one. It can be a very healing process. I have used my journal during some tough times and it helps—it really does.

Well, this is the end of my journaling series. I hope you had a chance to read through my other entries. I also hope that this series influences you to begin your own journaling practice. You won’t be disappointed.

Until next time…

Dave

 

 

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