Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for a PDF version and other notes.
If you’re new to Daily Prompts, you may want to start at the beginning of the series here.
Year______ Month_______Day______Consecutive Practice Days_____Missed Days______
Day 9
From here on, your gratitude practice is whatever you want it to be. If it becomes redundant, that’s ok. If you find yourself grateful for the same people or things day after day, that’s just a good opportunity for you to see where your values truly lay. I like to stretch myself a bit and try to come up with new and novel things to be grateful for, but my wife and my inner circle of friends and family always make the list.
This is your practice.
Own it.
For the rest of this journal, use the gratitude prompt however it suits you best. Just be sure to practice the skill of feeling grateful every day.
Gratitude: (The downloadable PDF below has lined entries)
Know Thyself
It was inscribed on the doorway to the school of Delfi. An even older version dates back to ancient Egypt, again inscribed in stone on a pillar of wisdom, the entire quote read, “Know thyself, and ye shall surely know the gods”.
The pursuit of this ancient call to action carries profound implications- far beyond the scope of this journal. But we can use a tool without knowing it’s origins, manufacturing methods, or warranty information. All we need to do to get value from a tool is to use it effectively. And so it is with this tool from antiquity.
I’ve found that the more I’m able to reconcile my real values and preferences with the expectations of others and what I thought was expected of me, the more I’m able to act on my more authentic motivations. And the more honest I am with myself and those around me, the more free I feel. From that freedom of authenticity flows peace, contentment, happiness, and motivation.
Nearly every aspect of The Lyceum Method is an opportunity to learn more about yourself. That’s one thing I love about these practices, failure is not an option. You either win or learn. Really you learn a lot about yourself either way. If you pay attention.
Once we go through all of the components of The Lyceum Method, this journal will serve as a gentle reminder, calling attention to the subtle cues that your actions (or inactions) are telling you about yourself.
For today’s Vision practice, I’d like you to just focus on one aspect of your dream life. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? If you’re already living there- awesome! Congratulations! Is there anything about where you live that you would love to see changed? Perhaps it’s as basic as a fresh coat of paint. Perhaps it’s a different piece of land in the same community. Perhaps it’s a villa on the other side of the world. There is no right or wrong vision; because it’s your Vision.
A word of caution: it’s easy (and sometimes fun) to get really elaborate with this just because we’ve been programmed by media to think of success in certain ways. I can see myself living in a German castle, or a mansion on the beach North of Puerto Villarta, but if I were to be really honest, those places make better vacation destinations than homes (for me). I want my children to be close, I have deep roots in the Pacific NorthWest. So as of this writing, my wife and I live high in the Wallowa Mountains on my family’s 4th-generation ranch. This is my dream, and I’m living it. That may be extravagant for some, simple for others. Your perspective is your own, and that’s what I really want you to tune into. I’m not asking you to put limits on your vision. There are no limits to your vision. If a vineyard in France is your dream, then let’s move to get you there! I’m encouraging you to be authentic, not restricted.
One final note: you’re not going to be held to this vision for the rest of your life. We’re not setting goals, we’re practicing to develop a vision. If you do this exercise tomorrow, you might come up with something completely different. That’s great news, because that means there’s something there worth learning about yourself.
Take the next few minutes to enjoy writing about your dream location in as much detail as your energy and time allows:
Vision: (The downloadable PDF below has lined entries)
Daily: (The pdf version below contains three lined pages for your daily journal)
NOTE:
The above is an excerpt from the upcoming The Lyceum Course Journal. We will be releasing it here for free as a Daily Prompt blog post. If you would like a physical copy, we will link to it here once it is released.
Suggested Use:
I realize a daily journal prompt on a blog is a little weird. This is how I would suggest using it: Open your favorite note-taking software such as Evernote, copy and paste this post into it, and write your daily entries there.
OR
Download a PDF version of this post here. Feel free to print it out, or access it through a PDF editor where you can type in your daily entry.
Collaborate With Me!
This post series is a first draft of the future book. If you have suggestions, comments, or see errors, please reach out so that I can make the final product more valuable for you and the rest of the community. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
