Fit Soul Chapter 10 - The 4 Spiritual Disciplines I Practice (&Why)

Hey, it's Ben Greenfield. Welcome to fit soul chapter 10. Every week I'm giving you a new recording of a chapter from my book@fitsoulbook.com you can get the book for free@fitsoulbook.com but I'm also giving you some of the chapters right here on the podcast. So again, fitsoulbook.com and all the resources for today's chapter are@fitsoulbook.com Chapter 10 that's fitsoulbook.com forward/ Chapter 10. Chapter 10 the four spiritual disciplines I Practice and why do you struggle each morning or evening remembering to be grateful for your blessings in life? Have you heard you should have some.

Kind of a journaling practice, but you.

Don'T know where to start? Is it difficult for you to find the time to serve and help others? Do you feel as though you're sometimes floundering in life without a clear, defined purpose? Then keep listening because today I'm going to share with you A journaling practice I developed back in 2019 originated from the daily use of a journal that I designed before that called the Christian Gratitude Journal. But that daily gratefulness routine kind of evolved to include not just gratitude, but three additional spiritual disciplines that I've personally found to be so beneficial for bringing me into greater union with God, with myself, and with my fellow humans that I now want to share it with you. So there is a journal that is related to everything that I'm going to talk to you about that I just designed that you can check out atspirit spiritual disciplines journal.com you don't have to have a done for you journal like that. All you need is just a simple journal with blank pages that you can devote to this four spiritual disciplines I'm about to describe to you, but@spiritualdisciplinesjournal.com, you can actually get a journal in which all of this is mapped out for you, along with an inspirational verse for each day and some other supplementary materials to make your journaling habit a little bit easier to implement. So anyways, a quick summary each day of the journaling practice that I'll explain to you in detail shortly begins with first a clear call to gratitude, along with identifying one person you can serve or pray for that day. So that'll help you grow spiritually, systematize a practice of gratefulness, and remind you to take time out of your day to serve other people. Each day ends with self examination and review of your purpose statement, allowing you to identify what you've done well what.

You could have done better and how.

Connected you are to your life's purpose. Now, you don't need to be a Christian to journal if you're interested in Christianity in the spiritual disciplines, or you're a brand new Christian or you're a longtime follower of Christ and spiritual devotee, you're a Bible study leader, you're a parent, you're a student, you're a child, or you're anyone who wants to experience the power of gratitude, service, self examination and purpose. You'll find it to be an absolutely transformational practice. And I'm going to explain to you now why. Why should you know about the spiritual disciplines? As an author, speaker and consultant in the realm of health, fitness, nutrition and so called body and brain optimization, I'm perhaps most well known for my teachings on things like biohacking, fitness, muscle gain, fat loss, nutrition supplements, longevity or cognition. But for much of my life I didn't focus on building my spiritual muscles in the same way I prioritize physical disciplines like caring for my metabolic health or growing my physical muscles or tending to the neurons in my br. But after years of pursuing this kind of body and brain optimization, I grew to realize that the relatively self obsessed or carnal pursuits of a lower body fat percentage, or finding the perfect diet, climbing your own personal Mount Everest of a triathlon, a Spartan race or a CrossFit competition, learning a host of new languages and musical instruments, increasing the health of your blood and biomarkers, or reversing the aging process. All this is ultimately unfulfilling and can often leave you standing at the top of the mountain of physical and mental achievement, achievement, feeling disappointed and extremely empty inside, despite having accomplished what might appear to the world to be lofty and admirable goals. See, most of us inherently know that caring for our soul is important, but we somehow shove it to the side.

Because let's face it, life gets busy.

And it just seems far more practical and immediately useful to go hit the gym rather than sit cross legged on the floor meditating and praying, spending an extra five minutes in bed in the morning, gratitude, journaling or prioritizing relationships during a long and joyful family dinner. And the fact is, I personally spent.

Like 20 years of my life up until I was in my mid-30s barely.

Tending to my spirit until I realized my own unhappiness and constant striving for the next big physical mental business and even personal achievement and obstacle to overcome was simply leaving my spirit more shriveled, shrunken, unfit and neglected and leaving me unfulfilled, unhappy and unable to fully love others, and to make a maximum purpose filled impact with my life for God's glory.

Over the past several years, as I've.

Repeatedly witnessed in both myself and others that ultimate unfulfillment of a sole focus upon carnal, fleshly pursuits, and as I've observed great thinkers and philosophers while continually seeking for and asking for God's wisdom, I've become increasingly convinced that caring for one's spirit is as important no, actually far more important than caring for one's body and brain. See, after your muscles have atrophied, your skin has sagged, your brain has degraded and accumulated with plaque, your blood vessels have become clogged and your nerves have weakened. Long after your relentless pursuit of fitness or health or longevity has become a vain effort, your spirit can be just as strong and bright as ever. Perhaps nowhere is this soul importance more eloquently stated than in Matthew 16:26, which says, for what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and yet loses his own soul?

Yet sadly, it seems that the spirit.

Is the most oft neglected component of our human vessels, and that's often due to an ignorance of the spiritual disciplines or the failure to systematize and prioritize these disciplines into our daily routine. What are the Spiritual Disciplines? So what do I mean by the spiritual disciplines? Spiritual disciplines are specific habits that develop, grow and strengthen your spirit, build the muscles of your character, and train your soul. You can consider them to be the barbells, dumbbells, weight training machines, and running trails of our inner being. In his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney succinctly defines the spiritual disciplines as those practices found in Scripture that promote spiritual growth among believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and specifically focuses upon Bible intake, prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, fasting, silence, solitude, journaling and learning. Now another book I own called the Spiritual disciplines handbook contains 75 different spiritual disciplines including well known practices like gratitude, meditation, singing, worship and relationships, along with more fringe and lesser known habits like pilgrimages, retreats, mentoring, centering, prayer and care of the earth. And incidentally, I spent about two years taking my family through that book by visiting, discussing and implementing a new spiritual discipline once every two weeks. And it was transformative, in case you care to try that yourself. And again, that's called the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. So why is a regular practice of the spiritual discipline so important? Well, it's quite simple really. In the same way that mental muscles must be repeatedly challenged to enable your brain to stay young, grow new neurons, and constantly develop and expand. And in the same way that physical muscles must be repeatedly stressed to stay strong, grow new fibers, and constantly become more mobile and functional, your spiritual muscles must also be consistently trained to be able to experience sustained productive growth, expansion and enlightenment. This takes structure, direction and discipline, which involves more than simply taking a peek at the Bible each morning, saying a quick prayer as you drive your car to work, or ducking into church once a week on a Sunday morning. While those habits aren't bad per se, they're not going to transform you into a truly disciplined spiritual warrior who can impact others in a deep and meaningful way, into a well rounded disciple, prepared and equipped to defend the hope that is within you, or into a warrior for God who can withstand the fiery darts of the One and the constant temptation that knocks upon the door of your heart each day. In other words, the spiritual disciplines keep you from becoming spiritually unfit, spiritually bereft, and spiritually stagnant. Nobody ever became supremely intelligent by reading Curious George books their entire life, nor did anyone ever become supremely fit by hoisting a dumbbell over their head one time each week. Now, does this mean that by disciplining ourselves spiritually, we can toil and sweat our way into eternal life and heaven with good works? Well, hardly. The spiritual disciplines are not a way to earn our way into heaven, but.

Are instead a means by which we are fully able to experience and enjoy.

The fruits of the Holy Spirit and.

To fully receive the grace of God.

That sanctifies and saves us. As Richard Foster writes in his book Celebration of Discipline, the disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so He can transform us. God has ordained the disciplines of the spiritual life as the means by which we place ourselves where he can bless us. When you begin to implement and systematize the spiritual disciplines in your own life, you'll discover your entire existence becomes more meaningful and more purposeful. You'll experience a deep and rich satisfaction that outlasts any runner's high or exercise endorphin release you might get from a physical workout. You'll find yourself in constant, joyful union with God each day and radiating a distinct peace and hope that others around you can sense, feel, and even ask you about. So now I'm going to share with you the first four spiritual disciplines that I regularly implement in my own life and that I'm blessed to be able to share with you now. Gratitude, service, self examination, and purpose. And while all the spiritual disciplines are important, these four are the ones I've found to be most precious and meaningful for me and my family, and quite appropriate for habitually weaving into one's daily routine. So let's begin with the first spiritual discipline that is a core element of your first first morning entry, ideally into your journal. Gratitude daily spiritual discipline one gratitude in studying the writings and teachings of Dr. Robert Emmons, who I consider to be the world's leading authority on gratitude, I discovered that throughout history, gratitude has been categorized as an emotion, an attitude, a moral virtue, a habit, a personality trait, and a coping response. The word gratitude itself is derived from the Latin root gratia which means grace, graciousness or gratefulness. And all derivatives from this Latin root seem to relate to kindness, generosity, gifts, the beauty of giving and receiving, or the feeling you've gotten something for nothing. This means that the object of gratitude is other directed and that gratitude stems from the perception of a positive personal outcome that's neither deserved or earned and due to the actions of another person. According to Emmons, gratitude results from a two step process. One, recognizing you've obtained a positive outcome and two, recognizing there's an external source for that positive outcome. Now, the benefits of gratitude are impressive indeed. Let's first consider the physical benefits of this discipline. Research has shown that grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and report feeling healthier than other people. Not surprisingly, grateful people are also far more likely to take care of their health. They exercise more often and they're more likely to attend regular checkups with their doctors, not because they're sick, but because they have a greater sense of self awareness and actually care about their bodies. Sure, some of this could be attributed.

To the fact that those who are.

Feeling better physically might tend to be more thankful and happy people. But that isn't always the case. As a matter of fact, studies have shown that when people actively take the time to list the things they are grateful for, they feel far better mentally and physically than participants of the same health status who haven't done the same. In other words, gratitude's physical benefits are not only correlational, but in many cases causal.

Research also shows that when we simply think about what we're grateful for, the.

Parasympathetic rest and digest calming component of the nervous system is triggered, producing a hope host of positive benefits for the body, including decreasing stress associated cortisol levels and increasing oxytocin, which is a powerful bonding and feel good hormone. Studies have also shown that people who are more grateful have better heart health, less inflammation and healthier heart rhythms and that gratitude can ward off depression, stress and anxiety, which are all associated with increased risk of heart disease. And as a matter of fact, when researchers have performed blood tests for inflammation and plaque buildup in the arteries, they've discovered significantly lower levels among those who had a gratitude practice. A gratitude practice also helps you sleep better, which has a significant impact on physical health and overall daily function. And multiple studies have shown that those.

Who express gratitude more often sleep better.

And longer that writing in a gratitude journal, whether in the morning or in the evening, significantly improves sleep quality. And gratitude helps improve quality of sleep and lowers blood pressure. Gratitude has a significant impact on psychological health, too, and reduces not only symptoms of depression, but also a multitude of toxic emotions ranging from envy and resentment to frustration and regret, all while simultaneously increasing levels of overall happiness and life satisfaction. Gratitude also improves mental resilience. For example, research has shown that gratitude not only reduces stress, but it also plays a major role in overcoming trauma and post traumatic stress disorder. This means that being aware of all you have to be thankful for, even during the worst time of your life, fosters an intense resilience that helps you battle stress and get you through tough times. From a psychological standpoint, gratitude can act as a natural kind of antidepressant. When you take the time to consider what you're grateful for, specific neural circuits are activated that result in increased production of dopamine and serotonin, and these neurotransmitters.

Then travel through neural pathways to the.

Bliss center of the brain. Similar to the mechanisms of many antidepressants and plant medicines, gratitude also increases blood flow to an activity in the hypothalamus, the brain section that controls the release of feel good hormones like oxytocin and that elicits a positive effect both physically and psychologically. Fascinatingly, it appears that along with these psychological benefits, gratitude can literally rewire your brain in a good way. For example, one brain scanning study demonstrated that even months after a simple, short gratitude writing task, the human brain remains rewired to feel extra thankful, with significantly increased activity in the frontal, parietal and occipital regions of the brain, particularly when a participant gave a gift or received a gift. Increased sensitivity to others feelings and emotions was also observed in the pregenual anterior cingulate, a section of the brain involved in both empathy and in predicting the effects of one's own actions on other people. The results from these and other brain scanning studies suggest that the more practice you can give your brain at feeling and expressing gratitude, the more it actually adapts to this mindset, meaning you can think of your brain as having an actual gratitude muscle that can be exercised and strengthened. This also means that the more effort you make to feel gratitude in the present, the more the feelings of gratitude will come to you spontaneously in the future. These data also help explain another established finding that gratitude can create a positive feedback loop. In other words, the more thankful you feel, the more likely you are to be empathetic, to understand others and to act pro socially towards others, which can then cause them to feel grateful and set up this positive cascade. That's highly related to the fact that our emotions and beliefs can affect not only our own mind and body, but the body and mind of those around us, which is a topic addressed in books like Bruce Lipton's Biology of Belief or Dawson Church's Mind to Matter. The Bible also teaches the expression of gratitude is incredibly important. Colossians 3:17 says, and whatever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. And Ephesians 5:20 says, thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul opens many of his letters to the Epistles with clear gratitude by thanking God and expressing gratefulness for all the churches he writes to. But even when we understand the power of gratitude, the deep, primal physical and psychological roots we seem to have tied to this emotion and even the commandments from a book like the Bible to Be Thankful in all it's often too tempting to shove a gratitude practice to the side and instead prioritize rushing, achieving, worrying, complaining, grumbling, and engaging in every.

Other aspect of life that seems to.

Easily distract us from just stopping to be grateful. I guarantee that the very best antidote for this common resistance to remember to be grateful. Grateful is a structured gratitude practice in which you're not simply saying thank you to the bank teller or the supermarket employee, not only breathing a quick prayer of gratefulness over breakfast and not just smiling and waving at someone who allows you to merge ahead of them in traffic, but instead to have a daily spiritual disciplines of actually writing down one.

Thing you're grateful for each and every.

Day of the year. So that's why the first question you should answer each day in your journal is based on gratitude. What am I grateful for today? Today?

Now here's how I recommend you go.

About answering that question and beginning your first journal entry. Keep the journal with a pen or pencil right by your bedside so that gratitude is one of your first impulses when you Wake up. Let it be the first impulse when you wake up. Along with your Bible, let this journal hold a coveted spot on your bedside dresser, just an arm's reach away. Within a few days, the habit will become automatic.

And then, to begin your gratitude, practice.

Wake up. Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and dwell on a positive experience from the day before, the night before, or even that morning when you've woken up. Do that as you're lying in bed.

Or perhaps sitting in your favorite chair in your bedroom.

As you take a deep breath and.

Close your eyes, ask yourself, what am I grateful for?

You'll often find it's the simplest of things. The birds you hear outside, the sunlight streaming through the window, the pitter patter of a child's foot going up or down the stairs, the soft skin of your lover in bed next to you, or simply the refreshed feeling of having experienced a solid night's rest. Then simply write down what it is that first comes to your mind. Sometimes things can be a bit more difficult. You don't have a great night of sleep. You wake up with the sniffles, the phone is blowing up with texts, or.

It'S the dark, stormy day outside.

That's where the magic of gratefulness takes over, because you're suddenly forced to find the silver lining in any situation. For example, two nights ago, I woke up groggy. I got four hours of sleep. The day was cloudy, my wife was out of town with the kids. I felt less than stellar. But as I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, I realized how grateful I was for the ability to breathe. As I filled my lungs with oxygen, I felt a surge of gratitude for something as simple as being able to take in air. Precious air through my nose and my mouth. So what did I write down? I'm grateful for fresh air, the breath of life, and the wonderful complexity of my lungs.

See, it's that easy.

Within just a few days, that habit, along with the other three spiritual disciplines I'm about to share with you, will become automatic daily spiritual discipline. 2.

Service Service is a spiritual discipline that allows you to help others in a spirit of love, sacrifice, empathy, charity, and goodwill for your fellow humans. In his book the Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard describes service this in service, we engage our goods and strength in the active promotion of the good of others and the causes of God in our world. World. Here we recall an important distinction. Not every act that may be done as a discipline need to be done as a discipline. I will often be able to serve another simply as an act of love and righteousness without regard to how it may enhance my abilities to follow Christ. But I may also serve another to train myself away from arrogance, possessiveness, envy, resentment, or covetousness. In that case, my service is undertaken as a discipline for spiritual life. This means that, in a way, the practice of service achieves two goals, both helping others and also enabling us to take our focus off ourselves and the all too common positive daily affirmations of.

I'm good, I'm great, I'm wonderful, and.

Gosh darn it, people like me and instead move through life in a spirit of unselfishness and a focus upon the Golden Rule, loving our neighbors as ourselves and doing unto others as we would have them do unto unto us. In his book Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster lists activities that fall under the category of the discipline of service, including hospitality, showing hospitality to one another without grumbling and cheerfully sharing our home with those who may need a meal or a place to stay listening loving God by listening to His Word and his still small voice in the silence and also learning to love others by listening to them with no shame or judgment bearing others burdens, meaning empathizing with one another's hurts and sufferings, weeping with those who weep and helping others cast their burden, sorrows, and pain upon Jesus spreading the good news of the Gospel to others sharing the reason for the love, hope, and joy that is within us so that others can experience the same peace and transformation. In Luke 22:27, Jesus said, I am among you as one who serves. Committing ourselves to serving others in full presence. Love and and humility, just as Jesus did, without seeking any reward other than glorifying God, is indeed a lofty discipline worth making a habit in our lives, don't you think? Consider a few other examples from the myriad of verses within the Bible about service. Galatians 5:14 for all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this you shall love your neighbor as yourself, Acts 20:35 and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said, it is more blessed blessed to give than to receive. And in Matthew 10:42, whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of water in the name of a disciple, assuredly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. This is why each morning in your journal, in addition to identifying what you are grateful for, you should also answer the following question, who can I pray for, help or serve on this day? As you ponder the answer to this question each morning, I encourage you to spark your imagination with reflective questions like what can I do to make the world a little brighter today? To use my skills and talents to make a difference? Do I know someone that needs encouragement or support? Is there a way to use my skills and unique gifts to contribute meaningfully to the world in a way that satisfies my life's purpose? What random act of kindness can I do today? When you set the intention every day to be of service in a clear, specific, specific way, you'll find your self examination at the end of the day becomes even more meaningful and inspiring and more on self examination. Momentarily, you'll feel a deep, rewarding sense of inner peace and joy. When you review any selfless accomplishments at the end of the day, you'll also find that the more you engage in service, the more opportunities for service God will bring your way. You'll discover yourself meeting more neighbors, inviting old friends and new friends over for dinner, volunteering in and connecting more to your local community, engaging in deeper relationships with your loved ones, and approaching your entire day with a refreshing, unselfish attitude. You may have noticed that this particular question who can I pray for or serve this day presents you also with the option to not only serve others physically, but to pray for them too. Why? Well, there's two reasons. First, when the Lord has placed someone on your heart for you to help, you can certainly take action and do good deeds for that person. But the power of prayer means that you can also pray for that person for a potent 1, 2 combo of making a positive impact in the life of someone else, and also reaching out to God to bestow his presence upon that person's life. Second, suppose the person you're inspired to.

Help that day is somewhere across the.

Country or across the world. You may not be able to physically.

Help them mow their lawn or fill their moving van, or eat a home.

Cooked meal, but you can certainly pray for that person. And the simple act of praying for someone God has placed upon your heart is certainly an act of service in and of itself. So here's a few personal examples from my own journal of how you can reply to this question in your journal. When I found out my dear friend Matt, who lives two states away, was experiencing a tough time in his relationship with his wife, I wrote down Matt. It's that simple. Because of that simple note, I was inspired the rest of the day to pray for him. Another time I rolled over and looked at my wife lying there next to me. I was not only overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude about how much she accomplished, accomplishes for our household and our family, but also overwhelmed with the desire to really be there for her that day.

So it was her name that I.

Jotted down in my journal, and it was her that I went out of my way to both pray for and serve the rest of the day. When I found out our annual church program to feed children at a local poverty stricken elementary school was kicking off, I wrote down the name of the school principal and said a prayer for him. Later that day, I gave him a phone call to see if there's anything I could help with to get the program moving along all steps I might have neglected to take if I hadn't begun my day with a spirit of service. Now, as you implement this discipline, service will become a natural part of your life. In the years I spent prior to developing this habit, I noticed a distinct lack of service in my own busy.

Day to day routine. Sure, I read the Bible, prayed, had good health, took care of my family.

And lived what appeared to be a happy and successful life. But there was a glaring absence of attention to to the world's needs for.

Food and water, a lack of humble.

Willingness to go meet and serve my neighbors and volunteer for charity work in my community. Now that I start every day by listing one person I can pray for or serve, I've grown into a less selfish and more aware, selfless and serving person. As you journal each day, you'll experience the same edifying transformation. Having established the understanding and importance of beginning each day by refreshing your spirit with both gratitude and service, let's now turn from the morning habit of your spiritual discipline journaling to the evening habits that I recommend. Daily Spiritual Discipline Number three Self Examination I first became familiar with the daily practice of self examination when reading a biography of Benjamin Franklin and later studying his Book of Virtues in which he describes his own journaling system for focusing upon 13 specific daily virtues ranging from patience to honesty to smart spending. As a part of this system, Franklin created his own process of self examination as a way to cultivate his passion for virtue and his focus upon continual moral improvement. In the morning he would ask himself, what good shall I do this day? Then in the evening, he would reflect upon his daily routine by asking himself, what good have I done today? Years later, while bringing my family through the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, I became re familiarized with this evening process of self examination in which the handbook encourages us to ask questions like when today did I have the deepest sense of connection with God, others, and myself? When today did I have the least sense of connection? What was the most life giving part of my day. What was the most life thwarting part of my day? Where was I aware of living out the fruit of the spirit? Where was there an absence of the fruit of the spirit? What activity gave me the greatest high? Which one made me feel low? It turns out this spiritual discipline of self examination, also known as the examen, can be traced in origin back to the ancient philosophers of Greece and Rome, with one of the earliest iterations found in the golden verses of Pythagoras, which reads, do not welcome sleep upon your soft eyes before you have reviewed each of the day's deeds three times. Where have I transgressed? What have I accomplished?

What duty have I neglected?

Beginning from the first one, go through them in detail and then if you have brought about worthless things, reprimand yourself. But if you have achieved good things, be glad. Later, the Stoic philosopher Seneca wrote of the Roman philosopher Quintus Sextus. This was Sextus's practice when the day was spent and he had retired to his night's rest. He asked his mind, which of your.

Ills did you heal today?

Which advice did you resist? In what aspect are you better? Your anger will cease and become more controllable if it knows that every day it must come before a judge. I exercise this jurisdiction daily and plead my case before myself. When the light has been removed and my wife has fallen silent, aware of this habit that's now mine, I examine my entire day and go back over what I've done and said, hiding nothing from myself, passing nothing by. The Bible also contains many verses that encourage a process of self examination and laying one's deeds out for the day before God, including 1st Corinthians 11:28 but a man must examine himself, and in doing so he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. Psalm 139:24 and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart try me, and know my anxious thoughts. Job 13:23 how many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin, and Psalm 26:2 examine me, O Lord, and try me test my mind and my heart. So this is why each evening you will follow in the path of Benjamin Franklin, along with these ancient Stoics, philosophers, religious leaders, and scriptural teachings, and answer the following two questions in your what good have I done today? What could I have done better today, when I first began this evening process. I was surprised at the results, and I suspect you will be too. While I often end the day with a general sense of whether the day went poorly or the day went well, until I actually began to examine my thoughts and actions for the day, I found I never really understood why I might have been peaceful or stressed, joyful or melancholy, and focused or scattered. By beginning to take the time to review everything I did, felt and experience for the day, I was able to begin identifying when I was using my time well and when I wasn't whether I had set up schedules and habits that allow for deeper union with God and others others and whether I hadn't and what types of practices, mood states and situations or environments allowed me to live out my life's purpose in full presence and selfless love and which didn't each day transform from sometimes a confusing and difficult to decode blur to a clear and meaningful 24 hour learning experience. As you experience the same transformation, you'll begin to identify patterns in your daily routine that can be changed for the better. Habit habits that should be kept and habits that should be halted, and even people who drain your energy and people who fill you with peace, love and joy. You'll discover those things you should have accomplished yet didn't, and those things you may perhaps have wasted your time on that you can avoid in the future. Did you rush mindlessly through each meal with nary a thought of the blessing and wonder of God's creation of food? Did you skip a workout to spend an extra hour at the office? Or did you take time for self care and self love? Did you spend much of your day in reaction, active and draining rather than productive and energizing tasks? Was your screen time and consumption inordinately high relative to your productivity and creation? Were you fully present or distracted and absent in your conversations? When paired with the morning discipline of gratitude and service and the final spiritual discipline of purpose that you're about to discover, your evening practice of self examination will be physically, mentally and spiritually transformed, transformative, and through incremental improvements will make you a more impactful individual who never ends a day feeling as though you're wasting your time or not living out the full purpose for your Life. Daily Spiritual Discipline 4 Purpose the Okinawans refer to purpose as ikigai, translated as reason for being, and the Nicoyans as plan de vida or reason to live. Interestingly, these regions are both known as blue zones or longevity hot hotspots with a disproportionately high number of centenarians or people over the age of 100 years who still live healthy, active, productive, robust and purposeful lives. Research has indeed proven that people who know their life and have a clear purpose for which they wake each morning live longer lives. One 11 year long study that investigated the correlation between having a sense of purpose and longevity showed that those who expressed having a clear purpose in life life lived longer than those who did not and also stayed immersed in activities and communities that allowed them to be involved in fulfilling that purpose. So I recommend you not only know your purpose in life, but also that you be able to state it in one single succinct sentence. So how do you find your purpose in life? Well, go read or listen to chapter eight now. At the end of each day you should have a special place in your journal to revisit this purpose statement with one final question that parents perfectly with your practice of self examination. What is one way I lived my purpose statement today? So, for example, if you recall, my own purpose statement is to read and write, learn and teach, sing and speak, compete and create in full presence and selfless love to the glory of God. So at the end of a busy day of productive work time with family, outdoor adventures or traveling, I might write I studied up on what the Bible says about happiness and and began to write an essay on my website that teaches people how to find more joy through connection with God. Or I taught the person sitting next to me on the airplane how to figure out the type of diet that would work best for them and stayed present with them without being distracted by the entertainment screen. Or I completed my difficult kettlebell workout with discipline, focus and patience as though my body was a temple of God stamped with his image. You get the idea. As you revisit your purpose statement each evening and identify one situation in which you fully lived that purpose statement, it will become an integral and natural part of your core activities to use your unique skills to make maximum impact for good and for God on this planet. With each hour, minute and second of the day Summary Congratulations. You're now equipped with an understanding of the spiritual disciplines of gratitude, service, self examination and purpose and ready to begin your daily habits of integrating these disciplines within a journaling practice. Be sure that as you move forward in your first morning and evening of journaling that you keep your journal at your bedside with a pen so that it, preferably along with reading your Bible and praying is the first thing you tend to in the morning and again in the evening when possible, journal in the same place each time preferably when relaxing in your bed in the morning or evening, or in a chair in your bedroom, or sitting at the kitchen table, or even a peaceful out outdoor setting. If it works better for you to do that than the bedroom. You might also find that taking a deep settling breath when you open your journal is effective to help you relax and find inner stillness and focus. I personally wake each morning, complete my gratitude and service journaling, then say a prayer and go about my morning while listening to a sermon, a devotional, or an audio reading of the Bible. Then in the bed in the evening I read my Bible and complete my self examination and revisitation of my purpose statement followed by another prayer. Now in the time since I've established this journaling practice, I have found that in order to really get my family on the bandwagon for a while, I've been sacrificing doing the journaling in the morning in bed and in the evening in bed and instead waiting until my entire family is awake, gathering them in the living room during the journaling with them and then after dinner slipping away with them into the kitchen kid's bedroom and finishing the journaling in the kid's bedroom. And if that works well for you to get your whole family on board and do it together for accountability or for setting up a routine, that's just fine too. Now as you answer each question, don't feel pressured to write impressively or wax theologically, nor to pressure yourself with a feeling that you must spend inordinate amounts of time journaling. It should only take a few minutes to answer all the questions in your journal. Like I personally spent about five minutes.

In the morning and five minutes in.

The evening completing my own journal entries. Just be truthful, be succinct, and speak from your heart. Ultimately, I'm overjoyed and of course grateful to be able to share my journaling technique with you. Now, if you visit spiritualdisciplinesjournal.com you can get a done for you journal that contains the same approach that you've just discovered. And you can always leave me a Message too@fitsoulbook.com if you implement this journaling practice and benefit from from it now, it's absolutely crucial that hand in hand with the journaling practice, you train daily with the most powerful tool in the universe for building your spiritual muscles. A Bible and the next chapter. I'm going to teach you exactly how to do that. In the meantime, for resources, references, links and additional reading and listening material for this chapter you can visit fitsoulbook.com Chapter 10 that's fitsoulbook.com com Chapter 1 0.