1) meditation:

       (2-5 min. Just breathe normally, and try to think about the sensation of breathing, counting in, out, one; in, out, two; etc. If your mind wanders to other thoughts, notice them, imagine setting them aside or closing them out like an app on your phone, and return to thinking about your breathing. The point isn’t to be good at being focused, but to practice awareness of your thoughts *as thoughts* and to give you tools for not being held hostage by their stream.)

2) motivation:

      A) take a second to think about the many forms of suffering in the world;

      B) try to emotionally align in solidarity with the people (or animals) that are suffering;

      C) what other things are important to you?

      D) emotionally align in solidarity with those issues, causes or arts.

      E) find an utterance (or prayer) that you feel expresses such a solidarity, and try to recite it. {I use an atheist version of the St. Francis of Assisi Prayer: 

“I would like to be an instrument of peace!

That where there is hatred, I may bring love.

That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness.

That where there is discord, I may bring harmony.

That where there is error, I may bring truth.

That where there is doubt, I may bring faith.

That where there is despair, I may bring hope.

That where there are shadows, I may bring light.

That where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

I hope to seek rather to comfort, than to be comforted.

To understand, than to be understood.

To love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is through struggle that one lives and discovers.”

3) analysis:

      A) what’s my understanding of the obstacles to peace and prosperity in the world? What are the causes of suffering? (this will always expand/adapt as you learn and read more)

      B) What’s my theory of change? (this, too, will always expand/adapt as you learn and read more)

4) strategy:

      A) what’s my strategy for implementing change, arising out of this theory of change?

5) tactics:

      A) what are my projects, and how do these fit into the strategy?

6) disposition and interpersonal connections:

      A) how do I want to relate to the people in my life? how do I want to carry myself?

      B) how am I missing the mark here? Where am I being fearful, selfish, angry, impatient, regretful, guilty, obsessive, etc.? What relationships am I not showing up for that I wish I was?

7) today:

      A) how can I move toward my interpersonal goals today?

      B) which projects (tactics) am I intending to make progress on today, and how?

      C) make a tiny list of to-do’s correlating to the above two questions and follow them!

8) gratitude

      A) what am I grateful for today?