What are some of your non-negotiables?

[Upsilon]

I want to set new rules for myself.

These are things that I want to do and are non-negotiable. Except for the event of a calamity, I would do all of these every single day of my living life.

A little backstory (not sob-story though):

When I was young, my parents would do everything for me. Washing my dishes, making my bed, cooking, whatever. I was never encouraged to do anything. I understand their reasoning, they wanted me to have a comfortable life. Not only that but I had no responsibilities - or better said, they have never been enforced. Other than making sure I don't fail any classes in school, they were not holding me to a standard of getting good grades. Lucky me, I was always "savvy" enough to be constantly at an 8/10 in terms of grades.

Anyway, this way of me getting "protected" by them bit me in the ass later on in life. I had to force myself to get into the habit of doing a lot of things, even something as menial as brushing my teeth (thankfully this hasn't been a problem since 8th grade. Unfortunately, 8th grade is a long time without brushing your teeth lol).

So in a quest of finding potential good habits I might have missed, what are you non-negotiables? Obviously, I will leave out the very common sensical ones like taking showers, brushing my teeth, or flushing the toilet. C'mon...

Here goes my list of 8:

• Waking up every day at 8, regardless of when I go to sleep. If I go to sleep at 7, I wake up at 8
• Making my bed every morning
• At least 1:30 hours of focus every day. Usually it's work and for longer than that, but if it's a "free" day, I will still use my focus on something like reading or whatever
• Drink 3L of water (not "liquids", water! everything else has to come on top of that)
• Doing some sort of physical activity every single day
• Playing with my cat 20 minutes per day (he is my responsibility and it's very easy to overlook him. Tbf playing with him is annoying because I have to be very intentional with this little mf. If I'm trying to do it mindlessly he won't play. So I am teaching myself to care for others' needs even when I don't feel like doing it)
• Leave the house every single day
• Wash my dishes as soon as I'm done eating

What are some of yours?

 

[Ryuzaki]

A lot of this changes as you change through life. Some of the things I've been doing as non-negotiables:

Striving - I don't have to succeed or win, but I have to strive. Striving equals improvement. Maybe I'm trying to clean up my potty mouth. Maybe I'm trying to make more money. Maybe I'm optimizing my time, staying on top of chores, trying to carve out time for friends, etc. No matter what, it's the striving that counts. Anything else is stagnant mini-death.

Honor Thy Parents - In the past couple of years, if mom calls, I pick up the phone. If mom needs anything, I'm there. That's easy. She's the good parent. Where the rubber hits the road is with my dad. It only counts when the friction is there, and this exercise has taught me a lot about who I'm doing things for (not me, not my parents), why I'm doing it, how much more I can die to my own ego, etc. This is specific, and maybe a better title would be "hop in the crucible", for whatever that is for your life at the moment.

Trust & Faith - Less dread, more hopeful anticipation. More surrender, less rumination. Responsible planning but not over-planning. Setting boundaries on time and energy. Trusting what the results of the outcome will be (they will be good), even if I don't know what the outcome will be or how I'll get to that outcome. No matter what, it will turn out good in some way that improves my life in some way, and any negatives are just a matter of perspective. What's not a matter of perspective is the actual, real good that results from the rightful, honorable journey.