40+FAB Blog

Do you maintain order?

You will agree that a lack of order is detrimental to any individual or society. The most progressive nations on earth are known for their law and order. The poorest, under-developed nations are known for their disorder. 

One of the questions I struggled with was “how do I create order in my life?” There were times I got it right, but at other times I was a complete mess. Looking at the analogy of a seed, if I had all the right conditions for its growth and planted it and watered it, what was done could not be a one-off exercise. If I do not continue to water the seed regularly, if the sun does not shine daily, if the ground and atmosphere are not constantly there, then even though I had done everything in the proper order, I still would not get any expected results, 

When I started going to the gym regularly, I would see some men looking like the Incredible Hulk. I could lift some of the weights they were lifting at least once, but it did not transform me right then. My personal trainer told me I needed to do the reps (repetitions) of lifting the weight over a period of time to get their results. This all made sense, and it shouted out to me that if I was going to create order in my life, I needed to stick to a routine. 

Sometimes, my wife and I are terribly exhausted at the end of a working day and trying to maintain some semblance of order in our busy lives is difficult. I had to ask my mum the other day, however did you cope with so many children? It’s two of us against our son in my home and we still feel overrun, yet it was many of us against you. How on earth did you do it? She answered, “I had to maintain a routine like we were in a military camp.” 

Routines are powerful and it is the chief way that the human body and mind learns and grows. If I tidied up my kitchen today and restored order in my home, it would not stay like that all week. By the next day after my dinner, the state of the kitchen would be alarming. I would have to clean it up again. Routine is what helps us to maintain order. After a while, the routine becomes such a part of us that it is no longer much of an effort to do it. Like brushing our teeth every morning. It doesn’t feel like a chore, and if we don’t do it, we feel like something is wrong. Let’s not even talk about the bad breath that follows. 

I have learnt the importance of bringing order into every area of my life so my best results can come out of those areas. I have also learnt to follow routines to ensure that my order is maintained.