Your To-Do List Is Killing Your Spiritual Path

A few weeks ago, while cleaning my bookshelf, I found what could easily be a 10-year record of self-mastery. Seventeen notebooks lined up one after the other transformed a simple organization task into a discovery session.

In the beginning, I was excited about transforming myself. The first journal had a daily record of the different things I was embracing in my life; 20-minute meditation, insights gained during the silent mind practice, yoga postures notes, gratefulness journal, etc. However, a few pages in, I noticed a gab.

From a strict April 14th, April 15th, April 16th and so on, to my surprise, after April 28th, the record jumped to May 2nd, followed by May 5th, and soon enough, I only had a few dates of June and never reached July.

Nevertheless, a couple of blank pages after, I found myself writing again and recording my process. August 7th, August 8th, August 9th. To make the long story short, I didn’t make it to Halloween.

The first three notebooks persistently showed how after a few weeks the practices faded, and displayed repetitive comebacks of a “new” me committed to making it work this time.

I have to confess that I was proud of my perseverance. However, from a distance, it was easy to see that I was in a train of frustration for a while.

The initiatives where unsustainable

This is not uncommon behaviour. In our eagerness to feel free and fulfilled, we sign up for everything, demanding a change in multiple areas. The reason behind this response is that when we undertake the spiritual path, we usually come from a world where what we DO and have is what counts. Yet, this new journey is inviting us to BE something, which is foreign territory. Therefore, as a defence mechanism, we retreat into familiar behaviours that make us feel less exposed and avoids growing pains.

The near-universal phenomenon of avoidance makes us steer and fill up the space we opened for self-evolution—in our minds, schedules, and hearts, with things-to-do. Things we hope will ignite in us a different feeling.

That’s how we end up with a notebook full of endless steps to follow and practices to implement, which can ultra populate a very open schedule and energy drain the most enthusiastic individual.

There is no doubt that keeping up with a frantic schedule of higher consciousness assignments can make us feel overwhelmed, push many of us to drop out, and create the erroneous conception that self-development is only for those that have time to spare.

However, such a complex approach, it’s only the result of our hustle-oriented brain that is telling us that we have to DO so we can BE.

Our excitement, combined with our old self, can get in the way of managing our spiritual journey as what it is, a bold and complex project—dismissing the obvious sinking result of loading ourselves with the infinite possibilities that spirituality offers us.

Make it stick

A realistic approach to what we are aiming for its needed to start our self-mastery process and stick to it.

“There is only one way to eat an elephant, a bite at a time.” ~ Desmond Tutu

Consider your reality, your resistance, and your busy schedule before jumping in.

Let’s say you are determined to kick-start your mornings. You decide to commit yourself to wake up earlier, meditate for 20 minutes, do a quick yoga class, have a healthy smoothie for breakfast, journal while drinking it, and observe your manifestation board for 3 minutes. From a rational perspective, it’s easy to see how unsustainable this task list can be, now that it easily demands you to carve out 1.5 hours of a busy daily schedule.

Acknowledge who you are and set yourself up for success with down-to-earth expectations. This will not only keep you on track, but it will push you forward.

Consider the kick-start your morning example and under commit. Release the idea of an “ideal” practice, and instead, live by the premise of under-promising and over-delivering. The purpose is to avoid filling out every small hole you have on your agenda.

Allow yourself to feel empowered by reaching the goal every week; you will see that feeling proud is the best accountability partner. If you can squeeze in an extra practice during the week just because you were inspired to do it, you will feel like a champion!

Contemplate who you currently are and embrace the side that encourages you to be a better you. Remember, you are the one to master here, and deleting yourself and your current state from the equation, might hold you back in the same spot for longer than required.

You don’t have to be perfect form day one; you only need to start and set yourself up for success. Remember, this path is about BEing a better you, not DOing another you.

Photo Credits

To do listn – Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Mindfulness rock maze – Photo by Ashley Batz on Unsplash

Guest Author Bio
Catalina Morales Velez

Catalina is an inspiritual communicator and consciousness entrepreneur based in Canada. She teaches her audience how to embrace life experience with their spiritual and human sides working as cooperative components. You can sign up for Catalina’s weekly tools for those aiming to improve themselves at her website catalinamoralesv.com.

Recent Guest Author Articles:

• Empowered to Advocate: How to Become the Voice for the Silent
• How to Build a Celebration-Ready Wine Cellar
• Wander, Discover, Reflect: My Most Surprising Finds in Las Vegas
• Creating Meaningful Connections: What Ecosystems and Families Teach Us About Belonging
• How Breathwork Creates a Pathway Through Trauma: Beyond Traditional Approaches