Out of Sight, Out of Mind

One of Satan's primary tactics is to try and get you to forget about your Border Patrol activities.  He works tirelessly to get you to forget your PWR goals, your drills, and to mark your calendar.  He works to get you to forget why you fight, what you value, and who you truly are.  Because this is a primary tactic of your adversary, creating reminder systems will be crucial to your long-term success.


Many people initially set reminders on their phones for their different Border Patrol activities and other things they need to remember in order to win.  I've discovered that for most people this works well for about three days to seven days. After that, many warriors will begin to ignore these digital reminders.  When used correctly, digital reminders can be quite powerful, when used incorrectly they become easily ignored.


There are four tools that I know of that improve how effective digital reminders are. The first is to choose a time for the alarm or notification to go off that you will most likely not be busy with something you can’t immediately abandon in order to do your drill or Border Patrol activity. The second tool is to choose an alarm or notification sound that you will pay attention to. For me, I intentionally choose annoying sounds that are hard for me to ignore. For others that I talk to, they choose songs or sounds that they really enjoy so that they will pay attention to the reminder. Tool number three is to practice never ignoring it, and being very intentional with accomplishing your drill or Border Patrol activity every time your reminder goes off.  Ignoring your reminder even once can easily sabotage your reminder system and make it much easier to forget or ignore your Border Patrol.  The last tool that I recommend for increasing the efficiency of digital reminders is to periodically change the time when your reminder goes off as well as the song or tone attached to it.  This will make it easier to pay attention to and act on, especially if you find that your reminders lose their potency after three days to a week.


For some, digital reminders will always be less effective than physical reminders.  Physical reminders can come in many forms.  I used to place a large rock in the middle of my bedroom floor to remind me to pray. After my brother stubbed his toes on it three or four times I decided to switch it to a tripwire. I figured that since I woke up earlier than he did it would hurt him less. I also figured that if I forgot to pray then feeling the rope against my ankles would remind me. If I forgot about the rope and tripped then I could pray while I was down on the floor. That plan worked well for me (and let my brother's toes heal). Other physical reminders that work well are bracelets, hanging a string from a doorway at eye level, notes on pillows or bathroom mirrors, or similar things.  I heard of one young man who replaced his bedroom door with a sheet and set the rule that any time he touched that sheet he had to freeze and say a prayer.  It worked very well for him and he found that on his more forgetful mornings, he would be saying six or more prayers before leaving for school.


Another effective reminder system is to associate Border Patrol activities with things you already do every day. For example, for as long as I can remember my father has read his scriptures while he was eating his breakfast. By associating those two things he almost never forgets or neglects his personal study of the scriptures.


A similar but different way to help yourself remember is to create a specific time every day when you will do your Border Patrol activity. I have vivid memories for much of my life of my mother waking up before my siblings and I started getting ready for school so that she could have some quiet time she could communicate with God and study her scriptures. I have many memories of seeing her in the living room early in the morning reading from her scriptures, already filled with red underlines from the years of study she has done.


There are many forms that your personal reminder system can take.  However you do it, it is an essential part of your long-term success that you develop a method of reminding yourself to accomplish your Border Patrol activities.


If you'd like me to be your coach and help you put these principles into action, click this link to schedule a time to meet. onidah.youcanbook.me

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