When I was undergoing all my training, I kept a resolve form according to Swami Sivananda Gurudev’s instructions. There was a diary to see that resolves were kept properly and that the technique was being followed. I noted daily how many hours asanas were done, how many rounds of pranayama, how many hours of silence, how many times the temper was lost, how many times I failed in brahmacharya. Then in the evening I checked the diary and compared it with the resolve form so on the next day I could renew the effort to do even better. After several days or even weeks of failure, I would reach my goal. Then I would increase the resolve to a higher level. Instead of doing pranayama only twice a day, I would aim for three times daily.
The spiritual diary shows whether one is progressing or not. It is very important for every spiritual aspirant to be able to see their own progress. It becomes a guide or teacher to watch over one’s shoulder. Resolves should not be too difficult; if they are it is like overloading a weak muscle. It will collapse. Discipline should be slow and gradual to avoid the mind rebelling. Perhaps you resolve to get up at 5 a.m. If on twenty days of the month you get up at 8 a.m. and on ten days you get up at 5 a.m., then you are happy. Perhaps on twenty days you perform only one hour of asanas, but on ten days you do two hours. Perhaps on twenty days you do only five rounds of pranayama, but on ten days you do forty rounds. Perhaps you resolve to diminish the number of times you are angry in the day, or increase the number of times you are kind…..
At the end of each month, study your performance and decide how to improve it. At the end of a year you will find that your willpower has increased tremendously. Then you will know that you are free, that you are making your mind do your bidding. After five or six years of such practice, you will find that meditation will come naturally. The moment you sit, energy will move and your face will be shining and radiant.
-Swami Vishnudevananda