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Please continue to record your observations in your journal. Set aside a meaningful period of time each day to practice these exercises.

Consider your actions in regard to abstaining from bringing harm to sentient beings, taking what is not given and sexual misconduct. Apply mindfulness immediately after such actions to determine whether they were rooted in greed, hatred and/or delusion (unwholesome actions) or in generosity, loving-friendliness and compassion (wholesome actions). Make a commitment to change any intentions and behaviors that reflect unwholesome courses of action. Apply any corrective measures with a sense of compassion and forgiveness for yourself, making amends if possible.

Consider your form of livelihood and ask yourself these questions:

• Is my job an inherently wrong occupation - i.e., does it cause harm by definition (e.g., dealing in weapons, living beings, meat production and butchery, poisons, or intoxicants)?

 
• Does my job lead me to break the five moral precepts (i.e., killing, stealing, lying, sexual misconduct, or using intoxicants)?

 
• Are there other aspects to my job that disturb me and keep my mind from settling down (e.g., dishonest co-workers, unreasonable profit pressure "at all costs", rude clients, products with harmful impact on the environment)?

 
• If your response to any of the foregoing questions is "yes", what skillful action or speech can be exerted to improve the situation?