I journal so that I can celebrate the day gone by…and to plan for the day to come. Without writing out my successes and failures of the day, I’d have less direction to go forward.
I journal to review and reflect every day so that when I attempt a deeper reflection and review I’m better prepared to do so. I no longer have to review every week as a result. I can do a deeper review semi-monthly and the daily habit of journaling allows me to still keep connected with all that I have going on in my life.
I journal to connect better with all aspects of me – both my work and my life. I journal because that connection gives me purpose and drive.
I journal to remain grounded. It keeps me honest. It’s that honesty that keeps me authentic and allows me to do what I do better each day.
I journal to get it all out. I clear my mind which gives it the freedom it needs to do things better. After all, the mind is meant to be a factory, not a warehouse.
I journal to figure what out what I need to do and what I ought to do. That also helps me drill deep into what I ultimately want to do and helps me achieve it.
I journal for all of these reasons…and more. But mainly I journal to chronicle my path towards a better version of me. Because I’m worth it.
Aren’t you?
Great article Mike. I’ve been trying to get into the habit of journaling but it always cuts itself short 1 month in each time. Trying (yet again) to maintain a daily journal these days, but opted for a template journal post each day instead. It really does help in the process as some days are just so reaaaalllly long that I don’t have the energy to just look back or reflect.
Or maybe I just ain’t disciplined enough..
Do you set a limit for your journalling? I came to journalling from Julia Cameron’s _The Artist’s Way_, which sets you a target of three sides of paper for her “morning pages”.
I find that having a limit/target really helps with keeping things going—on draggy days, you still have to write stuff down, even if your head doesn’t feel like, but conversely, you know you don’t have enough space for all the details of crazy days, so it doesn’t feel so intimidating to start writing.
The only limit I set is that it appears in Todoist to tell me it needs to be done every day by 11:45 pm. I don’t really limit the amount I write, mainly because I write for most of the day anyway. I find that simply having the task trigger me daily is enough.
Templates are great for these sort of things. I know that Sven Fechner over at Simplicity Bliss has one he uses: http://simplicitybliss.com/blog/keeping-honest-record-of-progress-against-your-goals-with-day-one
The key is: do it daily.
Great post Mike. I heard your interview with Chase from fizzle and loved it. I have had those three questions you ask yourself when you journal in mind ever since. Keep up the great work buddy!
Thanks, Ben. Appreciate the kind words – and keep on journalling!