good habits

76. Keep a Journal.

Looking back in time, many famous people have found some outlet to write down feelings and experiences. They have been recorded in the forms of diaries, journals or reconstructed from notes into memoirs. We even have modern day examples that we now call blogging.

What journals do is allow us to write down events that have occurred during the day or week and then our assessment of those events. They allow us to more readily identify wins, understand emotions, and calculate pitfalls encountered along the way. These serve as a great Tool to improve success and provide a great resource for us to go back and evaluate feelings and encounters we have had in the past.

Many of you have developed patterns that are holding you back. Without identifying these and what their triggers are, you are more likely to repeat them. If we don’t learn from our past, we are more likely to repeat it. Having a journal will start to help you see routines that you have established that may be handcuffing you from achieving your goal.

Some of you may be having trouble expressing how you are feeling and opening up to others. This is common when you feel that you have not achieved many successes in your life. To jumpstart your ability to express feelings, the first person you might be able to talk to is a piece of paper. By organizing your thoughts and writing them down, we follow that imaginary connection from arm to brain.

Also, you may just surprise yourself at how much you are actually accomplishing. Keeping a journal is also a time to write down the wins you have each day. You may not feel like you have had many wins in your life because you have been conditioned over time to only look at defeat.

If you are at a loss as to where to start, I suggest you purchase The Winners Journal by John and Pam Carls. This is the first journal that I started using and I continue to use it to this day. It has many helpful exercises in it to help you stay motivated and on track. The first mission statement I developed was with the help of this book. Also, their affirmation of the day is posted clearly in my office for all to see.

If you want to start the process of using a journal and are not really sure how to start, you can’t go wrong with what the Carls have put together. They also provide you (as this book does) with other suggestions of what to read if you are thirsty for more knowledge on this subject. Almost all the successful people in the world in history and present day find ways to write down what they are feeling, what they have learned, and where they hope to go. Take advantage of this Tool of expression that helps you learn more about you.