Jim Rohn said, “A life worth living is a life worth recording.” Most successful people keep journals and there are many reasons why. A journal not only gives you a place to record your thoughts, but it also allows you to analyze where you are, where you are going and where you have been.
Your journal can be used in many different ways. Whilst successful people find time every single day to write in a journal, how they use a journal, and what they write will vary. Here are some of the reasons you should keep a journal and some of the types of things successful people record in their journals.
Five Top Reasons to Journal
The list of reasons to keep a journal could probably be so long it requires a book to go through them all. Let’s just take a look at five of the most powerful reasons to keep a journal.
Record your ideas
- Many of us think of a great idea, but within ten minutes it’s gone!
- If you had a journal nearby, you could easily write it down and go back to it later. Creative people often have ideas come to them all day long and at the strangest times. Writing these ideas in your journal may be the key to finding a career you love, starting a new business or just doing something to make your life easier
For me having a note book in my bag, I find I add notes as I go through my day and then review later. I don’t always have my journal to hand so somethimes I’ll use the notes feature on my phone or have some sheets of paper in my gym bag.
Goal Setting and Planning
- A journal is a great tool for setting new goals, planning and looking back at what you’ve accomplished. You can chart your successes and failures on a daily basis. This makes it easy to look and see what’s working and what’s not working as you set new goals.
I find it helpful to then review what to focus on, I have far too many ideas so it enables me to prioritise.
Find clarity
- Sometimes, journaling is a great exercise to clear your mind and find clarity. You may write without interruption or filtering, which may help with venting your thoughts about the day or something going on in your life.
This works for me to deal with my thoughts over things that trouble me, relating to stuff from my past.
Track Habits and Patterns in a Journal
- Whenever you’re trying to break a bad habit or implement a new habit, your journal comes into play. It can be used to track the habit and the patterns causing success or failure with the habit.
When I lost over 10 stone in weight it was keeping a food diary, bot more importantly a feelings and thoughts diary that kept me on track.
Help Create Growth
Journaling is a tool many successful people use to help facilitate growth. They don’t want to stay the same and journaling provides a look into themselves. It can help with finding out what the road blocks are and conquering them to move another step closer to your goals.
Sometimes I forget to journal, that’s why it needs to become a habit. I much prefer a paper journal and having a nice book, with nice paper and cover encourages me more than when I used a supermarket value reporters pad!
What Should you Journal About?
Your journal is your own personal story. It can be about anything you want. Some successful people have a specific routine, while others journal at random throughout the day. H
ere’s a look at some of the things successful people record in their journals.
Gratitude List
- Many successful people start their journaling with a list of the things they are most thankful or grateful for in their lives. By actually writing down what you’re grateful for, you gain incredible power. You’ll become better connected with the things you may have been taking for granted.
You can access a free Gratitude diary through this link.
Track Goals
- Successful people set plenty of goals. With a journal, they often keep track of their progress and the action steps necessary to achieving their goals.
Unfiltered Pages
- Some successful people use their journaling time as a way just to let things fly out of their mind. They will sit down and write without interruption or without any type of filter and just see what comes out. One day could be filled with ideas, while another is a venting session about something irritating.
Dreams
- It’s very common for journaling to include dreaming. Successful people often dream in their journals and write down things they want to do, such as travel goal, career advancement and other dreams they have for their life.
Anything and Everything
- Those achieving their goals will often figure out what works for them with journaling. They may carry their journal everywhere with them and write in it as they see fit. Maybe it’s therapeutic to write about a scene you witness at a restaurant or maybe you want to be able to record ideas whenever they come into your head.
Your journal is up to you and you get to choose what you write in it. Most successful people try very hard not to filter their journaling as the truth usually comes out of our brains without a filter.
Journaling is a very powerful way to figure out who you are, what you want out of life and the type of progress you’re making towards your goals. It’s one of the best introspective tools you can use to really understand what makes you tick.
So will you journal? and how will you use it?
Perhaps keep a gratitude diary?
Many successful people keep a journal and write in it every single day. Some start the day with journaling as a part of their morning routine, while others wait until the end of the day. It doesn’t matter which you choose, as long as journaling becomes a part of your everyday life.
To access your complimentary journal you need to sign up for the Amazing People weekly update http://eepurl.com/cR9XLD
