Keep a Journal, Change Your Life

A journal is a textbook of self-discovery and self-awareness. There are many reasons why keeping a journal is beneficial for personal growth. For starters, keeping a journal helps with creating goals. It brings you to outline a plan of action to get them accomplished. Here are some quick takeaways from Jim Rohn’s speech “Attract Success In Your Life and Business”

When we know “why” we write, “what” we write becomes easier 

1. Journaling offers an effective way to figure out life

By writing about a problem, our minds find a way to solve it. Writing creates a space where solutions flourish. 

• Be honest. Are you telling it like it is?

• We have a tendency to blame someone or something before we look at us as a reason. 

• The most important part of the human experience is learning to translate what’s outside of us into words and emotions within our inner world. The better we become at understanding what goes on around us, the better we will be able to understand the conflicts and turmoils within us.

• All human emotions can be traced back to causes and events. A better understanding of these will always give us a clearer picture of the effects we may be experiencing.

2. Capture Ideas 

Have three separate journals or create three sections in one journal for: 

• Personal observations 

• Business notations

• Creative ideas - ideas whose time has come to be realized.

This system keeps your ideas easily accessible and ready to be put into practical use the moment an opportunity presents itself.

3. Life Review 

For journals to have their greatest value, they must be frequently reviewed to translate practical knowledge about ourself, our environment, relationships, businesses, financial affairs, our dreams and our better future. A journal is a place to document the development of our own life.

• Set a day each week or each month to review your recent entries.Then once a year review all your journals from cover to cover. What you read might make for an incredible story. This tracks your personal growth over time.

•  A journal is a textbook of self-discovery and self-awareness.

• It will help identify your strengths and your weaknesses.

• Capture your observations and your reactions to people’s behavior 

• Write what you’ve seen and heard, then describe your feelings towards it.

• Capture the joy and agony.

• Write as often as you want or as you need it.

Ideas for your first entry:

• Write about a complete account of what’s going on in your life.

• Record the date, time, and location. This provides interesting revelations of your environment.

• Write a brief description of every area in your life and identify the voids. Then chart out a course of action.

• Answer “Why did I buy this journal to begin with?”

• Journaling should be used to respond to a specific need.

• Life, as with journals provide a space to fill it as you wish. 

• Create on paper certain circumstances and put yourself in it. 

• Write about your ideal job, relationships, lifestyle, etc

Then create goals based on what you’ve learned and create a plan of action. Not only does journaling help track personal growth, it provides a roadmap of lifelong goals and a plan to make them a reality.

Today’s Challenge: Grab a notebook or a journal and write one page…or two!

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” Proverbs 23:7

Until next time…

For the complete speech, check out “Attract Success In Your Life and Business” by Jim Rohn on YouTube