Keep a journal to chart your progress.

I’ve been keeping a journal for over 9 years. I don’t know what prompted me to start writing, but one day I decided it would be a good idea. At the time I had an old, beat-up laptop with a copy of MS Works for DOS and I kept my journal in a text file.

Over the years I’ve tried various journaling techniques, I’ve used software specifically for keeping a diary or journal, I’ve used pen and paper, I’ve used MS Word and formatted my journal more like a book, complete with index and cross-references.

But the bottom line is this; no matter what the technology, I’ve keep a written record of my life for the last 9 years.

I didn’t know at the time what my intention was - it wasn’t to be able to look back and chart my growth (a benefit I stumbled on later) - but it felt like something I should be doing. In hind-sight I’m so glad I started.

How about you? Do you keep a journal of your life? If you don’t, it’s something you should seriously consider starting.

What is the purpose of keeping a journal? I find that when I write I’m not consciously thinking about the future, I’m usually just recapturing major events and changes in my life. It just so happens that in doing this I usually get a pretty good snapshot of my mood, my attitude, and the major “pain” areas of my life.

As I grow and change, I find that my “pain” areas change. As I improve my attitude or my outlook changes, I find it impacts my writing too. Nine years ago many of my journal entries were about what I thought I was going to do in life. Seven years ago many were focused on money (or my lack thereof). Five years ago entries covered some rough business situations and relationships I was in. Three years ago I wrote about how my life had changed since getting married. Now I find I write a lot about my future and goal setting.

I can look back through my journals and get a sense of where I was and what my major life-obstacles were at almost any point in the last 9 years.

You also can’t manage what you don’t measure. By writing about the issues (both positive and negative) as well as tracking my successes (or failures) in achieving goals and keeping commitments I am constantly measuring myself. This means I can manage my success, development and personal improvement much more easily than if I didn’t journal - and the same holds true for you too.

I also find that I write more often when things are really tough for me and life is throwing fastballs. I am not a daily writer, but I may write two or three times a week when I’m especially frustrated about some aspect of my life. It’s therapeutic to get my thoughts and frustrations out on paper.

Once I can see them written out, they don’t seem quite so overwhelming. Once I’ve emptied out my head and put everything in writing I find my brain seems to churn out ideas and solutions more readily than when it’s carrying all thoughts and ideas that I’ve written. I’ve recently read about this in “Getting Things Done” and “Ready for Anything”, David Allen attributes this fountain of ideas to having an empty brain. Once you empty it out, your brain will start to generate new ideas to fill itself back up. This is definitely true for me, and I use this to my advantage by journaling and getting as much out of my head as possible.

The only journaling issue I constantly struggle with is this; what is the best way for me to journal? I started with a plain ‘ol text file in a computer. I used paper journals for a long time (my favorite is the “Anything Book” and a nice fountain pen), and lately I’ve been using MS Word to collect, index and reference my thoughts. I like the allure of pen-and-paper, and you don’t need to worry about hard-drive crashes, but keeping a journal digitally is just so convenient! I’ll leave the best method of keeping a journal as an exercise to you.

Starting a journal is extremely easy too; grab some paper and write about your day. I’m not formal, I don’t start entries with “Dear diary…” I write as if I was sending a letter to someone - in this case myself - because that’s ultimately what I’m doing. I’m sending a letter to myself in the future. I put the date of the top of a blank page and then just start getting thoughts out of my head. Spelling and grammar is optional, unless you want to preserve your writings for your children or grandchildren.

And that’s another benefit of keeping a journal, passing some intimate history down through the family. My sister has our grandmother’s journal from when she was a young lady. It creates a special connection and provides a real-life window into the history of our family.

If you currently keep a journal, congratulations! You’re ahead of a lot of people in your pursuit of personal development and improvement. If you’re not yet journaling on a regular basis I would like to encourage you to give it a try. Promise yourself you’ll write weekly for two months, set some goal for keeping a journal and give it a try. Remember, you can’t manage what you don’t measure; start measuring yourself so you can maximize your ability to successfully complete your goals and continually improve and develop yourself.

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Here are some related articles you might also enjoy!

• You need more than measurement to reach your goals.
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• Go with your gut.
• Tricks to avoid spending too much.

December 19th, 2005

Entry Filed under: Development, Inspiration, Improvement