{"id":2140,"date":"2018-01-22T06:00:31","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T06:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidwithington.com\/?p=2140"},"modified":"2018-01-30T16:18:07","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T16:18:07","slug":"how-can-i-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidwithington.com\/how-can-i-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can I Journal?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Journal\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2018, I decided to begin journalling.<\/span><\/p>\n

New Year, new me<\/em>… and that sort of stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n

You see…<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve read The Miracle Morning, by Hal Elrod<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And I’ve listened to lots of successful business leaders who do journalling as part of their morning routine.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems to work for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I wanted in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting the Journalling Habit<\/span><\/h2>\n

“Christine, I’ve got a good idea for a Christmas present,” I shouted over to my wife, sometime during 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

“That’s good!” she said. “You’re so difficult to find anything to buy for. What is it?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“One of those posh\u00a0Moleskine books<\/em>, please. I’m going to start a journal.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though I was expecting it, it was still nice to open the perfectly wrapped\u00a0Underwater-Blue Moleskine<\/em> notebook<\/a> on Christmas Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a>
Unwrapping-time on Christmas Day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But then I had to practice a lot of patience…<\/span><\/p>\n

Yup! It was still December – so I waited for 2018 to arrive, so that I could write in the thing!<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, I scribed my name carefully on the front page, together with a warning:<\/span><\/p>\n

Private<\/span>
\nPlease Don’t Go Past Here<\/span><\/p>\n

Hey! I didn’t want anyone reading my private thoughts!<\/span><\/p>\n

Roll on 2018<\/span><\/h2>\n

1st January 2018: I’m writing in my new journal.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Err, no. I don’t think that’s what it’s about.<\/span><\/p>\n

Good job I used a pencil…<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Come on, David, let’s get serious about this.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eventually, I got to work writing properly, and recorded in my “official journal” all the thoughts I’d been gathering about my goals and intentions for 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

In they went.<\/span><\/p>\n

And in went the three words<\/em> for 2018, which Chris Brogan had encouraged me to think through in his blog post<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A double page entry today. Not bad.\u00a0<\/span>Quite deep too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Days 2, 3 and 4 were single page entries. <\/span><\/p>\n

But the entries on days 5 and 6 shared a page.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"I'm<\/a>
I’m not sure…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Was I running out of things to write?<\/span><\/p>\n

Or was I doing it wrong?<\/span><\/p>\n

Not sure… <\/span><\/p>\n

How much should you write, anyway?<\/span><\/p>\n

And what sort of content are you really supposed to record in your journal?<\/span><\/p>\n

I Need Help!<\/span><\/h2>\n

So I went back to The Miracle Morning<\/a> for some guidance.<\/span><\/p>\n

And, thanks to Google, I stumbled across Michael Hyatt’s article called “The 7 Benefits of Keeping a Daily Journal<\/a>“.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael begins his article by telling us that journalling never worked<\/strong> for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Ha! Great start. Thanks, Michael. I thought this was supposed to be an inspiring article!”<\/span><\/p>\n

But as I read on, he explained how he began to become successful at journalling, and, most importantly, what made the difference.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael begins his day early.<\/span><\/p>\n

5.30 am in his case.<\/span><\/p>\n

And this is the sort of stuff he writes in his journal…<\/span><\/p>\n

I might write about what I read in my Bible, a dream I had last night, an experience I had yesterday, or what I hope to accomplish today. Sometimes I will write on one topic; sometimes on four or five.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yup. I get that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But why? What’s the point of it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Fair question eh?<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully, Michael goes on…<\/span><\/p>\n

What happens to us is not as important as the meaning we assign to it. Journaling helps sort this out.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I get that too.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I’m still struggling with it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Transferring the meaning<\/em> of my thoughts onto paper is not something I’m used to doing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Engineers don’t do that sort of thing. We work with facts and data.<\/span><\/p>\n

But my wife spent a lot of money on my journal pressie…<\/span><\/p>\n

So I’m certainly not going to give up at this stage.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s something I’m going have to get used to.<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m going to give this meaning<\/em> stuff a try.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Journal Early?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Since I began this journalling journey, I’ve noticed something quite interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n

If I journal early in the morning, I can think through things and put them into writing relatively easily.<\/span><\/p>\n

But if other things take priority, and I have to journal later in the day, it becomes much more difficult to transfer my thoughts to paper.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keeping the Journal Private<\/span><\/h2>\n

Another thing I’ve noticed is this:<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though I’ve written that “Private, please don’t go past here”<\/em> notice on page 1, I’m still reluctant to record my personal thoughts on paper.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is that a British thing? Is it me being over-cautious? How do you get around that problem?<\/span><\/p>\n

Continuing the Journal<\/span><\/h2>\n

Anyhow, I intend to continue journalling throughout 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

How I journal, and what I write, might change over the year as I listen to seasoned journallers, experiment, and learn what works best for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Journalling is just one of the things I’ve decided to do to start each day throughout 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

As you may have read in my previous blog post<\/a>, another of these is exercise<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yet a<\/span>nother is daily gratitude<\/strong> (finding three things to be grateful for every day and writing them down – I’ve done that for many years).<\/span><\/p>\n

So far, I can say it’s working well.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s making a difference to each day.<\/span><\/p>\n

And hopefully, it’s helping me be a better person.\u00a0<\/span>But I’ll have to let you be the judge of that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your Journalling Tips?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Does journalling work well for you?<\/span><\/p>\n

What tips do you have?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I’d love to hear them.\u00a0<\/span>Please leave your tips… ideas… experience… in the comments box below…\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because I’m sure there are many more people than me who are starting to journal this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

And we’re all keen to learn from you.<\/span><\/p>\n