Transcription
You see, better decision-making comes from better thinking habits, and better thinking habits come from practical experience, learning both what to do and what not to do. Becoming a more effective thinker on paper is a sure way of becoming a more effective person in practice. As you continue to grow and develop, you will soon discover that last year's systems won't likely meet this year's needs. You see, one of the keys to success is flexibility. We must always be on the search for more effective methods to facilitate and accommodate new ideas.
But let's face it, in the beginning, the only thing that matters is that you develop the journal habit. Just one bit of advice, however: bear in mind that a journal should be capable of going wherever you go. A journal that requires more space than your briefcase permits, or more room than your desktop allows for you, more often than not, it will be left at home, gathering dust instead of thoughts and cobwebs instead of observations.
But let's get to the heart of the matter. Buying a journal is the easy part. The real challenge lies in filling it up, and that's what we want to deal with now. What should go into a journal if it is to have meaning and value in your life? Perhaps the best way to answer this question is to consider the purposes and functions of a journal. Once the matter of why we should write is clear, then the what we should write will become immediately apparent.
One of the unique characteristics of a journal is that it offers you an effective way to figure it all out: to figure out life, to figure out people, to figure out business dilemmas, and most important of all, to figure out yourself. There is something magical about writing down a problem. It is almost as though, in the very act of writing what is wrong, you start to discover ways of making it right. Perhaps the source of this magic lies in the objective perspective that writing affords you. Even though you are describing your problem, your challenge, your life, your uncertainty, and your indecision, the fact that you are writing about it, as opposed to mentally pondering it, creates a space between you and the problem. It is within this space that solutions have room to grow.
You see, writing about events and circumstances that occur helps you to clarify exactly what is happening. When we describe life to ourselves only in our minds, our imaginations tend to feed false or distorted information about how things are, positive or negative. When we describe a situation in writing, however, we become more factual, more accurate, and certainly more realistic. Then, as we reread what we have written, we create a new picture in our minds to replace the distorted picture we have been working with. And once we finally see things as they are, rather than as we think they are, we can then see our way clear to make them better.
Write about a current dilemma you are facing. Perhaps it is a personal problem, a business matter, a family issue, or a financial problem. Whatever it is, take the time to capture it on paper the way it really is. But remember, writing out the problem is only the first step to creative problem-solving and effective decision-making. The next step is to carefully analyze what you have written. Here are some of the key things to look for:
First, exaggerations or distortions of the truth. Are you really telling it like it is? Take another look. Perhaps your concern is making it seem worse than it is, or your enthusiasm is making it seem better than it is.
Second, a tendency to blame circumstances or someone else for your problem instead of seeing yourself as the cause. You see, most of our difficulties are the result of either failing to do what we could have done, or in doing in haste what we should never have done.
Third, a tendency to expect circumstances, or still worse, other people, to change in order for your problem to be solved. Let me remind you one more time that things get better when you get better. Passive hope never has and never will improve human circumstances.
And finally, look closely for weak points in the obstacle where you might attack to bring that obstacle to its knees. It usually doesn't take much more than a few minor adjustments in either our attitude or our action plan to solve a major problem. Essentially, you must learn to view your problems like a scientist who puts tiny organisms on a slide. Examine your circumstances through the lens of the microscope of truth to see their real nature, their real perimeters, and their real composition. And two, as you examine your problem, do as any scientist would do: record your observations.
You see, as you continue to refine your statement of the problem, of the way it really is, you will begin to move closer to the solution. And speaking of solutions, be sure to record the ultimate conclusion to your dilemma. If it worked well, then it is worth remembering. And if it didn't work well as you had hoped it would, then it is even more essential to record the outcome, lest you should find yourself repeating mistakes instead of learning from them. Mistakes and judgment are nothing to be ashamed of. Surely, most of our personal growth comes as a result of our errors. But what is truly unforgivable is to make the same mistake twice. Every mistake has its own price tag, but the most costly error anyone can make is an error unlearned and often repeated. If something didn't work, it may be too late to undo the mistake, but it's never too late to make adjustments and revisions in your thinking.
As step one for getting used to using your journal, then, I would suggest writing down problems that you encounter and recording all the steps you can take, or did take, to solve them, as well as their eventual outcomes.
This leads us into a second function of your journal, which is the capturing of good ideas. How many times as we go through the day do we come across a good idea, a unique quote, an interesting piece of information, or even a significant personal discovery? And each time we do, we mentally say to ourselves, "I must remember that." Now, I'm willing to admit here that the human mind is a remarkable thing, but I also know from experience that the human memory leaves a lot to be desired. I think Emerson captured it best when he made this statement: "I suppose that every old scholar has had the experience of reading something in a book which has significance to him, but which he could never find again. Sure he is that he read it there, but no one else ever read it, nor can he find it again, though he buy the book and ransack every page." How true! What we do not somehow capture today is lost forever. There are a lot of things in life that we can trust, but my experience has taught me that the human memory is most definitely not one of them.
There are so many sources of insight and inspiration all around us. Good ideas flow in abundance from sermons and lectures, from books and magazines, television documentaries, business meetings, and conversations. But obviously, for you to capture the ideas, it is essential, as I mentioned earlier, that your journal always be at your side. Let other people sit there thinking they can remember it all. Let other people treat opportunity casually, but not you. I would ask you to treat it seriously. Let other people wonder at the end of their lives where it all went wrong, but not you. Let other people play while you work, fool around while you study, soak up the sun while you soak up ideas. Ten years from now, they'll still be trying to figure out how to pay the bills, or wondering why their marriage isn't working out, or why they don't seem to be getting ahead professionally. But not you. Life always rewards the serious students for their labors.
So, since we all know that it's nearly impossible for most of us to remember the exact phrasing of an inspiring line or the specific details of a business conference over an extended period of time, we've got to get serious about capturing it now. Generally, if we wait until the end of the day to describe events and happenings and conversations in our journals, the specific details have already escaped us. At best, we are left with scattered fragments, and it's hard to build an exciting future from mere bits and pieces of the past and present. So, I would encourage you to get it all down as it comes your way: financial ideas, personal development ideas, time management ideas, family ideas, business ideas, everything you have the good fortune to come across. If an idea is worth listening to, worth reading, worth remembering, then it is also worth capturing in your journal.
And there are many reasons for making the effort to capture good ideas. Not the least of which is the fact that the simple act of writing something on paper helps to etch the idea more firmly in our conscious minds. To hear it or see it or read it is one thing; to take the time and make the mental effort to capture it with paper and pen is so much more. Second, every idea has its time and place. As Victor Hugo once wrote, "There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come." Perhaps the ideas you capture today will not have any specific meaning or purpose in your life at this moment. But ultimately, at some future point in time, when you march into battle, the armory of ideas you have carefully and conscientiously assembled over the years will serve you well.
Here's another interesting phenomenon about ideas: as we collect a variety of thoughts on any given theme or subject, there is a tendency for these individual ideas to come together and form themselves into a whole new idea. The successful human being is one who has learned to diversify his interests and gather knowledge from a variety of sources. Gather enough good ideas in one area of life, and you will form a solid block. Gather enough solid blocks together, and you can construct a whole new life. Remember, failure, more often than not, is attributable to lack of information about how to succeed.
Next, by taking the time to capture and assemble information in our journals, we now have the added benefit of being able to review these ideas whenever we wish. You don't have to run back to the library to reread the book you borrowed last year, or call a friend on the phone and try to reconstruct the conversation you had last month. If you've captured the essence of the conversation or the highlights of the book in your journal, it will always be there for you to refer to.
And here is the key point: for your journals to have their greatest value, they must be frequently reviewed. You see, writing in journals is merely a way of capturing information, but it is by rereading our journals that we begin the process of translating information into practical knowledge about ourselves, our environment, our relationships, our businesses, our financial affairs, our dreams, and our own better future. I would strongly urge you to set aside a day each week, or at the very least each month, to review your recent entries. And then, once a year, take all of your journals off the shelf and read them from cover to cover. What you read will probably make an incredible story of personal growth.
As you begin to develop the habit of writing down your problems, recording your observations, emotions, and reactions to life's events, you will undoubtedly find yourself both posing and responding to a whole new set of questions about your past, present, and future. "Why did I say that?" "Why does he always make me feel that way?" "If I follow this course, where will I be five years from now?" As you begin to both ask and answer yourself on paper, you will be amazed at the incredible leaps in personal understanding and self-awareness you will experience. And remember, any positive change which occurs within you will ultimately manifest itself in a positive result outside of you, in your social or professional world, your attitude, your bank account, your habits, and even your appearance.
Writing in your journal is one of the best ways I know of to develop more effective communication skills. As you become better at describing life to yourself, you will find that you become better at describing yourself to life. Put into more practical terms, as you become better at saying what you really want and how you really feel to yourself, you will be able to better express yourself and your feelings to others, and in return, better able to understand what others are really feeling and really saying to you.
You see, communicating with people our own age, or who have similar educational backgrounds, incomes, professions, or beliefs, is a relatively easy process. But what about the two people who are, to all outward appearances, radically different? A teenager and a 40-year-old father, a high school dropout and a college professor, a successful lawyer and an unemployed auto worker. Now, the real challenges of communication begin to manifest themselves. But they are challenges that using a journal can help us overcome.
You see, regardless of the differences in our outer worlds, inside, human beings are all basically alike. We've all known sorrow, maybe not from the same event, but we've all experienced the emotion. We've all known the joy of achievement, perhaps in different circumstances, but certainly the same feeling. Regardless of our outward differences, those basic human needs and emotions will always provide a common ground or build a bridge for effective human communication.
You see, by the time we have reached adulthood, most of us have experienced almost every aspect of the human drama in one form or another. The problem is that most of the experiences have gone right on by us. We have never taken the time to capture them, to ponder them, to analyze how we felt at that time, how we responded to others while we were in those circumstances, or what our priorities and needs were during that period in our lives. Suppose, however, that you took the time to capture the events and happenings of your life on purpose, with paper and pen, so that you always had a wealth of experiences from which to draw. Imagine now what an incredible impact this awareness could have on your life. How it could help to bridge the gap between you and your children, your clients, your associates, your neighbors. You see, if you will but take the time to capture how it is for you at any given point in your life, then you will always be in a position to relate to how it might be for someone else at this moment in their lives.
Use your journal, then, as a textbook for life to capture the full range of human emotions that you continuously gather from your experiences. I promise you that if you will take just a little time to capture your experiences, the end result will more than repay you for the time you invest.
Now, here's another question frequently posed about using a journal: the question is, "How often should I be writing?" The answer to that is simple: as often as you wish and as often as you need. There are two extremes to avoid: never writing in your journal, and constantly writing in your journal. In the first instance, you will be participating in life without capturing it. And in the latter case, you will be capturing life without participating in it. Life should be a delicate blend of both observation and action. It is often said that reality is the best beginning, and perhaps it might also be the best beginning for your journal.
One of the first entries you will want to consider making is a complete account of how it is for you right at this moment in your life. What's got you turned on? What's got you turned off? How is it going at home? At work? Are you happy, frustrated, excited, perplexed, worried, doubtful, or any or all of the above? You may want to write a brief description of how it's going in each area of your life and honestly tell it like it is. Perhaps in your writings, you will uncover a particular void in your life that needs to be filled, or a major obstacle that must be tackled if things are to work out for you as you want them to. Use your journal to then chart out a course of action to eliminate whatever is standing between you and your better future. Examine your progress, outline the steps you've taken or could still take. By the time you've dealt with these issues, your journal will have already become invaluable.