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Welcome to the Personal Development for Smart People Forums, the place for lively, intelligent discussion of all personal growth issues -- physical, mental, financial, social, emotional, spiritual, and more. You're currently viewing as a guest, which gives you limited read-only access. By joining our free community, you'll be able to post your own messages, access many members-only features, see the new messages posted since your last visit, and of course remove this header message. Registration is fast, simple, and free, so please join today. If you arrived here from a search engine, you may want to explore the main site first, which includes hundreds of deep and insightful articles on a variety of personal development topics. |
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05-24-2007, 11:02 PM
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 Does keeping a journal improve effectiveness Hello, I was wanting to hear peoples thoughts and experiences on whether keeping a journal / blog of how your goals are going, what you find hard, how you think that you can improve on your path to success etc is a constructive thing to do. I am undertaking some very big projects at the moment and was thinking that if I kept a record of my feelings and experience as I worked on these goals that it may provided motivation and allow me to refine my approach as I moved along. Any comments are always very much appreciated, as would any suggestions as to what sort of medium for a journal (if it would be constuctive to keep one) should it be a personal or public thing on a blog?      |
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05-25-2007, 04:02 AM
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| Its essential that you keep a journal. |
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05-25-2007, 04:18 AM
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| I never did keep a journal... but I have been using a Personal Planner for decades... and I use it the same way that a big corporation would... In it are the goals, objectives, strategies to attain those goals and objective along with a time frame... my personal values (that would be the corporate culture) along with the names of the members of my "Mastermind" (those are my heroes and mentor with witch I could have imaginary conversations or conferences) along with graphs and numbers that showed my progress or lacks off... etc... And, as an absolute rule... I spend at least ten minutes at the end of every work day to review and update that Personal Planner... It has been one of most essential tool that has allowed me to reach whatever success that I am now enjoying... . |
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05-25-2007, 12:01 PM
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| Thank you for your replies. My thinking was that if I did keep a record of how my work was going it would allow me to see my progression. It may also help with my low confidence in my abilities and procrastination to look back at what I have done to show me that I can do it. |
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05-25-2007, 02:20 PM
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| A journal can be helpful in many ways. One is getting to know your authentic self and voice and another, as you say, is to track your progress. For me when I first started journaling, I most definitely wanted it private. I wanted to feel free to say whatever I wanted. If you are internally motivated, I'd say you could do the progress work solo as well but if you feel you'd like people to cheer you on, a blog would probably be the way to go. The one possible down side is if you started doing things to please other people instead of yourself. Your "progress" could end up being hollow. Best of luck! Alchemiss |
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05-25-2007, 03:18 PM
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Is that a software you use or...what is it? I would like to buy one. |
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05-25-2007, 03:39 PM
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What I do is use a loose leaf binder and I have a different section for each subject... that way... I can easily throw away what is no longer usefull... Also, since each of us need a different type of Personal Planner... a loose leaf binder is an excellent way of creating it... BTW... my wife has given me a very beautiful genuine leather loose leaf binder made for the specific purpose of being a Personal Planner... However if you want software you can check this... lots of options for you... Best of luck... |
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05-25-2007, 03:50 PM
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| I find journaling useful when some parts of me are not working congruently together. Then I let each part speak it's mind, and try to find a compromise between all parts. This has kept me motivated, in flow and happy.
__________________ I love to grow. |
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05-25-2007, 06:01 PM
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Thanks, I think I am the old fashioned way too. I will start with a loose leaf binder. I can always move to software in future if I need to. I didnt want to hijack this thread and so let me get back to the main purpose. You can keep a journal both to analyze your progress and as a reminder for your plans so that you can prepare yourself. You can also use to it to know more about yourself - like channeling with your inner voice. Writing down whatever comes to your mind. I have heard a lot of people get inspiration from this method of channeling. Last edited by absvan : 05-25-2007 at 06:05 PM. |
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05-25-2007, 06:41 PM
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| I'm in favor of keeping a private journal. There's something magical about writing out your thoughts -- it can be really surprising and enlightening to "hear" what comes out you via pen and paper or keyboard, things that are harder to see clearly when they remain in your head, unexpressed. You might be holding onto a goal or intention that, once you see it written down, completely transforms for you. In writing things down, you might find a belief or desire or epiphany that you didn't even realize you had. And you can expunge your brain of detritus and clutter by letting it all out on paper or screen. I think it's important to keep a private journal so that you have a venue for completely free, unexpurgated, politically incorrect, communication with yourself; a place where other people's comments and opinions don't belong. Just You. I love The Journal, the online system that Steve Pavlina recommended some time back. I find it very adaptable to my various writing needs. Plus there are some fun inspirational tools. |
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05-25-2007, 06:46 PM
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| A journal is good. I personally am writing a journal about my 30 day biphasic sleep trial. I don't feel like creating a blog so i just write it to myself so later i can see it and recall the path i've crossed. I might even put it on the forum if it get's interesting and if i have some insight about sleeping. So i definitely encourage a journal, i'm writing it on the computer but with a pen and paper it's a deeper thing than just typing it.
__________________ All that matters is results. |
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05-26-2007, 12:54 AM
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But... to each his own...  . |
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05-26-2007, 02:25 AM
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 Hands on. The personal planner info you describe is deluxe Shamou, an awesome way of continually pouring yourself into and creating your dreams. The handwriting aspect is interesting too, especially as our hands are intricately linked to both our conscious and sub conscious minds. My wife is Croatian, and it also always fascinates me how their culture (and a lot of different cultures) are so expressive with their hands, and how their hand gestures demonstrate and remind me of a powerful, unconscious link to emotions...and passion. I like using techniques like the ones you describe too, and agree with you, they are super effective tools. |
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05-26-2007, 02:30 AM
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 Good post Uplift...  . |
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05-26-2007, 02:36 AM
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| sure i had one, but lost it among friends, it was very useful, but now Im in trouble, one of them has it, im probably going to lose my job, it may be very damaging....read my post below 'i am a waster' please give me some advice |
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05-26-2007, 03:23 AM
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| I feel like journaling has been the biggest quantum leap in my path of personal development. You know those times when everything just seems to click? Journaling corresponds to the biggest "click" of progress I've ever felt. It's when things really started moving forward and when I started to see real results that have stuck. I've been journaling for about 5 months now. There's something unbelievably refreshing in the clarity you recieve from writing your thoughts down. |
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05-26-2007, 09:22 AM
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| Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi once said...."Go out and buy yourself a five-cent pencil and a ten-cent notebook and begin to write down some million-dollar ideas for yourself." Best advice I have ever gotten.
__________________  |
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05-27-2007, 01:47 PM
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I also like using the computer for journalling because I can type a lot faster than I write. However, my journal will never have the charm or the personalized decoration of a pen and paper journal. And there are never any prompts, as I'm guessing maybe there are in journal software programs? What do you want to accomplish in your journal? And how do you want to feel when you write? |
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05-27-2007, 03:11 PM
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| I would the to write in the journal as a way of tracking my progress and also so that I can look back through it on bad days to see that I can in fact have better days and that I can actually achieve what I would like to. I would like to feel that I am giving some sort of structure to my life and keeping a record of the route I am on to achieve my goals. |
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05-27-2007, 04:17 PM
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05-27-2007, 04:28 PM
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05-27-2007, 09:42 PM
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| Keeping a journal has been the single biggest step toward achieving my goals in personal development. It's a simple process, really: 1. Record thoughts/accomplishments/"failures." 2. Decide on a course of corrective action (MUCH EASIER ONCE YOU CAN PHYSICALLY SEE PROBLEMS ON PAPER). 3. Follow the course and grow, or don't follow the course and repeat the same journal entry the next night. Even if the latter becomes the case, after two nights I say to myself 'enough---it's time to find out why I'm not following the course' and then I improve upon it. I don't limit myself at all when I'm journaling, though. Anything is fair game. I use a text document, and I keep it private. I recommend you do the same, because I don't believe you can be completely honest with yourself if you're aware that other people will be reading what you write. You can always edit your private entries and make some of them public in a blog if you want a support group to keep you on your toes, but I would do this AFTER you've completed your own private entry. Do what works for you, but at least try SOMETHING for 30 days. I don't think there's any downside to keeping a journal. |