One of my peer groups turned me on to the practice of journaling each day. It has helped me focus and has been an effective tool to capture a day in my life. But, most of all, journaling has helped me better understand where to expend efforts and resources.
I use the Journey app so that I can see journal entries across my devices. There are other similar apps, but many people use a notepad. Any recording system can work.
Every morning, I write on two prompts: “I am grateful for…” and “What would make today great?”
Wrapping up each day, I write:
- Three good things that happened today:
- How could I have made today better?
- What am I grateful for?
- Who did I help today?
- How do I feel?
- I have been thinking about… (challenges I am facing and what I can do about them)
While all questions are engaging, “Who did I help today?” has special meaning to me because the question’s implication is to ask it in the absence of a quid pro quo.
I answer with a person or people’s names to be specific, and sometimes the answer to this question may be more than one person in a day.
By doing this, I can visualize the people I’ve helped, and realizing that I have helped over 300 people this year is a potent stimulus!
Do you journal? If so, post your favorite writing prompts, questions you ask yourself, or self- reflections in the comments.
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