You see, better decision making comes
from the better thinking habits and better thinking habits
comes 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
and 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
parameters and their real composition. And to 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 in 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 the 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 captured
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 communications. 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. Use it 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.
